AT  Ui  4|qN 

ILLINOIS  OfNCAL  SURVEY 


I 


nhxstra-tinjl  Ike 

I)  l^('()v  BI*  V  CM" 

AND       THE 

FRENCH  &  I N  DI  AN  1/VAR . 


lirilinfi  /ifssi'A'x/o/f^iv/fj/Y'f/  /frtf , 
Ftvnr/i         <t»  f/o     Yellow 

Spcutifft    do.  <fo      Green . 


HISTORY' 


OF 


VERMILION  COUNTY, 


KM,  ETHER    "WITH 


HISTORIC  NOTES  ON  THE  NORTHWEST, 


GLEANED    FROM    EARLY   AUTHORS,    OLD    MAPS   AND   MANUSCRIPTS, 

PRIVATE   AND  OFFICIAL   CORRESPONDENCE,   AND  OTHER 

AUTHENTIC,  THOUGH,  FOR  THE  MOST  PART, 

OUT-OF-THE-WAY  SOURCES. 

By   II.  W.   BECKWITH, 

Of  the  Danville  Bar  ;   Corresponding  Member  of  the  Historical  Societies  of 

Wisconsin  and  Chicago. 


WITH   MAP  AND   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


CHICAGO: 
II.   H.   HILL  AND  COMPANY,   PUBLISHERS. 

1879. 


STft^ 


Copyright,  1879. 
By  H.  W.  BECKWITH  AND  SON. 


:^ 


I     KNISHT    &.   LEONARD 


PREFACE. 


In  the  following'  pages  the  writer  has  limited  himself,  for  the  most  part,  to  the  ter- 
ritory watered  by  the  Illinois,  the  St.  Joseph  of  Lake  Michigan,  the  Maumee  and  the 
Wabash  rivers.  He  has  chosen  to  do  so  to  the  end  that  the  early  history  of  the  country 
treated  of  might  be  the  more  fully  considered.  The  topographical  features  of,  and  the 
military  and  civil  events  occurring  in,  localities  beyond  these  limits  have  been  noticed 
only  in  so  far  as  they  are  directly  connected  with,  or  tend  to  illustrate  the  field  occu- 
pied. 

It  has  been  an  aim  of  the  writer  to  perpetuate  the  history  of  the  relations  which  the 
discovery  and  early  commerce  of  the  northwest  has  sustained  to  its  peculiar  topograph- 
ical features.  Nature  made  the  routes  and  pointed  out  the  means  of  our  inland  com- 
munication. The  first  explorations  of  the  northwest  were  made  by  way  of  the  lakes, 
the  Fox  and  Wisconsin  Rivers,  the  St.  Josephs  of  Lake  Michigan,  the  Illinois  River 
and  Chicago  Creek,  the  Maumee  and  the  Wabash  and  their  connecting  portages. 
These  were  also  the  routes  by  which  the  first  commerce  was  carried  on.  Formerly  the 
country  was  a  wilderness  of  forests  and  prairies,  and  the  abode  of  wild  animals  and  the 
wild  men  who  hunted  them  for  their  furs  and  skins,  which  were  the  only  commodities 
for  export.  In  the  progress  of  time  the  fur-bearing  animals  and  the  Indians  have  dis- 
appeared. The  wilderness  has  been  subdued,  and  the  products  of  its  cultivated  fields 
now  find  their  way  to  the  marts  of  Europe.  The  canoe  which  carried  the  furs  and  pel- 
tries to  tide  water  gave  way  to  the  canal  boat,  and  the  canal  boat  has  been  supplanted 
by  the  steamer  and  the  railway  car.  The  routes  hare  always  remained  essentially  the 
same.  They  have  merely  been  enlarged  and  perfected  from  time  to  time,  to  meet  the 
ever- increasing  demands  of  the  west  in  the  successive  stages  of  its  development. 

The  country  drained  by  the  rivers  we  have  named  is  rich  in  the  poesy  and  romance 
-_.  of  history,  reaching  back  nearly  two  centuries  in  the  past,  where  the  outlines  of 
written  records  fade  away  in  the  twilight  and  charm  tradition.  By  the  routes  we  have 
named  came  the  Jesuit  Fathers,  with  crucifix  and  altar,  bearing  the  truths  of  Chris- 
i  tianity  to  distant  and  savage  tribes.  Along  these  routes  passed  the  Coureurs-de-hois 
and  the  Voyageurs, —  gay  and  happy  sons  of  France  —  with  knives,  guns,  blankets  and 
trinkets  to  exchange  with  the  Indians  for  products  of  the  chase.  Following  the 
traders  came  French  colonists,  who,  on  their  way  from  Canada  to  Louisiana,  passed 
up  the  Maumee  and  down  the  Wabash,  nearly  three-quarters  of  a  century  before  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  was  proclaimed. 

Along  these  streams  were  the  villages  of  the  most  powerful  Indian  confederacies. 
It  was  but  natural  that  they  should  defend  their  country  against  the  encroachment  of 
another  race;  and  the  strife  between  the  two  for  its  possession  furnishes  material  for 
many  thrilling  events  in  its  history.  In  treating  of  the  Indians,  the  writer  has  had  no 
theories  to  advocate  or  morbid  sentiments  to  gratify;  he  has  only  quoted  what  he  has 
found  in  volumes  regarded  as  standard  authorities,  without  prejudice  in  favor  or 
against  this  people.  They  have  given  away  before  an  inexorable  law,  the  severity  of 
which  could  have  been  only  modified  at  best.  The  writer  believes  the  dominant  race, 
out  of  their  love  for  truth,  will  accord  the  Indian  that  even-handed  justice  to  which  lie 


1 G6880 


4  PRE!  \<  IE. 

is  historically  entitled.  Otft  knowledge  of  this  people  is  fragmentary  at  best.  They 
kepi  nO  records,  and  have  no  historians.  All  we  know  of  them  is  to  be  found  in  the 
writings  of  persons  who,  if  not  their  open  enemies,  at  least  had  little  interest  in  doing 
them  justice.  A.8  a  rule  early  travelers  have  only  alluded  in  an  incidental  way  to  the 
aboriginal  inhabitants,  or  their  manners  and  customs.  We  know,  at  best,  but  very 
little  of  the  Indians  who  formerly  occupied  the  country  east  of  the  Mississippi.  They 
have  passed  away,  and  the  information  that  has  been  preserved  concerning  them  is  so 
scattered  through  the  volumes  of  authors  who  have  written  from  other  motives,  and  at 
different  dates  or  of  different  nations,  without  taking  thought  to  discriminate,  that 
anything  like  a  satisfactory  account  of  a  particular  tribe  is  not  attainable.  However, 
the  writer  has  in  the  following  pages  given  the  result  of  his  gleanings  over  a  wide 
field  of  authors. —  French.  English  and  American. — so  far  as  they  relate  to  the  several 
tribes  who  formerly  occupied  that  portion  of  the  Northwest  to  which  the  attention  of 
the  reader  has  been  called.  The  writer  has  preserved  the  aboriginal,  as  well  as  the 
French  and  early  English  names  of  the  lakes,  rivers,  Indian  villages  and  other  locali- 
-  possessing  historical  interest,  whenever  attainable  from  books,  maps  or  manu- 
scripts to  which  he  has  had  access. 

Commercial  enterprise  led  to  the  exploration  of  the  northwest.  It  was  competition 
for  the  far  trade  between  rival  races,  the  French  and  the  Anglo-Saxon,  that  produced 
the  collision  between  the  subjects  of  the  two  colonies  in  America,  that  finally  cul- 
minated in  a  war  between  France  and  England,  aided  by  their  respective  colonies, 
that  resulted  in  the  loss  of  the  whole  Mississippi  valley  to  its  first  discoverers.  It  was 
a  desire  to  retain  control  of  the  fur  trade  that  contributed  largely  to  the  bitterness  of 
the  Indian  border  wars  that  commenced  as  soon  as  emigration  began  to  extend  itself 
west  of  the  Aileganies;  and  the  same  cause  prolonged  the  Indian  troubles  for  years 
after  the  country  had  ceased  to  be  a  part  of  the  dominion  of  either  France  or  Great 
Britain. 

Beginning  with  the  mission  work  of  the  Jesuit  Fathers  on  the  southern  shore  of 
Lake  Superior,  in  16G0,  and  extending  down  to  1800,  but  little  is  known  of  the  country 
lying  north  and  west  of  the  Ohio  river;  and  the  meagre  material  is  only  to  be  found  in 
antiquated  books  and  maps  long  out  of  print,  or  in  manuscript  correspondence  of 
a  private  or  official  character,  none  of  which  is  accessible  to  the  general  reader.  It  is 
chiefly  from  these  sources  that  most  of  the  matter  contained  in  the  present  volume  has 
been  collated.  As  far  as  practicable  the  writer  has  preferred  to  introduce  his  author- 
ities upon  the  stand  and  let  them  tell  their  stories  in  their  own  language,  leaving  the 
readers  to  draw  their  own  conclusions  from  what  the  witnesses  have  stated.  Wherever 
attainable,  original  sources  of  information  are  given. 

Besides  such  auth«irs  as  Hennepin,  Charlevoix  and  the  invaluable  translations  and 
contributions  of  Dr.  John  (4.  Shea,  the  writer  has  availed  himself  freely  of  the  Jesuit 
l;  lations  and  the  publications  of  the  historical  societies  of  Louisiana,  Pennsylvania, 
Massachusetts.  New  York  and  Wisconsin. 

The  writer  is  conscious  that  his  task,  voluntarily  assumed,  has  been  but  indifferently 
performed.  H.  W.  B. 

Danville,  III.,  Nov.  5,  1879. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Topography  —  The  drainage  of  the  Lakes  and  the  Mississippi,  and  the  Indian  and 

French  names  by  which  they  were  severally  called 10 

CHAPTER  II. 

Drainage  of  the  Illinois  and  Wabash  —  Their  tributary  streams  —  The  portages 
connecting  the  drainage  to  the  Atlantic  with  that  of  the  Gulf 17 

CHAPTER  III. 

The  ancient  Maumee  Valley  —  Geological  features  —  Formerly  Lakes  Michigan  and 
Superior  drained  into  the  Illinois,  and  Lakes  Huron  and  Erie  into  the  Wa- 
bash —  The  portage  of  the  Wabash  and  the  Kankakee 21 

CHAPTER  IV. 

The  rainfall  —  It  has  increased,  although  the  rivers  seem  to  have  diminished,  since 
the  settlement  of  the  Northwest  —  Cultivation  of  the  soil  tends  to  equalize  rain- 
fall, and  prevent  the  recurrence  of  drouths  and  floods 26 

CHAPTER  V. 

Origin  of  the  prairies  —  Their  former  extent  —  Gradual  encroachment  of  the  for- 
est—  Prairie  fires  —  Aboriginal  names  of  the  prairies,  and  the  Indians  who 
lived  exclusively  upon  them ' ■ 29 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Marly  French  discoveries  —  Jaques  Cartier  ascends  the  St.  Lawrence  in  1535  — 
Samuel  Champlain  founds  Quebec  in  1608  — In  1642  Montreal  is  established- 
Influence  of  Quebec  and  Montreal  upon  the  Northwest  continues  until  subse- 
quent to  the  war  of  1812  —  Early  explorations  of  the  French  missionaries  along 
the  shore  of  Lake  Superior  —  They  first  learn  of  the  Mississippi  —  Father  Mar- 
quette desires  to  explore  it  —  The  French  government  determine  on  its  explora- 
tion—  Theories  as  to  whether  the  Mississippi  emptied  into  the  Sea  of  Califor- 
nia, the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  or  the  Atlantic  —  Joliet  and  Marquette  selected  to 
solve  the  problem  —  Spanish  discoveries  of  the  lower  Mississippi  in  1525 37 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Joliet  and  Marquette's  Voyage— They  leave  Mackinaw  May  17,  1673  — They  pro- 
ceed, by  way  of  Green  Bay  and  the  Wisconsin,  as  far  as  the  mouth  of  the 
Arkansas  — Return  by  way  of  the  Illinois  and  Chicago  Creek  — Father  Mar- 
quette's Journal,  descriptive  of  the  journey  and  the  country  through  which  they 
traveled  —  Biographical  sketches  of  Marquette  and  Joliet 43 


6  TABLE   OF   CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

La  Salle's  Voyage  —  Biographical  sketch  of  La  Salle  —  His  concessions  and  titles 
of  nobility  —  Preparations  for  his  explorations  —  Sketch  of  Father  Hennepin 
and  the  merit  of  his  writings  —  La  Salle  reaches  the  Niagara  River  in  Decem- 
ber, 1G78,  builds  the  ship  Griffin  and  proceeds  up  Lake  Erie,  and  reaches 
Mackinaw  in  August,  1 079 54 

CHAPTER  IX. 

La  Salle's  Voyage  continued  —  Mackinaw  the  headquarters  of  the  Indian  trade  — 
The  Griffin  starts  back  to  Niagara  River  with  a  cargo  of  furs,  and  is  lost  upon 
the  lake  —  La  Salle  resumes  his  voyage  in  birch  canoes,  south  along  the  west 
shore  of  Lake  Michigan,  and  around  its  southern  extremity  to  the  mouth  of 
the  St.  Joseph,  where  he  erects  Fort  Miami s 68 

CHAPTER  X. 

The  several  rivers  called  the  Miamis  —  La  Salle's  route  down  the  Illinois  —  The 
Kankakee  Marshes  —  The  French  and  Indian  names  of  the  Kankakee  and 
Des  Plaines  —  The  Illinois  —  "  Fort  Crevecceur"  —  La  Salle  goes  back  to 
Canada  —  Destruction  of  his  forts  by  deserters  —  His  return  to  Fort  Miamis, 
and  the  successful  prosecution  of  his  exploration  to  the  mouth  of  the  Missis- 
sippi—  The  whole  valley  of  the  great  river  taken  possession  of  in  the  name  of 
the  King  of  France 72 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Death  of  La  Salle,  in  attempting  to  establish  a  colony  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi  —  Chicago  Creek — The  origin  of  the  name  —  Fort  St.  Louis  built 
by  Tonti  at  Starved  Rock — La  Salle  assassinated  and  his  colony  destroyed  — 
Joutel,  with  other  survivors,  return  by  way  of  the  Illinois  —  Second  attempt 
of  France,  under  Mons.  Iberville,  in  1699,  to  establish  settlements  on  the 
Gulf — Cession  of  all  Louisiana  to  M.  Crozat  —  Crozat's  deed  from  the  King — 
The  Western  Company  —  Law's  scheme  of  inflation  and  its  consequences  — 
New  Orleans  founded  in  1718  —  Fort  Chartes  erected,  and  its  appearance 87 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Surrender  of  Louisiana  to  the  French  Crown  in  1731  —  Early  routes  by  way  of  the 
Kankakee,  Chicago  Creek,  the  Ohio,  the  Maumee  and  Wabash  described  — 
Tin'  .Maumee  and  Wabash,  and  the  number  and  origin  of  their  several  names 
—  I  nclian  villages 96 

CHAPTER   XIII. 

Aboriginal  inhabitants — The  several  Illinois  tribes  —  Of  the  name  Illinois,  audits 
origin — The  Kaskaskias,  Cahokias.  Tamaroas,  Peorias  and  Metchigatnis,  sub- 
divisions of  the  Illinois  ( lonfederacy — First  mentioned  by  the  Jesuit  mission- 
aries in  1655— Their  habits  and  morals — Their  country  and  villages  —  Their 
wars  with  the  Iroquois  and  other  tribes  —  The  tradition  concerning  the  Iro- 
quois River — Their  decline  and  removal  westward  of  the  Missouri 105 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 


The  Miarnis — The  Miami,  Piankeshaw  and  Wea  bands  —  They  are  kindred  to  the 
Illinois,  originally  from  the  west  of  the  Mississippi  —  Their  superiority  and 
their  military  disposition — Their  subdivisions  and  various  names — Their  trade 
and  difficulties  with  the  French  and  the  English — Their  migrations  —  They 
are  upon  the  Maumee  and  Wabash  —  Their  Villages  —  From  their  position 
between  the  French  and  English  they  suffer  at  the  hands  of  both — They  defeat 
the  Iroquois — They  trade  with  the  English,  and  incur  the  anger  of  the  French 
— Their  bravery — Their  decline— Destructive  effects  of  intemperance — Cession 
of  their  lands  in  Illinois,  Indiana  and  Ohio  —  Their  removal  westward  and 
present  condition 119 

CHAPTER  XV. 

The  Pottawatomies  — They  and  the  Ottawas  and  Ojibbeways  one  people  —  Origi- 
nally from  the  north  and  east  of  Lake  Huron  — Their  migrations  by  way  of 
Mackinaw  to  the  country  west  of  Lake  Michigan,  and  thence  south  and  east- 
ward— Their  games — Origin  of  the  name  Pottawatomie — Allies  of  the  French 

—  Occupy  a  portion  of  the  country  of  the  Miamis  along  the  Wabash — Their 
villages  —  At  peace  with  the  United  States  after  the  war  of  1812  —  Cede  their 
lands  —  Their  exodus  from  the  Wabash,  the  Kankakee  and  Wabash — Their 
condition  in  Kansas — Their  progress  toward  civilization 137 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

The  Kickapoos  and  Mascoutins  reside  about  Saginaw  Bay  in  1612;  on  Fox  River, 
Wisconsin,  in  1670  —  Their  reception  of  the  Catholic  fathers  —  Not  inclined 
to  their  teachings  —  They  kill  one  missionary  and  retain  another  in  captiv- 
ity—  On  the  Maumee  in  1712  —  In  southern  Wisconsin  and  northern  Illinois 

—  Migrate  to  the  Wabash  —  Derivation  of  the  name  Mascoutin  —  Dwellers 
of  the  prairie  —  Identity  of  the  Kickapoos  with  the  Mascoutins  —  Their 
destruction  at  the  siege  of  Detroit  —  They  were  always  enemies  of  the 
French,  English  and  Americans  —  Nearly  destroy  the  Illinois  and  Pianke- 
shaws,  and  occupy  their  country  —  Join  Tecumseh  in  a  body  —  They,  with 
the  Winnebagoes,  attack  Fort  Harrison  —  Pa-koi-shee-cans  account  of  the 
engagement  —  Ka-en-ne-kuck  becomes  a  religious  teacher  —  The  wild  bands 
make  trouble  on  the  Texas  border  —  Their  country  between  the  Illinois  and 
Wabash  —  Their  resemblance  to  the  Sac  and  Fox  Indians 153 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

The  Shawnees  and  Delawares  —  Originally  east  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains  — 
Are  subdued  aud  driven  out  by  the  Iroquois  —  Marquette  finds  the  Shawnees 
on  the  Tennessee  in  1673  —  At  one  time  in  Florida  —  In  1744  they  are  in  Ohio 
— They  war  on  the  American  settlements  —  Their  villages  on  the  Big  and 
Little  Miamis,  the  St.  Mary's,  the  Au  Glaize,  Maumee  and  Wabash  —  The 
The  Delawares  —  Made  women  of  by  the  Iroquois  —  Their  country  on  White 
River,  Indiana,  and  eastward  defined  —  Become  friendly  to  the  United  States 
after  Wayne's  victory  at  Maumee  Rapids,  in  1794 — They,  with  the  Shawnees, 
sent  west  of  the  Mississippi  —  They  furnish  soldiers  in  the  war  for  the  Union 

—  Adopting  ways  of  the  white  people 170 


8  TABLE   OF   CONTENTS. 

(  ii  \i'Ti;i;  win. 

The  Indians— Their  implements,  utensils,  fortifications,  mounds,  manners  and 
customs « 180 

CHAPTER    XIX. 

St. .ii»-  implements  used  by  the  Indians  before  they  came  in  contact  with  the  Euro- 
I"  .m-  —  Illustrations  of  various  kinds  of  stone  implements,  and  suggestions 
as  to  their  probable  uses 195 

CHAPTER  XX. 

The  war  for  the  fur  trade  —  Former  abundance  of  wild  animals  and  water-fowl  in 
the  Northwest — The  buffalo;  their  range,  their  numbers,  and  final  disappear- 
anci — Value  of  the  fur  trade:  its  importance  to  Canada — The  coureurs  de 
hois;  their  food  and  peculiarities  —  Goods  for  Indian  trade — The  distant  parts 
to  which  the  fur  trade  was  carried,  and  the  manner  in  which  it  was  conducted  — 
Competition  between  French  and  English  for  control  of  the  fur  trade  —  It 
results  in  liroils  —  French  traders  killed  on  the  Vermilion — The  French  and 
Indians  attack  Fort  I 'ickawillany —  War 208 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

The  war  for  the  empire  —  English  claims  to  the  Northwest  —  Deeds  from  the  Iro- 
quois to  a  large  part  of  the  country  —  Military  expeditions  of  Major  Grant, 
Mons.  Aubry  and  M.  de  Ligneris  —  Aubry  attempts  to  retake  Fort  Du  Quesne 
—  His  expedition  up  the  Wabash  —  Goes  to  the  relief  of  Fort  Niagara —  Is  de- 
feated by  Sir  William  Johnson — The  fall  of  Quebec  and  Montreal  —  Surrender 
of  the  Northwest  to  Great  Britain  —  The  territory  west  of  the  Mississippi  ceded 
to  Spain 224 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

Pontiac's  w  ar  to  recover  the  country  from  the  English  —  The  siege  of  Detroit — The 
fall  of  Mackinaw,  Saint  Joseph,  Miamis  and  Ouiatanon  —  Relief  of  Detroit — 
Pontiac's  confederacy  falls  to  pieces — Croghan  sent  west  to  recover  possession 
of  the  country  from  the  Indians  —  Is  captured  and  carried  to  Fort  Ouiatanon  — 
The  country  turned  over  to  the  English  — Pontiac's  death 234 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Gen.  t'lark's  conquest  of  the  "Illinois" — The  Revolutionary  war — Indian  depre- 
dations  upon  the  settlements  of  Kentucky — The  savages  are  supplied  with 
arm-  and  ammunition  from  the  English  posts  at  Detroit,  Vincennes  and  Kas- 
kaskia—Gen.  Clark  applies  to  Gov.  Henry,  of  Virginia,  for  aid  in  an  enter- 
prise to  capture  Kaskaskia  and  Vincennes  —  Sketch  of  Gen.  Clark — His 
manuscript  memoir  of  his  march  to  the  Illinois  —  He  captures  Kaskaskia — 
The  surrender  of  Vincennes  —  He  treats  with  the  Indians,  who  agree  to  quit 
their  warfare  on  the  Big  Knife  —  Gov.  Hamilton,  of  Detroit,  re-captures  Vin- 
cennes—  Clark's  inarch  to  Vincennes  —  He  re-takes  Vincennes.  and  makes  the 
English  tones  prisoners  of  war  —  Capt.  Helm  surprises  a  convoy  of  English 
boats  at  the  mouth  of  the  Vermilion  River — Organization  of  the  northwest 
territory  into  Illinois  county  of  Virginia  —  Clark  holds  the  Northwest  until  the 
conclusion  of  the  revolutionary  war.  For  this  reason  only  it  became  a  part  of 
the  United  State- 246 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


Illinois  county  established — The  northwest  territory  —  The  ordinance  of  1787  — 
A  bill  of  rights  —  Free-school  system  —  Provisions  for  states  —  Old  boundaries 
between  Canada  and  Louisiana  —  Indian  wars — The  Indian  country  on  the 
Wabash  and  Mauniee  ravaged —  England  refuses  to  surrender  military  posts 
within  the  northwest  territory  —  The  first  treaty  between  the  United  States 
and  the  Wabash  tribes,  at  Vincennes.  in  1792 — The  great  white  wampum 
belt  of  peace,  with  medal  suspended,  delivered  by  Gen.  Putnam  —  The  medal, 
and  where  afterward  found  —  The  British  medal  —  St.  Clair's  defeat  —  Futile 
efforts  to  obtain  peace — Wayne  marches  from  Greenville  to  the  Maumee  and 
gains  a  great  victory  over  the  confederated  tribes — Treaty  of  Greenville  — 
Wayne's  death 260 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

The  northwest  territory  divided  —  Wm.  H.  Harrison  appointed  governor  of  the 
Indiana  territory  —  Its  subdivision  into  counties  —  Biographical  sketch  of  Gov. 
Harrison  —  Tecumseh  and  his  brother,  the  Prophet  —  They  organize  a  scheme 
to  drive  the  white  settlers  beyond  the  Ohio — Illinois  Territory  formed  —  Its 
subdivision  into  the  counties  of  Randolph  and  St.  Clair  —  Development  of 
Tecumseh's  plans  —  The  Tippecanoe  campaign  —  Line  of  Harrison's  march  — 
Official  account  of  the  battle  —  Incidents  —  War  of  1812  —  A  large  part  of  the 
Northwest  in  the  hands  of  the  English  and  Indians  —  Fall  of  Fort  Dearborn  — 
Siege  of  Forts  Wayne  and  Harrison  —  Gen.  Taylor's  report  of  the  attack  on 
Fort  Harrison  —  The  naval  engagement  on  Lake  Erie  —  The  battle  of  the 
Thames  —  Tecumseh  had  "fought  it  out"  with  Gen.  Harrison  —  The  north 
recovered  by  Gen.  Harrison  — The  old  boundaries  restored  — Peace  concluded  — 
Advance  of  population  —  Conclusion 278 

COUNTY  HISTORY.* 

History  of  Danville  Township  . . . . 305 

Biographical ...  367 

History  of  Georgetown  Township 497 

Biographical 5^ 

History  of  El  wood  Township 560 

Biographical 592 

History  of  Catlin  Township 609 

Biographical 628 

History  of  Ross  Township 651 

Biographical 670 

History  of  Grant  Township -    701 

Biographical 71!' 

History  of  Carroll  Township 761 

Biographical 784 

History  of  ]\l  iddle  Fork  Township 792 

Biographical 814 

History  of  Oakwood  Township 834 

Biographical 857 

♦Errata.  -On  account  of  a  want  of  space,  in  consequence  of  more  matter  than  tin:  publishers 
had  provided  for,  the  County  History  is  duplicated  in  pages  with  the  fust  seventy-two  pages  of  '['own- 
ship  History. 

On  page  630,  line  37,  instead  of  Dan,  read  H.  W. 


in  1  \]:i  I     OF    CONTENTS. 

Bistory  of  Blounl  Township 874 

Biographical 894 

II  ,v  of  PiM  Townahip 904 

Biographical 914 

Bistory  ol  Newell  Township 926 

1  \v  ^graphical 950 

Bistory  of  Vance  Township 969 

Biographical 983 

I I I  -  t  .  >ry  of  I  tutler  Township 1000 

Biographical 1913 

•  y  i  »f  Sidell  Township 1024 

Biographical 1930 

Business  I  Krectory 1035 

LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Map  Illustrating  French  and  Indian  War Frontispiece 

Indian   Implements 197-207 

1  tuffalo 209 

Gen.  George  Rogers  Clarke 245 

Washington  -Medal 270 

British  Medal        273 

Gen.  W.  H.  Harrison 289 

The  Prophet 282 

Fort  Barrison  in  1812 288 

Plan  of  Battle  of  Tippecanoe 291 

Map  of  Vermilion  County 305 

Joseph  Barron 305 

City  Mills,  Danville 311 

Amber  Mills,  Danville 315 

High  School 329 

County  Court  House 330 

Ellsworth  Coal  Shaft 337 

Coffeen  &  Pollock's  Store 352 

Lincoln  Opera  House 379 

Danville  Planing  Mill 444 

\Y  hitohilFs  Carriage  Shops 466 

Hoopeston  Public  School 715 

McFerron's  l!ank  Building 718 

Clark's  Ball 745 

Pioneer  <  lahin 876 

LIST  OF  PORTRAITS. 

William  I.  Moore 129  John  Kyger 545 

John  L.  Tincher 33 £>  -»6  Alexander  Pollock 635 

A  •  <  '•  1  »aniel 337  William  Geddings 673 

R.  T-  Leverich 384  L.  W.  Anderson 737 

O.  1'.  II. union 417  David  Dickson 785 

B.  A.  Coffeen 465  J.  G.  Leverich 817 

ge  Wheeler  Jones 497  William  < '.  Harrison 865 

William  Sheets 513  J.  Peters 977 


HISTORIC  NOTES  ON  THE  NORTHWEST. 


CHAPTER   I. 


TOPOGRAPHY. 


The  reader  will  have  a  better  understanding  of  the  manner  in 
which  the  territory,  herein  treated  of,  was  discovered  and  subse- 
quently occupied,  if  reference  is  made,  in  the  outset,  to  some  of  its 
more  important  topographical  features. 

Indeed,  it  would  be  an  unsatisfactory  task  to  try  to  follow  the  routes 
of  early  travel,  or  to  undertake  to  pursue  the  devious  wanderings  of 
the  aboriginal  tribes,  or  trace  the  advance  of  civilized  society  into  a 
country,  without  some  preliminary  knowledge  of  its  topography. 

Looking  upon  a  map  of  North  America,  it  is  observed  that  west- 
ward of  the  Alleghany  Mountains  the  waters  are  divided  into  two 
great  masses ;  the  one,  composed  of  waters  flowing  into  the  great 
northern  lakes,  is,  by  the  river  St.  Lawrence,  carried  into  the  Atlantic 
Ocean;  the  other,  collected  by  a  multitude  of  streams  spread  out  like 
a  vast  net  over  the  surface  of  more  than  twenty  states  and  several  ter- 
ritories, is  gathered  at  last  into  the  Mississippi  River,  and  thence  dis- 
charged into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

As  it  was  by  the  St.  Lawrence  River,  and  the  great  lakes  connected 
with  it,  that  the  Northwest  Territory  was  discovered,  and  for  many 
years  its  trade  mainly  carried  on,  a  more  minute  notice  of  this  remark- 
able water  communication  will  not  be  out  of  place.  Jacques  Cartier, 
a  French  navigator,  having  sailed  from  St.  Malo,  entered,  on  the  10th 
of  August,  1535,  the  Gulf,  which  he  had  explored  the  year  before,  and 
named  it  the  St.  Lawrence,  in  memory  of  the  holy  martyr  whose  feast 
is  celebrated  on  that  day.  This  name  was  subsequently  extended  to 
the  river.  Previous  to  this  it  was  called  the  River  of  Canada,  the 
name  given  by  the  Indians  to  the  whole  country.*  The  drainage  of 
the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  lakes  extends  through  14  degrees  of  longi- 
tude, and  covers  a  distance  of  over  two  thousand  miles.     Ascending 

*  Father  Charlevoix1  "History  and  General  Description  of  New  France;"  Dr. 
John  G.  Shea's  translation  ;  vol.  1,  pp.  37,  115. 

11 


12  HISTORIC    MOTES    OF   THE    NORTHWEST.      , 

this  river,  we  behold  it  flanked  with  bold  crags  and  sloping  hillsides; 
its  current  beset  with  rapids  and  studded  with  a  thousand  islands; 
combining  scenery  of  marvelous  beauty  and  grandeur.  Seven  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  above  its  mouth,  the  channel  deepens  and  the  shores 
recede  into  an  expanse  of  water  known  as  Lake  Ontario.* 

Passing  westward  on  Lake  Ontario  one  hundred  and  eighty  miles 
a  second  river  is  reached.  A  few  miles  above  its  entry  into  the  lake, 
the  river  is  thrown  over  a  ledge  of  rock  into  a  yawning  chasm,  one 
hundred  and  fifty  feet  below;  and,  amid  the  deafening  noise  and  clouds 
of  vapor  escaping  from  the  agitated  waters  is  seen  the  great  Falls  of 
Niagara.  At  Buffalo,  twenty-two  miles  above  the  falls,  the  shores  of 
Niagara  River  recede  and  a  second  great  inland  sea  is  formed,  having 
an  average  breadth  of  40  miles  and  a  length  of  240  miles.  This  is 
Lake  Erie.  The  name  has  been  variously  spelt, — Earie,  Herie.  Erige 
and  Erike.  It  has  also  born  the  name  of  Conti.f  Father  Hennepin 
Bays  :  "  The  Ilurons  call  it  Lake  Erige,  or  Erike,  that  is  to  say,  the  Lake 
of  the  Cat,  and  the  inhabitants  of  Canada  have  softened  the  word  to 
Erie  ; "  vide  "  A  New  Discovery  of  a  Yast  Country  in  America,"  p.  77  ; 
London  edition,  1698. 

Eennepin's  derivation  is  substantially  followed  by  the  more  accurate 
and  accomplished  historian,  Father  Charlevoix,  who  at  a  later  period, 
in  1721,  in  writing  of  this  lake  uses  the  following  words :  u  The  name 
it  bears  is  that  of  an  Indian  nation  of  the  Huron  language,  which  was 
formerly  settled  on  its  banks  and  who  have  been  entirely  destroyed  by 
the  Iroquois.  Erie  in  that  language  signifies  cat,  and  in  some  accounts 
this  nation  is  called  the  cat  nation.1'  He  adds  :  "  Some  modern  maps 
have  given  Lake  Erie  the  name  of  Conti,  but  with  no  better  success 
than  the  names  of  Conde,  Tracy  and  Orleans  which  have  been  given 
to  Lakes  Huron,  Superior  and  Michigan. '^ 

At  the  upper  end  of  Lake  Erie,  to  the  southward,  is  Maumee  Bay, 
of  which  more  hereafter ;  to  the  northward  the  shores  of  the  lake  again 

makers. 

Golden 's 

iake.     The 

word  is  Huron- Iroquois,  and  is  derived,  in  their  language/from  Ontra,  a  lake,  and  io, 
beautiful,  the  compound  word  meaning'  a  beautiful  lake  ;  vide  Letter  of  DuBois 
I  I'Avaugour,  August  1<>,  L663,  to  the  Minister:  Paris  Documents,  vol.  9,  p.  10.  Baron 
LaHontan,  in  bis  work  and  on  the  accompanying  map,  calls  it  Lake  Frontenac;  ride 
■  New  Voyages  to  North  America,"  vol.  1,  p.  219.  And  Frontenac,  the  name  by  which 
tins  lake  was  most  generally  designated  by  the  early  French  writers,  was  given  to  it  in 
bonor  of  the  great  Count  Frontenac,  Governor-General  of  Canada. 

t  Narrative  of  Father  Zenobia  Membre,  who  accompanied  Sieur  La  Salle  in  the 
voyage  westward  on  this  lake  in  1679;  vide  "Discovery  and  Exploration  of  the 
Mississippi,"  by  Dr.  John  G.  Shea,  p.  90.  Barou  La  Hontan's  "Voyages  to  North 
America,  '  vol.  1,  p.  217,  also  map  prefixed  ;  London  edition,  1703.  Cadwalder  Col- 
den's  map,  referred  to  in  a  previous  note,  designates  it  as  "Lake  Erie,  or  Okswego." 

{.Journal  of  a  Voyage  to  North  America,  vol.  2,  p.  2  ;  London  Edition,  1761. 


THE    LAKES.  13 

approach  each  other  and  form  a  channel  known  as  the  River  Detroit,  a 
French  word  signifying  a  strait  or  narrow  passage.  Northward  some 
twenty  miles,  and  above  the  city  of  Detroit,  the  river  widens  into  a 
small  body  of  water  called  Lake  St.  Clair.  The  name  as  now  written 
is  incorrect :  "  we  should  either  retain  the  French  form,  Claire,  or  take 
the  English  Clare.  It  received  its  name  in  honor  of  the  founder  of  the 
Franciscan  nuns,  from  the  fact  that  La  Salle  reached  it  on  the  day  con- 
secrated to  her."*  Northward  some  twelve  miles  across  this  lake  the 
land  again  encroaches  upon  and  contracts  the  waters  within  another 
narrow  bound  known  as  the  Strait  of  St.  Clair.  Passing  up  this  strait, 
northward  about  forty  miles,  Lake  Huron  is  reached.  It  is  250  miles 
long  and  190  miles  wide,  including  Georgian  Bay  on  the  east,  and  its 
whole  area  is  computed  to  be  about  21,000  square  miles.  Its  magnitude 
fully  justified  its  early  name,  La  Mer-douce,  the  Fresh  Sea,  on  account 
of  its  extreme  vastness.f  The  more  popular  name  of  Huron,  which 
has  survived  all  others,  was  given  to  it  from  the  great  Huron  nation  of 
Indians  who  formerly  inhabited  the  country  lying  to  the  eastward  of 
it.  Indeed,  many  of  the  early  French  writers  call  it  Lac  des  Hurons, 
that  is,  Lake  of  the  Hurons.  It  is  so  laid  down  on  the  maps  of  Hen- 
nepin, La  Hontan,  Charlevoix  and  Colden  in  the  volumes  before  quoted. 

Going  northward,  leaving  the  Straits  of  Mackinaw,  through  which 
Lake  Michigan  discharges  itself  from  the  west,  and  the  chain  of 
Manitoulin  Islands  to  the  eastward,  yet  another  river,  the  connecting- 
link  between  Lake  Huron  and  Superior,  is  reached.  Its  current  is 
swift,  and  a  mile  below  Lake  Superior  are  the  Falls,  where  the  water 
leaps  and  tumbles  down  a  channel  obstructed  by  boulders  and  shoals, 
where,  from  time  immemorial,  the  Indians  of  various  tribes  have 
resorted  on  account  of  the  abundance  of  fish  and  the  ease  with  which 
they  are  taken.  Previous  to  the  year  1670  the  river  was  called  the 
Sault,  that  is,  the  rapids,  or  falls.  In  this  year  Fathers  Marquette  and 
Dablon  founded  here  the  mission  of  "  St.  Marie  du  Sault "  (St.  Mary 
of  the  Falls),  from  which  the  modern  name  of  the  river,  St.  Mary's,  is 
derived.;}:  Recently  the  United  States  have  perfected  the  ship  canal 
cut  in  solid  rock,  around  the  falls,  through  which  the  largest  vessels 
can  now  pass,  from  the  one  lake  to  the  other. 

Lake  Superior,  in  its  greatest  length,  is  360  miles,  with  a  maximum 
breadth  of  1-10,  the  largest  of  the  five  great  American  lakes,  and  the 
most  extensive  body  of  fresh  water  on  the  globe.     Its  form  has  been 

*Note  by  Dr.  Shea,  "  Discovery  and  Exploration  of  the  Mississippi,"  p.  143. 
tChamplain's  map,  1632.     Also  "Memoir on  the  Colony  of  Quebec,"  August  4, 
1663  :  Paris  Documents,  vol.  9,  p.  16. 

t Charlevoix'  "History  of  New  France,"  vol.  2,  p.  113;  also  note. 


14  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

poetically  and  not  inaccurately  described  by  a  Jesuit  Father,  whose 
account  of  it  is  preserved  in  the  Relations  for  the  years  1669  and  1670  : 
"  This  lake  has  almost  the  form  of  a  bended  bow,  and  in  length  is  more 
than  180  leagues.  The  southern  shore  is  as  it  were  the  cord,  the  arrow 
being  a  long  strip  of  land  [Keweenaw  Point]  issuing  from  the  south- 
ern coast  and  running  more  than  80  leagues  to  the  middle  of  the 
lake."'  A  glance  on  the  map  will  show  the  aptness  of  the  comparison. 
The  name  Superior  was  given  to  it  by  the  Jesuit  Fathers,  "  in  conse- 
quence of  its  being  ahove  that  of  Lake  Huron.*  It  was  also  called 
Lake  Tracy,  after  Marquis  De  Tracy,  who  was  governor-general  of 
Canada  from  1663  to  1665.  Father  Claude  Allouez,  in  his  "  Journal 
of  Travels  to  the  Country  of  the  Ottawas,"  preserved  in  the  Relations 
for  the  years  1666,  1667,  says :  "  After  passing  through  the  St. 
Mary's  River  we  entered  the  upper  lake,  which  will  hereafter  bear 
the  name  of  Monsieur  Tracy,  an  acknowledgment  of  the  obligation 
under  which  the  people  of  this  country  are  to  him."  The  good  father, 
however,  was  mistaken  ;  the  name  Tracy  only  appears  on  a  few  ancient 
maps,  or  is  perpetuated  in  rare  volumes  that  record  the  almost  for- 
gotten labors  of  the  zealous  Catholic  missionaries ;  while  the  earlier 
name  of  Lake  "  Superior "  is  familiar  to  every  school-boy  who  has 
thumbed  an  atlas. 

At  the  western  extremity  of  Lake  Superior  enter  the  Rivers  Bois- 
Brule  and  St.  Louis,  the  upper  tributaries  of  which  have  their  sources 
on  the  northeasterly  slope  of  a  water-shed,  and  approximate  very  near 
the  head-waters  of  the  St.  Croix,  Prairie  and  Savannah  Rivers,  which, 
issuing  from  the  opposite  side  of  this  same  ridge,  flow  into  the  upper 
Mississippi. 

The  upper  portions  of  Lakes  Huron.  Michigan,  Green  Bay,  with 
their  indentations,  and  the  entire  coast  line,  with  the  islands  eastward 
and  westward  of  the  Straits  of  Mackinaw,  are  all  laid  down  with  quite 
a  degree  of  accuracy  on  a  map  attached  to  the  Relations  of  the  Jesuits 
for  the  years  1670  and  1671,  a  copy  of  which  is  contained  in  Bancroft's 
History  of  the  United  States,  f  showing  that  the  reverend  fathers  were 
industrious  in  mastering  and  preserving  the  geographical  features  of 
the  wilderness  they  traversed  in  their  holy  calling. 

Lake  Michigan  is  the  only  one  of  the  five  great  lakes  that  lays 
wholly  within  the  United  States, —  the  other  four,  with  their  connect- 
ing: rivers  and  straits,  mark  the  boundary  between  the  Dominion  of 
Canada  and  the  United  States.  Its  length  is  320  miles ;  its  average 
breadth  70,  with  a  mean  depth  of  over  1,000  feet.     Its  area  is  some 

*  Relations  of  1660  and  1669.       f  Vol.  3,  p.  152;  fourth  edition. 


LAKE   MICHIGAN.  15 

22,000  square  miles,  being  considerably  more  than  that  of  Lake  Huron 
and  less  than  that  of  Lake  Superior. 

Michigan  was  the  last  of  the  lakes  in  order  of  discovery.  The 
Huron s,  christianized  and  dwelling  eastward  of  Lake  Huron,  had  been 
driven  from  their  towns  and  cultivated  fields  by  the  Iroquois,  and  scat- 
tered about  Mackinaw  and  the  desolate  coast  of  Lake  Superior  beyond, 
whither  they  were  followed  by  their  faithful  pastors,  the  Jesuits,  who 
erected  new  altars  and  gathered  the  remnants  of  their  stricken  follow- 
ers about  them  ;  all  this  occurred  before  the  fathers  had  acquired  any 
definite  knowledge  of  Lake  Michigan.  In  their  mission  work  for  the 
year  1666,  it  is  referred  to  "as  the  Lake  Illinouek,  a  great  lake  adjoin- 
ing, or  between,  the  lake  of  the  Hurons  and  that  of  Green  Bay,  that 
had  not  [as  then]  come  to  their  knowledge."  In  the  Relation  for  the 
same  year,  it  is  referred  to  as  "  Lake  Illeaouers,"  and  "  Lake  Illinioues, 
as  yet  unexplored,  though  much  smaller  than  Lake  Huron,  and  that  the 
Outagamies  [the  Fox  Indians]  call  it  Machi-hi-gan-ing."  Father  Hen- 
nepin says :  "  The  lake  is  called  by  the  Indians,  '  Illinouek,'  and  by  the 
French,  '  Illinois,' "  and  that  the  "  Lake  Illinois,  in  the  native  lan- 
guage, signifies  the  '  Lake  of  Men.'  "  He  also  adds  in  the  same  para- 
graph, that  it  is  called  by  the  Miamis,  "  Mischigonong,  that  is,  the 
great  lake."  *  Father  Marest,  in  a  letter  dated  at  Kaskaskia,  Illinois, 
November  9,  1712,  so  often  referred  to  on  account  of  the  valuable  his- 
torical matter  it  contains,  contracts  the  aboriginal  name  to  Michigan, 
and  is,  perhaps,  the  first  author  who  ever  sp elt  it  in  the  way  that  has 
become  universal.  He  naively  says,  "  that  on  the  maps  this  lake  has 
the  name,  without  .any  authority,  of  the  '■Lake  of  the  Illinois,'1  since 
the  Illinois  do  not  dwell  in  its  neighborhood."  f 

*  Hennepin's  "  New  Discovery  of  a  Vast  Country  in  America,"  vol.  1,  p.  35.  The 
name  is  derived  from  the  two  Algonquin  words,  Michi  (mishi  ormissi),  which  signifies 
great,  as  it  does,  also,  several  or  many,  and  Sagayigan,  a  lake;  vide  Henry's  Travels, 
p.  37,  and  Alexander  Mackenzie's  Vocabulary  of  Algonquin  Words. 

t  Kip's  Early  Jesuit  Missions,  p.  222. 


CHAPTER   II. 

DRAINAGE  OF  THE    ILLINOIS  AND  WABASH. 

The  reader's  attention  will  now  be  directed  to  the  drainage  of  the 
Illinois  and  Wabash  Rivers  to  the  Mississippi,  and  that  of  the  Maumee 
River  into  Lake  Erie.  The  Illinois  River  proper  is  formed  in  Grundy 
county,  Illinois,  below  the  city  of  Joliet,  by  the  union  of  the  Kanka- 
kee and  Desplaines  Rivers.  The  latter  rises  in  southeastern  Wisconsin  ; 
and  its  course  is  almost  south,  through  the  counties  of  Cook  and  Will. 
The  Kankakee  has  its  source  in  the  vicinity  of  South  Bend,  Indiana. 
It  pursues  a  devious  way,  through  marshes  and  low  grounds,  a  south- 
westerly course,  forming  the  boundary-line  between  the  counties  of 
Laporte,  Porter  and  Lake  on  the  north,  and  Stark,  Jasper  and  Newton 
on  the  south  ;  thence  across  the  dividing  line  of  the  two  states  of  Indi- 
ana and  Illinois,  and  some  fifteen  miles  into  the  county  of  Kankakee, 
at  the  confluence  of  the  Iroquois  River,  where  its  direction  is  changed 
northwest  to  its  junction  with  the  Desplaines.  The  Illinois  passes 
westerly  into  the  county  of  Putnam,  where  it  again  turns  and  pursues 
a  generally  southwest  course  to  its  confluence  with  the  Mississippi, 
twenty  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri.  It  is  about  five  hun- 
dred miles  long;  is  deep  and  broad,  and  in  several. places  expands  into 
basins,  which  may  be  denominated  lakes.  Steamers  ascend  the  river,  in 
high  water,  to  La  Salle ;  from  whence  to  Chicago  navigation  is  contin- 
ued by  means  of  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal.  The  principal  trib- 
utaries of  the  Illinois,  from  the  north  and  right  bank,  are  the  Au  Sable, 
Fox  River,  Little  Vermillion,  Bureau  Creek,  Kickapoo  Creek  (which 
empties  in  just  below  Peoria),  Spoon  River,  Sugar  Creek,  and  finally 
Crooked  Creek.  From  the  south  or  left  bank  are  successively  the  Iro- 
quois (into  the  Kankakee),  Mazon  Creek,  Vermillion,  Crow  Meadow, 
Mackinaw,  Sangamon,  and  Macoupin. 

The  Wabash  issues  out  of  a  small  lake,  in  Mercer  county,  Ohio,  and 
runs  a  westerly  course  through  the  counties  of  Adams,  Wells  and 
Huntington  in  the  state  of  Indiana.  It  receives  Little  River,  just 
below  the  city  of  Huntington,  and  continues  a  westwardly  course 
through  the  counties  of  Wabash,  Miami  and  Cass.  Here  it  turns 
more  to  the  south,  flowing  through  the  counties  of  Carroll  and  Tippe- 
canoe, and  marking  the  boundary-line  between  the  counties  of  Warren 

16 


THE    MAUMEE    AND    PORTAGES.  17 

and  Vermillion  on  the  west,  and  Fountain  and  Park  on  the  east.  At 
Covington,  the  county  seat  of  Fountain  county,  the  river  runs  more 
directly  south,  between  the  counties  of  Vermillion  on  the  one  side, 
and  Fountain  and  Parke  on  the  other,  and  through  the  county  of  Vigo, 
some  miles  below  Terre  Haute,  from  which  place  it  forms  the  boundary- 
line  between  the  states  of  Indiana  and  Illinois  to  its  confluence  with 
the  Ohio. 

Its  principal  tributaries  from  the  north  and  west,  or  right  bank  of 
the  stream,  are  Little  River,  Eel  River,  Tippecanoe,  Pine  Creek,  Red 
Wood,  Big  Vermillion,  Little  Vermillion,  Bruletis,  Sugar  Creek,  Em- 
barras,  and  Little  Wabash.  The  streams  flowing  in  from  the  south  and 
east,  or  left  bank  of  the  river,  are  the  Salamonie,  Mississinewa,  Pipe 
Creek,  Deer  Creek.  Wildcat,  Wea  and  Shawnee  Creeks,  Coal  Creek, 
Sugar  Creek,  Raccoon  Creek,  Otter  Creek,  Busseron  Creek,  and  White 
River. 

There  are  several  other,  and  smaller,  streams  not  necessary  here  to 
notice,  although  they  are  laid  down  on  earlier  maps,  and  mentioned  in 
old  "  Gazetteers"  and  "Emigrant's  Guides." 

The  Maumee  is  formed  bv  the  St.  Joseph  and  St.  Marv's  Rivers, 
which  unite  their  waters  at  Ft.  Wayne,  Indiana.  The  St.  Joseph  has 
its  source  in  Hillsdale  county,  Michigan,  and  runs  southwesterly 
through  the  northwest  corner  of  Ohio,  through  the  county  of  De  Kalb, 
and  into  the  county  of  Allen,  Indiana.  The  St.  Mary's  rises  in 
An  Glaize  county,  Ohio,  very  near  the  little  lake  at  the  head  of  the 
Wabash,  before  referred  to,  and  runs  northwestwardly  parallel  with  the 
Wabash,  through  the  counties  of  Mercer,  Ohio,  and  Adams,  Indiana, 
and  into  Allen  county  to  the  place  of  its  union  with  the  St.  Joseph, 
at  Ft.  Wayne.  The  principal  tributaries  of  the  Maumee  are  the  Au 
Glaize  from  the  south,  Bear  Creek,  Turkey  Foot  Creek,  Swan  Creek 
from  the  north.  The  length  of  the  Maumee  River,  from  Ft.  Wayne 
northeast  to  Maumee  Bay  at  the  west  end  of  Lake  Erie,  is  very  little 
over  100  miles. 

A  noticeable  feature  relative  to  the  territory  under  consideration, 
and  having  an  important  bearing  on  its  discovery  and  settlement,  is 
the  fact  that  many  of  the  tributaries  of  the  Mississippi  have  their' 
branches  interwoven  with  numerous  rivers  draining  into  the  lakes. 
They  not  infrequently  issue  from  the  same  lake,  pond  or  marsh  situated 
on  the  summit  level  of  the  divide  from  which  the  waters  from  one  end 
of  the  common  reservoir  drain  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean  and  from  the  other 
to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  By  this  means  nature  herself  provided  navig- 
able communication  between  the  northern  lakes  and  the  Mississippi 
Valley.     It  was,  however,  only  at  times  of  the  vernal  floods  that  the 


18  HISTORIC    XOTES   OF   THE    NORTHWEST. 

communication  was  complete.  At  other  seasons  of  the  year  it  was 
interrupted,  when  transfers  by  land  were  required  for  a  short  distance. 
The  places  where  these  transfers  were  made  are  known  by  the  French 
term  portage,  which,  like  many  other  foreign  derivatives,  has  become 
anglicized,  and  means  a  carrying  place  ;  because  in  low  stages  of  water 
the  canoes  and  effects  of  the  traveler  had  to  be  carried  around  the  dry 
marsh  or  pond  from  the  head  of  one  stream  to  the  source  of  that  beyond. 

The  first  of  these  portages  known  to  the  Europeans,  of  which 
accounts  have  come  down  to  us,  is  the  portage  of  the  Wisconsin,  in  the 
state  of  that  name,  connecting  the  Mississippi  and  Green  Bay  by  means 
of  its  situation  between  the  "Wisconsin  and  Fox  Rivers.  The  next  is 
the  portage  of  Chicago,  uniting  Chicago  Creek,  which  empties  into 
Lake  Michigan  at  Chicago,  and  the  Desplaines  of  the  Illinois  River. 
The  third  is  the  portage  of  the  Kankakee,  near  the  present  city  of 
South  Bend,  Indiana,  which  connects  the  St.  Joseph  of  Lake  Michigan 
with  the  upper  waters  of  the  Kankakee.  And  the  fourth  is  the  portage 
of  the  Wabash  at  Ft.  Wayne.  Indiana,  between  the  Maumee  and  the 
Wabash,  by  way  of  Little  River. 

Though  abandoned  and  their  former  uses  forgotten  in  the  advance 
of  permanent  settlement  and  the  progress  of  more  efficient  means  of 
commercial  intercourse,  these  portages  were  the  gateways  of  the 
French  between  their  possessions  in  Canada  and  along  the  Mississippi. 

Formerly  the  Northwest  was  a  wilderness  of  forest  and  prairie,  with 
only  the  paths  of  wild  animals  or  the  trails  of  roving  Indians  leading- 
through  tangled  undergrowth  and  tall  grasses.  In  its  undeveloped 
form  it  was  without  roads,  incapable  of  land  carriage  and  could  not 
be  traveled  by  civilized  man,  even  on  foot,  without  the  aid  of  a  savage 
guide  and  a  permit  from  its  native  occupants  which  afforded  little  or  no 
security  to  life  or  property.  For  these  reasons  the  lakes  and  rivers,  with 
their  connecting  portages,  were  the  only  highways,  and  they  invited 
exploration.  They  afforded  ready  means  of  opening  up  the  interior. 
The  French,  who  were  the  first  explorers,  at  an  early  day,  as  we  shall 
hereafter  see,  established  posts  at  Detroit,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Xiagara 
River,  at  Mackinaw,  Green  Bay,  on  the  Illinois  River,  the  St.  Joseph's 
of  Lake  Michigan,  on  the  Maumee,  the  Wabash,  and  at  other  places 
on  the  route  of  inter-lake  and  river  communication.  Bv  means  of 
having  seized  these  strategical  points,  and  their  influence  over  the 
Indian  tribes,  the  French  monopolized  the'  fur  trade,  and  although 
feebly  assisted  by  the  home  government,  held  the  whole  Mississippi 
Valley  and  regions  of  the  lakes,  for  near  three  quarters  of  a  century, 
against  all  efforts  of  the  English  colonies,  eastward  of  the  Alleghany 
ridge,  who,  assisted  by  England,  sought  to  wrest  it  from  their  grasp. 


CHICAGO    PORTAGE.  19 

Recurring  to  the  old  portage  at  Chicago,  it  is  evident  that  at  a  com- 
paratively recent  period,  since  the  glacial  epoch,  a  large  part  of  Cook 
countv  was  under  water.  The  waters  of  Lake  Michigan,  at  that  time, 
found  an  outlet  through  the  Desplaines  and  Illinois  Rivers  into  the 
Mississippi."  This  assertion  is  confirmed  from  the  appearance  of  the 
whole  channel  of  the  Illinois  River,  which  formerly  contained  a  stream 
of  much  greater  magnitude  than  now.  The  old  beaches  of  Lake 
Michigan  are  plainly  indicated  in  the  ridges,  trending  westward  several 
miles  away  from  the  present  water  line.  The  old  state  road,  from 
Vincennes  to  Chicago,  followed  one  of  these  ancient  lake  beaches  from 
Blue  Island  into  the  citv. 

The  subsidence  of  the  lake  must  have  been  gradual,  requiring 
many  ages  to  accomplish  the  change  of  direction  in  the  flow  of  its 
waters  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  St.  Lawrence. 

TUe  character  of  the  portage  has  also  undergone  changes  within 
the  memory  of  men  still  living.  The  excavation  of  the  Illinois  and 
Michigan  Canal,  and  the  drainage  of  the  adjacent  land  by  artificial 
ditches,  has  left  little  remaining  from  which  its  former  appearance  can 
now  lie  recognized.  Major  Stephen  H.  Long,  of  the  U.  S.  Topo- 
graphical Engineers,  made  an  examination  of  this  locality  in  the  year 
1823,  before  it  had  been  changed  by  the  hand  of  man,  and  says,  con- 
cerning it,  as  follows  :  "  The  south  fork  of  Chicago  River  takes  its  rise 
about  six  miles  from  the  fort,  in  a  swamp,  which  communicates  also 
with  the  Desplaines,  one  of  the  head  branches  of  the  Illinois.  Hav- 
ing been  informed  that  this  route  was  frequently  used  by  traders,  and 
that  it  had  been  traversed  by  one  of  the  officers  of  the  garrison, — who 
returned  with  provisions  from  St.  Louis  a  few  days  before  our  arrival 
at  the  fort, — we  determined  to  ascend  the  Chicago  River  in  order  to 
observe  this  interesting  division  of  waters.  We  accordingly  left  the 
fort  on  the  7th  day  of  June,  in  a  boat  which,  after  having  ascended 
the  river  four  miles,  we  exchanged  for  a  narrow  pirogue  that  drew 
less  water, —  the  stream  we  were  ascending  was  very  narrow,  rapid  and 
crooked,  presenting  a  great  fall.  It  so  continued  for  about  three  miles, 
when  we  reached  a  sort  of  a  swamp,  designated  by  the  Canadian  voy- 
agers under  the  name  of  'Ze  Petit  Lac.1  f  Our  course  through  this 
swamp',  which  extended  three  miles,  was  very  much  impeded  by  the 
high  grass,  weeds,  etc.,  through  which  our  pirogue  passed  with  diffi- 
culty. Observing  that  our  progress  through  the  fen  was  slow,  and  the 
day  being  considerably  advanced,  we  landed  on  the  north  bank,  and 
continued  our  course  along  the  edge  of  the  swamp  for  about  three 

*  Geological  Survey  of  Illinois,  vol.  3,  p.  240. 

t  What  remains  of  this  lake  is  now  known  by  the  name  of  Mud  Lake. 


20  HISTORIC    NOTES    OF   THE    NORTHWEST. 

miles,  until  we  reached  the  place  where  the  old  portage  road  meets  the 
current,  which  was  here  very  distinct  toward  the  south.  We  were 
delighted  at  beholding,  for  the  rirst  time,  a  feature  so  interesting  in 
itself,  but  which  we  had  afterward  an  opportunity  of  observing  fre- 
quently on  the  route,  viz,  the  division  of  waters  starting  from  the  same 
source,  and  running  in  two  different  directions,  so  as  to  become  feed- 
ers of  streams  that  discharge  themselves  into  the  ocean  at  immense  dis- 
tances apart.  Lieut.  Hobson,  who  accompanied  us  to  the  Desplaines, 
told  us  that  he  had  traveled  it  with  ease,  in  a  boat  loaded  with  lead 
and  flour.  The  distance  from  the  fort  to  the  intersection  of  the  port- 
age road  is  about  twelve  or  thirteen  miles,  and  the  portage  road  is 
about  eleven  miles  long ;  the  usual  distance  traveled  by  land  seldom 
exceeds  from  four  to  nine  miles ;  however,  in  very  dry  seasons  it  is 
said  to  amount  to  thirty  miles,  as  the  portage  then  extends  to  Mount 
Juliet,  near  the  confluence  of  the  Kankakee.  Although  at  the  time 
we  visited  it  there  was  scarcely  water  enough  to  permit  our  pirogue 
to  pass,  we  could  not  doubt  that  in  the  spring  of  the  year  the  route 
must  be  a  very  eligible  one.  It  is  equally  apparent  that  an  expendi- 
ture, trifling  when  compared  to  the  importance  of  the  object,  would 
again  render  Lake  Michigan  a  tributary  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico."  * 

*  Long's  Expedition  to  the  Source  of  the  St.  Peter's  River,  vol.  1,  pp.  165,  166, 
167.  The  State  of  Illinois  begun  work  on  the  construction  of  a  canal  on  this  old 
portage  on  the  4th  day  of  July,  1836,  with  great  ceremony.  Col.  Guerdon  S.  Hubbard, 
still  living,  cast  the  first  shovelful  of  earth  out  of  it  on  this  occasion.  The  work  was 
completed  in  1848.  The  canal  was  fed  with  water  elevated  by  a  pumping  apparatus 
at  Bridgeport.  Recently  the  city  of  Chicago,  at  enormous  expense  sunk  the  bed 
of  the  canal  to  a  depth  that  secures  a  flow  of  water  directly  from  the  lake,  by  means 
of  which,  the  navigation  is  improved,  and  sewerage  is  obtained  into  the  Illinois  River. 


CHAPTER  III. 

ANCIENT  MAUMEE   VALLEY. 

What  has  been  said  of  the  changes  in  the  surface  geology  of  Lake 
Michigan  and  the  Illinois  River  may  also  be  affirmed  with  respect  to 
Lake  Erie  and  the  Maumee  and  Wabash  Rivers.  There  are  peculiari- 
ties which  will  arrest  the  attention,  from  a  mere  examination  of  the 
course  of  the  Maumee  and  of  the  St.  Joseph  and  St.  Mary's  Rivers,  as 
they  appear  on  the  map  of  that  part  of  Ohio  and  Indiana.  The  St. 
Joseph,  after  running  southwest  to  its  union  with  the  St.  Mary's  at 
Ft.  Wayne,  as  it  were  almost  doubles  back  upon  its  former  course, 
taking  a  northeast  direction,  forming  the  shape  of  a  letter  Y,  and  after 
having  flowed  over  two  hundred  miles  is  discharged  at  a  point  within 
less  than  fifty  miles  east  of  its  source.  It  is  evident,  from  an  exami- 
nation of  that  part  of  the  country,  that,  at  one  time,  the  St.  Joseph 
ran  wholly  to  the  southwest,  and  that  the  Maumee  River  itself, 
instead  of  flowing  northeast  into  Lake  Erie,  as  now,  drained  this  lake 
southwest  through  the  present  valley  of  the  Wabash.  Then  Lake 
Erie  extended  very  nearly  to  Ft.  Wayne,  and  its  ancient  shores  are 
still  plainly  marked.  The  line  of  the  old  beach  is  preserved  in  the 
ridges  running  nearly  parallel  with,  and  not  a  great  distance  from,  the 
St.  Joseph  and  the  St.  Mary's  Rivers.  Professor  G.  K.  Gilbert,  in  his 
report  of  the  "  Surface  Geology  of  the  Maumee  Valley,"  gives  the 
result  of  his  examination  of  these  interesting  features,  from  which  we 
take  the  following  valuable  extract.* 

"  The  upper  (lake)  beach  consists,  in  this  region,  of  a  single  bold 
ridge  of  sand,  pursuing  a  remarkably  straight  course  in  a  northeast  and 
southwest  direction,  and  crossing  portions  of  Defiance,  Williams  and 
Fulton  counties.  It  passes  just  west  of  Hicksville  and  Bryan  ;  while 
Williams  Center,  West  Unity  and  Fayette  are  built  on  it.  When 
Lake  Erie  stood  at  this  level,  it  was  merged  at  the  north  with  Lake 
Huron.  Its  southwest  shore  crossed  Hancock,  Putnam,  Allen  and 
Van  Wert  counties,  and  stretched  northwest  in  Indiana,  nearly  to  Ft. 
Wavne.  The  northwestern  shore  line,  leaving  Ohio  near  the  south 
line  of  Defiance  county,  is  likewise  continued  in  Indiana,  and  the  two 
converge  at  New  Haven,  six  miles  east  of  Ft.  Wayne.      They  do  not, 

*  Geological  Survey  of  Ohio,  vol.  1,  p.  550. 

21 


22  HISTORIC    NOTES    OF   THE    NORTHWEST. 

however,  unite,  but,  instead,  become  parallel,  and  are  continued  as  the 
sides  of  a  broad  watercourse,  through  which  the  great  lake  basin  then 
discharged  its  surplus  waters,  sonthwestwardly,  into  the  valley  of  the 
Wabash  River,  and  thence  to  the  Mississippi.  At  New  Haven,  this 
channel  is  not  less  than  a  mile  and  a  half  broad,  and  has  an  average 
depth  of  twenty  feet,  with  sides  and  bottom  of  drift.  For  twenty-five 
miles  this  character  continues,  and  there  is  no  notable  fall.  Three 
miles  above  Huntington,  Indiana,  however,  the  drift  bottom  is  replaced 
by  a  floor  of  Niagara  limestone,  and  the  descent  becomes  comparatively 
quite  rapid.  At  Huntington,  the  valley  is  walled,  on  one  side  at  least, 
by  rock  in  situ.  In  the  eastern  portion  of  this  ancient  river-bed,  the 
Maumee  and  its  branches  have  cut  channels  fifteen  to  twenty-five  feet 
deep,  without  meeting  the  underlying  limestone.  Most  of  the  inter- 
val from  Ft.  Wayne  to  Huntington  is  occupied  by  a  marsh,  over  which 
meanders  Little  River,  an  insignificant  stream  whose  only  claim  to  the 
title  of  river  seems  to  lie  in  the  magnitude  of  the  deserted  channel  of 
which  it  is  sole  occupant.  At  Huntington,  the  Wabash  emerges  from 
a  narrow  cleft,  of  its  own  carving,  and  takes  possession  of  the  broad 
trough  to  which  it  was  once  an  humble  tributary." 

Within  the  personal  knowledge  of  men,  the  Wabash  River  has  been, 
and  is,  only  a  rivulet,  a  shriveled,  dried  up  representative  in  comparison 
with  its  greatness  in  pre-historic  times,  when  it  bore  in  a  broader 
channel  the  waters  of  Lakes  Erie  and  Huron,  a  mighty  flood,  south- 
ward to  the  Ohio.  Whether  the  change  in  the  direction  of  the  flow  of 
Lakes  Erie,  Huron  and  Michigan  toward  the  River  St.  Lawrence,  instead 
of  through  the  Wabash  and  Illinois  Rivers  respectively,  is  because 
hemispheric  depression  has  taken  place  more  rapidly  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  lakes  than  farther  southward,  or  that  the  earth's  crust  south  of  the 
lakes  has  been,  arched  upward  by  subterraneous  influences,  and  thus 
caused  the  lakes  to  recede,  or  if  the  change  has  been  produced  by 
depression  in  one  direction  and  elevation  in  the  other,  combined,  is  not 
our  province  to  discuss.  The  fact,  however,  is  well  established  by  the 
most  abundant  and  conclusive  evidence  to  the  scientific  observer. 

The  portage,  or  carrying  place,  of  the  Wabash,*  as  known  to  the 
early  explorers  and  traders,  between  the  Maumee  and  Wabash,  or  rather 
the  head  of  Little  River,  called  by  the  French  "  La  Petit  Riviere," 
commenced  directly  at  Ft.  Wayne  ;  although,  in  certain  seasons  of  the 
year,  the  waters  approach  much  nearer  and  were  united  by  a  low  piece 

*  Schoolcraft's  Travels  in  the  Central  Portions  of  the  Mississippi  Valley. "  in  the  year 
1821,  pp.  90,  91.  In  this  year,  Mr.  Schoolcraft  made  an  examination  of  the  locality, 
with  a  view  to  furnish  the  public  information  on  the  practicability  of  a  canal  to  unite 
the  waters  of  the  Maumee  and  the  Wabash.  It  was  at  a  time  when  great  interest 
existed  through  all  parts  of  the  country  on  all  subjects  of  internal  navigation. 


PORTAGE    OF   THE    WABASH.  23 

of  ground  or  marsh  (an  arm  or  bay  of  what  is  now  called  Bear  Lake), 
where  the  two  streams  flow  within  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  of  each 
other  and  admitted  of  the  passage  of  light  canoes  from  the  one  to  the 
other. 

The  Miami  Indians  knew  the  value  of  this  portage,  and  it  was  a 
source  of  revenue  to  them,  aside  from  its  advantages  in  enabling  them 
to  exercise  an  influence  over  adjacent  tribes.  The  French,  in  passing 
from  Canada  to  New  Orleans,  and  Indian  traders  going  from  Montreal 
and  Detroit,  to  the  Indians  south  and  westward,  went  and  returned  by 
way  of  Ft.  Wayne,  where  the  Miamis,  kept  carts  and  jjack-horses,  with 
a  corps  of  Indians  to  assist  in  carrying  canoes,  furs  and  merchandise 
around  the  portage,  for  which  they  charged  a  commission.  At  the 
great  treaty  of  Greenville,  1705,  where  General  Anthony  Wayne  met 
the  several  Wabash  tribes,  he  insisted,  as  one  of  the  fruits  of  his  victory 
over  them,  at  the  Fallen  Timbers,  on  the  Maumee,  the  year  before,  that 
they  should  cede  to  the  United  States  a  piece  of  ground  six  miles 
square,  where  the  fort,  named  in  honor  of  General  Wayne,  had  been 
erected  after  the  battle  named,  and  on  the  site  of  the  present  city  of 
Ft.  Wayne ;  and,  also,  a  piece  of  territory  two  miles  square  at  the 
carrying  place.  The  distinguished  warrior  and  statesman,  "  Mishe- 
kun-nogh-quah"  (as  he  signs  his  name  at  this  treaty),  or  the  Little  Turtle 
on  behalf  of  his  tribe,  objected  to  a  relinquishment  of  their  right  to 
their  ancient  village  and  its  portage,  and  in  his  speech  to  General 
Wayne  said  :  "  Elder  Brother, — When  our  forefathers  saw  the  French 
and  English  at  the  Miami  village  —  that  'glorious  gate'  which  your 
younger  brothers  [meaning  the  Miamis]  had  the  happiness  to  own, 
and  through  which  all  the  good  words  of  our  chiefs  had  to  pass  [that 
is,  messages  between  the  several  tribes]  from  north  to  south  and  from 
east  to  west,  the  French  and  English  never  told  us  they  wished  to 
purchase  our  lands  from  us.  The  next  place  you  pointed  out  was  the 
Little  River,  and  said  you  wanted  two  miles  square  of  that  place.  This 
is  a  request  that  our  fathers  the  French  or  British  never  made  of  us  ; 
it  was  always  ours.  This  carrying  place  has  heretofore  proved,  in  a 
great  degree,  the  subsistence  of  your  brothers.  That  place  has  brought 
to  us,  in  the  course  of  one  day,  the  amount  of  one  hundred  dollars. 
Let  us  both  own  this  place  and  enjoy  in  common  the  advantages  it 
affords."     The  Little  Turtle's  speech  availed  nothing.* 

The  St.  Joseph  of  Lake  Michigan,  a  fine  stream  of  uniform,  rapid 
current,  reaches  its  most  southerly  position  near  the  city  of  South 
Bend,  Indiana, —  the  city  deriving  its  name  from  the  lend  of  the  river; 

*  Minutes  of  the  Treaty  of  Greenville:  American  State  Papers  on  Indian  Affairs. 
vol.  1,  pp.  576,  578. 


24  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON    THE    NORTHWEST. 

here  the  river  turns  northward,  reenters  the  State  of  Michigan  and  dis- 
charges into  the  lake.  West  of  the  city  is  Lake  Kankakee,  from 
which  the  Kankakee  River  takes  its  rise.  The  distance  intervening  be- 
tween the  head  of  this  little  lake  and  the  St.  Joseph  is  about  two  miles, 
over  a  piece  of  marshy  ground,  where  the  elevation  is  so  slight  "  that 
in  the  year  1S32  a  Mr.  Alexander  Croquillard  dug  a  race,  and  secured 
a  flow  of  water  from  the  lake  to  the  St.  Joseph,  of  sufficient  power  to 
run  a  grist  and  saw  mill."  * 

This  is  the  portage  of  the  Kankakee,  a  place  conspicuous  for  its 
historical  reminiscences.  It  was  much  used,  and  offered  a  choice  of 
routes  to  the  Illinois  River,  and  also  to  the  Wabash,  by  a  longer  land- 
carriage  to  the  upper  waters  of  the  Tippecanoe.  A  memoir  on  the 
Indians  of  Canada,  etc.,  prepared  in  the  year  1718  (Paris  Documents, 
vol.  1,  p.  889),  says:  "The  river  St.  Joseph  is  south  of  Lake  Michi- 
gan, formerly  the  Lake  of  the  Illinois ;  many  take  this  river  to  pass  to 
the  Rocks  [as  Fort  St.  Louis,  situated  on  '  Starved  Rock '  in  La  Salle 
county,  Illinois,  was  sometimes  called],  because  it  is  convenient,  and 
they  thereby  avoid  the  portages  '  des  Chaines '  and  '■des  Perches,''  " — 
two  long,  difficult  carrying  places  on  the  Desplaines,  which  had  to 
be  encountered  in  dry  seasons,  on  the  route  by  the  way  of  Chicago 
Creek. 

The  following  description  of  the  Kankakee  portage,  and  its  adjacent 
surroundings,  is  as  that  locality  appeared  to  Father  Hennepin,  when  he 
was  there  with  La  Salle's  party  of  voyagers  two  hundred  years  ago  the 
coming  December :  "  The  next  morning  (December  5,  1679)  we  joined 
our  men  at  the  portage,  where  Father  Gabriel  had  made  the  day  before 
several  crosses  upon  the  trees,  that  we  might  not  miss  it  another  time." 
The  voyagers  had  passed  above  the  portage  without  being  aware  of  it, 
as  the  country  was  all  strange  to  them.  We  found  here  a  great  quan- 
tity of  horns  and  bones  of  wild  oxen,  buffalo,  and  also  some  canoes 
the  savages  had  made  with  the  skins  of  beasts,  to  cross  the  river  with 
their  provisions.  This  portage  lies  at  the  farther  end  of  a  champaign  ; 
and  at  the  other  end  to  the  west  lies  a  village  of  savages, —  Miamis, 
Mascoutines  and  Oiatinons  (Weas),  who  live  together.  "  The  river  of 
the  Illinois  has  its  source  near  that  village,  and  springs  out  of  some 
marshy  lands  that  are  so  quaking  that  one  can  scarcely  walk  over  them. 
The  head  of  the  river  is  only  a  league  and  a  half  from  that  of  the  Mi- 
amis  (the  St.  Joseph),  and  so  our  portage  was  not  long.  We  marked 
the  way  from  place  to  place,  with  some  trees,  for  the  convenience  of 
those  we  expected  after  us ;  and  left  at  the  portage  as  well  as  at  Fort 

*  Prof.  G.  M.  Levette's  Report  on  the  Geology  of  St.  Joseph  County:  Geological 
Survey  of  Indiana  for  the  year  1873,  p.  459. 


THE    KANKAKEE.  25 

Miamis  (which  they  had  previously  erected  at  the  month  of  the  St. 
Joseph),  letters  hanging  down  from  the  trees,  containing  M.  La  Salle's 
instructions  to  our  pilot,  and  the  other  five-and-twenty  men  who  were 
to  come  with  him."  The  pilot  had  been  sent  back  from  Mackinaw 
with  La  Salle's  ship,  the  Griffin,  loaded  with  furs ;  was  to  discharge 
the  cargo  at  the  fort  below  the  mouth  of  Niagara  River,  and  then 
bring  the  ship  with  all  dispatch  to  the  St.  Joseph. 

"  The  Illinois  River  (continues  Hennepin's  account)  is  navigable 
within  a  hundred  paces  from  its  source, —  I  mean  for  canoes  of  barks  of 
trees,  and  not  for  others, —  but  increases  so  much  a  little  way  from 
thence,  that  it  is  as  deep  and  broad  as  the  Meuse  and  the  Sambre  joined 
together.  It  runs  through  vast  marshes,  and  although  it  be  rapid 
enough,  it  makes  so  many  turnings  and  windings,  that  after  a  whole 
day's  journey  we  found  that  we  were  hardly  two  leagues  from  the  place 
we  left  in  the  morning.  That  country  is  nothing  but  marshes,  full  of 
alder  trees  and  bushes ;  and  we  could  have  hardly  found,  for  forty 
leagues  together,  any  place  to  plant  our  cabins,  had  it  not  been  for  the 
frost,  which  made  the  earth  more  firm  and  consistent." 


CHAPTER   IV. 


RAINFALL. 


An  interesting  topic  connected  with  our  rivers  is  the  question  of 
rainfall.  The  streams  of  the  west,  unlike  those  of  mountainous  dis- 
tricts, which  are  fed  largely  by  springs  and  brooks  issuing  from  the 
rocks,  are  supplied  mostly  from  the  clouds.  It  is  within  the  observa- 
tion of  persons  who  lived  long  in  the  valleys  of  the  Wabash  and  Illinois, 
or  along  their  tributaries,  that  these  streams  apparently  carry  a  less 
volume  of  water  than  formerly.  Indeed,  the  water-courses  seem  to  be 
gradually  drying  up,  and  the  whole  surface  of  the  country  drained  by 
them  has  undergone  the  same  change.  In  early  days  almost  every 
land-owner  on  the  prairies  had  upon  his  farm  a  pond  that  furnished 
an  unfailing  supply  of  water  for  his  live  stock  the  year  around.  These 
never  went  dry,  even  in  the  driest  seasons. 

Formerly  the  Wabash  afforded  reliable  steamboat  navigation  as 
high  up  as  La  Fayette.  In  1831,  between  the  5th  of  March  and  the 
16th  of  April,  fifty-four  steamboats  arrived  and  departed  from  Vin- 
cennes.  In  the  months  of  February,  March  and  April  of  the  same  year, 
there  were  sixty  arrivals  and  departures  from  La  Fayette,  then  a  village 
of  only  three  or  four  hundred  houses  ;  many  of  these  boats  were  large 
side-wheel  steamers,  built  for  navigating  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi,  and 
known  as  New  Orleans  or  lower  river  boats.*  The  writer  has  the 
concurrent  evidence  of  scores  of  early  settlers  with  whom  he  has  con- 
versed that  formerly  the  Vermilion,  at  Danville,  had  to  be  ferried  on 
an  average  six  months  during  the  year,  and  the  river  was  considered 
low  when  it  could  be  forded  at  this  place  without  water  running  into 
the  wagon  bed.  Now  it  is  fordable  at  all  times,  except  when  swollen 
with  freshets,  which  now  subside  in  a  very  few  days,  and  often  within 
as  many  hours.  Doubtless,  the  same  tacts  can  be  affirmed  of  the  many 
other  tributaries  of  the  Illinois  and  Wabash  whose  names  have  been 
already  given. 

The  early  statutes  of  Illinois  and  Indiana  are  replete  with  special 
laws,  passed  between  the  years  1825  and  1840,  when  the  people  of 
these  two  states  were  crazed  over  the  question  of  internal  navigation, 
providing  enactments  and  charters  for  the  slack-water  improvement  of 

*  Tanner's  View  of  the  Mississippi,  published  in  1832,  p.  154. 

26 


EAINFALL.  27 

hundreds  of  streams  whose  insignificance  have  now  only  a  dry  bed, 
most  of  the  year,  to  indicate  that  they  were  ever  dignified  with  such 
legislation  and  invested  with  the  promise  of  bearing  upon  their  bosoms 
a  portion  of  the  future  internal  commerce  of  the  country. 

It  will  not  do  to  assume  that  the  seeming  decrease  of  water  in  the 
streams  is  caused  by  a  diminution  of  rain.      The  probabilities  are  that 
the  annual  rainfall  is  greater  in  Indiana  and  Illinois  than  before  their 
settlement  with   a   permanent   population.      The  "settling   up"  of  a 
country,  tilling  its  soil,  planting  trees,  constructing  railroads,  and  erect- 
ing telegraph  lines,  all  tend  to  induce  moisture  and  produce  changes 
in  the  electric  and  atmospheric  currents  that  invite  the  clouds  to  pre- 
cipitate their  showers.     Such  has  been  the  effect  produced  by  the  hand 
of  man  upon  the  hitherto  arid  plains  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska.    Indeed, 
at  an  early  day  some  portions  of  Illinois  were  considered  as  uninhab- 
itable as  western  Kansas  and  Nebraska  were  supposed,  a  few  years  ago, 
to  be  on  account  of  the  prevailing  drouths.     That  part  of  the  state 
lying  between  the  Illinois  and  Mississippi  Rivers,  south  of  a  line  run- 
ning from  the  Mississippi,  between  Rock  Island  and  Mercer  counties, 
east  to  the  Illinois,  set  off  for  the  benefit  of  the  soldiers  of  the  War 
of  1812,  and  for  that  reason  called  the  "Military  Tract,"  except  that 
part  of  it  lying  more  immediately  near  the  rivers  named,  was  laid  under 
the  bane  of  a  drouth-stricken  region.      Mr.  Lewis  A.  Beck,  a  shrewd 
and  impartial  observer,  and  a  gentleman  of  great  scientific  attainments,* 
was  through  the  "  military  tract  "  shortly  after  it  had  been  run  out  into 
sections  and   townships  by  the  government,  and   says  concerning  it, 
"  The  northern  part  of  the  tract  is  not   so  favorable  for  settlement. 
The  prairies  become  very  extensive  and  are  badly  watered.     In  fact, 
this  last  is  an   objection  to   the  whole  tract.     In  dry  seasons  it  is  not 
unusual  to  walk  through  beds  of  the  largest  streams  without  finding  a 
drop  of  water.      It  is  not  surprising  that  a  country  so  far  distant  from 
the  sea  and  drained  by  such  large  rivers,  which  have  a  course  of  several 
thousand  miles  before  they  reach  the  great  reservoir,  should  not  be  well 
watered.     This,  we  observe,  is  the  case  with  all  tine-flowing  streams  of 
the  highlands,  whereas  those  of  the  Champaign  and  prairies  settle  in 
the  form  of  ponds,  which  stagnate  and  putrify.      Besides,  on  the  same 
account  there  are  very  few  heavy  rains  in  the  summer ;    and   hence 
during  that  season  water  is  exceedingly  scarce.     The  Indians,  in  their 
journeys,  pass  by  places  where  they  know  there  are  ponds,  but  gener- 
ally they  are  under  the  necessity  of  carrying  water  in  bladders.      This 
drouth  is  not  confined  to  the  '  military  tract,'  but  in  some  seasons  is 
very  general.      During  the  summer  of  1820  it  was  truly  alarming; 

*  Beck's  Illinois  and  Missouri  Gazetteer,  published  in  1823,  pp.  79,  80. 


28  HISTORIC    NOTES   ON    THE    NORTHWEST. 

travelers,  in  many  instances,  were  obliged  to  pass  whole  days,  in  the 
warmest  weather,  without  being  able  to  procure  a  cupful  of  water  for 
themselves  or  their  horses,  and  that  which  they  occasionally  did  find 
was  almost  putrid.  It  may  be  remarked,  however,  that  such  seasons 
rarely  occur ;  but  on  account  of  its  being  washed  by  rivers  of  such 
immense  length  this  section  of  the  country  is  peculiarly  liable  to  suffer 
from  excessive  drouth."  The  millions  of  bushels  of  grain  annually 
raised  in,  and  the  vast  herds  of  cattle  and  other  live  stock  that  are  fat- 
tened on,  the  rich  pastures  of  Bureau,  Henry,  Stark,  Peoria,  Knox, 
Warren,  and  other  counties  lying  wholly  or  partially  within  the  "'mili- 
tary tract,"  illustrate  an  increase  and  uniformity  of  rainfall  since  the 
time  Professor  Beck  recorded  his  observations.  In  no  part  of  Illinois 
are  the  crops  more  abundant  and  certain,  and  less  liable  to  suffer  from 
excessive  drouth,  than  in  the  "  military  tract."  The  apparent  decrease  in 
the  volume  of  water  carried  by  the  Wabash  and  its  tributaries  is  easily 
reconciled  with  the  theorv  of  an  increased  rainfall  since  the  settlement 
of  the  country.  These  streams  for  the  most  part  have  their  sources  in 
ponds,  marshes  and  low  grounds.  These  basins,  covering  a  great  extent 
of  the  surface  of  the  country,  served  as  reservoirs  ;  the  earth  was  cov- 
ered with  a  thick  turf  that  prevented  the  water  penetrating  the  ground  ; 
tall  grasses  in  the  valleys  and  about  the  margin  of  the  ponds  impeded 
the  flow  of  water,  and  fed  it  out  gradually  to  the  rivers.  In  the  tim- 
ber the  marshes  were  likewise  protected  from  a  rapid  discharge  of  their 
contents  by  the  trunks  of  fallen  trees,  limbs  and  leaves. 

Since  the  lands  have  been  reduced  to  cultivation,  millions  of  acres 
of  sod  have  been  broken  by  the  plow,  a  spongy  surface  has  been  turned 
to  the  heavens  and  much  of  the  rainfall  is  at  once  soaked  into  the 
ground.  The  ponds  and  low  grounds  have  been  drained.  The  tall 
grasses  with  their  mat  of  penetrating  roots  have  disappeared  from  the 
swales.  The  brooks  and  drains,  from  causes  partially  natural,  or  artifi- 
cially aided  by  man,  have  cut  through  the  ancient  turf  and  made  well 
defined  ditches.  The  rivers  themselves  have  worn  a  deeper  passage  in 
their  beds.  By  these  means  the  water  is  now  soon  collected  from  the 
earth's  surface  and  carried  off  with  increased  velocity.  Formerly  the 
streams  would  sustain  their  volume  continuously  for  weeks.  Hence 
much  of  the  rainfall  is  directly  taken  into  the  ground,  and  only  a  por- 
tion of  it  now  finds  its  way  to  the  rivers,  and  that  which  does  has  a 
speedier  exit.  Besides  this,  settlement  of  and  particularly  the  growing 
of  trees  on  the  prairies  and  the  clearing  out  of  the  excess  of  forests  in  the 
timbered  districts,  tends  to  distribute  the  rainfall  more  evenly  through- 
out the  year,  and  in  a  large  degree  prevents  the  recurrence  of  those  ex- 
tremes of  drouth  and  flood  with  which  this  country  was  formerly  visited. 


CHAPTER   V. 

ORIGIN   OF  THE  PRAIRIES. 

The  prairies  have  ever  been  a  wonder,  and  their  origin  the  theme  of 
much  curious  speculation.  The  vast  extent  of  these  natural  meadows 
would  naturally  excite  curiosity,  and  invite  the  many  theories  which, 
from  time  to  time,  have  been  advanced  by  writers  holding  conflicting 
opinions  as  to  the  manner  in  which  they  were  formed.  Major  Stod- 
dard, H.  M.  Brackenridge  and  Governor  Reynolds,  whose  personal 
acquaintance  with  the  prairies,  eastward  of  the  Mississippi,  extended 
back  prior  to  the  year  1800,  and  whose  observations  were  supported 
by  the  experience  of  other  contemporaneous  residents  of  the  west,  held 
that  the  prairies  were  caused  by  fire.  The  prairies  are  covered  with 
grass,  and  were  probably  occasioned  by  the  ravages  of  fire ;  because 
wherever  copses  of  trees  were  found  on  them,  the  grounds  about  them 
are  low  and  too  moist  to  admit  the  fire  to  pass  over  it ;  and  because  it  is 
a  common  practice  among  the  Indians  and  other  hunters  to  set  the 
woods  and  prairies  on  fire,  by  means  of  which  they  are  able  to  kill  an 
abundance  of  game.  They  take  secure  stations  to  the  leeward,  and 
the  fire  drives  the  game  to  them.* 

The  plains  of  Indiana  and  Illinois  have  been  mostly  produced  by 
the  same  cause.  They  are  very  different  from  the  Savannahs  on  the 
seaboard  and  the  immense  plains  of  the  upper  Missouri.  In  the 
prairies  of  Indiana  I  have  been  assured  that  the  woods  in  places  have 
been  known  to  recede,  and  in  others  to  increase,  within  the  recollection 
of  the  old  inhabitants.  In  moist  places,  the  woods  are  still  standing, 
the  fire  meeting  here  with  obstruction.  Trees,  if  planted  in  these 
prairies,  would  doubtless  grow.  In  the  islands,  preserved  by  accidental 
causes,  the  progress  of  the  fire  can  be  traced ;  the  first  burning  would 
only  scorch  the  outer  bark  of  the  tree;  this  would  render  it  more 
susceptible  to  the  next,  the  third  would  completely  kill.  I  have  seen 
in  places,  at  present  completely  prairie,  pieces  of  burnt  trees,  proving 
that  the  prairie  had  been  caused  by  fire.  The  grass  is  generally  very 
luxuriant,  which  is  not  the  case  in  the  plains  of  the  Missouri.  There 
may,  doubtless,  be  spots  where  the  proportion  of  salts  or  other  bodies 
may  be  such  as  to  favor  the  growth  of  grass  only.f 

*  Sketches  of  Louisiana,  by  Major  Amos  Stoddard,  p.  213. 
t  Brackenridge's  Views  of  Louisiana,  p.  108. 

29 


30  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON    THE    NORTHWEST. 

Governor  Reynolds,  who  came  to  Illinois  at  the  age  of  thirteen,  in 
the  year  1800,  and  lived  here  for  over  sixty  years,  the  greater  portion 
of  his  time  employed  in  a  public  capacity,  roving  over  the  prairies 
in  the  Indian  border  wars  or  overseeing  the  affairs  of  a  public  and  busy 
life,  in  his  interesting  autobiography,  published  in  1855,  says:  "Many 
learned  essays  are  written  on  the  origin  of  the  prairies,  but  any  atten- 
tive observer  will  come  to  the  conclusion  that  it  is  fire  burning  the 
strong,  high  grass  that  caused  the  prairies.  I  have  witnessed  the 
growth  of  the  forest  in  these  southern  counties  of  Illinois,  and  know 
there  is  more  timber  in  them  now  than  there  was  forty  or  fifty  years 
before.  The  obvious  reason  is,  the  fire  is  kept  out.  This  is  likewise 
the  reason  the  prairies  are  generally  the  most  fertile  soil.  The  vegeta- 
tion in  them  was  the  strongest  and  the  fires  there  burnt  with  the  most 
power.  The  timber  was  destroyed  more  rapidly  in  the  fertile  soil  than 
in  the  barren  lands.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  timber  in  the  north  of 
the  state,  is  found  only  on  the  margins  of  streams  and  other  places 
where  the  prairie  fires  could  not  reach  it." 

The  later  and  more  satisfactory  theory  is,  that  the  prairies  were 
formed  by  the  action  of  water  instead  of  fire.  This  position  was  taken 
and  very  ably  discussed  by  that  able  and  learned  writer,  Judge  James 
Hall,  as  early  as  1836.  More  recently,  Prof.  Lesquereux  prepared  an 
article  on  the  origin  and  formation  of  the  prairies,  published  at  length 
in  vol.  1,  Geological  Survey  of  Illinois,  pp.  238  to  254,  inclusive ;  and  Dr. 
Worthen,  the  head  of  the  Illinois  Geological  Department,  referring  to 
this  article  and  its  author,  gives  to  both  a  most  flattering  indorsement. 
Declining  to  discuss  the  comparative  merits  of  the  various  theories  as 
to  the  formation  of  the  prairies,  the  doctor  "  refers  the  reader  to  the 
very  able  chapter  on  the  subject  by  Prof.  Lesquereux.  whose  thorough 
acquaintance,  both  with  fossil  and  recent  botany,  and  the  general  laws 
which  govern  the  distribution  of  the  ancient  as  well  as  the  recent  flora, 
entitles  his  opinion  to  our  most  profound  consideration."  * 

Prof.  Lesquereux'  article  is  exhaustive,  and  his  conclusions  are 
summed  up  in  the  declaration  "  that  all  the  prairies  of  the  Mississippi 
Valley  have  been  formed  by  the  slow  recessions  of  waters  of  various 
extent ;  first  transformed  into  swamps,  and  in  the  process  of  time 
drained  and  dried ;  and  that  the  high  rolling  prairies,  and  those  of 
these  bottoms  along  the  rivers  as  well,  are  all  the  result  of  the  same 
cause,  and  form  one  whole,  indivisible  system." 

Still  later,  another  eminent  writer,  Hon.  John  D.  Caton,  late  Judge 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Illinois,  has  given  the  result  of  his  observa- 

*  Chap.  1,  p.  10,  Geology  of  Illinois,  by  Dr.  Worthen;  vol.  1,  Illinois  Geological 
Sui'vey. 


the  puairip:s.  31 

tions.  While  assenting  to  the  received  conclusion  that  the  prairies  — 
the  land  itself — have  been  formed  under  water,  except  the  decomposed 
animal  and  vegetable  matter  that  has  been  added  to  the  surface  of  the 
lands  since  their  emergence,  the  judge  dissents  from  Prof.  Lesquereux, 
in  so  far  as  the  latter  holds  that  the  presence  of  ulmic  acid  and  other 
unfavorable  chemicals  in  the  soil  of  the  prairies,  rendered  them  unfit 
for  the  growth  of  trees;  and  in  extending  his  theory  to  the  prairies  on 
the  uplands,  as  well  as  in  their  more  level  and  marshy  portions.  The 
learned  judge  holds  to  the  popular  theory  that  the  most  potent  cause 
in  keeping  the  prairies  as  such,  and  retarding  and  often  destroying 
forest  growth  on  them,  is  the  agency  of  fire.  Whatever  may  have 
been  the  condition  of  the  ground  when  the  prairie  lands  first  emerged 
from  the  waters,  or  the  chemical  changes  they  may  have  since  under- 
gone, how  many  years  the  process  of  vegetable  growth  and  decay  may 
have  gone  on,  adding  their  deposits  of  rich  loam  to  the  original  sur- 
face, making  the  soil  the  most  fertile  in  the  world,  is  a  matter  of  mere 
speculation ;  certain  it  is,  however,  that  ever  within  the  knowledge  of 
man  the  prairies  have  possessed  every  element  of  soil  necessary  to  in- 
sure a  rapid  and  vigorous  growth  of  forest  trees,  wherever  the  germ 
could  find  a  lodgment  and  their  tender  years  be  protected  against  the 
one  formidable  enemy,  fire.  Judge  Caton  gives  the  experience  of  old 
settlers  in  the  northern  part  of  the  state,  similar  to  that  of  Bracken- 
ridge  and  Reynolds,  already  quoted,  where,  on  the  Vermillion  River 
of  the  Illinois,  and  also  in  the  neighborhood  of  Ottawa  many  years 
ago,  fires  occurred  under  the  observation  of  the  narrators,  which 
utterly  destroyed,  root  and  branch,  an  entire  hardwood  forest,  the 
prairie  taking  immediate  possession  of  the  burnt  district,  clothing  it 
with  grasses  of  its  own  ;  and  in  a  few  years  this  forest  land,  reclaimed 
to  prairie,  could  not  be  distinguished  from  the  prairie  itself,  except 
from  its  «;reater  luxuriance. 

Judge  Caton's  illustration  of  how  the  forests  obtain  a  foot-hold  in 
the  prairies  is  so  aptly  expressed,  and  in  such  harmony  with  the  ex- 
perience of  every  old  settler  on  the  prairies  of  eastern  Illinois  and 
western  Indiana,  that  we  quote  it. 

"  The  cause  of  the  absence  of  trees  on  the  upland  prairies  is  the 
problem  most  important  to  the  agricultural  interests  of  our  state,  and 
it  is  the  inquiry  which  alone  I  propose  to  consider,  but  cannot  resist 
the  remark  that  wherever  we  do  find  timber  throughout  this  broad 
field  of  prairie,  it  is  always  in  or  near  the  humid  portions  of  it, —  as 
along  the  margins  of  streams,  or  upon  or  near  the  springy  uplands. 
Many  most  luxuriant  groves  are  found  on  the  highest  portions  of  the 
uplands,  but  always  in  the  neighborhood  of  water.     For  a  remarkable 


32  HISTORIC    NOTES    OX    THE    NORTHWEST. 

example  I  may  refer  to  that  great  chain  of  groves  extending  from  and 
including  the  Au  Sable  Grove  on  the  east  and  Holderman's  Grove  on 
the  west,  in  Kendall  county,  occupying  the  high  divide  between  the 
waters  of  the  Illinois  and  the  Fox  Rivers.  In  and  around  all  the 
groves  flowing  springs  abound,  and  some  of  them  are  separated  by 
marshes,  to  the  very  borders  of  which  the  great  trees  approach,  as  if 
the  forest  were  ready  to  seize  upon  each  yard  of  ground  as  soon  as  it  is 
elevated  above  the  swamps.  Indeed,  all  our  groves  seem  to  be  located 
where  water  is  so  disposed  as  to  protect  them,  to  a  great  or  less  extent, 
from  the  prairie  fire,  although  not  so  situated  as  to  irrigate  them.  If 
the  head-waters  of  the  streams  on  the  prairies  are  most  frequently  with- 
out timber,  so  soon  as  they  have  attained  sufficient  volume  to  impede 
the  progress  of  the  fires,  with  very  few  exceptions  we  find  forests  on 
their  borders,  becoming  broader  and  more  vigorous  as  the  magnitude 
of  the  streams  increase.  It  is  manifest  that  land  located  on  the  borders 
of  streams  which  the  fire  cannot  pass  are  only  exposed  to  one-half  the 
fires  to  which  they  would  be  exposed  but  for  such  protection.  This 
tends  to  show,  at  least,  that  if  but  one-half  the  fires  that  have  occurred 
had  been  kindled,  the  arboraceous  growth  could  have  withstood  their 
destructive  influences,  and  the  whole  surface  of  what  is  now  prairie 
would  be  forest.  Another  confirmatory  fact,  patent  to  all  observers,  is, 
that  the  prevailing  winds  upon  the  prairies,  especially  in  the  autumn, 
are  from  the  west,  and  these  give  direction  to  the  prairie  fires.  Conse- 
quentlv,  the  lands  on  the  westerly  sides  of  the  streams  are  the  most 
exposed  to  the  fires,  and,  as  might  be  expected,  we  find  much  the  most 
timber  on  the  easterly  sides  of  the  streams." 

"Another  fact,  always  a  subject  of  remark  among  the  dwellers  on 
the  prairies,  I  regard  as  conclusive  proof  that  the  prairie  soils  are  pecu- 
liarly adapted  to  the  growth  of  trees  is.  that  wherever  the  fires  have 
been  kept  from  the  groves  by  the  settlers,  they  have  rapidly  encroached 
upon  the  prairies,  unless  closely  depastured  by  the  farmers'  stock,  or 
prevented  by  cultivation.  This  fact  I  regard  as  established  by  careful 
observation  of  more  than  thirtv-five  years,  during  which  I  have  been 
an  interested  witness  of  the  settlement  of  this  country, —  from  the  time 
when  a  few  log  cabins,  many  miles  apart,  bnilt  in  the  borders  of  the 
groves,  alone  were  met  with,  till  now  nearly  the  whole  of  the  great 
prairies  in  our  state,  at  least,  are  brought  under  cultivation  by  the  in- 
dustry of  the  husbandman.  Indeed,  this  is  a  fact  as  well  recognized 
by  the  settlers  as  that  corn  will  grow  upon  the  prairies  when  properly 
cultivated.  Ten  vears  ago  I  heard  the  observation  made  bv  intelligent 
men,  that  within  the  preceding  twenty-five  years  the  area  of  the  timber 
in  the  prairie  portions  of  the  state  had  actually  doubled  by  the  sponta- 


FOREST    ENCROACHMENT.  :',:; 

neous  extension  of  the  natural  groves.  However  this  may  be,  certain 
it  is  that  the  encroachments  of  the  timber  upon  the  prairies  have  been 
universal  and  rapid,  wherever  not  impeded  by  fire  or  other  physical 
causes." 

"When  Europeans  first  landed  in  America,  as  they  left  the  dense 
forests  east  of  the  Alleghanies  and  went  west  over  the  mountains  into 
the  valleys  beyond,  anywhere  between  Lake  Erie  and  the  fortieth 
degree  of  latitude,  approaching  the  Scioto  River,  they  would  have  seen 
small  patches  of  country  destitute  of  timber.  These  were  called  open- 
ings. As  they  proceeded  farther  toward  the  Wabash  the  number  and 
area  of  these  openings  or  barrens  would  increase.  These  last  were  called 
by  the  English  savannahs  or  meadows,  and  by  the  French,  prairies. 
Westward  of  the  Wabash,  except  occasional  tracts  of  timbered  lands 
in  northern  Indiana,  and  fringes  of  forest  growth  along  the  inter- 
vening water-courses,  the  prairies  stretch  westward  continuously  across 
a  part  of  Indiana  and  the  whole  of  Illinois  to  the  Mississippi.  Taking 
the  line  of  the  Wabash  railway,  which  crosses  Illinois  in  its  greatest 
breadth,  and  beginning  in  Indiana,  where  the  railway  leaves  the  tim- 
ber, west  of  the  Wabash  nearMarshfield,  the  prairie  extends  to  Quincy, 
a  distance  of  more  than  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  and  its  contin- 
uity the  entire  way  is  only  broken  by  four  strips  of  timber  along  four 
streams  running  at  right  angles  with  the  route  of  the  railway,  namely 
the  timber  on  the  Vermillion  River,  between  Danville  and  the  Indiana 
state-line,  the  Sangamon,  seventy  miles  west  of  Danville  near  Decatur, 
the  Sangamon  again  a  few  miles  east  of  Springfield,  and  the  Illinois 
River  at  Meredosia;  and  all  of  the  timber  at  the  crossing  of  these 
several  streams,  if  put  together,  would  not  aggregate  fifteen  miles 
against  the  two  hundred  and  lift}7  miles  of  prairie.  Taking  a  north 
and  south  direction  and  parallel  with  the  drainage  of  the  rivers,  one 
could  start  near  Ashley,  on  the  Illinois  Central  railway,  in  Washing- 
ton county,  and  going  northward,  nearly  on  an  air-line,  keeping  on  the 
divide  between  the  Kaskaskia  and  Little  Wabash,  the  Sangamon  and 
the  Vermillion,  the  Iroquois  and  the  Vermillion  of  the  Illinois,  cross- 
ing the  latter  stream  between  the  mouths  of  the  Fox  and  Du  Page  and 
travel  through  to  the  state  of  Wisconsin,  a  distance  of  nearly  three 
hundred  miles,  without  encountering  five  miles  of  timber  during  the 
whole  journey.  Mere  figures  of  distances  across  the  "  Grand  Prairie," 
as  this  vast  meadow  was  called  by  the  old  settlers,  fail  to  give  an  ade- 
quate idea  of  its  magnitude. 

Let  the  reader,  in  fancy,  go  back  fifty  or  sixty  years,  when  there 
were  no  farms  between  the  settlement  on  the  North  Arm  Prairie,  in 
Edgar  county,  and  Ft.  Clark,  now  Peoria,  on  the  Illinois  River,  or 
3 


34  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

between  the  Salt  Works,  west  of  Danville,  and  Ft.  Dearborn,  where 
Chicago  now  is,  or  when  there  was  not  a  house  between  the  Wabash 
and  Illinois  Rivers  in  the  direction  of  La  Fayette  and  Ottawa ;  when 
there  was  not  a  solitary  road  to  mark  the  way ;  when  Indian  trails  alone 
led  to  unknown  places,  where  no  animals  except  the  wild  deer  and 
slinking  wolf  would  stare,  the  one  with  timid  wonder,  the  other  with 
treacherous  leer,  upon  the  ventursome  traveler;  when  the  gentle  winds 
moved  the  supple  grasses  like  waves  of  a  green  sea  under  the  sum- 
mer's sky;  —  the  beauty,  the  grandeur  and  solitude  of  the  prairies  may 
be  imagined  as  they  were  a  reality  to  the  pioneer  when  he  first  beheld 
them. 

There  is  an  essential  difference  between  the  prairies  eastward  of  the 
Mississippi  and  the  great  plains  westward  necessary  to  be  borne  in 
mind.  The  western  plains,  while  they  present  a  seeming  level  appear- 
ance to  the  eye,  rise  rapidly  to  the  westward.  From  Kansas  City  to 
Pueblo  the  ascent  is  continuous ;  beyond  Ft.  Dodge,  the  plains,  owing 
to  their  elevation  and  consequent  dryness  of  the  atmosphere  and 
absence  of  rainfall,  produce  a  thin  and  stunted  vegetation.  The  prai- 
ries of  Illinois  and  Indiana,  on  the  contrary,  are  much  nearer  the  sea- 
level,  where  the  moisture  is  greater.  There  were  many  jDonds  and 
sloughs  which  aided  in  producing  a  humid  atmosphere,  all  which 
induced  a  rank  growth  of  grasses.  All  early  writers,  referring  to  the 
vegetation  of  our  prairies,  including  Fathers  Hennepin,  St.  Cosme, 
Charlevoix  and  others,  who  recorded  their  personal  observations  nearly 
two  hundred  years  ago,  as  well  as  later  English  and  American  travel- 
ers, bear  uniform  testimony  to  the  fact  of  an  unusually  luxuriant 
growth  of  grasses. 

Early  settlers,  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  author,  all  bear  witness 
to  the  rank  growth  of  vegetation  on  the  prairies  before  it  was  grazed 
by  live  stock,  and  supplanted  with  shorter  grasses,  that  set  in  as  the 
country  improved.  Since  the  organization  of  Edgar  county  in  1823, — 
of  which  all  the  territory  north  to  the  Wisconsin  line  was  then  a 
part, —  on  the  level  prairie  between  the  present  sites  of  Danville  and 
Georgetown,  the  grass  grew  so  high  that  it  was  a  source  of  amusement 
to  tie  the  tops  over  the  withers  of  a  horse,  and  in  places  the  height  of 
the  grass  would  nearly  obscure  both  horse  and  rider  from  view.  This 
was  not  a  slough,  but  on  arable  land,  where  some  of  the  first  farms  in 
Vermillion  county  were  broken  out.  On  the  high  rolling  prairies  the 
vegetation  was  very  much  shorter,  though  thick  and  compact ;  its  aver- 
age height  being  about  two  feet. 

The  prairie  fires  have  been  represented  in  exaggerated  pictures  of 
men  and  wild  animals  retreating  at  full  speed,  with  every  mark  of  ter- 


PRAIRIE    FIRES.  35 

ror,  before  the  devouring  element.  Such  pictures  are  overdrawn.  In- 
stances of  loss  of  human  life,  or  animals,  may  have  sometimes  occurred. 
The  advance  of  the  fire  is  rapid  or  slow,  as  the  wind  may  be  strong  or 
light ;  the  flames  leaping  high  in  the  air  in  their  progress  over  level 
ground,  or  burning  lower  over  the  uplands.  When  a  tire  starts  under 
favorable  causes,  the  horizon  gleams  brighter  and  brighter  until  a  fiery 
redness  rises  above  its  dark  outline,  while  heavy,  slow-moving  masses 
of  dark  clouds  curve  upward  above  it.  In  another  moment  the  blaze 
itself  shoots  up,  first  at  one  spot  then  at  another,  advancing  until  the 
whole  horizon  extending  across  a  wide  prairie  is  clothed  with  flames, 
that  roll  and  curve  and  dash  onward  and  upward  like  waves  of  a  burn- 
ing ocean,  lighting  up  the  landscape  with  the  brilliancy  of  noon-day. 
A  roaring,  crackling  sound  is  heard  like  the  rushing  of  a  hurricane. 
The  flame,  which  in  general  rises  to  the  height  of  twenty  feet,  is  seen 
rolling  its  waves  against  each  other  as  the  liquid,  tier}'  mass  moves  for- 
ward, leaving  behind  it  a  blackened  surface  on  the  ground,  and  long 
trails  of  murky  smoke  floating  above.  A  more  terrific  sight  than  the 
burning  prairies  in  early  days  can  scarcely  be  conceived.  Woe  to  the 
farmer  whose  fields  extended  into  the  prairie,  and  who  had  suffered 
the  tall  grass  to  grow  near  his  fences ;  the  labor  of  the  year  would  be 
swept  away  in  a  few  hours.  Such  accidents  occasionally  occurred, 
although  the  preventive  was  simple.  The  usual  remedy  was  to  set 
fire  against  fire,  or  to  burn  off  a  strip  of  grass  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
improved  ground,  a  beaten  road,  the  treading  of  domestic  animals 
about  the  inclosure  of  the  tanner,  would  generally  afford  protection. 
In  other  cases  a  few  furrows  would  be  plowed  around  the  field,  or  the 
grass  closely  mowed  between  the  outside  of  the  fence  and  the  open 
prairie.* 

No  wonder  that  the  Indians,  noted  for  their  naming  a  place  or 
thing  from  some  of  its  distinctive  peculiarities,  should  have  called 
the  prairies  Mas-ko-tia,  or  the  place  of  fire.  In  the  ancient  Algon- 
quin tongue,  as  well  as  in  its  more  modern  form  of  the  Ojibbeway  (or 
Chippeway,  as  this  people  are  improperly  designated),  the  word  scoutay 
means  fire ;  and  in  the  Illinois  and  Pottowatamie,  kindred  dialects,  it 
is  scotte  and  scutay,  respectively.f  It  is  also  eminently  characteristic 
that  the  Indians,  who  lived  and  hunted  exclusively  upon  the  prairies, 
were  known  among  their  red  brethren  as  "  Maskoutes,"  rendered  by 
the  French  writers,  Maskoutines,  or  People  of  the  Fire  or  Prairie 
Country. 

North   of  a   line   drawn  west  from  Vincennes,  Illinois  is  wholly 

*  Judge  James  Hall:  Tales  of  the  Border,  p.  244;  Statistics  of  the  West,  p.  82. 
t  Gallatin's  Synopsis  of  the  Indian  Tribes,  etc. 


36  HISTORIC    NOTES   ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

prairie, —  always  excepting  the  thin  curtain  of  timber  draping  the 
water-courses ;  and  all  that  part  of  Indiana  lying  north  and  west  of 
the  Wabash,  embracing  fully  one-third  of  the  area  of  the  state,  is 
essentially  so. 

Of  the  twenty-seven  counties  in  Indiana,  lying  wholly  or  partially 
west  and  north  of  the  Wabash,  twelve  of  them  are  prairie ;  seven  are 
mixed  prairies,  barrens  and  timber,  the  barrens  and  prairie  predomi- 
nating. In  five,  the  barrens,  with  the  prairies,  are  nearly  equal  to  the 
timber,  while  only  three  of  the  counties  can  be  characterized  as  heavily 
timbered.  And  wherever  timber  does  occur  in  these  twenty-seven 
counties,  it  is  found  in  localities  favorable  to  its  protection  against  the 
ravages  of  fire,  by  the  proximity  of  intervening  lakes,  marshes  or 
water-courses.  We  cannot  know  how  long  it  took  the  forest  to  ad- 
vance from  the  Scioto :  how  often  capes  and  points  of  trees,  like  skir- 
mishers of  an  army,  secured  a  foothold  to  the  eastward  of  the  lakes  and 
rivers  of  Ohio  and  Indiana,  only  to  be  driven  back  again  by  the  prairie 
fires  advancing  from  the  opposite  direction ;  or  conceive  how  many 
generations  of  forest  growth  were  consumed  by  the  prairie  fires  before 
the  timber-line  was  pushed  westward  across  the  state  of  Ohio,  and 
through  Indiana  to  the  banks  of  the  Wabash. 

The  prairies  of  Illinois  and  Indiana  were  born  of  water  and  pre- 
served by  fire  for  the  children  of  civilized  men,  who  have  come  and 
taken  possession  of  them.  The  manner  of  their  coming,  and  the  diffi- 
culties that  befell  them  on  the  way,  will  hereafter  be  considered.  The 
white  man,  like  the  forests,  advanced  from  the  east.  The  red  man, 
like  the  prairie  fires,  as  we  shall  hereafter  see,  came  from  the  west. 


CHAPTER  VI 


EARLY  DISCOVERIES. 


Having  given  a  description  of  the  lakes  and  rivers,  and  noticed 
some  of  the  more  prominent  features  that  characterize  the  physical 
geography  of  the  territory  within  the  scope  of  our  inquiry,  and  the 
parts  necessarily  connected  with  it,  forming,  as  it  were,  the  outlines  or 
ground  plan  of  its  history,  we  will  now  proceed  to  fill  in  the  frame- 
work, with  a  narration  of  its  discovery.  Jacques  Cartier,  as  already 
intimated  in  a  note  on  a  preceding  page,  ascended  the  St.  Lawrence 
River  in  1535.  He  sailed  up  the  stream  as  far  as  the  great  Indian  vil- 
lage of  Hoc  Lelaga,  situated  on  an  island  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain, 
styled  by  him  Mont  Royal,  now  called  Montreal,  a  name  since  extend- 
ed to  the  whole  island.  The  country  thus  discovered  was  called  New 
France.  Later,  and  in  the  year  1598,  France,  after  fifty  years  of 
domestic  troubles,  recovered  her  tranquillity,  and,  finding  herself  once 
more  equal  to  great  enterprises,  acquired  a  taste  for  colonization.  Her 
attention  was  directed  to  her  possessions,  by  right  of  discovery,  in  the 
new  world,  where  she  now  wished  to  establish  colonies  and  extend  the 
faith  of  the  Catholic  religion.  Commissions  or  grants  were  accordingly 
issued  to  companies  of  merchants,  and  others  organized  for  this  pur- 
pose, who  undertook  to  make  settlements  in  Acadia,  as  Nova  Scotia 
was  then  called,  and  elsewhere  along  the  lower  waters  of  the  St.  Law- 
rence ;  and,  at  a  later  day,  like  efforts  were  made  higher  up  the  river. 
In  1607  Mr.  De  Monts,  having  failed  in  a  former  enterprise,  was 
deprived  of  his  commission,  which  was  restored  to  him  on  the  condition 
that  he  would  make  a  settlement  on  the  St.  Lawrence.  The  company 
he  represented  seems  to  have  had  the  fur  trade  only  in  view,  and  this 
object  caused  it  to  change  its  plans  and  avoid  Acadia  altogether.  De 
Monts'  company  increased  in  numbers  and  capital  in  proportion  as  the 
fur  trade  developed  expectations  of  profit,  and  many  persons  at  St. 
Malo,  particularly,  gave  it  their  support.  Feeling  that  his  name 
injured  his  associates,  M.  De  Monts  retired  ;  and  when  he  ceased  to  be 
its  governing  head,  the  company  of  merchants  recovered  the  monopoly 
with  which  the  charter  was  endowed,  for  no  other  object  than  making 
money  out  of  the  fur  trade.  They  cared  nothing  whatever  for  the  col- 
ony in  Acadia,  which  was  dying  out,  and  made  no  settlements  else- 

37 


38  HISTORIC    NOTES   ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

where.  However,  Mr.  Samuel  Champlain,  who  cared  little  for  the  fur 
trade,  and  whose  thoughts  were  those  of  a  patriot,  after  maturely  ex- 
amining where  the  settlements  directed  by  the  court  might  be  best 
established,  at  last  fixed  on  Quebec.  He  arrived  there  on  the  3d  of 
July,  1G08,  put  up  some  temporary  buildings  for  himself  and  company, 
and  began  to  clear  off  the  ground,  which  proved  fertile.* 

The  colony  at  Quebec  grew  apace  with  emigrants  from  France; 
and  later,  the  establishment  of  a  settlement  at  the  island  of  Montreal 
was  undertaken.  Two  religious  enthusiasts,  the  one  named  Jerome  le 
Royer  de  la  Dauversiere,  of  Anjou,  and  the  other  John  James  Olier, 
assumed  the  undertaking  in  1636.  The  next  who  joined  in  the  move- 
ment was  Peter  Chevirer,  Baron  Fancamp,  who  in  1640  sent  tools  and 
provisions  for  the  use  of  the  coming  settlers.  The  projectors  were 
now  aided  by  the  celebrated  Baron  de  Renty,  and  two  others.  Father 
Charles  Lalemant  induced  John  de  Lauson,  the  proprietor  of  the  island 
of  Montreal,  to  cede  it  to  these  gentlemen,  which  he  did  in  August, 
1640  ;  and  to  remove  all  doubts  as  to  the  title,  the  associates  obtained 
a  grant  from  the  New  France  Company,  in  December  of  the  same  year, 
which  was  subsequently  ratified  by  the  king  himself.  The  associates 
agreed  to  send  out  forty  settlers,  to  clear  and  cultivate  the  ground ;  to 
increase  the  number  annually ;  to  supply  them  with  two  sloops,  cattle 
and  farm  hands,  and,  after  five  years,  to  erect  a  seminary,  maintain 
ecclesiastics  as  missionaries  and  teachers,  and  also  nuns  as  teachers  and 
hospitalers.  On  its  part  the  New  France  Company  agreed  to  trans- 
port thirty  settlers.  The  associates  then  contributed  twenty-five  thou- 
sand crowns  to  begin  the  settlement,  and  Mr.  de  Maisonneuve  embarked 
with  his  colony  on  three  vessels,  which  sailed  from  Rochelle  and 
Dieppe,  in  the  summer  of  1641.  The  colony  wintered  in  Quebec, 
spending  their  time  in  building  boats  and  preparing  timber  for  their 
houses ;  and  on  the  8th  of  May,  1642,  embarked,  and  arrived  nine 
days  after  at  the  island  of  Montreal,  and  after  saying  mass  began  an 
intrenchment  around  their  tents.f 

Notwithstanding  the  severity  of  the  climate,  the  loss  of  life  by  dis- 
eases incident  to  settling  of  new  countries,  and  more  especially  the 

*  History  of  New  France. 

tFrom  Dr.  Shea's  valuable  note  on  Montreal,  on  pages  129  and  130,  vol.  2,  of 
his  translation  of  Father  Charlevoix'  History  of  New  France.  Mr.  Albach,  publisher 
of  "Annals  of  the  West,"  Pittsburgh  edition,  1857,  p.  49,  is  in  error  in  saying  that 
Montreal  was  founded  in  1613,  by  Samuel  Champlain.  Champlain,  in  company  with 
a  young  Huron  Indian,  whom  he  had  taken  to  and  brought  back  from  France  on  a 
previous  voyage,  visited  the  island  of  Montreal  in  1611,  and  chose  it  as  a  place  for  a 
settlement  he  designed  to  establish,  but  which  he  did  not  begin,  as  he  was  obliged  to 
return  to  France;  vide  Charlevoix'  "  History  of  New  France,"  vol.  2,  p.  23.  The  Ameri- 
can Clyclopedia,  as  well  as  other  authorities,  concur  with  Dr.  Shea,  that  Montreal  was 
founded  in  1642,  seven  years  after  Champlain's  death. 


QUEBEC    FOUNDED.  39 

destruction  of  its  people  from  raids  of  the  dreaded  Iroquois  Indians, 
the  French  colonies  grew  until,  according  to  a  report  of  Governor 
Mods.  Denonville  to  the  Minister  at  Paris,  the  population  of  Canada, 
in  1686,  had  increased  to  12,373  souls.  Quebec  and  Montreal  became 
the  base  of  operations  of  the  French  in  America ;  the  places  from 
which  missionaries,  traders  and  explorers  went  out  among  the  savages 
into  countries  hitherto  unknown,  going  northward  and  westward, 
even  beyond  the  extremity  of  Lake  Superior  to  the  upper  waters  of 
the  Mississippi,  and  southward  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico ;  and  it  wras 
from  these  cities  that  the  religious,  military  and  commercial  affairs  of 
this  widely  extended  region  were  administered,  and  from  which  the 
French  settlements  subsequently  established  in  the  northwest  and  at 
New  Orleans  were  principally  recruited.  The  influence  of  Quebec  and 
Montreal  did  not  end  with  the  fall  of  French  power  in  America.  It 
was  from  these  cities  that  the  English  retained  control  of  the  fur  trade 
in,  and  exerted  a  power  over  the  Indian  tribes  of,  the  northwest  that 
harassed  and  retarded  the  spread  of  the  American  settlements  through 
all  the  revolutionary  war,  and  during  the  later  contest  between  Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States  in  the  war  of  1812.  Indeed,  it  was 
only  until  after  the  fur  trade  was  exhausted  and  the  Indians  placed 
beyond  the  Mississippi,  subsequent  to  1820,  that  Quebec  and  Montreal 
ceased  to  exert  an  influence  in  that  part  of  New  France  now  known  as 
Illinois  and  Indiana. 

Father  Claude  Allouez,  coasting  westward  from  Sault  Ste.  Marie, 
reached  Chegoimegon,  as  the  Indians  called  the  bay  south  of  the  Apos- 
tle Islands  and  near  La  Pointe  on  the  southwestern  shore  of  Lake  Supe- 
rior, in  October,  1665.  Here  he  found  ten  or  twelve  fragments  of 
Algonquin  tribes  assembled  and  about  to  hang  the  war  kettle  over  the 
tire  preparatory  for  an  incursion  westward  into  the  territory  of  the 
Sioux.  The  good  father  persuaded  them  to  give  up  their  intended 
hostile  expedition.  He  set  up  in  their  midst  a  chapel,  to  which  he  gave 
the  name  of  the  "  Mission  of  the  Holy  Ghost,"  at  the  spot  afterward 
known  as  "  Lapointe  du  Saint  Esprit,"  and  at  once  began  his  mission 
work.  His  chapel  wras  an  object  of  wonder,  and  its  establishment  soon 
spread  among  the  wild  children  of  the  forest,  and  thither  from  great 
distances  came  numbers  all  alive  with  curiosity, —  the  roving  Potta- 
watomies,  Sacs  and  Foxes,  the  Kickapoos,  the  Illinois  and  Miamis, — 
to  whom  the  truths  of  Christianity  were  announced.* 

Three  years  later  Father  James  Marquette  took  the  place  of  Allouez, 
and  while  here  he  seems  to  have  been  the  first  that  learned  of  the  Missis- 
sippi.     In  a  letter  written  from  this  mission  by  Father  Marquette  to 

*  Shea's  History  of  Catholic  Missions,  358. 


40  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON    THE    NOKTHWEST. 

his  Reverend  Father  Superior,  preserved  in  the  Relations  for  1669  and 
1670,  he  says:  "When  the  Illinois  come  to  the  point  they  pass  a 
great  river,  which  is  almost  a  league  in  width.  It  flows  from  north 
to  south,  and  to  so  great  a  distance  that  the  Illinois,  who  know  nothing 
of  the  use  of  the  canoe,  have  never  as  yet  heard  tell  of  the  mouth  ;  they 
only  know  that  there  are  great  nations  below  them,  some  of  whom, 
dwelling  to  the  east-southeast  of  their  country,  gather  their  Indian-corn 
twice  a  year.  A  nation  that  they  call  Chaouanon  (Shawnees)  came  to 
visit  them  during  the  past  summer;  the  young  man  that  has  been 
given  to  me  to  teach  me  the  language  has  seen  them  ;  they  were  loaded 
with  glass  beads,  which  shows  that  they  have  communication  with  the 
Europeans.  They  had  to  journey  across  the  land  for  more  than  thirty 
days  before  arriving  at  their  country.  It  is  hardly  probable  that  this 
great  river  discharges  itself  in  Virginia.  We  are  more  inclined  to 
believe  that  it  has  its  mouth  in  California.  If  the  savages,  who  have 
promised  to  make  me  a  canoe,  do  not  fail  in  their  word,  we  will  navi- 
gate this  river  as  far  as  is  possible  in  company  with  a  Frenchman  and 
this  young  man  that  they  have  given  me,  who  understands  several  of 
these  languages  and  possesses  great  facility  for  acquiring  others.  We 
shall  visit  the  nations  who  dwell  along  its  shores,  in  order  to  open  the 
way  to  many  of  our  fathers  who  for  a  long  time  have  awaited  this 
happiness.  This  discovery  will  give  us  a  perfect  knowledge  of  the  sea 
either  to  the  south  or  to  the  west." 

These  reports  concerning  the  great  river  came  to  the  knowledge 
of  the  authorities  at  Quebec  and  Paris,  and  naturally  enough  stimu- 
lated further  inquiry.  There  were  three  theories  as  to  where  the  river 
emptied  ;  one,  that  it  discharged  into  the  Atlantic  south  of  the  British 
colony  of  Virginia ;  second,  that  it  flowed  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico ; 
and  third,  which  was  the  more  popular  belief,  that  it  emptied  into  the 
Red  Sea,  as  the  Gulf  of  California  was  called  ;  and  if  the  latter,  that  it 
would  afford  a  passage  to  China.  To  solve  this  important  commercial 
problem  in  geography,  it  was  determined,  as  appears  from  a  letter  from 
the  Governor,  Count  Frontenac,  at  Quebec,  to  M.  Colbert,  Minister  of 
the  navy  at  Paris,  expedient  "  for  the  service  to  send  Sieur  Joliet  to 
the  country  of  the  Mascoutines,  to  discover  the  South  Sea  and  the  great 
river —  they  call  the  Mississippi  —  which  is  supposed  to  discharge  itself 
into  the  Sea  of  California.  Sieur  Joliet  is  a  man  of  great  experience 
in  these  sorts  of  discoveries,  and  has  already  been  almost  to  that  great 
river,  the  mouth  of  which  he  promises  to  see.  We  shall  have  intelli- 
gence of  him,  certainly,  this  summer.*  Father  Marquette  was  chosen 
to  accompany  Joliet  on  account  of  the  information  he  had  already  ob- 

*  Paris  Documents,  vol.  9,  p.  92. 


SPANISH    EXPLORATIONS.  41 

tained  from  the  Indians  relating  to  the  countries  to  be  explored,  and 
also  because,  as  he  wrote  Father  Dablon,  his  superior,  when  informed 
by  the  latter  that  he  was  to  be  Joliet's  companion,  "  I  am  ready  to  go 
on  your  order  to  seek  new  nations  toward  the  South  Sea,  and  teach 
them  of  our  great  God  whom  they  hitherto  have  not  known." 

The  voyage  of  Joliet  and  Marquette  is  so  interesting  that  we  intro- 
duce extracts  from  Father  Marquette's  journal.  The  version  we  adopt 
is  Father  Marquette's  original  journal,  prepared  for  publication  by  his 
superior,  Father  Dablon,  and  which  lay  in  manuscript  at  Quebec,  among 
the  archives  of  the  Jesuits,  until  1852,  when  it,  together  with  Father 
Marquette's  original  map,  were  brought  to  light,  translated  into  Eng- 
lish, and  published  by  Dr.  John  G.  Shea,  in  his  "  Discovery  and  Explo- 
ration of  the  Mississippi."  The  version  commonly  sanctioned  was 
Marquette's  narrative  sent  to  the  French  government,  where  it  lay 
unpublished  until  it  came  into  the  hands  of  M.  Thevenot,  who  printed 
it  at  Paris,  in  a  book  issued  by  him  in  1681,  called  "  Eeceuil  cle  Voy- 
ages." This  account  diners  somewhat,  though  not  essentially,  from 
the  narrative  as  published  by  Dr.  Shea. 

Before  proceeding  farther,  however,  we  will  turn  aside  a  moment 
to  note  the  fact  that  Spain  had  a  prior  right  over  France  to  the  Missis- 
sippi Valley  by  virtue  of  previous  discovery.  As  early  as  the  year 
1525,  Cortez  had  conquered  Mexico,  portioned  out  its  rich  mines 
anions:  his  favorites  and  reduced  the  inoffensive  inhabitants  to  the  worst 
of  slavery,  making  them  till  the  ground  and  toil  in  the  mines  for  their 
unfeeling  masters.  A  few  years  following  the  conquest  of  Mexico,  the 
Spaniards,  under  Pamphilus  de  Narvaez,  in  152S,  undertook  to  conquer 
and  colonize  Florida  and  the  entire  northern  coast-line  of  the  Gulf. 
After  long  and  fruitless  wanderings  in  the  interior,  his  party  returned 
to  the  sea-coast  and  endeavored  to  reach  Tampico,  in  wretched  boats. 
Nearly  all  perished  by  storm,  disease  or  famine.  The  survivors,  with 
one  Cabeza  de  Vaca  at  their  head,  drifted  to  an  island  near  the  present 
state  of  Mississippi;  from  which,  after  four  years  of  slavery,  De  Vaca, 
with  four  companions,  escaped  to  the  mainland  and  started  westward, 
going  clear  across  the  continent  to  the  Gulf  of  California.  The 
natives  took  them  for  supernatural  beings.  They  assumed  the  guise 
of  jugglers,  and  the  Indian  tribes,  through  which  they  passed,  invested 
them  with  the  title  of  medicine-men,  and  their  lives  were  thus  guarded 
with  superstitious  awe.  They  are,  perhaps,  the  first  Europeans  who 
ever  went  overland  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  They  must  have 
crossed  the  Great  River  somewhere  on  their  route,  and,  says  Dr. 
Shea,  "  remain  in  history,  in  a  distant  twilight,  as  the  first  Europeans 
known  to  have  stood  on   the  banks  of  the  Mississippi."     In  1539, 


42  HISTORIC    NOTES   ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

Hernando  de  Soto,  with  a  party  of  cavaliers,  most  of  them  sons  of 
titled  nobility,  landed  with  their  horses  upon  the  coast  of  Florida. 
During  that  and   the  following  four  years,  these  daring  adventurers 

w  O  t/  '  O 

wandered  through  the  wilderness,  traveling  in  portions  of  Florida, 
Carolina,  the  northern  parts  of  Georgia,  Alabama  and  Mississippi, 
crossing  the  Mississippi,  as  is  supposed,  as  high  up  as  White  Itiver, 
and  going  still  westward  to  the  base  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  vainly 
searching  for  the  rich  gold  mines  of  which  De  Vaca  had  given  marvel- 
ous accounts.  De  Soto's  party  endured  hardships  that  would  depress 
the  stoutest  heart,  while,  with  fire  and  sword,  they  perpetrated  atrocities 
upon  the  Indian  tribes  through  which  they  passed,  burning  their 
villages  and  inflicting  cruelties  which  make  us  blush  for  the  wicked- 
ness  of  men  claiming  to  be  christians.  De  Soto  died,  in  May  or  June, 
1542,  on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi,  below  the  mouth  of  the 
Washita,  and  his  immediate  attendants  concealed  his  death  from  the 
others  and  secretly,  in  the  night,  buried  his  body  in  the  middle  of  the 
stream.  The  remnant  of  his  survivors  went  westward  and  then 
returned  back  again  to  the  river,  passing  the  winter  upon  its  banks. 
The  following  spring  they  went  down  the  river,  in  seven  boats  which 
they  had  rudely  constructed  out  of  such  scanty  material  and  with  the 
few  tools  thev  could  command.  In  these,  after  a  three  months'  vovage, 
they  arrived  at  the  Spanish  town  of  Panuco,  on  the  river  of  that  name 
in  Mexico. 

Later,  in  1565,  Spain,  tailing  in  previous  attempts,  effected  a  lodg- 
ment in  Florida,  and  for  the  protection  of  her  colony  built  the  fort  at 
St.  Augustine,  whose  ancient  ruin,  still  standing,  is  an  object  of  curi- 
ositv  to  the  health-seeker  and  a  monument  to  the  hundreds  of  native 
Indians  who,  reduced  to  bondage  by  their  Spanish  conquerors,  perished, 
after  years  of  unrequited  labor,  in  erecting  its  frowning  walls  and 
gloomy  dungeons. 

While  Spain  retained  her  hold  upon  Mexico  and  enlarged  her  posses- 
sions, and  continued,  with  feebler  efforts,  to  keep  possession  of  the 
Floridas,  she  took  no  measures  to  establish  settlements  along  the  Mis- 
sissippi or  to  avail  herself  of  the  advantage  that  might  have  resulted 
from  its  discovery.  The  Great  River  excited  no  further  notice  after 
De  Soto's  time.  For  the  next  hundred  years  it  remained  as  it  were 
a  sealed  mystery  until  the  French,  approaching  from  the  north  by 
way  of  the  lakes,  explored  it  in  its  entire  length,  and  brought  to 
public  light  the  vast  extent  and  wonderful  fertility  of  its  valleys. 
Resuming  the  thread  of  our  history  at  the  place  where  we  turned  aside 
to  notice  the  movements  of  the  Spanish  toward  the  Gulf,  we  now  pro- 
ceed with  the  extracts  from  Father  Marquette's  journal  of  the  vovage 
of  discovery  down  the  Mississippi. 


CHAPTEE   VII. 

JOLIET  AND  MARQUETTE'S  VOYAGE. 

The  clay  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  of  the  Blessed  Virgin, 
whom  I  had  always  invoked,  since  I  have  been  in  this  Ottawa  country, 
to  obtain  of  God  the  grace  to  be  able  to  visit  the  nations  on  the  River 
Mississippi,  was  identically  that  on  which  M.  Jollyet  arrived  with 
orders  of  the  Comte  de  Frontenac,  our  governor,  and  M.  Talon,  our 
intendant,  to  make  this  discovery  with  me.  I  was  the  more  enraptured 
at  this  good  news,  as  I  saw  my  designs  on  the  point  of  being  accom- 
plished, and  myself  in  the  happy  necessity  of  exposing  my  life  for  the 
salvation  of  all  these  nations,  and  particularly  for  the  Illinois,  who  had, 
when  I  was  at  Lapointe  du  Esprit,  very  earnestly  entreated  me  to  carry 
the  word  of  God  to  their  country." 

"  "We  were  not  long  in  preparing  our  outfit,  although  we  were 
embarking  on  a  voyage  the  duration  of  which  we  could  not  foresee. 
Indian  corn,  with  some  dried  meats,  was  our  whole  stock  of  provisions. 
With  this  we  set  out  in  two  bark  canoes,  M.  Jollyet,  myself  and  five 
men,  firmly  resolved  to  do  all  and  suffer  all  for  so  glorious  an  enterprise." 

"It  was  on  the  17th  of  May,  1673,  that  we  started  from  the  mission 
of  St.  Ignatius,  at  Michilimakinac,  where  I  then  was."* 

"  Our  joy  at  being  chosen  for  this  expedition  roused  our  courage 
and  sweetened  the  labor  of  rowing  from  morning  to  night.  As  we 
were  going  to  seek  unknown  countries,  we  took  all  possible  precau- 
tions that,  if  our  enterprise  was  hazardous,  it  should  not  be  foolhardy ; 
for  this  reason  we  gathered  all  possible  information  from  the  Indians 
who  had  frequented  those  parts,  and  even  from  their  accounts,  traced 
a  map  of  all  the  new  country,  marking  down  the  rivers  on  which  we 
were  to  sail,  the  names  of  the  nations  and  places  through  which  we 
were  to  pass,  the  course  of  the  Great  River,  and  what  direction  we 
should  take  when  we  got  to  it." 

"Above  all,  I  put  our  voyage  under  the  protection  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  Immaculate,  promising  her  that,  if  she  did  us  the  grace  to  dis- 
cover the  Great  River,  I  would  give  it  the  name  of  the  conception  ; 

*  St.  Ignatius  was  not  on  the  Island  of  Mackinaw,  but  westward  of  it,  on  a  point 
of  land  extending  into  the  strait,  from  the  north  shore,  laid  down  on  modern  maps  as 
"Point  St.  Ignace."  On  this  bleak,  exposed  and  barren  spot  this  mission  was  estab- 
lished by  Marquette  himself  in  1671.     Shea's  Catholic  Missions,  p.  364. 

43 


44  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

and  that  I  would  also  give  that  name  to  the  first  mission  I  should 
establish  among  these  new  nations,  as  I  have  actually  done  among  the 
Illinois." 

After  some  days  they  reached  an  Indian  village,  and  the  journal 
proceeds :  "  Here  we  are,  then,  at  the  Maskoutens.  This  word,  in 
Algonquin,  may  mean  Fire  Nation,  and  that  is  the  name  given  to  them. 
This  is  the  limit  of  discoveries  made  by  the  French,  for  they  have  not 
yet  passed  beyond  it.  This  town  is  made  up  of  three  nations  gathered 
here,  Miamis,  Maskoutens  and  Kikabous.*  As  bark  for  cabins,  in  this 
country,  is  rare,  they  use  rushes,  which  serve  them  for  walls  and  roofs, 
but  which  afford  them  no  protection  against  the  wind,  and  still  less 
against  the  rain  when  it  falls  in  torrents.  The  advantage  of  this  kind 
,of  cabins  is  that  they  can  roll  them  up  and  carry  them  easily  where 
they  like  in  hunting  time." 

"  I  felt  no  little  pleasure  in  beholding  the  position  of  this  town.  The 
view  is  beautiful  and  very  picturesque,  for,  from  the  eminence  on  which 
it  is  perched,  the  eye  discovers  on  every  side  prairies  spreading  away 
beyond  its  reach  interspersed  with  thickets  or  groves  of  trees.  The 
soil  is  very  good,  producing  much  corn.  The  Indians  gather  also 
quantities  of  plums  and  grapes,  from  which  good  wine  could  be  made 
if  they  choose." 

"  No  sooner  had  we  arrived  than  M.  Jollyet  and  I  assembled  the 
Sachems.  He  told  them  that  he  was  sent  by  our  governor  to  discover 
new  countries,  and  I  by  the  Almighty  to  illumine  them  with  the  light 
of  the  gospel ;  that  the  Sovereign  Master  of  our  lives  wished  to  be 
known  to  all  nations,  and  that  to  obey  his  will  I  did  not  fear  death,  to 
which  I  exposed  myself  in  such  dangerous  voyages ;  that  we  needed 
two  guides  to  put  us  on  our  way ;  these,  making  them  a  present,  we 
begged  them  to  grant  us.  This  they  did  very  civilly,  and  even  pro- 
ceeded to  speak  to  us  by  a  present,  which  was  a  mat  to  serve  us  on  our 
voyage." 

"  The  next  day,  which  was  the  10th  of  J  une,  two  Miamis  whom 
they  had  given  us  as  guides  embarked  with  us  in  the  sight  of  a  great 
crowd,  who  could  not  wonder  enough  to  see  seven  Frenchmen,  alone 
in  two  canoes,  dare  to  undertake  so  strange  and  so  hazardous  an  expe- 
dition." 

"  We  knew  that  there  was,  three  leagues  from  Maskoutens,  a  river 
emptying  into  the  Mississippi.  We  knew,  too,  that  the  point  of  the 
compass  we  were  to  hold  to  reach  it  was  the  west-southwest,  but  the 

*  The  village  was  near  the  mouth  of  Wolf  River,  which  empties  into  Winnebago 
Lake,  Wisconsin.  The  stream  was  formerly  called  the  Maskouten,  and  a  tribe  of  this 
name  dwelt  along  its  banks. 


MARQUETTE'S    VOYAGE.  45 

way  is  so  cut  up  with  marshes  and  little  lakes  that  it  is  easy  to  go 
astray,  especially  as  the  river  leading  to  it  is  so  covered  with  wild  oats 
that  you  can  hardly  discover  the  channel ;  hence  we  had  need  of  our 
two  guides,  who  led  us  safely  to  a  portage  of  twenty -seven  hundred 
paces  and  helped  us  transport  our  canoes  to  enter  this  river,  after 
which  they  returned,  leaving  us  alone  in  an  unknown  country  in  the 
hands  of  Providence."* 

"  We  now  leave  the  waters  which  flow  to  Quebec,  a  distance  of  four 
or  five  hundred  leagues,  to  follow  those  which  will  henceforth  lead  us 
into  strange  lands. 

"  Our  route  was  southwest,  and  after  sailing  about  thirty  leagues  we 
perceived  a  place  which  had  all  the  appearances  of  an  iron  mine,  and 
in  fact  one  of  our  party  who  had  seen  some  before  averred  that  the  one 
we  had  found  was  very  rich  and  very  good.  After  forty  leagues  on 
this  same  route  we  reached  the  mouth  of  our  river,  and  finding  our- 
selves at  42^°  N.  we  safely  entered  the  Mississippi  on  the  17th  of  June 
with  a  joy  that  I  cannot  express."! 

*  This  portage  has  given  the  name  to  Portage  City,  Wisconsin,  where  the  upper 
waters  of  Fox  River,  emptying  into  Green  Bay,  approach  the  Wisconsin  River,  which, 
coming  from  the  northwest,  here  changes  its  course  to  the  southwest.  The  distance 
from  the  Wisconsin  to  the  Fox  River  at  this  point  is,  according  to  Henry  R.  School- 
craft, a  mile  and  a  half  across  a  level  prairie,  and  the  level  of  the  two  streams  is  so  nearly 
the  same  that  in  high  water  loaded  canoes  formerly  passed  from  the  one  to  the  other 
across  this  low  prairie.  For  many  miles  below  the  portage  the  channel  of  Fox  River 
was  choked  with  a  growth  of  tangled  wild  rice.  The  stream  frequently  expanding 
into  little  lakes,  and  its  winding,  crooked  course  through  the  prairie,  well  justifies  the 
tradition  of  the  Winnebago  Indians  concerning  its  origin.  A  vast  serpent  that  lived 
in  the  waters  of  the  Mississippi  took  a  freak  to  visit  the  great  lakes  ;  he  left  his  trail 
where  he  crossed  over  the  prairie,  which,  collecting  the  waters  as  they  fell  from  the  rains 
of  heaven,  at  length  became  Fox  River.  The  little  lakes  along  its  course  were,  prob- 
ably, the  places  where  he  flourished  about  in  his  uneasy  slumbers  at  night.  Mrs.  John 
H.  Kinzie's  Waubun,  p.  80. 

t  Father  Marquette,  agreeably  to  his  vow,  named  the  river  the  Immaculate  Concep- 
tion. Nine  years  later,  when  Robert  La  Salle,  having  discovered  the  river  in  its  entire 
length,  took  possession  at  its  mouth  of  the  whole  Mississippi  Valley,  he  named  the 
river  Colbert,  in  honor  of  the  Minister  of  the  Navy,  a  man  renowned  alike  for  his 
ability,  at  the  head  of  the  Department  of  the  Marine,  and  for  the  encouragement  he 
gave  to  literature,  science  and  art.  Still  later,  in  1712,  when  the  vast  country  drained  by 
its  waters  was  farmed  out  to  private  enterprise,  as  appears  from  letters  patent  from  the 
King  of  France,  conveying  the  whole  to  M.  Crozat,  the  name  of  the  river  was_ changed 
to  St.  Lewis.  Fortunately  the  Mississippi  retains  its  aboriginal  name,  which  is  a  com- 
pound from  the  two  Algonquin  words  missi,  signifying  great,  and  sepe,  a  river.  The 
former  is  variously  pronounced  missil  or  michil,  as  in  Michilimakinac  ;  michi,  as  in  Mich- 
igan ;  missu,  as  in  Missouri,  and  missi,  as  in  the  Mississeneway  of  the  Wabash.  The 
variation  in  pronunciation  is  not  greater  than  we  might  expect  in  an  unwritten  lan- 
guage. "The  Western  Indians,"  says  Mr.  Schoolcraft,  "  have  no  other  word  than  missi 
to  express  the  highest  degree  of  magnitude,  either  in  a  moral  or  in  a  physical  sense,  and 
it  may  be  considered  as  not  only  synonymous  to  our  word  great,  but  also  magnificent, 
supreme,  stupendous,  etc."  Father  Hennepin,  who  next  to  Marquette  wrote  concern- 
ing the  derivation  of  the  name,  says  :  "  Mississippi,  in  the  language  of  the  Illinois, 
means  the  great  river."  Some  authors,  perhaps  with  more  regard  for  a  pleasing  fic- 
tion than  plain  matter-of-fact,  have  rendered  Mississippi  "The  Father  of  Waters;" 
whereas,  nos,  nonsscif  and  nosha  mean  father,  and  neebi,  >iipi  or  nepee  mean  water,  as 
universally  in  the  dialect  of  Algonquin  tribes,  as  does  the  word  missi  mean  great  and 
sepi  a  river. 


46  HISTORIC    NOTES    OX    THE    NORTHWEST. 

"  Having  descended  as  far  as  41°  28',  following  the  same  direction, 
we  find  that  turkeys  have  taken  the  place  of  game,  and  pisikious  (buf- 
falo) or  wild  cattle  that  of  other  beasts. 

"  At  last,  on  the  25th  of  June,  we  perceived  foot-prints  of  men  by 
the  water-side  and  a  beaten  path  entering  a  beautiful  prairie.  We 
stopped  to  examine  it,  and  concluding  that  it  was  a  path  leading  to 
some  Indian  village  we  resolved  to  go  and  reconnoitre  ;  we  accordingly 
left  our  two  canoes  in  charge  of  our  people,  cautioning  them  to  beware 
of  a  surprise ;  then  M.  Jollyet  and  I  undertook  this  rather  hazardous 
discovery  for  two  single  men,  who  thus  put  themselves  at  the  mercy  of 
an  unknown  and  barbarous  people.  We  followed  the  little  path  in 
silence,  and  having  advanced  about  two  leagues  we  discovered  a  village 
on  the  banks  of  the  river,  and  two  others  on  a  hill  half  a  league  from 
the  former.  Then,  indeed,  we  recommended  ourselves  to  God  with  all 
our  hearts,  and  having  implored  his  help  we  passed  on  undiscovered, 
and  came  so  near  that  we  even  heard  the  Indians  talking.  We  then 
deemed  it  time  to  announce  ourselves,  as  we  did,  by  a  cry  which  we 
raised  with  all  our  strength,  and  then  halted,  without  advancing  any 
farther.  At  this  cry  the  Indians  rushed  out  of  their  cabins,  and  hav- 
ing probably  recognized  us  as  French,  especially  seeing  a  black  gown, 
or  at  least  having  no  reason  to  distrust  us,  seeing  we  were  but  two  and 
had  made  known  our  coming,  they  deputed  four  old  men  to  come  and 
speak  to  us.  Two  carried  tobacco-pipes  well  adorned  and  trimmed 
with  many  kinds  of  feathers.  They  marched  slowly,  lifting  their  pipes 
toward  the  sun  as  if  offering  them  to  it  to  smoke,  but  yet  without 
uttering  a  single  wTord.  They  were  a  long  time  coming  the  little  way 
from  the  village  to  us.  Having  reached  us  at  last,  they  stopped  to  con- 
sider us  attentively. 

"  I  now  took  courage,  seeing  these  ceremonies,  which  are  used  by 
them  only  with  friends,  and  still  more  on  seeing  them  covered  with  stuffs 
which  made  me  judge  them  to  be  allies.  I,  therefore,  spoke  to  them 
first,  and  asked  them  who  they  were.  They  answered  that  they  were 
Illinois,  and  in  token  of  peace  they  presented  their  pipes  to  smoke. 
They  then  invited  us  to  their  village,  where  all  the  tribe  awaited  us 
with  impatience.  These  pipes  for  smoking  are  all  called  in  this  country 
calumets,  a  word  that  is  so  much  in  use  that  I  shall  be  obliged  to  employ 
it  in  order  to  be  understood,  as  I  shall  have  to  speak  of  it  frequently. 

;'  At  the  door  of  the  cabin  in  which  we  were  to  be  received  was  an 
old  man  awaiting  us  in  a  very  remarkable  posture,  which  is  their  usual 
ceremony  in  receiving  strangers.  This  man  was  standing  perfectly 
naked,  with  his  hands  stretched  out  and  raised  toward  the  sun,  as  if  he 
wished  to  screen   himself  from  its  rays,  which,  nevertheless,  passed 


PRESENTATION    OF    THE    CALUMET.  47 

through  his  fingers  to  his  face.  When  we  came  near  him  he  paid  us 
this  compliment :  '  How  beautiful  is  the  sun,  O  Frenchman,  when 
thou  comest  to  visit  us !  All  our  town  awaits  thee,  and  thou  shalt 
enter  all  our  cabins  in  peace.'  He  then  took  us  into  his,  where  there 
was  a  crowd  of  people,  who  devoured  us  with  their  eyes  but  kept  a 
profound  silence.  We  heard,  however,  these  words  occasionally  ad- 
dressed to  us  :  '  Well  done,  brothers,  to  visit  us  ! '  As  soon  as  we  had 
taken  our  places  they  showed  us  the  usual  civility  of  the  country, 
which  is  to  present  the  calumet.  You  must  not  refuse  it  unless  you 
would  pass  for  an  enemy,  or  at  least  for  being  very  impolite.  It  is, 
however,  enough  to  pretend  to  smoke.  While  all  the  old  men  smoked 
after  us  to  honor  us,  some  came  to  invite  us,  on  behalf  of  the  great 
sachem  of  all  the  Illinois,  to  proceed  to  his  town,  where  he  wished  to 
hold  a  council  with  us.  We  went  with  a  good  retinue,  for  all  the 
people  who  had  never  seen  a  Frenchman  among  them  could  not  tire 
looking  at  us ;  they  threw  themselves  on  the  grass  by  the  wayside, 
they  ran  ahead,  then  turned  and  walked  back  to  see  us  again.  All  this 
was  done  without  noise,  and  with  marks  of  a  great  respect  entertained 
for  us. 

"  Having  arrived  at  the  great  sachem's  town,  we  espied  him  at  his 
cabin  door  between  two  old  men  ;  all  three  standing  naked,  with  their 
calumet  turned  to  the  sun.  He  harangued  us  in  a  few  w7ords,  to  con- 
gratulate us  on  our  arrival,  and  then  presented  us  his  calumet  and  made 
us  smoke ;  at  the  same  time  we  entered  his  cabin,  where  we  received 
all  their  usual  greetings.  Seeing  all  assembled  and  in  silence,  I  spoke 
to  them  by  four  presents  which  I  made.  By  the  first,  I  said  that  we 
marched  in  peace  to  visit  the  nations  on  the  river  to  the  sea  ;  by  the 
second,  I  declared  to  them  that  God,  their  creator,  had  pity  on  them, 
since,  after  their  having  been  so  long  ignorant  of  him,  he  wished  to 
become  known  to  all  nations ;  that  I  was  sent  on  his  behalf  with  this 
design  ;  that  it  was  for  them  to  acknowledge  and  obey  him ;  by  the 
third,  that  the  great  chief  of  the  French  informed  them  that  he  spread 
peace  everywhere,  and  had  overcome  the  Iroquois  ;  lastly,  by  the  fourth, 
we  begged  them  to  give  us  all  the  information  they  had  of  the  sea,  and 
of  nations  through  which  we  should  have  to  pass  to  reach  it. 

"  When  I  had  finished  my  speech,  the  sachem  rose,  and  laying  his 
hand  on  the  head  of  a  little  slave  whom  he  was  about  to  give  us,  spoke 
thus :  '  I  thank  thee,  Black-gown,  and  thee,  Frenchman,'  addressing 
M.  Jollyet,  '  for  taking  so  much  pains  to  come  and  visit  us.  Never  has 
the  earth  been  so  beautiful,  nor  the  sun  so  bright,  as  to-day  ;  never  has 
our  river  been  so  calm,  nor  so  free  from  rocks,  which  your  canoes  have 
removed  as  they  passed ;  never  has  our  tobacco  had  so  fine  a  flavor, 


48  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

nor  our  corn  appeared  so  beautiful  as  we  behold  it  to-day.  Here  is  my 
son  that  I  give  thee  that  thou  mayest  know  my  heart.  I  pray  thee 
take  pity  on  me  and  all  my  nation.  Thou  knowest  the  Great  Spirit 
who  has  made  us  all ;  thou  speakest  to  him  and  hearest  his  word  ;  ask 
him  to  give  me  life  and  health,  and  come  and  dwell  with  us  that  we 
may  know  him.''  Saying  this,  he  placed  the  little  slave  near  us  and 
made  us  a  second  present,  an  all  mysterious  calumet,  which  they  value 
more  than  a  slave.  By  this  present  he  showed  us  his  esteem  for  our 
governor,  after  the  account  we  had  given  of  him.  By  the  third  he 
begged  us,  on  behalf  of  his  whole  nation,  not  to  proceed  farther  on 
account  of  the  great  dangers  to  which  we  exposed  ourselves. 

"  I  replied  that  I  did  not  fear  death,  and  that  I  esteemed  no  happi- 
ness greater  than  that  of  losing  my  life  for  the  glory  of  him  who  made 
us  all.  But  this  these  poor  people  could  not  understand.  The  coun- 
cil was  followed  by  a  great  feast  which  consisted  of  four  courses,  which 
we  had  to  take  with  all  their  ways.  The  first  course  was  a  great  wooden 
dish  full  of  sagamity, —  that  is  to  say,  of  Indian  meal  boiled  in  water 
and  seasoned  with  grease.  The  master  of  ceremonies,  with  a  spoonful 
of  sagamity,  presented  it  three  or  four  times  to  my  mouth,  as  we  would 
do  with  a  little  child  ;  he  did  the  same  to  M.  Jollyet.  For  the  second 
course,  he  brought  in  a  second  dish  containing  three  fish ;  he  took 
some  pains  to  remove  the  bones,  and  having  blown  upon  it  to  cool  it, 
put  it  in  my  mouth  as  we  would  food  to  a  bird.  For  the  third  course 
they  produced  a  large  dog  which  they  had  just  killed,  but,  learning 
that  we  did  not  eat  it,  withdrew  it.  Finally,  the  fourth  course  was  a 
piece  of  wild  ox,  the  fattest  portions  of  which  were  put  into  our 
mouths. 

"  We  took  leave  of  our  Illinois  about  the  end  of  June,  and  em- 
barked in  sight  of  all  the  tribe,  who  admire  our  little  canoes,  having 
never  seen  the  like. 

"As  we  were  discoursing,  while  sailing  gently  down  a  beautiful, 
still,  clear  water,  we  heard  the  noise  of  a  rapid  into  which  we  were 
about  to  fall.  I  have  seen  nothing  more  frightful ;  a  mass  of  large 
trees,  entire,  with  branches, —  real  floating  islands, —  came  rushing  from 
the  mouth  of  the  river  Pekitanoiii,  so  impetuously  that  we  could  not, 
without  great  danger,  expose  ourselves  to  pass  across.  The  agitation 
was  so  great  that  the  water  was  all  muddy  and  could  not  get  clear.* 

*  Pekitanoiii,  with  the  aboriginals,  signified  "  muddy  water,"  on  the  authority  of 
Father  Marest,  in  his  letter  referred  to  in  a  previous  note.  The  present  name,  Mis- 
souri, according  to  Le  Page  du  Pratz,  vol.  2,  p.  157,  was  derived  from  the  tribe,  Mis- 
souris,  whose  village  was  some  forty  leagues  above  its  mouth,  and  who  massacred  a 
French  garrison  situated  in  that  part  of  the  country.  The  late  statesman  and  orator, 
Thomas  A.  Benton,  referring  to  the  muddiness  prevailing  at  all  seasons  of  the  year  in 
the  Missouri  River,  said  that  its  waters  were  "too  thick  to  swim  in  and  too  thin  to 
walk  on." 


PLOT    AGAINST    MARQUETTE'S    LIFE.  49 

"After  having  made  about  twenty  leagues  due  south,  and  a  little 
less  to  the  southeast,  we  came  to  a  river  called  Ouabouskigou,  the  mouth 
of  which  is  at  36°  north.*  This  river  comes  from  the  country  on  the 
east  inhabited  by  the  Chaouanons,  in  such  numbers  that  they  reckon 
as  many  as  twenty-three  villages  in  one  district,  and  fifteen  in  another, 
lying  quite  near  each  other.  They  are  by  no  means  warlike,  and  are 
the  people  the  Iroquois  go  far  to  seek  in  order  to  wage  an  unprovoked 
war  upon  them ;  and  as  these  poor  people  cannot  defend  themselves 
they  allow  themselves  to  be  taken  and  carried  off  like  sheep,  and,  inno- 
cent as  they  are,  do  not  fail  to  experience  the  barbarity  of  the  Iroquois, 
who  burn  them  cruelly.' 

Having:  arrived  about  half  a  league  from  Akansea  (Arkansas 
River),  we  saw  two  canoes  coming  toward  us.  The  commander  was 
standing  up  holding  in  his  hand  a  calumet,  with  wThich  he  made  signs 
according  to  the  custom  of  the  country.  He  approached  us,  singing  quite 
agreeably,  and  invited  us  to  smoke,  after  which  he  presented  us  some 
sagamity  and  bread  made  of  Indian  corn,  of  which  we  ate  a  little. 
We  fortunately  found  among  them  a  man  who  understood  Illinois  much 
better  than  the  man  we  brought  from  Mitchigameh.  By  means  of 
him,  I  first  spoke  to  the  assembly  by  ordinary  presents.  They  admired 
what  I  told  them  of  God  and  the  mysteries  of  our  holy  faith,  and 
showed  a  great  desire  to  keep  me  with  them  to  instruct  them. 

"  We  then  asked  them  what  they  knew  of  the  sea ;  they  replied 
that  we  were  only  ten  days'  journey  from  it  (we  could  have  made  the 
distance  in  five  days) ;  that  they  did  not  know  the  nations  who  inhab- 
ited it,  because  their  enemies  prevented  their  commerce  with  those 
Europeans ;  that  the  Indians  with  fire-arms  whom  we  had  met  were 
their  enemies,  who  cut  off  the  passage  to  the  sea,  and  prevented  their 
making  the  acquaintance  of  the  Europeans,  or  having  any  commerce 
with  them  ;  that  besides  we  should  expose  ourselves  greatly  by  passing 
on,  in  consequence  of  the  continual  war  parties  that  their  enemies  sent 
out  on  the  river ;  since,  being  armed  and  used  to  war,  we  could  not, 
without  evident  danger,  advance  on  that  river  which  they  constantly 
occupy. 

"  In  the  evening  the  sachems  held  a  secret  council  on  the  design  of 
some  to  kill  us  for  plunder,  but  the  chief  broke  up  all  these  schemes, 
and  sending  for  us,  danced  the  calumet  in  our  presence,  and  then,  to 
remove  all  fears,  presented  it  to  me. 

"  M.  Jollyet  and  I  held  another  council  to  deliberate  on  what  we 
should  do,  whether  we  should  push  on,  or  rest  satisfied  with  the  dis- 

*The  Wabash  here  appears,  for  the  first  time,  by  name.  A  more  extended  notice 
of  the  various  names  by  which  this  stream  has  been  known  will  be  given  farther  on. 

4 


50  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

covery  that  we  had  made.  After  having  attentively  considered  that 
we  were  not  far  from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  the  basin  of  which  is  31° 
40'  north,  and  we  at  33°  40';  so  that  we  could  not  be  more  than  two 
or  three  days'  journey  oft";  that  the  Mississippi  undoubtedly  had  its 
mouth  in  Florida  or  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  not  on  the  east  in  Vir- 
ginia, whose  sea-coast  is  at  34°  north,  which  we  had  passed,  without 
having  as  yet  reached  the  sea,  nor  on  the  western  side  in  California, 
because  that  would  require  a  west,  or  west-southwest  course,  and  we 
had  always  been  going  south.  We  considered,  moreover,  that  we 
risked  losing  the  fruit  of  this  voyage,  of  which  we  could  give  no 
information,  if  we  should  throw  ourselves  into  the  hands  of  the  Span- 
iards, who  would  undoubtedly  at  least  hold  us  as  prisoners.  Besides 
it  was  clear  that  we  were  not  in  a  condition  to  resist  Indians  allied  to 
Europeans,  numerous  and  expert  in  the  use  of  tire-arrns,  who  contin- 
ually infested  the  lower  part  of  the  river.  Lastly,  we  had  gathered  all 
the  information  that  could  be  desired  from  the  expedition.  All  these 
reasons  induced  us  to  return.  This  we  announced  to  the  Indians,  and 
after  a  day's  rest  prepared  for  it. 

"After  a  month's  navigation  down  the  Mississippi,  from  the  42d  to 
below  the  34th  degree,  and  after  having  published  the  gospel  as  well 
as  I  could  to  the  nations  I  had  met,  we  left  the  village  of  Akansea  on 
the  17th  of  July,  to  retrace  our  steps.  We  accordingly  ascended  the 
Mississippi,  which  gave  us  great  trouble  to  stem  its  currents.  We  left 
it,  indeed,  about  the  3Sth  degree,  to  enter  another  river  (the  Illinois), 
which  greatly  shortened  our  wray,  and  brought  us,  with  little  trouble, 
to  the  lake  of  the  Illinois. 

"  We  had  seen  nothing  like  this  river  for  the  fertility  of  the  land,  its 
prairies,  woods,  wild  cattle,  stag,  deer,  wild-cats,  bustards,  swans,  ducks, 
parrots,  and  even  beaver ;  its  many  little  lakes  and  rivers.  That  on 
which  we  sailed  is  broad  deep  and  gentle  for  sixty-five  leagues. 
During  the  spring  and  part  of  the  summer,  the  only  portage  is  half  a 
league. 

"  We  found  there  an  Illinois  town  called  Kaskaskia,  composed  of 
seventy-four  cabins  ;  they  received  us  well,  and  compelled  me  to  promise 
them  to  return  and  instruct  them.  One  of  the  chiefs  of  this  tribe,  with 
his  young  men,  escorted  us  to  the  Illinois  Lake,  whence  at  last  we 
returned  in  the  close  of  September  to  the  Bay  of  the  Fetid  (Green  Bay), 
whence  we  had  set  out  in  the  beginning  of  June.  Had  all  this  voyage 
caused  but  the  salvation  of  a  single  soul,  I  should  deem  all  my  fatigue 
well  repaid,  and  this  I  have  reason  to  think,  for,  when  I  was  returning, 
I  passed  by  the  Indians  of  Peoria.  I  was  three  days  announcing  the 
faith  in  their  cabins,  after  which,  as  we  were  embarking,  they  brought 


BIOGRAPHY    OF   JOLIET.  51 

me,  on  the  water's  edge,  a  dying  child,  which  I  baptized  a  little  before 
it  expired,  by  an  admirable  providence  for  the  salvation  of  that  inno- 
cent soul." 

Count  Frontenac,  writing  from  Quebec  to  M.  Colbert,  Minister  of 
the  Marine,  at  Paris,  under  date  of  November  14,  1674,  announces  that 
"  Sieur  Joliet,  whom  Monsieur  Talon  advised  me,  on  my  arrival  from 
France,  to  dispatch  for  the  discovery  of  the  South  Sea,  has  returned  three 
months  ago.  He  has  discovered  some  very  line  countries,  and  a  navi- 
gation so  easy  through  beautiful  rivers  he  has  found,  that  a  person  can 
go  from  Lake  Ontario  in  a  bark  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  there  being- 
only  one  carrying  place  (around  Niagara  Falls),  where  Lake  Ontario 
communicates  with  Lake  Erie.  I  send  you,  by  my  secretary,  the  map 
which  Sieur  Joliet  has  made  of  the  great  river  he  has  discovered,  and 
the  observations  he  has  been  able  to  recollect,  as  he  lost  all  his  minutes 
and  journals  in  the  shipwreck  he  suffered  within  sight  of  Montreal, 
where,  after  having  completed  a  voyage  of  twelve  hundred  leagues, 
he  was  near  being  drowned,  and  lost  all  his  papers  and  a  little  Indian 
whom  he  brought  from  those  countries.  These  accidents  have  caused 
me  great  regret."* 

Louis  Joliet,  or  Jolliet,  or  Jollyet,  as  the  name  is  variously  spelled, 
was  the  son  of  Jean  Joliet,  a  wheelwright,  and  Mary  d'Abancour;  he 
was  born  at  Quebec  in  the  year  1645.  Having  finished  his  studies  at 
the  Jesuit  college  he  determined  to  become  a  member  of  that  order,  and 
with  that  purpose  in  view  took  some  of  the  minor  orders  of  the  society 
in  August,  1662.  He  completed  his  studies  in  1666,  but  during  this 
time  his  attention  had  become  interested  in  Indian  affairs,  and  he  laid 
aside  all  thoughts  of  assuming  the  "  black  gown."  That  he  acquired 
great  ability  and  tact  in  managing  the  savages,  is  apparent  from  the 
fact  of  his  having  been  selected  to  discover  the  south  sea  by  the  way  of 
the  Mississippi.  The  map  which  he  drew  from  memory,  and  which 
was  forwarded  by  Count  Frontenac  to  France,  was  afterward  attached 
to  Marquette's  Journal,  and  was  published  by  Therenot,  at  Paris,  in 
1681.  Sparks,  in  his  "  Life  of  Marquette,"  copies  this  map,  and  ascribes 
it  to  his  hero.  This  must  be  a  mistake,  since  it  differs  quite  essentially 
from  Marquette's  map,  which  has  recently  been  brought  to  public  notice 
by  Dr.  Shea. 

Joliet's  account  of  the  voyage,  mentioned  by  Frontenac,  is  published 
in  Hennepin's  "  Discovery  of  a  Vast  Country  in  America."  It  is  very 
meagre,  and  does  not  present  any  facts  not  covered  by  Marquette's  nar- 
rative. 

In  1680  Joliet  was  appointed  hydrographer  to  the  king,  and  many 

*  Paris  Documents,  vol.  9,  p.  121. 


UNV  • 


52  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON    THE    NORTHWEST. 

well-drawn  maps  at  Quebec  show  that  his  office  was  no  sinecure.  After- 
ward, he  made  a  voyage  to  Hudson's  Bay  in  the  interest  of  the  king; 
and  as  a  reward  for  the  faithful  performance  of  his  duty,  he  was  granted 
the  island  of  Anticosti,  which,  on  account  of  the  fisheries  and  Indian 
trade,  was  at  that  time  very  valuable.  After  this,  he  signed  himself 
Joliet  d'Anticosty.  In  the  year  1697,  he  obtained  the  seignorv  of 
Joliet  on  the  river  Etchemins,  south  of  Quebec.  M.  Joliet  died  in 
1701,  leaving  a  wife  and  four  children,  the  descendants  of  whom  are 
living  in  Canada  still  possessed  of  the  seignorv  of  Joliet,  among  whom 
are  Archbishop  Taschereau  of  Quebec  and  Archbishop  Tache  of  Red 
River. 

Mount  Joliet,  on  the  Desplaines  River,  above  its  confluence  with  the 
Kankakee,  and  the  city  of  Joliet,  in  the  county  of  Will,  perpetuate 
the  name  of  Joliet  in  the  state  of  Illinois. 

Jacques  Marquette  was  born  in  Laon,  France,  in  1637.  His  was 
the  oldest  and  one  of  the  most  respectable  citizen  families  of  the  place. 
At  the  age  of  seventeen  he  entered  the  Society  of  Jesus;  received  or- 
ders in  1666  to  embark  for  Canada,  arriving  at  Quebec  in  September 
of  the  same  year.  For  two  years  he  remained  at  Three  Rivers,  study- 
ing the  different  Indian  dialects  under  Father  Gabriel  Druillentes. 
At  the  end  of  that  period  he  received  orders  to  repair  to  the  upper 
lakes,  which  he  did,  and  established  the  Mission  of  Sault  Ste.  Marie. 
The  following  year  Dablon  arrived,  having  been  appointed  Superior  of 
the  Ottawa  missions :  Marquette  then  went  to  the  "  Mission  of  the  Holy 
Ghost "  at  the  western  extremity  of  Lake  Superior ;  here  he  remained 
for  two  years,  and  it  was  his  accounts,  forwarded  from  this  place,  that 
caused  Frontenac  and  Talon  to  send  Joliet  on  his  voyage  to  the  Mis- 
sissippi. The  Sioux  having  dispersed  the  Algonquin  tribes  at  Lapointe, 
the  latter  retreated  eastward  to  Mackinaw ;  Marquette  followed  and 
founded  there  the  Mission  of  St.  Ignatius.  Here  he  remained  until 
Joliet  came,  in  1673,  with  orders  to  accompany  him  on  his  voyage  of 
discovery  down  the  Mississippi.  Upon  his  return.  Marquette  remained 
at  Mackinaw  until  October,  1674.  when  he  received  orders  to  carry  out 
his  pet  project  of  founding  the  "  Mission  of  the  Immaculate  Concep- 
tion of  the  Blessed  Virgin  "  anions;  the  Illinois.  He  immediatelv  set 
out,  but  owing  to  a  severe  dysentery,  contracted  the  year  previous,  he 
made  but  slow  progress.  However,  he  reached  Chicago  Creek,  De- 
cember 4,  where,  growing  rapidly  worse,  he  was  compelled  to  winter. 
On  the  29th  of  the  following  March  he  set  out  for  the  Illinois  town, 
on  the  river  of  that  name.  He  succeeded  in  getting  there  on  the  8th 
of  April.  Being  cordially  received  by  the  Indians,  he  was  enabled  to 
realize  his  long  deferred  and  much  cherished  project  of  establishing 


DEATH    OF    MARQUETTE.  53 

the  "  Mission  of  the  Immaculate  Conception."  Believing  that  his  life 
was  drawing  to  a  close,  he  endeavored  to  reach  Mackinaw  before  his 
death  should  take  place.  But  in  this  hope  he  was  doomed  to  disap- 
pointment ;  by  the  time  he  reached  Lake  Michigan  "  he  was  so  weak 
that  he  had  to  be  carried  like  a  child."  One  Saturday,  Marquette  and 
his  two  companions  entered  a  small  stream  —  which  still  bears  his 
name  —  on  the  eastern  side  of  Lake  Michigan,  and  in  this  desolate 
spot,  virtually  alone,  destitute  of  all  the  comforts  of  life,  died  James 
Marquette.  His  life-long  wish  to  die  a  martyr  in  the  holy  cause  of 
Jesus  and  the  Blessed  Virgin,  was  granted.  Thus  passed  away  one  of 
the  purest  and  most  sacrificing  servants  of  God, —  one  of  the  bravest 
and  most  heroic  of  men. 

The  biographical  sketch  of  Joliet  has  been  collated  from  a  number 
of  reliable  authorities,  and  is  believed  truthful.  Our  notice  of  Father 
Marquette  is  condensed  from  his  life  as  written  by  Dr.  Shea,  than 
whom  there  is  no  one  better  qualified  to  perform  the  task. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 


EXPLORATIONS  BY  LA  SALLE. 


The  success  of  the  French,  in  their  plan  of  colonization,  was  so 
great,  and  the  trade  with  the  savages,  exchanging  fineries,  guns,  knives, 
and,  more  than  all,  spirituous  liquors  for  valuable  furs,  yielded  such 
enormous  profits,  that  impetus  was  given  to  still  greater  enterprises. 
They  involved  no  less  than  the  hemming  in  of  the  British  colonies 
along  the  Atlantic  coast  and  a  conquest  of  the  rich  mines  in  Mexico, 
from  the  Spanish.  These  purposes  are  boldly  avowed  in  a  letter  of 
M.  Talon,  the  king's  enterprising  intendant  at  Quebec,  in  1671 ;  and 
also  in  the  declarations  of  the  great  Colbert,  at  Paris,  "  I  am,"  says  M. 
Talon,  in  his  letter  to  the  king  referred  to,  "  no  courtier,  and  assert, 
not  through  a  mere  desire  to  please  the  king,  nor  without  just  reason, 
that  this  portion  of  the  French  monarchy  will  become  something 
grand.  What  I  discover  around  me  makes  me  foresee  this  ;  and  those 
colonies  of  foreign  nations  so  long  settled  on  the  seaboard  already 
tremble  with  fright,  in  view  of  what  his  majesty  has  accomplished 
here  in  the  interior.  The  measures  adopted  to  confine  them  within 
narrow  limits,  by  taking  possession,  which  I  have  caused  to  be  effected, 
do  not  allow  them  to  spread,  without  subjecting  themselves,  at  the 
same  time,  to  be  treated  as  usurpers,  and  have  war  waged  against  them. 
This  in  truth  is  what  by  all  their  acts  they  seem  to  greatly  fear.  They 
already  know  that  your  name  is  spread  abroad  among  the  savages 
throughout  all  those  countries,  and  that  they  regard  your  majesty  alone 
as  the  arbitrator  of  peace  and  war ;  they  detach  themselves  insensibly 
from  other  Europeans,  and  excepting  the  Iroquois,  of  whom  I  am  not 
as  }^et  assured,  we  can  safely  promise  that  the  others  will  take  up  arms 
whenever  we  please."  "  The  principal  result,"  says  La  Salle,  i-n  his 
memoir  at  a  later  day,  "  expected  from  the  great  perils  and  labors  which 
I  underwent  in  the  discovery  of  the  Mississippi  was  to  satisfy  the  wish 
expressed  to  me  by  the  late  Monsieur  Colbert,  of  finding  a  port  where 
the  French  might  establish  themselves  and  harass  the  Spaniards  in 
those  regions  from  whence  they  derive  all  their  wealth.  The  place  I 
propose  to  fortify  lies  sixty  leagues  above  the  mouth  of  the  river  Col- 
bert (i.  e.  Mississippi)  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  possesses  all  the 
advantages  for  such  a  purpose  which  can  be  wished  for,  both  on  account 

54 


EARLY    LIFE    OF    LA    SALLE.  55 

of  its  excellent  position  and  the  favorable  disposition  of  the  savages  who 
live  in  that  part  of  the  country."*  It  is  not  our  province  to  indulge 
in  conjectures  as  to  how  far  these  daring  purposes  of  Talon  and  Col- 
bert would  have  succeeded  had  not  the  latter  died,  and  their  active 
assistant,  Robert  La  Salle,  have  lost  his  life,  at  the  hands  of  an  assassin, 
when  in  the  act  of  executing  the  preliminary  part  of  the  enterprise. 
We  turn,  rather,  to  matters  of  historical  record,  and  proceed  with  a 
condensed  sketch  of  the  life  and  voyages  of  La  Salle,  as  it  was  his  dis- 
coveries that  led  to  the  colonization  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  by  the 
French. 

La  Salle  was  born,  of  a  distinguished  family,  at  Rouen,  France. 
He  was  consecrated  to  the  service  of  God  in  early  life,  and  entered  the 
Society  of  Jesus,  in  which  he  remained  ten  years,  laying  the  foundation 
of  moral  principles,  regular  habits  and  elements  of  science  that  served 
him  so  well  in  his  future  arduous  undertakings.  Like  many  other 
young  men  having  plans  of  useful  life,  he  thought  Canada  would  offer 
better  facilities  to  develop  them  than  the  cramped  and  fixed  society 
of  France.  He  accordingly  left  his  home,  and  reached  Montreal  in 
1666.  -Being  of  a  resolute  and  venturesome  disposition,  he  found 
employment  in  making  explorations  of  the  country  about  the  lakes. 
He  soon  became  a  favorite  of  Talon,  the  intendant,  and  of  Frontenac, 
the  governor,  at  Quebec.  He  was  selected  by  the  latter  to  take  com- 
mand of  Fort  Frontenac,  near  the  present  city  of  Kingston,  on  the  St. 
Lawrence  River,  and  at  that  time  a  dilapidated,  wooden  structure  on 
the  frontier  of  Canada.  He  remained  in  Canada  about  nine  years, 
acquiring  a  knowledge  of  the  country  and  particularly  of  the  Indian 
tribes,  their  manners,  habits  and  customs,  and  winning  the  confidence 
of  the  French  authorities.  He  returned  to  France  and  presented  a 
memoir  to  the  king,  in  which  he  urged  the  necessity  of  maintaining 
Fort  Frontenac,  which  he  offered  to  restore  with  a  structure  of 
stone ;  to  keep  there  a  garrison  equal  to  the  one  at  Montreal ;  to  em- 
ploy as  many  as  fifteen  laborers  during  the  first  year;  to  clear  and  till 
the  land,  and  to  supply  the  surrounding  Indian  villages  with  Recollect 
missionaries  in  furtherance  of  the  cause  of  religion,  all  at  his  own  ex- 
pense, on  condition  that  the  king  would  grant  him  the  right  of  seigniory 
and  a  monopoly  of  the  trade  incident  to  it.  He  further  petitioned  for 
title  of  nobility  in  consideration  of  voyages  he  had  already  made  in 
Canada  at  his  own  expense,  and  which  had  resulted  in  the  great  bene- 
fit to  the  king's  colon}'.     The  king  heard  the  petition  graciously,  and 

*  Talon's  letter  to  the  king:  Paris  Documents,  vol.  9,  p.  73.  La  Salle's  Memoir  to 
the  king,  on  the  necessity  of  fitting  out  an  expedition  to  take  possession  of  Louisiana: 
Historical  Collections  of  Louisiana,  part  1,  p.  5. 


.".ti  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

on  the  13th  May,  1075,  granted  La  Salle  and  his  heirs  Fort  Frontenac, 
with  four  leagues  of  the  adjacent  country  along  the  lakes  and  rivers 
above  and  below  the  fort  and  a  half  a  league  inward,  and  the  adjacent 
islands,  with  the  right  of  hunting  and  fishing  on  Lake  Ontario  and 
the  circumjacent  rivers.  On  the  same  day,  the  king  issued  to  La  Salle 
letters  patent  of  nobility,  having,  as  the  king  declares,  been  informed 
of  the  worthy  deeds  performed  by  the  people,  either  in  reducing  or 
civilizing  the  savages  or  in  defending  themselves  against  their  frequent 
insults,  especially  those  of  the  Iroquois ;  in  despising  the  greatest  dan- 
gers in  order  to  extend  the  king's  name  and  empire  to  the  extremity 
of  that  new  world  ;  and  desiring  to  reward  those  who  have  thus  ren- 
dered themselves  most  eminent;  and  wishing  to  treat  most  favorably 
Robert  Cavalier  Sieur  de  La  Salle  on  account  of  the  good  and  laudable 
report  that  has  been  rendered  concerning  his  actions  in  Canada,  the 
king  does  ennoble  and  decorate  with  the  title  of  nobility  the  said  cav- 
alier, together  with  his  wife  and  children.  He  left  France  with  these 
precious  documents,  and  repaired  to  Fort  Frontenac,  where  he  per- 
formed the  conditions  imposed  by  the  terms  of  his  titles. 

He  sailed  for  France  again  in  1677,  and  in  the  following  year  after 
he  and  Colbert  had  fully  matured  their  plans,  he  again  petitioned  the 
king  for  a  license  to  prosecute  further  discoveries.  The  king  granted 
his  request,  giving  him  a  permit,  under  date  of  May  12,  1678,  to  en- 
deavor to  discover  the  western  part  of  New  France ;  the  king  avowing 
in  the  letters  patent  that  "  he  had  nothing  more  at  heart  than  the  dis- 
covery of  that  country  wdiere  there  is  a  prospect  of  finding  a  way  to 
penetrate  as  far  as  Mexico,"  and  authorizing  La  Salle  to  prosecute  dis- 
coveries, and  construct  forts  in  such  places  as  he  might  think  necessary, 
and  enjoy  there  the  same  monopoly  as  at  Fort  Frontenac, —  all  on  con- 
dition that  the  enterprise  should  be  prosecuted  at  La  Salle's  expense, 
and  completed  within  five  years;  that  he  should  not  trade  with  the 
savages,  who  carried  their  peltries  and  beavers  to  Montreal ;  and  that 
the  governor,  intendant,  justices,  and  other  officers  of  the  king  in  New 
France,  should  aid  La  Salle  in  his  enterprise."-  Before  leaving  France, 
La  Salle,  through  the  Prince  de  Conti,  was  introduced  to  one  Henri 
de  Tonti,  an  Italian  by  birth,  who  for  eight  years  had  been  in  the 
French  service.  Having  had  one  of  his  hands  shot  off  while  in  Sicily, 
he  repaired  to  France  to  seek  other  employment.  It  was  a  most  for- 
tunate meeting.  Tonti  —  a  name  that  should  be  prominently  associ- 
ated with  discoveries  in  this  part  of  America  —  became  La  Salle's 
companion.     Ever  faithful  and  courageous,  he  ably  and  zealously  fur- 

*  Vide  the  petitions  of  La  Salle  to,  and  the  grants  from,  the  king,  which  are  found 
at  length  in  the  Paris  Documents,  vol.  9,  pp.  122  to  127. 


LOUIS    HENNEPIN.  57 

thered  all  of  La  Salle's  plans,  followed  and  defended  him  under  the 
most  discouraging  trials,  with  an  unselfish  fidelity  that  has  few  paral- 
lels in  any  age. 

Supplied  with  this  new  grant  of  enlarged  powers,  La  Salle,  in  com- 
pany with  Tonti, —  or  Tonty,  as  Dr.  Sparks  says  he  has  seen  the  name 
written  in  an  autograph  letter, —  and  thirty  men,  comprising  pilots, 
sailors,  carpenters  and  other  mechanics,  with  a  supply  of  material 
necessary  for  the  intended  exploration,  left  France  for  Quebec.  Here 
the  party  were  joined  by  some  Canadians,  and  the  whole  force  was 
sent  forward  to  Fort  Frontenac,  at  the  outlet  of  Lake  Ontario,  since 
this  fort  had  been  granted  to  La  Salle.  He  had,  in  conformity  to  the 
terms  of  his  letters  patent,  greatly  enlarged  and  strengthened  its  de- 
fenses. Here  he  met  Louis  Hennepin,  a  Franciscan  Friar,  whom  it 
seems  had  been  sent  thither  along  with  Father  Gabriel  de  la  Ribourde 
and  Zenobius  Membre,  all  of  the  same  religious  order,  to  accompany 
La  Salle's  expedition.  In  the  meantime,  Hennepin  was  occupied  in 
pastoral  labors  among  the  soldiers  of  the  garrison,  and  the  inhabitants 
of  a  little  hamlet  of  peasants  near  by,  and  proselyting  the  Indians  of 
the  neighboring  country.  Hennepin,  from  his  own  account,  had  not 
only  traveled  over  several  parts  of  Europe  before  coming  to  Canada, 
but  since  his  arrival  in  America,  had  spent  much  time  in  roaming 
about  among  the  savages,  to  gratify  his  love  of  adventure  and  acquire 
knowledge. 

Hennepin's  name  and  writings  are  so  prominently  connected  with 
the  early  history  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  and,  withal,  his  contradic- 
tory- statements,  made  at  a  later  day  of  his  life,  as  to  the  extent  of  his 
own  travels,  have  so  clouded  his  reputation  with  grave  doubt  as  to  his 
regard  for  truth,  that  we  will  turn  aside  and  give  the  reader  a  sketch 
of  this  most  singular  man  and  his  claims  as  a  discoverer.  He  was 
bold,  courageous,  patient  and  hopeful  under  the  most  trying  fatigues ; 
and  had  a  taste  for  the  privations  and  dangers  of  a  life  among  the 
savages,  whose  ways  and  caprices  he  well  understood,  and  knew  how 
to  turn  them  to  insure  his  own  safety.  He  was  a  shrewd  observer  and 
possessed  a  faculty  for  that  detail  and  little  minutiae,  which  make  a 
narrative  racy  and  valuable.  He  was  vain  and  much  given  to  self- 
glorification.  He  accompanied  La  Salle,  in  the  first  voyage,  as  far  as 
Peoria  Lake,  and  he  and  Father  Zenobe  Membre  are  the  historians  of 
that  expedition.  From  Peoria  Lake  he  went  down  the  Illinois,  under 
orders  from  La  Salle,  and  up  the  Mississippi  beyond  St.  Anthony's 
Falls,  giving  this  name  to  the  falls.  This  interesting  voyage  was  not 
prosecuted  voluntarily ;  for  Hennepin  and  his  two  companions  were 
captured  by  the  Sioux  and  taken  up  the  river  as  prisoners,  often  in 


58  HISTORIC    NOTES   ON    THE    NORTHWEST. 

great  peril  of  their  lives.  He  saw  La  Salle  no  more,  after  parting  with 
him  at  Peoria  Lake.  lie  was  released  from  captivity  through  the 
intervention  of  Mons.  Duluth,  a  French  Coureur  de  Bois.  who  had 
previously  established  a  trade  with  the  Sioux,  on  the  upper  Mississippi, 
by  way  of  Lake  Superior.  After  his  escape,  Hennepin  descended  the 
Mississippi  to  the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin,  which  he  ascended,  made 
the  portage  at  the  head  of  Fox  River,  thence  to  Green  Bay  and  Mack- 
inaw, by  the  route  pursued  by  Joliet  and  Marquette  on  their  way  to 
the  Mississippi,  seven  years  before.  From  Mackinaw  he  proceeded  to 
France,  where,  in  1683,  he  published,  under  royal  authority,  an  account 
of  his  travels.  For  refusing  to  obey  an  order  of  his  superiors,  to  return 
to  America,  he  was  banished  from  France.  He  went  to  Holland  and 
obtained  the  favor  and  patronage  of  William  III,  king  of  England,  to 
whose  service,  as  he  himself  says,  "he  entireh*  devoted  himself.'1  In 
Holland,  he  received  money  and  sustenance  from  Mr.  Blathwait,  King 
William's  secretary  of  war,  while  engaged  in  preparing  a  new  volume 
of  his  voyages,  which  was  published  at  Utrecht,  in  1697.  and  dedicated 
"To  His  Most  Excellent  Majesty  William  the  Third."  The  revised 
edition  contains  substantially  all  of  the  first,  and  a  great  deal  besides ; 
for  in  this  last  work  Hennepin  lays  claim,  for  the  first  time,  to  having 
gone  down  the  Mississippi  to  its  mouth,  thus  seeking  to  deprive  La 
Salle  of  the  glory  attaching  to  his  name,  on  account  of  this  very  dis- 
covery. La  Salle  had  now  been  dead  about  fourteen  years,  and  from 
the  time  he  went  down  the  Mississippi,  in  16S2,  to  the  hour  of  his 
death,  although  his  discovery  was  well  known,  especially  to  Hennepin, 
the  latter  never  laid  any  claim  to  having  anticipated  him  in  the  discov- 
ery. Besides,  Hennepin's  own  account,  after  so  long  a  silence,  of  his 
pretended  voyage  down  the  river  is  so  utterly  inconsistent  with  itself, 
especially  with  respect  to  dates  and  the  impossibility  of  his  traveling 
rlie  distances  within  the  time  he  alleges,  that  the  story  carries  its  own 
refutation.  For  this  mendacious  act,  Father  Hennepin  has  merited  the 
severest  censures  of  Charlevoix,  Jared  Sparks.  Francis  Parkman,  Dr. 
Shea  and  other  historical  critics. 

His  first  work  is  ^enerallv  regarded  as  authority.  That  he  did  go 
up  the  Mississippi  river  there  seems  to  be  no  controversy,  while  grave 
doubts  prevail  as  to  many  statements  in  his  last  publication,  which 
would  otherwise  pass  without  suspicion  were  they  not  found  in  com- 
pany with  statements  known  to  be  untrue. 

In  the  preface  to  his  last  work,  issued  in  1697,  Father  Hennepin 
assigns  as  a  reason  why  he  did  not  publish  his  descent  of  the  Missis- 
sippi in  his  volume  issued  in  16S3,  "that  I  was  obliged  to  say  nothing 
of  the  course  of  the  Mississippi,  from  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois  down 


HENNEPIN    AND    LA    SALLE.  59 

to  the  sea,  for  fear  of  disobliging  M.  La  Salle,  with  whom  I  began  my 
discovery.  This  gentleman,  alone,  would  have  the  glory  of  having  dis- 
covered the  course  of  that  river.  But  when  he  heard  that  I  had  done 
it  two  years  before  him  he  could  never  forgive  me,  though,  as  I  have 
said,  I  was  so  modest  as  to  publish  nothing  of  it.  This  was  the  true 
cause  of  his  malice  against  me,  and  of  the  barbarous  usage  I  met  with 
in  France." 

Still,  his  description  of  places  he  did  visit ;  the  aboriginal  names 
and  geographical  features  of  localities  ;  his  observations,  especially  upon 
the  manners  and  customs  of  the  Indians,  and  other  facts  which  he  had 
no  motive  to  misrepresent,  are  generally  regarded  as  true  in  his  last  as 
well  as  in  his  first  publication.  His  works,  indeed,  are  the  only  repos- 
itories of  many  interesting  particulars  relating  to  the  northwest,  and 
authors  quote  from  him,  some  indiscriminately  and  others  with  more 
caution,  while  all  criticise  him  without  measure. 

Hennepin  was  born  in  Belgium  in  1640,  as  is  supposed,  and  died 
at  Utrecht,  Holland,  within  a  few  years  after  issuing  his  last  book.  This 
was  republished  in  London  in  1698,  the  translation  into  English  being 
wretchedly  executed.  The  book,  aside  from  its  historical  value  and  the 
notoriety  attaching  to  it  because  of  the  new  claims  Hennepin  makes, 
is  quite  a  curiosity.  It  is  made  up  of  Hennepin's  own  travels,  blended 
with  his  fictitious  discoveries,  scraps  and  odd  ends  taken  from  the 
writings  of  other  travelers  without  giving  credit ;  the  whole  embellished 
with  plates  and  a  map  inserted  by  the  bookseller,  and  the  text  empha- 
sized with  italics  and  displayed  type ;  all  designed  to  render  it  a  speci- 
men, as  it  probably  was  in  its  day,  of  the  highest  skill  attained  in  the 
art  of  book-making. 

La  Salle  brought  up  the  St.  Lawrence  to  Fort  Frontenac  the 
anchors,  cordage  and  other  material  to  be  used  in  the  vessel  which  he 
designed  to  construct  above  the  Falls  of  Niagara  for  navigating  the 
western  lakes.  He  already  had  three  small  vessels  on  Lake  Ontario, 
which  he  had  made  use  of  in  a  coasting  trade  with  the  Indians.  One 
of  these,  a  brigantine  of  ten  tons,  was  loaded  with  his  effects ;  his  men, 
including  Fathers  Gabriel,  Zenobius  Membre  and  Hennepin,  who  were, 
as  Father  Zenobia  declares,  commissioned  with  care  of  the  spiritual 
direction  of  the  expedition,  were  placed  aboard,  and  on  the  18th  of 
November  the  vessel  sailed  westward  for  the  Niagara  River.  They 
kept  the  northern  shore,  and  run  into  land  and  bartered  for  corn  with 
the  Iroquois  at  one  of  their  villages,  situated  where  Toronto,  Canada, 
is  located,  and  for  fear  of  being  frozen  up  in  the  river,  which  here 
empties  into  the  lake,  had  to  cut  the  ice  from  about  their  ship.  Detained 
by  adverse  winds,  they  remained  here  until  the  wind  was  favorable, 


60  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

when  they  sailed  across  the  end  of  the  lake  and  found  an  anchorage  in 
the  mouth  of  Niagara  River  on  the  Gth  of  December.  The  season  was 
far  advanced,  and  the  ground  covered  with  snow  a  foot  deep.  Large 
masses  of  ice  were  floating  down  the  river  endangering  the  vessel,  and 
it  was  necessary  to  take  measures  to  give  it  security.  Accordingly  the 
vessel  was  hauled  with  cables  up  against  the  strong  current.  One  of 
the  cables  broke,  and  the  vessel  itself  came  very  near  being  broken  to 
pieces  or  carried  away  by  the  ice,  which  was  grinding  its  way  to  the 
open  lake.  Finally,  by  sheer  force  of  human  strength,  the  vessel  was 
dragged  to  the  shore,  and  moored  with  a  strong  hawser  under  a  protect- 
ing cliff  out  of  danger  from  the  floating  ice.  A  cabin,  protected  with 
palisades,  for  shelter  and  to  serve  as  a  magazine  to  store  the  supplies, 
was  also  constructed.  The  ground  was  frozen  so  hard  that  it  had  to  be 
thawed  out  with  boiling  water  before  the  men  could  drive  stakes  into  it. 

The  movements  of  La  Salle  excited,  first  the  curiosity  of  the  Iro- 
quois Indians,  in  whose  country  he  was  an  intruder,  and  then  their  jeal- 
ousy became  aroused  as  they  began  to  fear  he  intended  the  erection  of  a 
fort.  The  Sieur  de  La  Salle,  says  the  frank  and  modest-minded  Father 
Zenobe  Membre,  "with  his  usual  address  met  the  principal  Iroquois 
chiefs  in  conference,  and  gained  them  so  completely  that  they  not  only 
aereed,  but  offered,  to  contribute  with  all  their  means  to  the  execu- 
tion  of  his  designs.  The  conference  lasted  for  some  time.  La  Salle 
also  sent  many  canoes  to  trade  north  and  south  of  the  lake  anion* 
these  tribes."  Meanwhile  La  Salle's  enemies  were  busy  in  thwarting 
his  plans.  They  insinuated  themselves  among  the  Indians  in  the 
vicinity  of  Niagara,  and  filled  their  ears  with  all  sorts  of  stories  to  La 
Salle's  discredit,  and  aroused  feelings  of  such  distrust  that  work  on  the 
fort,  or  depot  for  supplies,  had  to  be  suspended,  and  La  Salle  content 
himself  with  a  house  surrounded  by  palisades. 

A  place  was  selected  above  the  falls,*  on  the  eastern  side  of  the 
river,  for  the  construction  of  the  new  vessel. 

The  ground  was  cleared  away,  trees  were  felled,  and  the  carpen- 
ters set  to  work.  The  keel  of  the  vessel  was  laid  on  the  26th  of  Jan- 
uary, and  some  of  the  plank  being  ready  to  fasten  on,  La  Salle  drove 
the  first  spike.  As  the  work  progressed,  La  Salle  made  several  trips,  Over 
ice  and  snow,  and  later  in  the  spring  with  vessels,  to  Fort  Frontenac,  to 
hurry  forward  provisions  and  material.  One  of  his  vessels  was  lost  on 
Lake  Ontario,  heavily  laden  with  a  cargo  of  valuable  supplies,  through 
the  fault  or  willful  perversity  of  her  pilots.  The  disappointment  over  this 
calamity,  says  Hennepin,  would  have  dissuaded  any  other  person  than 

♦Francis  Parkman,  in  his  valuable  work,  "The  Discovery  of  the  Great  West," 
p.  133,  locates  the  spot  at  the  mouth  of  Cayuga  Creek  on  the  American  shore. 


THE    FIRST   SAIL    ON    LAKE    ERIE.  61 

La  Salle  from  the  further  prosecution  of  the  enterprise.  The  men 
worked  industriously  on  the  ship.  The  most  of  the  Iroquois  having 
gone  to  war  with  a  nation  on  the  northern  side  of  Lake  Erie,  the  few 
remaining  behind  were  become  less  insolent  than  before.  Still  they 
lingered  about  where  the  work  was  going  on,  and  continued  expres- 
sions of  discontent  at  what  the  French  were  doing.  One  of  them  let 
on  to  be  drunk  and  attempted  to  kill  the  blacksmith,  but  the  latter 
repulsed  the  Indian  with  a  piece  of  iron  red-hot  from  the  forge.  The 
Indians  threatened  to  burn  the  vessel  on  the  stocks,  and  might  have 
done  so  were  it  not  constantly  guarded.  Much  of  the  time  the  only 
food  of  the  men  was  Indian  corn  and  fish ;  the  distance  to  Fort  Fron- 
tenac  and  the  inclemency  of  the  winter  rendering  it  out  of  power  to 
procure  a  supply  of  other  or  better  provisions. 

The  frequent  alarms  from  the  Indians,  a  want  of  wholesome  food, 
the  loss  of  the  vessel  with  its  promised  supplies,  and  a  refusal  of  the 
neighboring  tribes  to  sell  any  more  of  their  corn,  reduced  the  party  to 
such  extremities  that  the  ship-carpenters  tried  to  run  away.  They 
were,  however,  persuaded  to  remain  and  prosecute  their  work.  Two 
Mohegan  Indians,  successful  hunters  in  La  Salle's  service,  were  fortu- 
nate enough  to  bring  in  some  wild  goats  and  other  game  they  had 
killed,  which  greatly  encouraged  the  workmen  to  go  on  with  their  task 
more  briskly  than  before.  The  vessel  was  completed  within  six  months 
from  the  time  its  keel  was  laid.  The  ship  was  gotten  afloat  before  en- 
tirely finished,  to  prevent  the  designs  of  the  natives  to  burn  it.  She 
was  sixty  tons  burthen,  and  called  the  "Griffin,"  a  name  given  it  by 
La  Salle  by  way  of  a  compliment  to  Count  Frontenac,  whose  armorial 
bearings  were  supported  by  two  griffins.  Three  guns  were  fired,  and 
"Te  Dennis"  chanted  at  the  christening,  and  prayers  offered  up  for  a 
prosperous  voyage.  The  air  in  the  wild  forest  rung  with  shouts  of 
joy ;  even  the  Iroquois,  looking  suspiciousl}'  on,  were  seduced  with 
alluring  draughts  of  brandy  to  lend  their  deep-mouthed  voices  to  the 
happy  occasion.  The  men  left  their  cabins  of  bark  and  swung  their 
hammocks  under  the  deck  of  the  ship,  where  they  could  rest  with 
greater  security  from  the  savages  than  on  the  shore. 

The  Griffin,  under  press  of  a  favorable  breeze,  and  with  the  help 
of  twelve  men  on  the  shore  pulling  at  tow-ropes,  was  forced  up  against 
the  strong  current  of  the  Niagara  River  to  calmer  waters  at  the  en- 
trance of  the  lake.  On  the  7th  of  August,  1679,  her  canvas  was  spread, 
and  the  pilot  steering  by  the  compass,  the  vessel,  with  La  Salle  and  his 
thirty  odd  companions  and  their  effects  aboard,  sailed  out  westward 
upon  the  unknown,  silent  waters  of  Lake  Erie.  In  three  days  they 
reached  the  mouth  of  Detroit  River.     Father  Hennepin  was  fairly 


62  HISTORIC    NOTES    OX   THE    NORTHWEST. 

delighted  with  the  country  along  this  river  —  it  was  "so  well  situated 
and  the  soil  so  fertile.  Yast  meadows  extending  back  from  the  strait 
and  terminating  at  the  uplands,  which  were  clad  with  vineyards,  and 
plum  and  pear  and  other  fruit-bearing  trees  of  nature's  own  planting,  all 
so  well  arranged  that  one  would  think  they  could  not  have  been  so  dis- 
posed without  the  help  of  art.  The  country  was  also  well  stocked 
with  deer,  bear,  wild  goats,  turkeys,  and  other  animals  and  birds,  that 
supplied  a  most  relishing  food.  The  forest  comprised  walnut  and 
other  timber  in  abundance  suitable  for  building  purposes.  So  charmed 
was  he  with  the  prospect  that  he  "  endeavored  to  persuade  La  Salle  to 
settle  at  the  '  De  Troit,' '"  it  being  in  the  midst  of  so  main-  savage  na- 
tions among  whom  a  good  trade  could  be  established.  La  Salle  would 
not  listen  to  this  proposal.  He  said  he  would  make  no  settlement 
within  one  hundred  leagues  of  Frontenac,  lest  other  Europeans  would 
be  before  them  in  the  new  country  they  were  going  to  discover.  This, 
says  Hennepin,  was  the  pretense  of  La  Salle  and  the  adventurers  who 
were  with  him  ;  for  I  soon  discovered  that  their  intention  was  to  buy  all 
the  furs  and  skins  of  the  remotest  savages  who.  as  thev  thought,  did 

CD  s  v  O  7 

not  know  their  value,  and  thus  enrich  themselves  in  one  single  vovage. 
On  Lake  Huron  the  Griffin  encountered  a  storm.  The  main-}rards 
and  topmast  were  blown  away,  giving  the  ship  over  to  the  mercy  of 
the  winds.  There  was  no  harbor  to  run  into  for  shelter.  La  Salle, 
although  a  courageous  man,  gave  way  to  his  fears,  and  said  they  all 
were  undone.  Everyone  thereupon  fell  upon  their  knees  to  say  pray- 
ers and  prepare  for  death,  except  the  pilot,  who  cursed  and  swore  all 
the  while  at  La  Salle  for  bringing  him  there  to  perish  in  a  nasty  lake, 
after  he  had  acquired  so  much  renown  in  a  long  and  successful  naviga- 
tion on  the  ocean.  The  storm  abated,  and  on  the  27th  of  August,  the 
Griffin  resumed  her  course  northwest,  and  was  carried  on  the  evening 
of  the  same  day  beyond  the  island  of  Mackinaw  to  point  St.  Ignace, 
and  safely  anchored  in  a  bay  that  is  sheltered,  except  from  the  south, 
by  the  projecting  mainland. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

LA  SALLE'S    VOYAGE    CONTINUED. 

St.  Ignace,  or  Mackinaw,  as  previously  stated,  had  become  a  princi- 
pal center  of  the  Jesuit  missions,  and  it  had  also  grown  into  a  head- 
quarters for  an  extensive  Indian  trade.  Duly  licensed  traders,  as  well 
as  the  Coureurs  de  Bois, —  men  who  had  run  wild,  as  it  were,  and  by 
their  intercourse  with  the  nations  had  thrown  off  all  restraints  of 
civilized  life, —  resorted  to  this  vicinity  in  considerable  numbers.  These, 
lost  to  all  sense  of  national  pride,  instead  of  sustaining  took  every 
measure  to  thwart  La  Salle's  plans.  They,  with  some  of  the  dissatis- 
fied crew,  represented  to  the  Indians  that  La  Salle  and  his  associates 
were  a  set  of  dangerous  and  ambitious  adventurers,  who  meant  to 
engross  all  the  trade  in  furs  and  skins  and  invade  their  liberties.  These 
jealous  and  meddlesome  busybodies  had  already,  before  the  arrival  of 
the  Griffin,  succeeded  in  seducing  fifteen  men  from  La  Salle's  service, 
whom  with  others,  he  had  sent  forward  the  previous  spring,  under 
command  of  Tonty,  with  a  stock  of  merchandise ;  and,  instead  of 
going  to  the  tribes  beyond  and  preparing  the  way  for  a  friendly  recep- 
tion of  La  Salle,  as  they  were  ordered  to  do,  they  loitered  about 
Mackinaw  the  whole  summer  and  squandered  the  goods,  in  spite  of 
Tonty's  persistent  efforts  to  urge  them  forward  in  the  performance  of 
their  duty.  La  Salle  sent  out  other  parties  to  trade  with  the  natives, 
and  these  went  so  far,  and  were  so  busy  in  bartering  for  and  collect- 
ing furs,  that  they  did  not  return  to  Mackinaw  until  November.  It 
was  now  getting  late  and  La  Salle  was  warned  of  the  dangerous  storms 
that  sweep  the  lakes  at  the  beginning  of  winter ;  he  resolved,  therefore, 
to  continue  his  vovage  without  waiting  the  return  of  his  men.  He 
weighed  anchor  and  sailed  westward  into  Lake  Michigan  as  far  as  the 
islands  at  the  entrance  of  Green  Bay,  then  called  the  Pottawatomie 
Islands,  for  the  reason  that  they  were  then  occupied  by  bands  of  that 
tribe.  On  one  of  these  islands  La  Salle  found  some  of  the  men 
belonging  to  his  advance  party  of  traders,  and  who,  having  secured  a 
large  quantity  of  valuable  furs,  had  long  and  impatiently  waited  his 
coming. 

La  Salle,  as  is  already  apparent,  determined  to  engage  in  a  fur  trade 
that    already  and    legitimately  belonged    to    merchants    operating  at 

63 


64  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON    THE    NORTHWEST. 

Montreal,  and  with  which  the  terms  of  his  own  license  prohibited  his 
interfering.  "Without  asking  any  one's  advice  he  resolved  to  load  his 
.-hip  with  furs  and  send  it  back  to  Niagara,  and  the  furs  to  Quebec,  and 
out  of  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  to  discharge  some  very  pressing  debts. 
The  pilot  with  five  men  to  man  the  vessel  were  ordered  to  proceed  with 
the  Griffin  to  Niagara,  and  return  with  all  imaginable  speed  and  join  La 
Salle  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph  Eiver.  near  the  southern  shore  of 
Lake  Michigan.  The  Griffin  did  not  go  to  Green  Bay  City,  as  many 
writers  have  assumed  in  hasty  perusals  of  the  original  authorities,  or 
even  penetrate  the  body  of  water  known  as  Green  Bay  beyond  the 
chain  of  islands  at  its  month. 

The  resolution  of  La  Salle,  taken,  it  seems,  on  the  spur  of  the 
moment,  to  send  his  ship  back  down  the  lakes,  and  prosecute  his 
vovage  the  rest  of  the  way  to  the  head  of  Lake  Michigan  in  frail 
birchen  canoes,  was  a  most  unfortunate  measure.  It  delayed  his 
discoveries  two  years,  brought  severe  hardships  upon  himself  and 
greatly  embarrassed  all  his  future  plans.  The  Griffin  itself  was  lost, 
with  all  her  cargo,  valued  at  sixty  thousand  livres.  She,  nor  her  crew, 
was  ever  heard  of  after  leaving   the  Pottawatomie   Islands.     TThat 

CD  % 

became  of  the  ship  and  men  in  charge  remains  to  this  day  a  mvsterv, 

1  CD  */  *J  v    J 

or  veiled  in  a  cloud  of  conjecture.  La  Salle  himself,  says  Francis 
Parkman,  "grew  into  a  settled  conviction  that  the  Griffin  had  been 
treacherously  sunk  by  the  pilot  and  sailors  to  whom  he  had  intrusted 
her ;  and  he  thought  he  had,  in  after-years,  found  evidence  that  the 
authors  of  the  crime,  laden  with  the  merchandise  they  had  taken  from 
her,  had  reached  the  Mississippi  and  ascended  it,  hoping  to  join  Du 
Shut,  the  famous  chief  of  the  Coureurs  de  Bois,  and  enrich  them- 
selves by  traffic  with  the  northern  tribes.* 

The  following  is,  substantially,  Hennepin's  account  of  La  Salle's 
canoe  vovage  from  the  mouth  of  Green  Bav  south,  along  the  shore  of 
Lake  Michigan,  past  Milwaukee  and  Chicago,  and  around  the  southern 
end  of  the  lake ;  thence  north  along  the  eastern  shore  to  the  mouth  of 
the  St.  Joseph  River ;  thence  up  the  St.  Joseph  to  South  Bend,  mak- 
ing the  portage  here  to  the  head-waters  of  the  Kankakee ;  thence  down 
the  Kankakee  and  Illinois  through  Peoria  Lake,  with  an  account  of 
the  building  of  Fort  Crevecceur.  Hennepin's  narrative  is  full  of  in- 
teresting detail,  and  contains  many  interesting  observations  upon  the 
condition  of  the  country,  the  native  inhabitants  as  they  appeared  nearly 
two  hundred  years  ago.  The  privation  and  suffering  to  which  La  Salle 
and  his  party  were  exposed  in  navigating  Lake  Michigan  at  that  early 
day,  and  late  in  the  fall  of  the  year,  when  the  waters  were  vexed  with 

*  Discovery  of  the  Great  West,  p.  169. 


FIRST   VOYAGE    ON    LAKE   MICHIGAN.  65 

tempestuous  storms,  illustrate  the  courage  and  daring  of  the  under- 
taking. 

Their  suffering  did  not  terminate  with  their  voyage  upon  the  lake. 
Difficulties  of  another  kind  were  experienced  on  the  St.  Joseph,  Kan- 
kakee and  Illinois  Rivers.  Hennepin's  is,  perhaps,  the  first  detailed 
account  we  have  of  this  part  of  the  "Great  West,''  and  is  therefore  of 
great  interest  and  value  on  this  account. 

"We  left  the  Pottawatomies  to  continue  our  voyage,  being  fourteen 
men  in  all,  in  four  canoes.  I  had  charge  of  the  smallest,  which  carried 
five  hundredweight  and  two  men.  My  companions  being  recently 
from  Europe,  and  for  that  reason  being  unskilled  in  the  management 
of  these  kind  of  boats,  its  whole  charge  fell  upon  me  in  stormy 
weather. 

"  The  canoes  were  laden  with  a  smith's  forge,  utensils,  tools  for  car- 
penters, joiners  and  sawyers,  besides  our  goods  and  arms.     We  steered 
to   the   south    toward   the   mainland,   from   which    the    Pottawatomie 
Islands  are  distant  some  forty  leagues ;  but  about  midway,  and  in  the 
night  time,  we  were   greatly  endangered   by  a   sudden    storm.      The 
waves  dashed  into  our  canoes,  and  the  night  was  so  dark  we  had  great 
difficulty  in  keeping  our  canoes  together.     The  daylight  coming  on, 
we  reached  the  shore,  where  we  remained  for  four  days,  waiting  for  the 
lake  to  grow  calm.     In  the  meantime  our  Indian  hunter  went  in  quest 
of  game,  but  killed   nothing  other  than  a  porcupine ;  this,  however, 
made  our  Indian  corn  more  relishing.     The  weather  becoming  fair,  we 
resumed  our  voyage,  rowing  all  day  and  well  into  the  night,  along  the 
western  coast  of  the  Lake  of  the  Illinois.    The  wind  again  grew  to  fresh, 
and  we  landed  upon  a  rocky  beach  where  we  had  nothing  to  protect 
ourselves  against  a  storm  of  snow  and  rain  except  the  clothing  on  our 
persons.     We   remained  here  two  days  for  the  sea  to  go  down,  hav- 
ing made  a  little  fire  from  wood  cast  ashore  by  the  waves.     We  pro- 
ceeded on  our  voyage,  and  toward  evening  the  winds  again  forced  us 
to  a  beach  covered  with  rushes,  where  we  remained  three  days ;  and  in 
the  meantime  our  provisions,  consisting  only  of  pumpkins  and  Indian 
corn    purchased    from    the    Pottawatomies,   entirely   gave    out.      Our 
canoes  were  so  heavily  laden  that  we  could  not  carry  provisions  with 
us,  and  we  were  compelled  to  rely  on   bartering  for  such  supplies  on 
our  way.     We  left  this  dismal  place,  and  after  twelve  leagues  rowing 
came  to  another  Pottawatomie  village,  whose  inhabitants  stood  upon 
the  beach  to  receive  us.     But  M.  La  Salle  refused  to  let  anyone  land, 
notwithstanding  the  severity  of  the  weather,  fearing  some  of  his  men 
might  run  away.     We  were  in   such   great  peril   that  La  Salle  flung 
himself  into  the  water,  after  we  had  gone  some  three  leagues  farther, 
5 


66  HISTORIC    NOTKS    ON    THE  -NORTHWEST. 

and  with  the  aid  of  his  three  men  carried  the  canoe  of  which  he  had 
charge  to  the  shore,  upon  their  shoulders,  otherwise  it  would  have  been 
broken  to  pieces  by  the  waves.  We  were  obliged  to  do  the  same  with 
the  other  canoes.  I,  myself,  carried  good  Father  Gabriel  upon  my 
back,  his  age  being  so  well  advanced  as  not  to  admit  of  his  ventur- 
ing in  the  water.  We  took  ourselves  to  a  piece  of  rising  ground  to 
avoid  surprise,  as  we  had  no  manner  of  acquaintance  with  the  great 
number  of  savages  whose  village  was  near  at  hand.  We  sent  three 
men  into  the  village  to  buy  provisions,  under  protection  of  the  calu- 
met or  pipe  of  peace,  which  the  Indians  at  Pottawatomie  Islands  had 
presented  us  as  a  means  of  introduction  to,  and  a  measure  of  safety 
against,  other  tribes  that  we  might  meet  on  our  way." 

The  calumet  has  always  been  a  symbol  of  amity  among  all  the  In- 
dian tribes  of  North  America,  and  so  uniformly  used  by  them  in  all 
their  negotiations  with  their  own  race,  and  Europeans  as  well ;  and 
Father  Hennepin's  description  of  it,  and  the  respect  that  is  accorded  to 
its  presence,  are  so  truthful  that  we  here  insert  his  account  of  it  at 
length  : 

"  This  calumet,"  says  Father  Hennepin,  "  is  the  most  mysterious 
thing  among  the  savages,  for  it  is  used  in  all  important  transactions. 
It  is  nothing  else,  however,  than  a  large  tobacco  pipe,  made  of  red, 
black,  or  white  stone.  The  head  is  highly  polished,  and  the  quill  or 
stem  is  usually  about  two  feet  in  length,  made  of  a  pretty  strong  reed 
or  cane,  decorated  with  highly  colored  feathers  interlaced  with  locks  of 
women's  hair.  Wings  of  gaudily  plumaged  birds  are  tied  to  it,  mak- 
ing the  calumet  look  like  the  wand  of  Mercury,  or  staff  which  ambas- 
sadors of  state  formerly  carried  when  they  went  to  conduct  treaties  of 
peace.  The  stem  is  sheathed  in  the  skin  of  the  neck  of  birds  called 
'■Hilars''  (probably  the  loon),  which  are  as  large  as  our  geese,  and 
spotted  with  white  and  black ;  or  else  with  those  of  a  duck  (the  little 
wood  duck  whose  neck  presents  a  beautiful  contrast  of  colors)  that 
make  their  nests  upon  trees,  although  the  water  is  their  ordinary  ele- 
ment, and  whose  feathers  are  of  many  different  colors.  However, 
every  tribe  ornament  their  calumets  according  to  their  own  fancy,  with 
the  feathers  of  such  birds  as  they  may  have  in  their  own  country. 

"A  pipe,  such  as  I  have  described,  is  a  pass  of  safe  conduct  among  all 
the  allies  of  the  tribe  which  has  given  it ;  and  in  all  embassies  it  is  car- 
ried as  a  symbol  of  peace,  and  is  always  respected  as  such,  for  the  sav- 
ages believe  some  great  misfortune  would  speedily  befall  them  if  they 
violated  the  public  faith  of  the  calumet.  All  their  enterprises,  declara- 
tions of  war,  treaties  of  peace,  as  well  as  all  of  the  rest  of  their  cere- 
monies, are  sealed  with  the  calumet,     The  pipe  is  filled  with  the  best 


CANOE    VOYAGE    ON    LAKE    MICHIGAN.  67 

tobacco  they  have,  and  then  it  is  presented  to  those  with  whom  they 
are  about  to  conduct  an  important  affair;  and  after  they  have  smoked 
out  of  it,  the  one  offering  it  does  the  same.  I  would  have  perished," 
concludes  Hennepin,  "had  it  not  been  for  the  calumet.  Our  three 
men,  carrying  the  calumet  and  being  well  armed,  went  to  the  little 
village  about  three  leagues  from  the  place  where  we  landed ;  they 
found  no  one  at  home,  for  the  inhabitants,  having  heard  that  we  refused 
to  land  at  the  other  village,  supposed  we  were  enemies,  and  had  aban- 
doned their  habitations.  In  their  absence  our  men  took  some  of  their 
corn,  and  left  instead,  some  goods,  to  let  them  know  we  were  neither 
their  enemies  nor  robbers.  Twenty  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  village 
came  to  our  encampment  on  the  beach,  armed  with  axes,  small  guns, 
bows,  and  a  sort  of  club,  which,  in  their  language,  means  a  head- 
breaker.  La  Salle,  with  four  well-armed  men,  advanced  toward  them 
for  the  purpose  of  opening  a  conversation.  He  requested  them  to  come 
near  to  us,  saying  he  had  a  party  of  hunters  out  who  might  come 
across  them  and  take  their  lives.  They  came  forward  and  took  seats 
at  the  foot  of  an  eminence,  where  we  were  encamped ;  and  La  Salle 
amused  them  with  the  relation  of  his  voyage,  which  he  informed  them 
he  had  undertaken  for  their  advantage ;  and  thus  occupied  their  time 
until  the  arrival  of  the  three  men  who  had  been  sent  out  with  the 
calumet ;  on  seeing  which  the  savages  gave  a  great  shout,  arose  to  their 
feet  and  danced  about.  We  excused  our  men  from  having  taken  some 
of  their  corn,  and  informed  them  that  we  had  left  its  true  value  in 
goods ;  they  were  so  well  pleased  with  this  that  they  immediately  sent 
for  more  corn,  and  on  the  next  day  they  made  us  a  gift  of  as  much  as 
we  could  conveniently  find  room  for  in  our  canoes. 

':  The  next  day  morning  the  old  men  of  the  tribe  came  to  us  with 
their  calumet  of  peace,  and  entertained  us  with  a  free  offering  of  wild 
goats,  which  their  own  hunters  had  taken.  In  return,  we  presented 
them  our  thanks,  accompanied  with  some  axes,  knives,  and  several  little 
toys  for  their  wives,  with  all  which  they  were  very  much  pleased. 

"  We  left  this  place  and  continued  our  voyage  along  the  coast  of 
the  lake,  which,  in  places,  is  so  steep  that  we  often  found  it  difficult  to 
obtain  a  landing;  and  the  wind  was  so  violent  as  to  oblige  us  to  carry 
our  canoes  sometimes  upon  top  of  the  bluff,  to  prevent  their  being 
dashed  in  pieces.  The  stormy  weather  lasted  four  days,  causing  us 
much  suffering ;  for  every  time  we  made  the  shore  we  had  to  wade 
in  the  water,  carrying  our  effects  and  canoes  upon  our  shoulders.  The 
water  being  very  cold,  most  of  us  were  taken  sick.  Our  provisions 
again  failed  us,  which,  with  the  fatigues  of  rowing,  made  old  Father 
Gabriel  faint  away  in  such  a  manner  that  we  despaired  of  his  life. 


68  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

With  a  use  of  a  decoction  of  hyacinth  I  had  with  me,  and  which  I 
found  of  great  service  on  our  voyage,  he  was  restored  to  his  senses. 
We  had  no  other  subsistence  but  a  handful  of  corn  per  man  every 
twenty-four  hours,  which  we  parched  or  boiled ;  and,  although  reduced 
to  such  scanty  diet,  we  rowed  our  canoes  almost  daily,  from  morning 
to  night.  Our  men  found  some  hawthorns  and  other  wild  berries, 
of  which  they  ate  so  freely  that  most  of  them  were  taken  sick,  and  we 
imagined  that  they  were  poisoned. 

"Yet  the  more  we  suffered,  the  more,  by  God's  grace,  did  I  become 
stronger,  so  that  I  could  outrow  the  other  canoes.  Being  in  great  dis- 
tress, He,  who  takes  care  of  his  meanest  creatures,  provided  us  with 
an  unexpected  relief.  We  saw  over  the  land  a  great  many  ravens 
and  eagles  circling  in  mid-air ;  from  whence  we  conjectured  there  was 
prey  near  by.  We  landed,  and,  upon  search,  found  the  half  of  a  wild 
goat  which  the  wolves  had  strangled.  This  provision  was  very  ac- 
ceptable, and  the  rudest  of  our  men  could  not  but  praise  a  kind  Provi- 
dence, who  took  such  particular  care  of  us. 

"  Having  thus  refreshed  ourselves,  we  continued  our  voyage  directly 
to  the  southern  part  of  the  lake,  every  day  the  country  becoming  finer 
and  the  climate  more  temperate.  On  the  16th  of  October  we  fell  in 
with  abundance  of  game.  Our  Indian  hunter  killed  several  deer  and 
wild  goats,  and  our  men  a  great  many  big  fat  turkey-cocks,  with 
which  we  regaled  ourselves  for  several  days.  On  the  18th  we  came  to 
the  farther  end  of  the  lake.*  Here  we  landed,  and  our  men  were  sent 
out  to  prospect  the  locality,  and  found  great  quantities  of  ripe  grapes, 
the  fruit  of  which  were  as  large  as  damask  plums.  We  cut  down  the 
trees  to  gather  the  grapes,  out  of  which  we  made  pretty  good  wine, 
which  we  put  into  gourds,  used  as  flasks,  and  buried  them  in  the  sand 
to  keep  the  contents  from  turning  sour.  Many  of  the  trees  here  are 
loaded  with  vines,  which,  if  cultivated,  would  make  as  good  wine  as 
any  in  Europe.  The  fruit  was  all  the  more  relishing  to  us,  because  we 
wanted  bread." 

Other  travelers  besides  Hennepin,  passing  this  locality  at  an  early 
day,  also  mention  the  same  fact.  It  would  seem,  therefore,  that  Lake 
Michigan  had  the  same  modifying  influence  upon,  and  equalized  the 
temperature  of,  its  eastern  shore,  rendering  it  as  famous  for  its  wild 
fruits  and  grapes,  two  hundred  years  ago,  as  it  has  since  become  noted 
for  the  abundance  and  perfection  of  its  cultivated  varieties. 

"  Our  men  discovered  prints  of  men's  feet.     The  men  were  ordered 

*  From  the  description  given  of  the  country,  the  time  occupied,  and  forest  growth, 
the  voyagers  must  now  be  eastward  of  Michigan  City,  and  where  the  lake  shore  trends 
more  rapidly  to  the  north. 


SAVAGES    PLUNDER    LA    SALLE.  69 

to  be  upon  guard  and  make  no  noise.  In  spite  of  this  precaution,  one 
of  our  men,  rinding  a  bear  upon  a  tree,  shot  him  dead  and  dragged 
him  into  camp.  La  Salle  was  very  angry  at  this  indiscretion,  and,  to 
avoid  surprise,  placed  sentinels  at  the  canoes,  under  which  our  effects 
had  been  put  for  protection  against  the  rain.  There  was  a  hunting 
party  of  Fox  Indians  from  the  vicinity  of  Green  Bay,  about  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  in  number,  encamped  near  to  us,  who,  having  heard 
the  noise  of  the  gun  of  the  man  who  shot  the  bear,  became  alarmed, 
and  sent  out  some  of  their  men  to  discover  who  we  were.  These 
spies,  creeping  upon  their  bellies,  and  observing  great  silence,  came 
in  the  night-time  and  stole  the  coat  of  La  Salle's  footman  and  some 
goods  secreted  under  the  canoes.  The  sentinel,  hearing  a  noise,  gave  the 
alarm,  and  we  all  ran  to  our  arms.  On  being  discovered,  and  thinking 
our  numbers  were  greater  than  we  really  were,  they  cried  out,  in 
the  dark,  that  they  were  friends.  We  answered,  friends  did  not  visit 
at  such  unseasonable  hours,  and  that  their  actions  were  more  like 
those  of  robbers,  who  designed  to  plunder  and  kill  us.  Their  headsman 
replied  that  they  heard  the  noise  of  our  gun,  and,  as  they  knew  that 
none  of  the  neighboring  tribes  possessed  firearms,  they  supposed  we 
were  a  war  party  of  Iroquois,  come  with  the  design  of  murdering 
them ;  but  now  that  they  learned  we  were  Frenchmen  from  Canada, 
whom  they  loved  as  their  own  brethren,  they  would  anxiously  wait 
until  daylight,  so  that  they  could  smoke  out  of  our  calumet.  This  is  a 
compliment  among  the  savages,  and  the  highest  mark  they  can  give  of 
their  affection. 

"  We  appeared  satisfied  with  their  reasons,  and  gave  leave  to  four  of 
their  old  men,  only,  to  come  into  our  camp,  telling  them  we  would  not 
permit  a  greater  number,  as  their  young  men  M'ere  much  given  to 
stealing,  and  that  we  would  not  suffer  such  indignities.  Accordingly, 
four  of  their  old  men  came  among  us ;  we  entertained  them  until 
morning,  when  they  departed.  After  they  were  gone,  we  found  out 
about  the  robbery  of  the  canoes,  and  La  Salle,  well  knowing  the  genius 
of  the  savages,  saw,  if  he  allowed  this  affront  to  pass  without  resenting 
it,  that  we  would  be  constantly  exposed  to  a  renewal  of  like  indigni- 
ties. Therefore,  it  was  resolved  to  exact  prompt  satisfaction.  La 
Salle,  with  four  of  his  men,  went  out  and  captured  two  of  the  Indian 
hunters.  One  of  the  prisoners  confessed  the  robbery,  with  the  cir- 
cumstances connected  with  it.  The  thief  was  detained,  and  his  comrade 
was  released  and  sent  to  his  band  to  tell  their  headsman  that  the  cap- 
tive in  custody  would  be  put  to  death  unless  the  stolen  property  were 
returned. 

"  The  savages  were  greatly  perplexed  at  La  Salle's  peremptory  mes- 


70  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON    THE    NORTHWEST. 

sage.  They  could  not  comply,  for  they  had  cut  up  the  goods  and  coat 
and  divided  among  themselves  the  pieces  and  the  buttons;  they  there- 
fore resolved  to  rescue  their  man  by  force.  The  next  day,  October 
30,  they  advanced  to  attack  us.  The  peninsula  we  were  encamped 
on  was  separated  from  the  forest  where  the  savages  lay  by  a  little  sandy 
plain,  on  which  and  near  the  wood  were  two  or  three  eminences.  La 
Salle  determined  to  take  possession  of  the  most  prominent  of  these 
elevations,  and  detached  five  of  his  men  to  occupy  it,  following  him- 
self, at  a  short  distance,  with  all  of  his  force,  every  one  having  rolled 
their  coats  about  the  left  arm,  which  was  held  up  as  a  protection 
against  the  arrows  of  the  savages.  Only  eight  of  the  enemy  had  fire- 
arms. The  savages  were  frightened  at  our  advance,  and  their  young 
men  took  behind  the  trees,  but  their  captains  stood  their  ground,  while 
we  moved  forward  and  seized  the  knoll.  I  left  the  two  other  Francis- 
cans reading  the  usual  prayers,  and  went  about  among  the  men  ex- 
horting them  to  their  dut}7 ;  I  had  been  in  some  battles  and  sieges  in 
Europe,  and  was  not  afraid  of  these  savages,  and  La  Salle  was  highly 
pleased  with  my  exhortations,  and  their  influence  upon  his  men.  When 
I  considered  what  might  be  the  result  of  the  quarrel,  and  how  much 
more  Christian-like  it  would  be  to  prevent  the  effusion  of  blood,  and 
end  the  difficulty  in  a  friendly  manner,  I  went  toward  the  oldest 
savage,  who,  seeing  me  unarmed,  supposed  I  came  with  designs  of  a 
mediator,  and  received  me  with  civility.  In  the  meantime  one  of  our 
men  observed  that  one  of  the  savages  had  a  piece  of  the  stolen  cloth 
wrapped  about  his  head,  and  he  went  up  to  the  savage  and  snatched 
the  cloth  away.  This  vigorous  action  so  much  terrified  the  savages  that, 
although  they  were  near  six  score  against  eleven,  they  presented  me 
with  the  pipe  of  peace,  which  I  received.  M.  La  Salle  gave  his  word 
that  they  might  come  to  him  in  security.  Two  of  their  old  men  came 
forward,  and  in  a  speech  disapproved  the  conduct  of  their  young  men  ; 
that  they  could  not  restore  the  goods  taken,  but  that,  having  been  cut 
to  pieces,  they  could  only  return  the  articles  which  were  not  spoiled, 
and  pay  for  the  rest.  The  orators  presented,  with  their  speeches,  some 
garments  made  of  beaver  skins,  to  appease  the  wrath  of  M.  La  Salle, 
who,  frowning  a  little,  informed  them  that  while  he  designed  to  wrong 
no  one,  he  did  not  intend  others  should  affront  or  injure  him  ;  but,  inas- 
much as  they  did  not  approve  what  their  young  men  had  done,  and  were 
willing  to  make  restitution  for  the  same,  he  would  accept  their  gifts  and 
become  their  friend.  The  conditions  were  fully  complied  with,  and 
peace  happily  concluded  without  farther  hostility. 

"  The  day  was  spent  in  dancing,  feasting  and  speech-making.     The 
chief  of  the  band  had  taken  particular  notice  of  the  behavior  of  the 


INDIAN    SPEECH    TO    THE    GRAY-COATS.  71 

Franciscans.  '  These  gray-coats,'*  said  the  chief  of  the  Foxes,  '  we 
value  very  much.  They  go  barefooted  as  well  as  we.  They  scorn  our 
beaver  gowns,  and  decline  all  other  presents.  They  do  not  carry  arms 
to  kill  us.  They  natter  and  make  ranch  of  our  children,  and  give  them 
knives  and  other  toys  without  expecting  any  reward.  Those  of  our 
tribe  who  have  been  to  Canada  tell  us  that  Onnotio  (so  they  call  the 
Governor)  loves  them  very  much,  and  that  the  Fathers  of  the  Gown 
have  given  up  all  to  come  and  see  us.  Therefore,  you  who  are  captain 
over  all  these  men,  be  pleased  to  leave  with  us  one  of  these  gray-coats, 
whom  we  will  conduct  to  our  village  when  we  shall  have  killed  what 
we  design  of  the  buffaloes.  Thou  art  also  master  of  these  warriors ; 
remain  with  us,  instead  of  going  among  the  Illinois,  who,  already 
advised  of  your  coming,  are  resolved  to  kill  you  and  all  of  your 
soldiers.     And  how  can  you  resist  so  powerful  nation  ? ' 

"The  day  November  1st  we  again  embarked  on  the  lake,  and  came 
to  the  month  of  the  river  of  the  Miamis,  which  comes  from  the  south- 
east and  falls  into  the  lake." 

*  While  the  Jesuit  Fathers  wore  black  gowns  as  a  distinctive  mark  of  their  sect,  the 
Recollects,  or  Franciscan  missionaries,  wore  coats  of  gray. 


CHAPTER   X. 

THE   SEVERAL  MTAMIS-LA   SALLE'S  VOYAGE    DOWN  THE  ILLINOIS. 

Much  confusion  has  arisen  because,  at  different  periods,  the  name 
of  "  Miami "  has  been  applied  to  no  less  than  live  different  rivers,  viz. : 
The  St.  Joseph,  of  Lake  Michigan*;  the  Maumee,  often  designated  as 
the  Miami  of  the  Lakes,  to  distinguish  it  from  the  Miami  which  falls 
into  the  Ohio  River  below  Cincinnati ;  then  there  is  the  Little  Miami 
of  the  Ohio  emptying  in  above  its  greater  namesake ;  and  finally 
the  Wabash,  which  with  more  propriety  bore  the  name  of  the 
"  River  of  the  Miamis."  The  French,  it  is  assumed,  gave  the  name 
"  Miami  "  to  the  river  emptying  into  Lake  Michigan,  for  the  reason  that 
there  was  a  village  of  that  tribe  on  its  banks  before  and  at  the  time  of  La 
Salle's  first  visit,  as  already  noted  on  page  24.  The  name  was  not  of 
long  duration,  for  it  was  soon  exchanged  for  that  of  St.  Joseph,  by  which 
it  has  ever  since  been  known.  La  Hontan  is  the  last  authority  who 
refers  to  it  by  the  name  of  Miami.  Shortly  after  the  year  named,  the 
date  being  now  unknown,  a  Catholic  mission  was  established  up  the 
river,  and,  Charlevoix  says,  about  six  leagues  below  the  portage,  at 
South  Bend,  and  called  the  Mission  of  St.  Joseph ;  and  from  this  cir- 
cumstance, we  may  safely  infer,  the  river  acquired  the  same  name.  It 
is  not  known,  either,  by  whom  the  Mission  of  St.  Joseph  was  organ- 
ized ;  very  probably,  however,  by  Father  Claude  Allouez.  This  good 
man,  and  to  whose  writings  the  people  of  the  west  are  so  largely 
indebted  for  many  valuable  historical  reminiscences,  seems  to  have  been 
forgotten  in  the  respect  that  is  showered  upon  other  more  conspicuous 
though  less  meritorious  characters.  The  Mission  of  the  Immaculate 
Conception,  after  Marquette's  death,  remained  unoccupied  for  the  space 
of  two  years,  then  Claude  Jean  Allouez  received  orders  to  proceed 
thither  from  the  Mission  of  St.  James,  at  the  town  of  Maskoutens,  on 
Fox  River,  Wisconsin.  Leaving  in  October,  1676,  on  account  of  an 
exceptionally  early  winter,  he  was  compelled  to  delay  his  journey  until 
the  following  February,  when  he  again  started ;  reaching  Lake  Mich- 
igan on  the  eve  of  St.  Joseph,  he  called  the  lake  after  this  saint. 
Embarking  on  the  lake  on  the  23d  of  March,  and  coasting  along  the 
western  shore,  after  numerous  delays  occasioned  by  ice  and  storm,  he 
arrived  at  Chicago  River.     lie  then  made  the  portage  and  entered  the 

72 


LA    SALLE    REACHES   THE    ST.   JOSEPH.  73 

Kaskaskia  village,  which  was  probably  near  Peoria  Lake,  on  the  8th  of 
April,  1677.  The  Indians  gave  him  a  very  cordial  reception,  and 
flocked  from  all  directions  to  the  town  to  hear  the  "Black  Gown" 
relate  the  truths  of  Christianity.  For  the  glorification  of  God  and  the 
Blessed  Virgin  Immaculate,  Allouez  "  erected,  in  the  midst  of  the 
village,  a  cross  twenty-five  feet  high,  chanting  the  Vexilla  Regis  in  the 
presence  of  an  admiring  and  respectful  throng  of  Indians ;  he  covered 
it  with  garlands  of  beautiful  flowers."*  Father  Allouez  did  not  remain 
but  a  short  time  at  the  mission  ;  leaving  it  that  spring  he  returned  in 
1678,  and  continued  there  until  La  Salle's  arrival  in  the  winter  of 
1679-80.  The  next  succeeding  decade  Allouez  passed  either  at  this 
mission  or  at  the  one  on  St.  Joseph's  River,  on  the  eastern  side  of  Lake 
Michigan,  where  he  died  in  1690.  Bancroft  says:  v  Allouez  has 
imperishably  connected  his  name  with  the  progress  of  discovery  in  the 
West ;  unhonored  among  us  now,  he  was  not  inferior  in  zeal  and  ability 
to  any  of  the  great  missionaries  of  his  time." 

We  resume  Hennepin's  narrative: 

"We  had  appointed  this  place  (the  month  of  the  St.  Joseph)  for  our 
rendezvous  before  leaving  the  outlet  of  Green  Bay,  and  expected  to 
meet  the  twenty  men  we  had  left  at  Mackinaw,  who,  being  ordered  to 
come  by  the  eastern  coast  of  the  lake,  had  a  much  shorter  cut  than  we, 
who  came  by  the  western  side ;  besides  this,  their  canoes  were  not  so 
heavily  laden  as  onrs.  Still,  we  found  no  one  here,  nor  any  signs  that 
they  had  been  here  before  us.f 

"It  was  resolved  to  advise  M.  La  Salle  that  it  was  imprudent  to 
remain  here  any  longer  for  the  absent  men,  and  expose  ourselves  to 
the  hardships  of  winter,  when  it  would  be  doubtful  if  we  could  find 
the  Illinois  in  their  villages,  as  then  they  would  be  divided  into  fami- 
lies, and  scattered  over  the  country  to  subsist  more  conveniently.  We 
further  represented  that  the  game  might  fail  us,  in  which  event  we 
must  certainly  perish  with  hunger ;  whereas,  if  we  went  forward,  we 
would  find  enough  corn  among  the  Illinois,  who  would  rather  supply 

*"  Allouez'  Journal,"  published  in  Shea's  "  Discovery  on  Exploration  of  the  Missis- 
sippi Valley." 

f  In  some  works,  the  Geological  Surveys  of  Indiana  for  1873,  p.  458,  among-  others, 
it  is  erroneously  assumed  that  La  Salle  was  the  discoverer  of  the  St.  Joseph  River. 
While  Fathers  Hennepin  and  Zenobe  Membre,  who  were  with  La  Salle,  may  be  the  only 
accessible  authors  who  have  described  it,  the  stream  and  its  location  was  well  known 
to  La  Salle  and  to  them,  as  appears  from  their  own  account  of  it  before  they  had  ever 
seen  it.  Before  leaving  Mackinaw,  Tonti  was  ordered  to  hunt  up  the  deserters  from, 
and  to  bring  in  the  tardy  traders  belonging  to,  La  Salle's  party,  and  conduct  them  to 
the  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph.  The  pilot  of  the  Griffin  was  under  instruction  to  bring 
her  there.  Indeed,  the  conduct  of  the  whole  expedition  leaves  no  room  to  doubt  that 
the  whole  route  to  the  Illinois  River,  by  way  of  the  St.  Joseph  and  the  Kankakee  port- 
age, was  well  known  at  Mackinaw,  and  definitely  fixed  upon  by  La  Salle,  at  least  be- 
fore leaving  the  latter  place. 


74  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON    THE    NORTHWEST. 

fourteen  men  than  thirty -two  with  provisions.  We  said  further  that 
it  would  be  quite  impossible,  if  we  delayed  longer,  to  continue  the 
voyage  until  the  winter  was  over,  because  the  rivers  would  be  frozen 
over  and  we  could  not  make  use  of  our  canoes.  Notwithstanding 
these  reasons,  M.  La  Salle  thought  it  necessary  to  remain  for  the  rest 
of  the  men,  as  we  would  be  in  no  condition  to  appear  before  the  Illi- 
nois and  treat  with  them  with  our  present  small  force,  whom  they 
would  meet  with  scorn.  That  it  would  be  better  to  delay  our  entry 
into  their  country,  and  in  the  meantime  try  to  meet  with  some  of  their 
nation,  learn  their  language,  and  gain  their  good  will  by  presents. 
La  Salle  concluded  his  discourse  with  the  declaration  that,  although  all 
of  his  men  might  run  awav,  as  for  himself,  he  would  remain  alone  with 
his  Indian  hunter,  and  find  means  to  maintain  the  three  missionaries  — 
meaning  me  and  my  two  clerical  brethren.  Having  come  to  this  con- 
clusion, La  Salle  called  his  men  together,  and  advised  them  that  he 
expected  each  one  to  do  his  duty ;  that  he  proposed  to  build  a  fort 
here  for  the  security  of  the  ship  and  the  safety  of  our  goods,  and  our- 
selves, too,  in  case  of  any  disaster.  None  of  us,  at  this  time,  knew 
that  our  ship  had  been  lost.  The  men  were  quite  dissatisfied  at  La- 
Salle's  course,  but  his  reasons  therefor  were  so  many  that  they  yielded, 
and  agreed  to  entirelv  follow  his  directions. 

"  Just  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  was  an  eminence  with  a  kind  of 
plateau,  naturally  fortified.  It  was  quite  steep,  of  a  triangular  shape, 
defended  on  two  sides  by  the  river,  and  on  the  other  by  a  deep  ravine 
which  the  water  had  washed  out.  We  felled  the  trees  that  grew  on 
this  hill,  and  cleared  from  it  the  bushes  for  the  distance  of  two  musket 
shot.  We  began  to  build  a  redoubt  about  forty  feet  long  by  eighty 
broad,  with  great  square  pieces  of  timber  laid  one  upon  the  other,  and 
then  cut  a  great  number  of  stakes,  some  twenty  feet  long,  to  drive  into 
the  ground  on  the  river  side,  to  make  the  fort  inaccessible  in  that  direc- 
tion. We  were  employed  the  whole  of  the  month  of  November  in 
this  work,  which  was  very  fatiguing. —  having  no  other  food  than  the 
bears  our  savage  killed.  These  animals  are  here  very  abundant,  be- 
cause of  the  great  quantity  of  grapes  they  find  in  this  vicinity.  Their 
flesh  was  so  fat  and  luscious  that  our  men  grew  weary  of  it,  and  desired 
to  go  themselves  and  hunt  for  wild  goats.  La  Salle  denied  them  that 
libertv,  which  made  some  murmurs  among  the  men,  and  thev  went 
unwillingly  to  their  work.  These  annoyances,  with  the  near  approach 
of  winter,  together  with  the  apprehension  that  his  ship  was  lost,  gave. 
La  Salle  a  melancholy  which  he  resolutely  tried  to  but  could  not  con- 
ceal. 

"We  made  a  hut  wherein  we  performed  divine  service  every  Sun- 


FORT    MIAMIS.  75 

day ;  and  Father  Gabriel  and  myself,  who  preached  alternately,  care- 
fully selected  such  texts  as  were  suitable  to  our  situation,  and  fit  to 
inspire  us  with  courage,  concord,  and  brotherly  love.  Our  exhorta- 
tions produced  good  results,  and  deterred  our  men  from  their  meditated 
desertion.  We  sounded  the  mouth  of  the  river  and  found  a  sand-bar, 
on  which  we  feared  our  expected  ship  might  strike ;  we  marked  out  a 
channel  through  which  the  vessel  might  safely  enter  by  attaching 
buoys,  made  of  inflated  bear-skins,  fastened  to  long  poles  driven  into 
the  bed  of  the  lake.  Two  men  were  also  sent  back  to  Mackinac  to 
await  there  the  return  of  the  ship,  and  serve  as  pilots.* 

"  M.  Tonti  arrived  on  the  20th  of  November  with  two  canoes,  laden 
with  stags  and  deer,  which  were  a  welcome  refreshment  to  our  men. 
He  did  not  bring  more  than  about  one-half  of  his  men,  having  left 
the  rest  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  lake,  within  three  days'  journey  of 
the  fort.  La  Salle  was  angry  with  him  on  this  account,  because  he 
was  afraid  the  men  would  run  away.  Tonti's  party  informed  us  that 
the  Griffin  had  not  put  into  Mackinaw,  according  to  orders,  and  that 
they  had  heard  nothing  of  her  since  our  departure,  although  they  had 
made  inquiries  of  the  savages. living  on  the  coast  of  the  lake.  This 
confirmed  the  suspicion,  or  rather  the  belief,  that  the  vessel  had  been 
cast  away.  However,  M.  La  Salle  continued  work  on  the  building  of 
the  fort,  which  was  at  last  completed  and  called  Fort  Miamis. 

"  The  winter  was  drawing  nigh,  and  La  Salle,  fearful  that  the  ice 
would  interrupt  his  voyage,  sent  M.  Tonti  back  to  hurry  forward  the 
men  he  had  left,  and  to  command  them  to  come  to  him  immediately ; 
but,  meeting  with  a  violent  storm,  their  canoes  were  driven  against 
the  beach  and  broken  to  pieces,  and  Tonti's  men  lost  their  guns  and 
ecpiipage,  and  were  obliged  to  return  to  us  overland.  A  few  days- 
after  this  all  our  men  arrived  except  two,  who  had  deserted.  We  pre- 
pared at  once  to  resume  our  voyage ;  rains  having  fallen  that  melted 
the  ice  and  made  the  rivers  navigable. 

"  On  the  3d  of  December,  1679,  we  embarked,  being  in  all  thirty- 
three  men,  in  eight  canoes.  We  left  the  lake  of  the  Illinois  and 
went  up  the  river  of  the  Miamis,  in  which  we  had  previously  made 
soundings.  We  made  about  five-and-twenty  leagues  southward,  but 
failed  to  discover  the  place  where  we  were  to  land,  and  carry  our  canoes 
and  effects  into  the  river  of  the  Illinois,  which  falls  into  that  of  the 
Meschasipi,  that  is,  in  the  language  of  the  Illinois,  the  great  river. 
We  had  already  gone  beyond  the  place  of  the  portage,  and,  not  know- 
ing where  we  were,  we  thought  proper  to  remain  there,  as  we  were 
expecting  M.  La  Salle,  who  had  taken  to  the  land  to  view  the  country. 

*This  is  the  beginning,  at  what  is  now  known  as  Benton  Harbor,  Michigan. 


76  HISTORIC    NOTES    OX   THE    NORTHWEST. 

We  staid  here  quite  a  while,  and,  La  Salle  failing  to  appear,  I  went  a 
distance  into  the  woods  with  two  men,  who  fired  off  their  guns  to 
notify  him  of  the  place  where  we  were.  In  the  meantime  two  other 
men  went  higher  up  the  river,  in  canoes,  in  search  of  him.  We  all 
returned  toward  evening,  having  vainly  endeavored  to  find  him.  The 
next  day  I  went  up  the  river  myself,  but,  hearing  nothing  of  him,  I 
came  back,  and  found  our  men  very  much  perplexed,  fearing  he  was 
lost.  However,  about  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  M.  La  Salle  returned 
to  us,  having  his  face  and  hands  as  black  as  pitch.  He  carried  two 
beasts,  as  big  as  muskrats,  whose  skin  was  very  fine,  and  like  ermine. 
He  had  killed  them  with  a  stick,  as  they  hung  by  their  tails  to  the 
branches  of  the  trees. 

"  He  told  us  that  the  marshes  he  had  met  on  his  way  had- compelled 
him  to  bring  a  large  compass ;  and  that,  being  much  delayed  by  the 
snow,  which  fell  very  fast,  it  was  past  midnight  before  he  arrived  upon 
the  banks  of  the  river,  where  he  fired  his  gun  twice,  and,  hearing  no 
answer,  he  concluded  that  we  had  gone  higher  up  the  river,  and  had, 
therefore,  marched  that  way.  He  added  that,  after  three  hours'  march, 
he  saw  a  fire  upon  a  little  hill,  whither  he  went  directly  and  hailed  us 
several  times;  but,  hearing  no  reply,  he  approached  and  found  no  per- 
son near  the  fire,  but  only  some  dry  grass,  upon  which  a  man  had  laid 
a  little  while  before,  as  he  conjectured,  because  the  bed  was  still  warm. 
He  supposed  that  a  savage  had  been  occupying  it,  who  fled  upon  his 
approach,  and  was  now  hid  in  ambuscade  near  by.  La  Salle  called  out 
loudlv  to  him  in  two  or  three  lanmia^es.  saying  that  he  need  not  be  afraid 
of  him,  and  that  he  was  agoing  to  lie  in  his  bed.  La  Salle  received 
no  answer.  To  guard  against  surprise,  La  Salle  cut  bushes  and  placed 
them  to  obstruct  the  way,  and  sat  down  by  the  fire,  the  smoke  of 
which  blackened  his  hands  and  face,  as  I  have  already  observed.  Hav- 
ing warmed  and  rested  himself,  he  laid  down  under  the  tree' upon  the 
dry  grass  the  savage  had  gathered  and  slept  well,  notwithstanding  the 
frost  and  snow.  Father  Gabriel  and  I  desired  him  to  keep  with  his 
men,  and  not  to  expose  himself  in  the  future,  as  the  success  of  our 
enterprise  depended  solely  on  him,  and  he  promised  to  follow  our 
advice.  Our  savage,  who  remained  behind  to  hunt,  finding  none  of 
us  at  the  portage,  came  higher  up  the  river,  to  where  we  were,  and 
told  us  we  had  missed  the  place.  We  sent  all  the  canoes  back  under 
his  charge  except  one,  which  I  retained  for  M.  La  Salle,  who  was  so 
weary  that  he  was  obliged  to  remain  there  that  nicrht.  I  made  a  little 
hut  with  mats,  constructed  with  marsh  rushes,  in  which  we  laid  down 
together  for  the  night.  By  an  unhappy  accident  our  cabin  took  fire, 
and  we  were  very  near  being  burned  alive  after  we  had  gone  to 
sleep." 


ABORIGINAL    NAME    OF    "KANKAKEE."  77 

Here  follows  Hennepin's  description  of  the  Kankakee  portage,  and 
of  the  marshy  grounds  about  the  headwaters  of  this  stream,  as  already 
quoted  on  page  24. 

"  Having  passed  through  the  marshes,  we  came  to  a  vast  prairie,  in 
which  nothing  grows  but  grasses,  which  were  at  this  time  dry  and 
burnt,  because  the  Miamis  set  the  grasses  on  fire  every  year,  in  hunt- 
ing for  wild  oxen  (buffalo),  as  I  shall  mention  farther  on.  We  found 
no  game,  which  was  a  disappointment  to  us,  as  our  provisions  had 
begun  to  fail.  Our  men  traveled  about  sixty  miles  without  killing 
anything  other  than  a  lean  stag,  a  small  wild  goat,  a  few  swan  and 
two  bustards,  which  were  but  a  scanty  subsistence  for  two  and  thirty 
men.  Most  of  the  men  were  become  so  weary  of  this  laborious  life 
that,  wTere  it  practicable,  they  would  have  run  away  and  joined  the 
savages,  who,  as  we  inferred  by  the  great  fires  which  we  saw  on  the 
prairies,  were  not  very  far  from  us.  There  must  be  an  innumerable 
quantity  of  wild  cattle  in  this  country,  since  the  ground  here  is  every- 
where covered  with  their  horns.  The  Miamis  hunt  them  toward  the 
latter  end  of  autumn.''* 

That  part  of  the  Illinois  Eiver  above  the  Desplaines  is  called  the 
Kankakee,  which  is  a  corruption  of  its  original  Indian  name.  St. 
Cosme,  the  narrative  of  whose  voyage  down  the  Illinois  Eiver,  by 
way  of  Chicago,  in  1699,  and  found  in  Dr.  Shea's  work  of  "  Early 
Voyages  Up  and  Down  the  Mississippi,"  refers  to  it  as  the  The-a-li-ke, 
"  which  is  the  real  river  of  the  Illinois,  and  (says)  that  which  we  de- 
scended (the  Desplaines)  was  only  a  branch."  Father  Marest,  in  his 
letter  of  November  9,  1712,  narrating  a  journey  he  had  previously 
made  from  Kaskaskia  up  to  the  Mission  of  St.  Joseph,  says  of  the  Illi- 
nois River :  "  We  transported  all  there  was  in  the  canoe  toward  the 
source  of  the  Illinois  (Indian),  which  they  call  Hau-ki-ki."  Father 
Charlevoix,  who  descended  the  Kankakee  from  the  portage,  in  his  let- 
ter, dated  at  the  source  of  the  river  Theakiki,  September  17,  1721, 
says :  "  This  morning  I  walked  a  league  farther  in  the  meadow,  having 
my  feet  almost  always  in  the  water ;  afterward  I  met  with  a  kind  of  a 
pool  or  marsh,  which  had  a  communication  with  several  others  of  dif- 
ferent sizes,  but  the  largest  was  about  a  hundred  paces  in  circuit;  these 
are  the  sources  of  the  river  The-a-ki-ki,  which,  by  a  corrupted  pronun- 
ciation, our  Indians  call  Ki-a-ki-ki.  Theak  signifies  a  wolf,  in  what 
lan^ua^e  I  do  not  remember,  but  the  river  bears  that  name  because  the 
Mahingans  (Mohicans),  who  were  likewise  called  wolves,  had  formerly 

*  Hennepin  and  his  party  were  not  aware  of  the  migratory  habits  of  the  buffalo  ; 
and  that  their  scarcity  on  the  Kankakee  in  the  winter  months  was  because  the  herds 
had  gone  southward  to  warmer  latitude  and  better  pasturage. 


HISTORIC    NOTES    OX   THE    X'ORTHWEST. 

taken  refuge  on  its  banks."  *  The  Mohicans  were  of  the  Algonquin 
stock,  anciently  living  east  of  the  Hudson  River,  where  the)'  had  been 
so  persecuted  and  nearly  destroyed  by  the  implacable  Iroquois  that 
their  tribal  integrity  was  lost,  and  they  were  dispersed  in  small  fami- 
lies over  the  west,  seeking  protection  in  isolated  places,  or  living  at 
sufferance  among  their  Algonquin  kindred.  They  were  brave,  faithful 
to  the  extreme,  famous  scouts,  and  successful  hunters.  La  Salle,  ap- 
preciating these  valuable  traits,  usually  kept  a  few  of  them  in  his  em- 
ploy. The  "savage,"  or  '•hunter."  so  often  referred  to  by  Hennepin, 
in  the  extracts  we  have  taken  from  his  journal,  was  a  Mohican. 

In  a  report  made  to  the  late  Governor  Ninian  Edwards,  in  1S12, 
by  John  Hays,  interpreter  and  Coureur  de  Bois  of  the  routes,  rivers 
and  Indian  villages  in  the  then  Illinois  Territory,  Mr.  Hays  calls  the 
Kankakee  the  Quin-que-que,  which  was  probably  its  French-Indian 
name.f  Col.  Guerdon  S.  Hubbard,  who  for  many  years,  dating  back 
as  early  as  1819,  was  a  trader,  and  commanded  great  influence  with 
the  bands  of  Pottawatomies,  claiming  the  Kankakee  as  their  country, 
informs  the  writer  that  the  Pottawatomie  name  of  the  Kankakee  is 
Ky-an-ke-a-kee,  meaning  "  the  river  of  the  wonderful  or  beautiful 
land, —  as  it  really  is,  westward  of  the  marshes.  "A-kee,"  "Ah-ke"  and 
"Aki,"  in  the  Algonquin  dialect,  signifies  earth  or  land. 

The  name  Desplaines,  like  that  of  the  Kankakee,  has  undergone 
changes  in  the  progress  of  time.  On  a  French  map  of  Louisiana,  in 
1717,  the  Desplaines  is  laid  down  as  the  Chicago  Piver.  Just  after 
Great  Britain  had  secured  the  possessions  of  the  French  east  of  the 
Mississippi,  by  conquest  and  treaty,  and  when  the  British  authorities 
were  keenly  alive  to  everything  pertaining  to  their  newly  acquired 
possessions,  an  elaborate  map,  collated  from  the  most  authentic  sources 
by  Eman  Bowen,  geographer  to  His  Majesty  King  George  the  Third, 
was  issued,  and  on  this  map  the  Desplaines  is  laid  down  as  the  Illinois, 
or  Chicago  Piver.  Many  earlv  French  writers  speak  of  it.  as  thev 
do  of  the  Kankakee  above  the  confluence,  as  the  "  Piver  of  the  Illi- 
nois." Its  French  Canadian  name  is  An  Plein,  now  changed  to  Des- 
2)laines,  or  Riviere  An  Plein,  or  Despleines,  from  a  variety  of  hard 
maple, —  that  is  to  say,  sugar  tree.  The  Pottawatomies  called  it  She- 
shik-mao-shi-ke  Se-pe,  signifying  the  river  of  the  tree  from  which  a 
great  quantity  of  sap  flows  in  the  spring.^:  It  has  also  been  sanctified 
by  Father  Zenobe  Membre  with  the  name  Divine  Piver,  and  by  authors 

*  Charlevoix'  "Journal  of  a  Voyage  to  America,"  vol.  2,  p.  184.  London  edition, 
1761. 

t  "  History  of  Illinois  and  Life  of  Governor  Edwards,"  by  his  son  Xinian  W. 
Edwards,  p.  98. 

%  Long's  Second  Expedition,  vol.  1,  p.  173. 


NAMES    OF   THE    ILLINOIS.  79 

of  early  western  gazetteers,  vulgarized  by  the  appellation  of  Kicka/poo 
Creek. 

Below  the  confluence  of  the  Desplaines,  the  Illinois  River  was,  by 
La  Salle,  named  the  Seignelay,  as  a  mark  of  his  esteem  for  the  brilliant 
young  Colbert,  who  succeeded  his  father  as  Minister  of  the  Marine. 
On  the  great  map,  prepared  by  the  engineer  Franquelin  in  1684,  it 
is  called  River  Des  Illinois,  or  Macoupins.  The  name  Illinois,  which, 
fortunately,  it  will  always  bear,  was  derived  from  the  name  of  the  con- 
federated tribes  who  anciently  dwelt  upon  its  banks. 

"We  continued  our  course,"  says  Hennepin,  "  upon  this  river  (the 
Kankakee  and  Illinois)  very  near  the  whole  month  of  December,  at 
the  latter  end  of  which  we  arrived  at  a  village  of  the  Illinois,  which 
lies  near  a  hundred  and  thirty  leagues  from  Fort  Miamis,  on  the  Lake 
of  the  Illinois.  We  suffered  greatly  on  the  passage,  for  the  savages 
having  set  fire  to  the  grass  on  the  prairie,  the  wild  cattle  had  fled,  and 
wre  did  not  kill  one.  Some  wild  turkeys  were  the  only  game  we 
secured.  God's  providence  supported  us  all  the  while,  and  as  we 
meditated  upon  the  extremities  to  which  we  were  reduced,  regarding 
ourselves  without  hope  of  relief,  we  found  a  very  large  wild  ox  stick- 
ing fast  in  the  mud  of  the  river.  We  killed  him,  and  with  much  diffi- 
culty dragged  him  out  of  the  mud.  This  was  a  great  refreshment  to 
our  men;  it  revived  their  courage, —  being  so  timely  and  unexpectedly 
relieved,  they  concluded  that  God  approved  our  undertaking. 

The  great  village  of  the  Illinois,  where  La  Salle's  party  had  now 
arrived,  has  been  located  with  such  certainty  by  Francis  Parkman,  the 
learned  historical  writer,  as  to  leave  no  doubt  of  its  identity.  It 
was  on  the  north  side  of  the  Illinois  River,  above  the  mouth  of  the 
Vermillion  and  below  Starved  Rock,  near  the  little  village  of  Utica, 
in  La  Salle  county,  Illinois.* 

"  We  found,"  continues  Father  Hennepin,  "  no  one  in  the  village, 
as  we  had  foreseen,  for  the  Illinois,  according  to  their  custom,  had  di- 
vided themselves  into  small  hunting  parties.  Their  absence  caused 
great  perplexity  amongst  us,  for  we  wanted  provisions,  and  yet  did 
not  dare  to  meddle  with  the  Indian  corn  the  savages  had  laid  under 
ground  for  their  subsistence  and  for  seed.  However,  our  necessity  be- 
ing ver}7  great,  and  it  being  impossible  to  continue  our  voyage  without 
any  provisions,  M.  La  Salle  resolved  to  take  about  forty  bushels  of 
corn,  and  hoped  to  appease  the  savages  with  presents.  We  embarked 
again,  with  these  fresh  provisions,  and  continued  to  fall  down  the  river,' 

*  Mr.  Parkman  gives  an  interesting  account  of  his  recent  visit  to,  and  the  identifi- 
cation of.  the  locality,  in  an  elaborate  note  in  his  "  Discovery  of  the  Great  West,"  pp. 
221,  222. 


80  HISTORIC    NOTES   ON   THE    NORTHWEST.' 

which  runs  directly  toward  the  south.  On  the  1st  of  January  we  went 
through  a  lake  (Peoria  Lake)  formed  by  the  river,  about  seven  leagues 
long  and  one  broad.  The  savages  call  that  place  Pimeteoui,  that  is,  in 
their  tongue,  '  a  place  where  there  is  an  abundance  of  fat  animals. '  * 
Resuming  Hennepin's  narrative :  "The  current  brought  us,  in  the 
meantime,  to  the  Indian  camp,  and  M.  La  Salle  was  the  first  one 
to  land,  followed  closely  by  his  men,  which  increased  the  consterna- 
tion of  the  savages,  whom  we  easily  might  have  defeated.  As  it  was 
not  our  design,  we  made  a  halt  to  give  them  time  to  recover  them- 
selves and  to  see  that  we  were  not  enemies.  Most  of  the  savages  who 
had  run  away  upon  our  landing,  understanding  that  we  were  friends, 
returned ;  but  some  others  did  not  come  back  for  three  or  four  days, 
and  after  they  had  learned  that  we  had  smoked  the  calumet. 

"  I  must  observe  here,  that  the  hardest  winter  does  not  last  longer 
than  two  months  in  this  charming  country,  so  that  on  the  15th  of  Jan- 
uary there  came  a  sudden  thaw,  which  made  the  rivers  navigable,  and 
the  weather  as  mild  as  it  is  in  France  in  the  middle  of  the  spring. 
M.  La  Salle,  improving  this  lair  season,  desired  me  to  go  down  the 
river  with  him  to  choose  a  place  proper  to  build  a  fort.  We  selected 
an  eminence  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  defended  on  that  side  by  the 
river,  and  on  two  others  by  deep  ravines,  so  that  it  was  accessible  only 
on  one  side.  We  cast  a  trench  to  join  the  two  ravines,  and  made  the 
eminence  steep  on  that  side,  supporting  the  earth  with  great  pieces  of 
timber.  We  made  a  rough  palisade  to  defend  ourselves  in  case  the 
Indians  should  attack  us  while  we  were  engaged  in  building  the  fort ; 
but  no  one  offering  to  disturb  us,  we  went  on  diligently  with  our  work. 

*  Louis  Beck,  in  his  "  Gazetteer  of  Illinois  and  Missouri,"  p.  119,  says:  "The  Indi- 
ans call  the  lake  Pin-a-tah-wee.  on  account  of  its  being  frequently  covered  with  a 
scum  which  has  a  greasy  appearance."  Owing  to  the  rank  growth  of  aquatic  plants 
in  the  Illinois  River  before  they  were  disturbed  by  the  frequent  passage  of  boats,  and  to 
the  grasses  on  the  borders  of  the  stream  and  the  adjacent  marshes,  and  the  decay 
taking  place  in  both  under  the  scorching  rays  of  the  summer's  sun,  the  surface  of  the 
river  and  lake  were  frequently  coated  with  this  vegetable  decomposition.  Prof.  School- 
craft ascended  the  Illinois  River,  and  was  at  Fort  Clark  on  the  19th  of  August,  1821. 
Under  this  date  is  the  following  extract  from  his  "Narrative  Journal":  "About  9 
o'clock  in  the  morning  we  came  to  a  part  of  the  river  which  was  covered  for  several 
hundred  yards  with  a  scum  or  froth  of  the  most  intense  green  color,  and  emitting  a 
nauseous  exhalation  that  was  almost  insupportable.  We  were  compelled  to  pass 
through  it.  The  fine  green  color  of  this  somewhat  compact  scum,  resembling  that  of 
verdegris,  led  us  at  the  moment  to  conjecture  that  it  might  derive  this  character  from 
some  mineral  spring  or  vein  in  the  bed  of  the  river,  but  we  had  reasons  afterward 
to  regret  this  opinion.  I  directed  one  of  the  canoe  men  to  collect  a  bottle  of  this 
mother  of  miasmata  for  preservation,  but  its  fermenting  nature  baffled  repeated  at- 
tempts to  keep  it  corked.  We  had  daily  seen  instances  of  the  powerful  tendency  of 
these  waters  to  facilitate  the  decomposition  of  floating  vegetation,  but  had  not  before 
observed  any  in  so  mature  and  complete  a  state  of  putrefaction.  It  might  certainly 
justify  an  observer  less  given  to  fiction  than  the  ancient  poets,  to  people  this  stream 
with  the  Hydra,  as  were  the  pestilential -breeding  marshes  of  Italy." — Schoolcraft's 
"Central  Mississippi  Valley."  p.  305. 


FORT   CREVECOEUR    AND    ITS    LOCATION.  81 

When  the  fort  was  half  finished,  M.  La  Salle  lodged  himself,  with  M. 
Tonti,  in  the  middle  of  the  fortification,  and  ever}'  one  took  his  post. 
We  placed  the  forge  on  the  curtain  on  the  side  of  the  wood,  and  laid 
in  a  great  quantity  of  coal  for  that  purpose.  But  our  greatest  diffi- 
culty was  to  build  a  boat, —  our  carpenters  having  deserted  us,  we  did 
not  know  what  to  do.  However,  as  timber  was  abundant  and  near  at 
hand,  we  told  our  men  that  if  any  of  them  would  undertake  to  saw 
boards  for  building  the  bark,  we  might  surmount  all  other  difficulties. 
Two  of  the  men  undertook  the  task,  and  succeeded  so  well  that  we 
began  to  build  a  bark,  the  keel  whereof  was  fortv-two  feet  lone:.  Our 
■men  went  on  so  briskly  with  the  work,  that  on  the  1st  of  March  our 
boat  was  half  built,  and  all  the  timber  ready  prepared  for  furnishing  it. 
Our  fort  was  also  very  near  finished,  and  we  named  it  '  Fort  Creve- 
cceur, '  because  the  desertion  of  our  men,  and  other  difficulties  we 
had  labored  under,  had  almost  '  broken  our  hearts.  '  * 

"M.  La  Salle,'1  says  Hennepin,  "  no  longer  doubted  that  the  Griffin 
was  lost;  but  neither  this  nor  other  difficulties  dejected  him.  His 
great  courage  buoyed  him  up,  and  he  resolved  to  return  to  Fort  Fron- 
tenac  by  land,  notwithstanding  the  snow,  and  the  great  dangers  attend- 
ing so  long  a  journey.  We  had  many  private  conferences,  wherein  it 
was  decided  that  he  should  return  to  Fort  Frontenac  with  three  men, 
to  bring  with  him  the  necessary  articles  to  proceed  with  the  discov- 
ery, while  I,  with  two  men,  should  go  in  a  canoe  to  the  River  Me- 
schasipi,  and  endeavor  to  obtain  the  friendship  of  the  nations  who 
inhabited  its  banks. 

"M.  La  Salle  left  M.  Tonti  to  command  in  Fort  Crevecceur,  and 
ordered  our  carpenter  to  prepare  some  thick  boards  to  plank  the  deck 
of  our  ship,  in  the  nature  of  a  parapet,  to  cover  it  against  the  arrows 
of  the  savages  in  case  they  should  shoot  at  us  from  the  shore.  Then, 
calling  his  men  together,  La  Salle  requested  them  to  obey  M.  Tonti's 
orders  in  his  absence,  to  live  in  Christian  union  and  charity  ;  to  be 
courageous  and  firm  in  their  designs ;  and  above  all  not  to  snve  credit 
to  false  reports  the  savages  might  make,  either  of  him  or  of  their  com- 
rades who  accompanied  Father  Hennepin." 

Hennepin  and  his  two  companions,  with  a  supply  of  trinkets  suitable 

*  "  Fort  Crevecceur,"  or  the  Broken  Heart,  was  built  on  the  east  side  of  the  Illi- 
nois River,  a  short  distance  below  the  outlet  of  Peoria  Lake.  It  is  so  located  on  the 
great  map  of  Franquelin,  made  at  Quebec  in  1684.  There  are  many  indications  on 
this  map,  going-  to  show  that  it  was  constructed  largely  under  the  supervision  of  La- 
Salle.  The  fact  mentioned  by  Hennepin,  that  they  went  down  the  river,  and  that  coal 
was  gathered  for  the  supply  of  the  fort,  would  confirm  this  theory  as  to  its  location; 
for  the  outcrop  of  coal  is  abundant  in  the  bluffs  on  the  east  side  of  the  river  below 
Peoria.  There  is  also  a  spot  in  this  immediate  vicinity  that  answers  well  to  the  site 
of  the  fort  as  described  by  Fathers  Hennepin  and  Membre. 

6 


82  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON    THE    NORTHWEST. 

for  the  Indian  trade,  left  Fort  Crevecoeur  for  the  Mississippi,  on  the 
29th  of  February,  1(580,  and  were  captured  by  the  Sioux,  as  already 
stated.  From  this  time  to  the  ultimate  discovery  and  taking  possession 
of  the  Mississippi  and  the  valleys  by  La  Salle.  Father  Zenobe  Membre 
was  the  historian  of  the  expedition. 

La  Salle  started  across  the  country,  going  up  the  Illinois  and  Kan- 
kakee, and  through  the  southern  part  of  the  present  State  of  Michigan. 
He  reached  the  Detroit  River,  ferrying  the  stream  with  a  raft ;  he  at 
length  stood  on  Canadian  soil.  Striking  a  direct  line  across  the  wilder- 
ness,  he  arrived  at  Lake  Erie,  near  Point  Pelee.  I3y  this  time  only 
one  man  remained  in  health,  and  with  his  assistance  La  Salle  made  a 
canoe.  Embarking  in  it  the  party  came  to  Niagara  on  Easter  Monday. 
Leaving  his  comrades,  who  were  completely  exhausted,  La  Salle  on  the 
6th  of  May  reached  Fort  Frontenac,  making  a  journey  of  over  a  thou- 
sand miles  in  sixty-five  days,  "  the  greatest  feat  ever  performed  by  a 
Frenchman  in  America."* 

La  Salle  found  his  affairs  in  great  confusion.  His  creditors  had 
seized  upon  his  estate,  including  Fort  Frontenac.  Undaunted  by  this 
new  misfortune,  he  confronted  his  creditors  and  enemies,  pacifying  the 
former  and  awing  the  latter  into  silence.  He  gathered  the  fragments 
of  his  scattered  property  and  in  a  short  time  started  west  with  a  com- 
pany of  twenty-five  men,  whom  he  had  recruited  to  assist  in  the  prose- 
cution of  his  discoveries.  He  reached  Lake  Huron  by  the  way  of  Lake 
Simcoe,  and  shortly  afterward  arrived  at  Mackinaw.  Here  he  found 
that  his  enemies  had  been  very  busy,  and  had  poisoned  the  minds  of 
the  Indians  against  his  designs. 

We  leave  La  Salle  at  Mackinaw  to  notice  some  of  the  occurrences 
that  took  place  on  the  Illinois  and  St.  Joseph  after  he  had  departed  for 
Fort  Frontenac.  On  this  journey,  as  La  Salle  passed  up  the  Illinois, 
he  was  favorably  impressed  with  Starved  Rock  as  a  place  presenting 
strong  defenses  naturally.  He  sent  word  back  to  Tonti,  below  Peoria 
Lake,  to  take  possession  of  "  The  Rock  "  and  erect  a  fortification  on  its 
summit.  Tonti  accordingly  came  up  the  river  with  a  part  of  his  avail- 
able force  and  began  to  work  upon  the  new  fort.  While  engaged  in 
this  enterprise  the  principal  part  of  the  men  remaining  at  Fort  Creve- 
coeur mutinied.  They  destroyed  the  vessel  on  the  stocks,  plundered 
the  storehouse,  escaped  up  the  Illinois  River  and  appeared  before  Fort 
Miami.  These  deserters  demolished  Fort  Miami  and  robbed  it  of  goods 
and  furs  of  La  Salle,  on  deposit  there,  and  then  fled  out  of  the  country. 
These  misfortunes  were  soon  followed  by  an  incursion  of  the  Iroquois, 

*  Parkman's  "  Discovery  of  the  Great  West." 


DEATH  OF  FATHER  GABRIEL.  83 

who  attacked  the  Illinois  in  their  village  near  the  Starved  Rock.  Tonti, 
acting  as  mediator,  came  near  losing  his  life  at  the  hand  of  an  infuriated 
Iroquois  warrior,  who  drove  a  knife  into  his  ribs.  Constantly  an  object 
of  distrust  to  the  Illinois,  who  feared  he  was  a  spy  and  friend  of  the 
Iroquois,  in  turn  exposed  to  the  jealousy  of  the  Iroquois,  who  imag- 
ined he  and  his  French  friends  were  allies  of  the  Illinois,  Tonti 
remained  faithful  to  his  trust  until  he  saw  that  he  could  not  avert  the 
blow  meditated  by  the  Iroquois.  Then,  with  Fathers  Zenobe  Membre 
and  Gabriel  Rebourde,  and  a  few  Frenchmen  who  had  remained  faith- 
ful, he  escaped  from  the  enraged  Indians  and  made  his  way,  in  a  leaky 
canoe,  up  the  Illinois  River.  Father  Gabriel  one  fine  day  left  his  com- 
panions on  the  river  to  enjoy  a  walk  in  the  beautiful  groves  near  by, 
and  while  thus  engaged,  and  as  he  wras  meditating  upon  his  holy  call- 
ing, fell  into  an  ambuscade  of  Kickapoo  Indians.  The  good  old  man, 
unconscious  of  his  danger,  was  instantly  knocked  down,  the  scalp  torn 
from  his  venerable  head,  and  his  gray  hairs  afterward  exhibited  in  tri- 
umph by  his  young  murderers  as  a  trophy  taken  from  the  crown  of  an 
Iroquois  warrior.  Tonti,  with  those  in  his  company,  pursued  his  course, 
passing  by  Chicago,  and  thence  up  the  west  shore  of  Lake  Michigan. 
Subsisting  on  berries,  and  often  on  acorns  and  roots  which  they  dug 
from  the  ground,  they  finally  arrived  at  the  Pottawatomie  towns.  Pre- 
vious to  this  they  abandoned  their  canoe  and  started  on  foot  for  the 
Mission  of  Green  Bay,  where  they  wintered. 

La  Salle,  when  he  arrived  at  St.  Joseph,  found  Fort  Miamis  plun- 
dered and  demolished.     He  also  learned  that  the  Iroquois  had  attacked 
the  Illinois.     Fearing  for  the  safety  of  Tonti,  he  pushed  on  rapidly, 
only  to  find,  at  Starved  Rock,  the  unmistakable  signs  of  an  Indian 
slaughter.     The  report  was  true.     The  Iroquois  had  defeated  the  Illi- 
"nois  and  driven  them  west  of  the  Mississippi.     La  Salle  viewed  the 
wreck  of  his  cherished  project,  the  demolition  of  the  fort,  the  loss  of 
his  peltries,  and  especially  the  destruction  of  his  vessel,  in  that  usual 
calm  way  peculiar  to  him ;  and,  although  he  must  have  suffered  the 
most  intense  anguish,  no  trace  of  sorrow  or  indecision  appeared  on  his 
inflexible  countenance.     Shortly  afterward  he  returned  to  Fort  Miamis. 
La  Salle  occupied  his  time,  until  spring,  in  rebuilding  Fort  Miamis, 
holding  conferences  with  the  surrounding  Indian  tribes,  and  confeder- 
ating them  against  future  attacks  of  the  Iroquois.     He  now  abandoned 
the  purpose  of  descending  the  Mississippi  in  a  sailing  vessel,  and  de- 
termined to  prosecute  his  voyage  in  the  ordinary  wooden  pirogues  or 
canoes. 

Tonti  was  sent  forward  to  Chicago  Creek,  where  he  constructed  a 
number  of  sledges.     After  other  preparations  had  been  made,  La  Salle 


84  HISTORIC    NOTES    OX   THE    NORTHWEST. 

and  his  party  left  St.  Joseph  and  came  around  the  southern  extremity 
of  the  lake.  The  goods  and  effects  were  placed  on  the  sledges  pre- 
pared by  Tonti.  La  Salle's  party  consisted  of  twenty-three  French- 
men and  eighteen  Indians.  The  savages  took  with  them  ten  squaws 
and  three  children,  so  that  the  party  numbered  in  all  fifty-four  persons. 
They  had  to  make  the  portage  of  the  Chicago  River.  After  dragging 
their  canoes,  sledges,  baggage  and  provisions  about  eighty  leagues 
over  the  ice,  on  the  Desplaines  and  Illinois  Rivers,  they  came  to  the 
great  Indian  town.  It  was  deserted,  the  savages  having  gone  down 
the  river  to  Lake  Peoria.  From  Peoria  Lake  the  navigation  was  open, 
and  embarking,  on  the  6th  of  February,  they  soon  arrived  at  the  Mis- 
sissippi. Here,  owing  to  floating  ice,  they  were  delayed  till  the  13th 
of  the  same  month.  Membre  describes  the  Missouri  as  follows:  "It  is 
full  as  large  as  the  Mississippi,  into  which  it  empties,  troubling  it  so 
that,  from  the  mouth  of  the  Ozage  (Missouri),  the  water  is  hardly 
drinkable.  The  Indians  assured  us  that  this  river  is  formed  by  many 
others,  and  that  they  ascend  it  for  ten  or  twelve  days  to  a  mountain 
where  it  rises;  that  beyond  this  mountain  is  the  sea,  where  they  see 
great  ships ;  that  on  the  river  are  a  great  number  of  large  villages. 
Although  this  river  is  very  large,  the  Mississippi  does  not  seem  aug- 
mented by  it,  but  it  pours  in  so  much  mud  that,  from  its  mouth,  the 
water  of  the  great  river,  whose  bed  is  also  slimy,  is  more  like  clear 
mud  than  river  water,  without  changing  at  all  till  it  reaches  the  sea,  a 
distance  of  more  than  three  hundred  leagues,  although  it  receives  seven 
large  rivers,  the  water  of  which  is  very  beautiful,  and  which  are  almost 
as  large  as  the  Mississippi."  From  this  time,  until  they  neared  the 
mouths  of  the  Mississippi,  nothing  especially  worthy  of  note  occurred. 
On  the  6th  of  April  they  came  to  the  place  where  the  river  divides 
itself  into  three  channels.  M.  La  Salle  took  the  western,  the  Sieur 
Dan  tray  the  southern,  and  Tonti,  accompanied  by  Membre,  followed 
the  middle  channel.  The  three  channels  were  beautiful  and  deep. 
The  water  became  brackish,  and  two  leagues  farther  it  became  perfectly 
salt,  and  advancing  on  they  at  last  beheld  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  La 
Salle,  in  a  canoe,  coasted  the  borders  of  the  sea,  and  then  the  parties 
assembled  on  a  dry  spot  of  ground  not  far  from  the  mouth  of  the  river. 
On  the  9th  of  April,  with  all  the  pomp  and  ceremony  of  the  Holy 
Catholic  Church,  La  Salle,  in  the  name:  of  the  French  King,  took  pos- 
session of  the  Mississippi  and  all  its  tributaries.  First  they  chanted 
the  "Yexilla  Regis"  and  "  Te  Deum,"  and  then,  while  the  assembled 
vovageurs  and  their  savage  attendants  fired  their  muskets  and  shouted 
"  Vive  le  Roi,"  La  Salle  planted  the  column,  at  the  same  time  pro- 
claiming, in  a  loud  voice,  "In  the  name  of  the  Most   High,  Mighty, 


TAKING    POSSESSION    OF    LOUISIANA.  85 

Invincible,  and  Victorious  Prince,  Louis  the  Great,  by  the  Grace  of 
God  King  of  France  and  of  Navarre,  Fourteenth  of  that  name,  I,  this 
9th  day  of  April,  one  thousand  six  hundred  and  eighty-two,  in  virtue 
of  the  commission  of  His  Majesty,  which  I  hold  in  my  hand,  and 
which  may  be  seen  by  all  whom  it  may  concern,  have  taken,  and  do  now 
take,  in  the  name  of  His  Majesty  and  his  successors  to  the  crown,  posses- 
sion of  this  country  of  Louisiana,  the  seas,  harbors,  ports,  bays,  adjacent 
straits,  and  all  the  people,  nations,  provinces,  cities,  towns,  villages, 
mines,  minerals,  fisheries,  streams  and  rivers  within  the  extent  of  the 
said  Louisiana,  from  the  mouth  of  the  great  river  St.  Louis,  otherwise 
called  Ohio,  as  also  along  the  river  Colbert,  or  Mississippi,  and  the 
rivers  which  discharge  themselves  therein,  from  its  source  beyond  the 
country  of  the  Nadonessious  (Sioux),  as  far  as  its  mouth  at  the  sea, 
and  also  to  the  mouth  of  the  river  of  Palms,  upon  the  assurance  we 
have  had  from  the  natives  of  these  countries  that  we  were  the  first 
Europeans  who  have  descended  or  ascended  the  river  Colbert  (Missis- 
sippi) ;  hereby  protesting  against  all  who  may  hereafter  undertake  to 
invade  any  or  all  of  these  aforesaid  countries,  peoples  or  lands,  to  the 
prejudice  of  His  Majesty,  acquired  by  the  consent  of  the  nations 
dwelling  herein.  Of  which,  and  of  all  else  that  is  needful,  I  hereby 
take  to  witness  those  who  hear  me,  and  demand  an  act  of  the  notary 
here  present." 

At  the  foot  of  the  tree  to  which  the  cross  was  attached  La  Salle 
caused  to  be  buried  a  leaden  plate,  on  one  side  of  which  were  engraven 
the  arms  of  France,  and  on  the  opposite,  the  following  Latin  inscription: 

LVDOVICUS  MAGNUS  REGNAT. 

NONOAPRILIS  CIO  IOC  LXXXII. 
ROBERTVS  CAVALIER,  CVM  DOMINO  DETONTI  LEGATO,  R.  P.  ZENOBIO 
MEMBRE,    RECCOLLECTO,    ET   VIGINTI    GALLIS    PRIMVS   HOC   FLVMEN, 
INDE    AB    ILINEORVM    PAGO    ENAVAGAVIT,     EZVQUE    OSTIVM    FECIT 
PERVIVM,  NONO  APRILIS  ANNI. 

CIO  IOC  LXXXI. 

Note. — The  following  is  a  translation  of  the  inscription  on  the  leaden  plate: 

"  Louis  the  Great  reigns. 
"Robert  Cavalier,  with  Lord  Tonti  as  Lieutenant,  R.  P.  Zenobe  Membre,  Recollect, 
and  twenty  Frenchmen,  first  navigated  this  stream  from  the  country  of  the  Illinois, 
and  also  passed  through  its  mouth,  on  the  9th  of  April,  1682." 

After  which,  La  Salle  remarked  that  His  Majesty,  who  was  the 
eldest  son  of  the  Holy  Catholic  Church,  would  not  annex  any  country 
to  his   dominion   without  giving  especial  attention    to   establish   the 


86  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

Christian  religion  therein,  lie  then  proceeded  at  once  to  erect  a  cross, 
before  which  the  "Vexilla"  and  "  Domine  Salvnm  fac  Regem  "  were 
sung.     The  ceremony  was  concluded  by  shouting  "Vive  le  Roi !  " 

Thus  was  completed  the  discovery  and  taking  possession  of  the 
Mississippi  valley.  By  that  indisputable  title,  the  right  of  discovery, 
attested  by  all  those  formalities  recognized  as  essential  by  the  laws  of 
nations,  the  manuscript  evidence  of  which  was  duly  certified  by  a  no- 
tary public  brought  along  for  that  purpose,  and  witnessed  by  the  sig- 
natures of  La  Salle  and  a  number  of  other  persons  present  on  the  occa- 
sion, France  became  the  owner  of  all  that  vast  country  drained  by  the 
Mississippi  and  its  tributaries.  Bounded  by  the  Alleghanies  on  the 
east,  and  the  Rocky  Mountains  on  the  west,  and  extending  from  an 
undefined  limit  on  the  north  to  the  burning  sands  of  the  Gulf  on  the 
south.  Embracing  within  its  area  every  variety  of  climate,  watered 
with  a  thousand  beautiful  streams,  containing  vast  prairies  and  exten- 
sive forests,  with  a  rich  and  fertile  soil  that  only  awaited  the  husband- 
man's skill  to  yield  bountiful  harvests,  rich  in  vast  beds  of  bituminous 
coal  and  deposits  of  iron,  copper  and  other  ores,  this  magnificent 
domain  was  not  to  become  the  seat  of  a  religious  dogma,  enforced  by 
the  power  of  state,  but  was  designed  under  the  hand  of  God  to  become 
the  center  of  civilization, — the  heart  of  the  American  republic, — where 
the  right  of  conscience  was  to  be  free,  without  interference  of  law,  and 
where  universal  liberty  should  only  be  restrained  in  so  far  as  its  unre- 
strained exercise  might  conflict  with  its  equal  enjoyment  by  all. 

Had  France,  with  the  same  energy  she  displayed  in  discovering 
Louisiana,  retained  her  grasp  upon  this  territory,  the  dominant  race  in 
the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  would  have  been  Gallic  instead  of  Anglo- 
Saxon. 

The  manner  in  which  France  lost  this  possession  in  America  will 
be  referred  to  in  a  subsequent  chapter. 


CHAPTER   XL 

LA  SALLE'S   RETURN,  AND  HIS   DEATH  IN   ATTEMPTING  A 
SETTLEMENT  ON  THE  GULF. 

La  Salle  and  his  party  returned  up  the  Mississippi.  Before  they 
reached  Chickasaw  Bluffs,  La  Salle  was  taken  dangerously  ill. 

Dispatching  Tonti  ahead  to  Mackinaw,  he  remained  there  under 
the  care  of  Father  Meinbre.  Abolit  the  end  of  July  he  was  enabled  to 
proceed,  and  joined  Tonti  at  Mackinaw,  in  September.  Owing  to  the 
threatened  invasion  of  the  Iroquois,  La  Salle  postponed  his  projected 
trip  to  France,  and  passed  the  winter  at  Fort  St.  Louis.  From  Fort 
St.  Louis,  it  would  seem,  La  Salle  directed  a  letter  to  Count  Frontenac, 
divino-  an  account  of  his  voyage  to  the  Mississippi.  It  is  short  and  his- 
toricallv  interesting,  and  was  first  published  in  that  rare  little  volume, 
Thevenot's  "Collection  of  Voyages,''  published  at  Paris  in  1687.  This 
letter  contains,  perhaps,  the  first  description  of  Chicago  Creek  and  the 
harbor,  and  as  everything  pertaining  to  Chicago  of  a  historical  charac- 
ter is  a  matter  of  public  interest,  we  insert  La  Salle's  account.  It 
seems  that,  even  at  that  early  day,  almost  two  centuries  ago,  the  idea 
of  a  canal  connecting  Lake  Michigan  and  the  Illinois  was  a  subject  of 
consideration  : 

'•  The  creek  (Chicago  Creek)  through  which  we  went,  from  the  lake 
of  the  Illinois  into  the  Divine  River  (the  Au  Plein,  or  Des  Plaines)  is 
so  shallow  and  so  greatly  exposed  to  storms  that  no  ship  can  venture 
in  except  in  a  great  calm.  Neither  is  the  country  between  the  creek 
and  the  Divine  River  suitable  for  a  canal  ;  for  the  prairies  between 
them  are  submerged  after  heavy  rains,  and  a  canal  would  be  immedi- 
ately filled  up  with  sand.  Besides  this,  it  is  not  possible  to  dig  into 
the  ground  on  account  of  the  water,  that  country  being  nothing  but  a 
marsh.  Supposing  it  were  possible,  however,  to  cut  a  canal,  it  would 
be  useless,  as  the  Divine  River  is  not  navigable  for  forty  leagues 
together;  that  is  to  say,  from  that  place  (the  portage)  to  the  village  of 
the  Illinois,  except  for  canoes,  and  these  have  scarcely  water  enough  in 
summer  time." 

The  identity  of  the  "  River  Chicago,"  of  early  explorers,  with  the 
modern  stream  of  the  same  name,  is  clearly  established  by  the  map  of 
Franquelin  of  1684,  as  well,  also,  as  by  the  Memoir  of  Sieur  de  Tonti. 

87 


88  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON    THE    NORTHWEST. 

The  latter  had  occasion  to  pass  through  the  Chicago  River  more  fre- 
quently than  any  other  person  of  his  time,  and  his  intimate  acquaint- 
ance with  the  Indians  in  the  vicinity  would  necessarily  place  his  decla- 
rations beyond  the  suspicion  of  a  mistake.  Referring  to  his  being  sent 
in  the  fall  of  1687,  by  La  Salle,  from  Fort  Miamis,  at  the  mouth  of  the 
St.  Joseph,  to  Chicago,  already  alluded  to,  he  says:  "We  went  in 
canoes  to  the  '  River  Chicago,'  where  there  is  a  portage  which  joins  that 
of  the  Illinois."  ::' 

The  name  of  this  river  is  variously  spelled  by  early  writers,  "  Chi- 
cagon,"f  "  Che-ka-kou,"  \  "Chikgoua."§  In  the  prevailing  Algonquin 
language  the  word  signifies  a  polecat  or  skunk.  The  Aborigines,  also, 
called  garlic  by  nearly  the  same  word,  from  which  many  authors  have 
inferred  that  Chicago  means  "wild  onion."  | 

"While  La  Salle  was  in  the  west,  Count  Frontenac  was  removed, 
and  M.  La  Barre  appointed  Governor  of  Canada.  The  latter  was  the 
avowed   enemy  of  La  Salle.     He  injured   La  Salle  in   eveiw  possible 

*  Tonti's  Memoir,  published  in  the  Historical  Collections  of  Louisiana,  vol.  1,  p.  59. 

t  Joutel's  Journal. 

X  La  Hontan. 

§  Father  Gravier's  Narrative  Journal,  published  in  Dr.  Shea's  "Voyages  Up  and 
Down  the  Mississippi." 

||  A  writer  of  a  historical  sketch,  published  in  a  late  number  of  "  Potter's  Monthly," 
on  the  isolated  statement  of  an  old  resident  of  western  Michigan,  says  that  the  Indi- 
ans living1  thereabouts  subsequent  to  the  advent  of  the  early  settlers  called  Chicago 
"Tuck-Chicago,"  the  meaning  of  which  was,  "a  place  without  wood,"  and  thus  in- 
vesting a  mere  fancy  with  the  dignity  of  truth.  The  great  city  of  the  west  has  taken 
its  name  from  the  stream  along  whose  margin  it  was  first  laid  out,  and  it  becomes  im- 
portant to  preserve  the  origin  of  its  name  with  whatever  certainty  a  research  of  all 
accessible  authorities  may  furnish.  In  the  first  place,  Chicago  was  not  a  place  "with- 
out wood,"  or  trees;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  the  only  locality  where  timber  was  anything 
like  abundant  for  the  distance  of  miles  around.  The  north  and  south  branches  west- 
ward, and  the  lake  on  the  east,  afforded  ample  protection  against  prairie  fires;  and  Dr. 
John  M.  Peck,  in  his  early  Gazetteer  of  the  state,  besides  other  authorities,  especially 
mention  the  fact  that  there  was  a  good  quality  of  timber  in  the  vicinity  of  Chicago, 
particularly  on  the  north  branch.  There  is  nowhere  to  be  found  in  the  several  Indian 
vocabularies  of  Sir  Alexander  Mackenzie,  Dr.  Edwin  James,  and  the  late  Albert  Gal- 
latin, in  their  extensive  collections  of  Algonquin  words,  any  expressions  like  those  used 
by  the  writer  in  Potter's  Monthly,  bearing  the  signification'  which  he  attaches  to  them. 
In  Mackenzie's  Vocabulary,  the  Algonquin  word  for  polecat  is  "Shi-kak."  In  Dr. 
James'  Vocabulary,  the  word  for  skunk  is  "She-gahg  (shegag);  and  Shig-gau-ga-win- 
zheeg  is  the  plural  for  onion  or  garlic,  literally,  in  the  Indian  dialect,  "skunk-weeds." 
Dr.  James,  in  a  foot-note,  says  that  from  this  word  in  the  singular  number,  some  have 
derived  the  name  Chi-ka-go,  which  is  commonly  pronounced  among  the  Indians,  Shit/- 
gaii-go.  and  Shi-gau-go-ong  (meaning)  at  Chicago. 

An  association  of  English  traders,  styling  themselves  the  "  Illinois  Land  Compa- 
ny," on  the  5th  of  July,  1773,  obtained  from  ten  chiefs  of  the  Kaskaskia.  Cahokia  and 
Peoria  tribes,  a  deed  for  two  large  tracts  of  land.  The  second  tract,  in  the  description 
of  its  boundaries,  contains  the  following  expression:  "and  thence  up  the  Illinois  River, 
by  the  several  courses  thereof,  to  Chicago,  or  Garlic  Creek:"  and  it  may  safely  be  as- 
sumed that  the  parties  to  the  deed  knew  the  names  given  to  identify  the  grant.  Were 
an  additional  reference  necessary.  "Wan  Bun,"  the  valuable  work  of  Mrs.  John  H. 
Kinzie,  might  also  be  cited,  p.  190.  The  Iroquois,  who  made  frequent  predatory 
excursions  from  their  homes  in  New  York  to  the  Illinois  country,  called  Chicago  Kan- 
era-ghik;  ride  Cadwalder  Colden's  "  History  of  the  Five  Nations." 


MISFORTUNES    OF    LA    SALLE'S    COLONY.  89 

way,  and  finally  seized  upon  Fort  Frontenae.  To  obtain  redress,  La- 
Salle  went  to  France,  reaching  Rochelle  on  the  13th  of  December, 
1683.  Seignelay  (young  Colbert),  Secretary  of  State  and  Minister  of 
the  Marine,  was  appealed  to  by  La  Salle,  and  became  interested  and 
furnished  him  timely  aid  in  his  enterprise. 

Before  leaving  America  La  Salle  ordered  Tonti  to  proceed  and  finish 
'•  Fort  St.  Louis,"  as  the  fortification  at  Starved  Rock,  on  the  Illinois 
River,  was  named.  "  He  charged  me,"  says  Tonti,  "  with  the  duty  to 
go  and  finish  Fort  St.  Louis,  of  which  he  gave  me  the  government, 
with  full  power  to  dispose  of  the  lands  in  the  neighborhood,  and  left 
all  his  people  under  my  command,  with  the  exception  of  six  French- 
men, whom  he  took  to  accompany  him  to  Quebec.  We  departed  from 
Mackinaw  on  the  same  day,  he  for  Canada  and  I  for  the  Illinois.*  On 
his  mission  to  France  La  Salle  was  received  with  honor  by  the  king 
and  his  officers,  and  the  accounts  which  he  gave  relative  to  Louisiana 
caused  them  to  further  his  plans  for  its  colonization.  A  squadron  of 
four  vessels  was  fitted  out,  the  largest  carrying  thirty-six  guns.  About 
two  hundred  persons  were  embarked  aboard  of  them  for  the  purpose 
long  projected,  as  we  have  foreseen,  of  establishing  a  settlement  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  The  fleet  was  under  the  command  of  M. 
de  Beaujeu,  a  naval  officer  of  some  distinction.  lie  was  punctilious  in 
the  exercise  of  authorit}',  and  had  a  wiry,  nervous  organization,  as  the 
portrait  preserved  of  him  clearly  shows,  f  La  Salle  was  austere,  and 
lacked  that  faculty  of  getting  along  with  men,  for  the  want  of  which 
many  of  his  best-laid  plans  failed.  A  constant  bickering  and  collision 
of  cross  purposes  was  the  natural  result  of  such  repellant  natures  as 
he  and  Beaujeu  possessed. 

After  a  stormy  passage  of  the  Atlantic,  the  fleet  entered  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico.  Coasting  along  the  northern  shore  of  the  gulf,  they  failed 
to  discover  the  mouths  of  the  Mississippi.  Passing  them,  they  finally 
landed  in  what  is  now  known  as  Matagorda  Bay,  or  the  Bay  of  St. 
Barnard,  near  the  River  Colorado,  in  Texas,  more  than  a  hundred 
leagues  westward  of  the  Mississippi.  The  whole  number  of  persons 
left  on  the  beach  is  not  definitely  known.  M.  Joutel,  one  of  the  sur- 
vivors, and  the  chronicler  of  this  unfortunate  undertaking,  mentions 
one  hundred  and  eighty,  besides  the  crew  of  the  "  Belle,"  which  was 
lost  on  the  beach,  consisting  of  soldiers,  volunteers,  workmen,  women 
and  children.:}:     The  colony  being  in  a  destitute  condition,  La  Salle, 

*Tonti's  Memoir. 

\  A  fine  steel  engraving  copy  of  Mons.  Beaujeu  is  contained  in  Dr.  Shea's  transla- 
tion of  Charlevoix's  "  History  of  New  France." 
JSpark's  "  Life  of  La  Salle." 


90  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

accompanied  by  Father  Anastius  Douay  and  twenty  others,  set  out  to 
reach  the  Mississippi,  intending  to  ascend  to  Fort  St.  Louis,  and  there 
obtain  aid  from  Tonti.  They  set  out  on  the  7th  of  January,  and  after 
several  days'  journey,  reached  the  village  of  the  Cenis  Indians.  Here 
some  of  La  Salle's  men  became  dissatisfied  with  their  hardships,  and 
determined  to  slay  him  and  then  join  the  Indians.  The  tragic  tale  is 
thus  related  by  Father  Douay  :  "  The  wisdom  of  Monsieur  de  La  Salle 
was  unable  to  foresee  the  plot  which  some  of  his  people  would  make 
to  slay  his  nephew,  as  they  suddenly  resolved  to  do,  and  actually 
did,  on  the  17th  of  March,  by  a  blow  of  an  ax,  dealt  by  one  Liotot. 
They  also  killed  the  valet  of  the  Sieur  La  Salle  and  his  Indian  ser- 
vant, Kika,  who,  at  the  risk  of  his  life,  had  supported  them  for  three 
years.  The  wretches  resolved  not  to  stop  here,  and  not  satisfied 
with  this  murder,  formed  a  design  of  attempting  their  commander's 
life,  as  they  had  reason  to  fear  his  resentment  and  chastisement.  As 
M.  La  Salle  and  myself  were  walking  toward  the  fatal  spot  where  his 
nephew  had  been  slain,  two  of  those  murderers,  who  were  hidden  in 
the  grass,  arose,  one  on  each  side,  with  guns  cocked.  One  missed  Mon- 
sieur La  Salle  ;  the  other,  firing  at  the  same  time,  shot  him  in  the  head. 
He  died  an  hour  after,  on  the  19th  of  March,  1687. 

"  Thus,1'  says  Father  Douay,  "  died  our  commander,  constant  in  ad- 
versity, intrepid,  generous,  engaging,  dexterous,  skillful,  capable  of 
everything.  He  who  for  twenty  years  had  softened  the  fierce  temper 
of  countless  savage  tribes  was  massacred  by  the  hands  of  his  own  domes- 
tics, whom  he  had  loaded  with  caresses.  He  died  in  the  prime  of  life, 
in  the  midst  of  his  course  and  labors,  without  having  seen  their  success."* 

The  colony  which  La  Salle  had  left  in  Texas  was  surprised  and 
destroved  by  the  Indians.  Not  a  soul  was  left  to  give  an  account  of 
the  massacre.  Of  the  twenty  who  accompanied  him  in  his  attempt  to 
reach  the  Mississippi,  Joutel,  M.  Cavalier,  La  Salle's  brother,  and  four 
others  determined  to  make  a  last  attempt  to  find  the  Mississippi ;  the 
others,  including  La  Salle's  murderers,  became  the  associates  of  the  less 
brutal  Indians,  and  of  them  we  have  no  farther  account.  After  a  long 
and  toilsome  journey  Joutel  and  his  party  reached  the  Mississippi  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas.  Here  they  found  two  men  who  had  been 
sent  by  Tonti  to  relieve  La  Salle.  Embarking  in  canoes,  they  went  up 
the  Mississippi,  arrived  at  Fort  St.  Louis  in  safety,  and  finally  returned 
to  France  by  way  of  Quebec. 

From  this  period  until  1698  the  French  made  no  further  attempts 
to  colonize  the  Lower  Mississippi.     They  had  no  settlements  below  the 

*  Faiher  Douay's  Journal,  contained  in  Dr.  Shea's  "Discovery  and  Exploration  of  the 
Mississippi." 


BILOXI    AND    MOBILE    FOUNDED.  91 

Ohio,  and  above  that  river,  on  the  Illinois  and  the  upper  lakes,  were 
scattered  only  a  few  missions  and  trading  posts. 

Realizing  the  great  importance  of  retaining  possession  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi valley,  the  French  court  fitted  out  an  expedition  which  con- 
sisted of  four  vessels,  for  the  purpose  of  thoroughly  exploring  the  mouth 
of  the  Mississippi  and  adjacent  territory.  Le  Moyne  Iberville  was  put 
in  command  of  the  expedition.  lie  was  the  third  of  the  eleven  sons 
of  Baron  Longueil.  They  all  held  commissions  from  the  king,  and  con- 
stituted one  of  the  most  illustrious  of  the  French  Canadian  families. 
The  fleet  sailed  from  Brest,  France,  on  the  21th  of  October,  1698. 
They  came  in  sight  of  Florida  on  the  27th  of  January,  1699.  They 
ran  near  the  coast,  and  discovered  that  they  were  in  the  vicinity  of 
Pensacola  Bay.  Here  they  found  a  colony  of  three  hundred  Spaniards. 
Sailing  westward,  they  entered  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi  on  Quin- 
quagesima  Monday,  which  was  the  2d  of  March.  Iberville  ascended 
the  river  far  enough  to  assure  himself  of  its  being  the  Mississippi,  then, 
descending  the  river,  he  founded  a  colony  at  Biloxi  Bay.  Leaving  his 
brother,  M.  de  Sauvole,  in  command  of  the  newly  erected  fort,  he  sailed 
for  France.  Iberville  returned  to  Biloxi  on  the  8th  of  January,  and, 
hearing  that  the  English  were  exploring  the  Mississippi,  he  took  formal 
possession  of  the  Mississippi  valley  in  the  name  of  the  French  king. 
He,  also,  erected  a  small  four-gun  fort  on  Poverty  Point,  38  miles  below 
New  Orleans.  The  fort  was  constructed  very  rudely,  and  was  occupied 
for  only  one  year.  In  the  year  1701  Iberville  made  a  settlement  at 
Mobile,  and  this  soon  became  the  principal  French  town  on  the  gulf. 
The  unavailing  efforts  of  the  king  in  the  scheme  of  colonization  induced 
a  belief  that  a  greater  prosperity  would  follow  under  the  stimulus  of 
individual  enterprise,  and  he  determined  to  grant  Louisiana  to  Monsieur 
Crozat,  with  a  monopoly  of  its  mines,  supposed  to  be  valuable  in  gold 
and  silver,  together  with  the  exclusive  right  of  all  its  commerce  for  the 
period  of  fifteen  years.  The  patent  or  grant  of  Louis  to  M.  Crozat  is 
an  interesting  document,  not  only  because  it  passed  the  title  of  the 
Mississippi  valley  into  the  hands  of  one  man,  but  for  the  reason  that  it 
embraces  a  part  of  the  history  of  the  country  ceded.  We,  therefore, 
quote  the  most  valuable  part  of  it.  The  instrument  bears  date  Sep- 
tember 12th,  1712: 

"  Louis  (the  fourteenth),  King  of  France  and  Navarre ;  To  all  who 
shall  see  these  presents,  greeting:  The  care  we  have  always  had  to 
procure  the  welfare  and  advantage  of  our  subjects,  having  induced  us, 
notwithstanding  the  almost  continual  wars  which  we  have  been  en- 
gaged  to  support  from  the  beginning  of  our  reign,  to  seek  all  possible 
opportunities  of  enlarging  and  extending  the  trade  of  our  American 


92  HISTORIC    NOTES    OX    THE    NORTHWEST. 

colonies,  we  did,  in  the  year  1683,  give  our  orders  to  undertake  a  dis- 
covery of  the  countries  and  lands  which  are  situated  in  the  northern 
parts  of  America,  between  New  France  (Canada)  and  New  Mexico. 
And  the  Sieur  de  La  Salle,  to  whom  we  committed  that  enterprise, 
having  had  success  enough  to  confirm  the  belief  that  a  communication 
might  be  settled  from  New  France  to  the  Gulf  of  Mex»ico  by  means  of 
large  rivers;  this  obliged  us,  immediately  after  the  peace  of  Eyewick 
(in  1607),  to  give  orders  for  the  establishment  of  a  colony  there  (under 
Iberville  in  1699),  and  maintaining  a  garrison,  which  has  kept  and 
preserved  the  possession  we  had  taken  in  the  year  1683,  of  the  lands, 
coasts  and  islands  which  are  situated  in  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  between 
Carolina  on  the  east,  and  old  and  New  Mexico  on  the  west.  But  a 
new  war  breaking  out  in  Europe  shortly  after,  there  was  no  possi- 
bility till  now  of  reaping  from  that  new  colony  the  advantages  that 
might  have  been  expected  from  thence ;  because  the  private  men  who 
are  concerned  in  the  sea  trade  were  all  under  engagements  with  the 
other  colonies,  which  they  have  been  obliged  to  follow.  And  where- 
as, upon  the  information  we  have  received  concerning  the  disposition 
and  situation  of  the  said  countries,  known  at  present  by  the  name  of 
the  province  of  Louisiana,  we  are  of  opinion  that  there  may  be  estab- 
lished therein  a  considerable  commerce,  so  much  the  more  advan- 
tageous to  our  kingdom  in  that  there  has  been  hitherto  a  necessity  of 
fetching  from  foreigners  the  greatest  part  of  the  commodities  that  may 
be  brought  from  thence ;  and  because  in  exchange  thereof  we  need 
carry  thither  nothing  but  the  commodities  of  the  growth  and  manu- 
facture of  our  own  kingdom ;  we  have  resolved  to  grant  the  com- 
merce of  the  country  of  Louisiana  to  the  Sieur  Anthony  Crozat, 
our  counsellor,  secretary  of  the  household,  crown  and  revenue,  to 
whom  we  intrust  the  execution  of  this  project.  We  are  the  more 
readilv  inclined  thereto  because  of  his  zeal  and  the  singular  knowledge 

•>  CD  CD 

he  has  acquired  of  maritime  commerce,  encourages  us  to  hope  for  as 
good  success  as  he  has  hitherto  had  in  the  divers  and  sundry  enter- 
prises he  has  gone  upon,  and  which  have  procured  to  our  kingdom  great 
quantities  of  gold  and  silver  in  such  conjectures  as  have  rendered  them 
very  welcome  to  us.  For  these  reasons,  being  desirous  to  show  our 
favor  to  him,  and  to  regulate  the  conditions  upon  which  we  mean  to 
grant  him  the  said  commerce,  after  having  deliberated  the  affair  in  our 
council,  of  our  own  certain  knowledge,  full  power  and  royal  authority, 
we  by  these  presents,  signed  by  our  hand,  have  appointed  and  do  ap- 
point the  said  Sieur  Crozat  to  carry  on  a  trade  in  all  the  lands  pos- 
sessed by  us,  and  bounded  by  New  Mexico  and  by  the  English  of  Caroli- 
na, all  the  establishments,  ports,  havens,  rivers,  and  particularly  the  port 


LOUISIANA    GRANTED   TO    CKOZAT.  93 

and  haven  of  Isle  Dauphin,  heretofore  called  Massacre;  the  river  St. 
Louis,  heretofore  called  Mississippi,  from  the  edge  of  the  sea  as  far  as 
the  Illinois,*  together  with  the  river  St.  Philip,  heretofore  called  Mis- 
souris,  and  St.  Jerome,  heretofore  called  the  Ouabache  (the  Wabash), 
with  all  the  countries,  territories,  lakes  within  land,  and  the  rivers  which 
fall  directly  or  indirectly  into  that  part  of  the  river  St.  Louis.  Our 
pleasure  is,  that  all  the  aforesaid  lands,  countries,  streams,  rivers  and 
islands,  be  and  remain  comprised  under  the  name  of  the  Government 
of  Louisiana,  which  shall  be  dependent  upon  the  general  government 
of  New  France,  to  which  it  is  subordinate." 

Crozat  was  permitted  to  search  and  open  mines,  and  to  pay  the 
king  one-fifth  part  of  all  the  gold  and  silver  developed.  Work  in  de- 
veloping the  mines  was  to  be  begun  in  three  years,  under  penalty  of 
forfeiture.  Crozat  was  required  to  send  at  least  two  vessels  annually 
from  France  to  sustain  the  colonies  already  established,  and  for  the 
maintenance  of  trade. 

The  next  }*ear,  1713,  there  were,  within  the  limits  of  Crozat's  vast 
grant,  not  more  than  four  hundred  persons  of  European  descent. 

Crozat  himself  did  little  to  increase  the  colony,  the  time  of  his 
subordinates  being  spent  in.  roaming  over  the  country  in  search  of  the 
precious  metals.  Pie  became  wearied  at  the  end  of  three  years  spent 
in  profitless  adventures,  and,  in  1717,  surrendered  his  grant  back  to  the 
crown.  In  August  of  the  same  year  the  French  king  turned  Louis- 
iana over  to  the  "  Western  Company,"  or  the  "  Mississippi  Company," 
subsequently  called  "  The  Company  of  the  Indies,"  at  whose  head 
stood  the  famous  Scotch  banker,  John  Law.  The  rights  ceded  to  Law's 
company  were  as  broad  as  the  grant  to  Crozat.  Law  was  an  infla- 
tionist, believing  that  wealth  could  be  created  without  limit  by  the 
mere  issuing  of  paper  money,  and  his  wild  schemes  of  finance  were 
the  most  ruinous  that  ever  deluded  and  bankrupted  a  confiding  people. 
Louisiana,  with  its  real  and  undeveloped  wealth  a  hundred  times  mag- 

*  The  expression,  "  as  far  as  the  Illinois,"  did  not  refer  to  the  river  of  that  name, 
but  to  the  country  generally,  on  both  sides  of  the  Mississippi,  above  the  mouth  of  the 
Ohio,  which,  under  both  the  French  and  Spanish  governments  was  denominated  "the 
country  of  the  Illinois,"  and  this  designation  appeared  in  all  their  records  and  official 
letters.  For  example,  letters,  deeds,  and  other  official  documents  bore  date,  respect- 
ively, at  Kaskaskia,  of  the  Illinois;  St.  Louis,  of  the  Illinois;  St.  Charles,  of  the  Illi- 
nois; not  to  identify  the  village  where  such  instruments  were  executed  merely,  but  to 
denote  the  country  in  which  these  villages  were  situated.  Therefore,  the  monopoly  of 
Crozat,  by  the  terms  of  his  patent,  extended  to  the  utmost  limit  of  Louisiana,  north- 
ward, which,  by  the  treaty  of  Utrecht  in  1713,  was  fixed  at  the  49th °  of  latitude;  vide 
Stoddard's  "  Sketches  of  Louisiana,"  Brackenridge's  "Views  of  Louisiana."  From 
the  year  1700  until  some  time  subsequent  to  the  conquest  of  the  country  by  the  British, 
in  1763,  a  letter  or  document  executed  anywhere  within  the  present  limits  of  the  states 
of  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  or  Missouri,  would  have  borne  the  superscription  of  "Les 
IUinoix,"  or  "the  Illinois.'1'' 


94  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON    THE    NORTHWEST. 

nified,  became  the  basis  of  a  fictitious  value,  on  which  an  enormous 
volume  of  stock,  convertible  into  paper  money,  was  issued.  The  stock 
rose  in  the  market  like  a  balloon,  and  chamber-maids,  alike  with 
wealthy  ladies,  barbers  and  bankers, —  indeed,  the  whole  French  peo- 
ple,—  gazing  at  the  ascending  phenomenon,  grew  mad  with  the  desire 
for  speedy  wealth.  The  French  debt  was  paid  off;  the  depleted  treasury 
filled ;  poor  men  and  women  were  made  rich  in  a  few  days  by  the  con- 
stantly advancing  value  of  the  stocks  of  the  "  Company  of  the  West/' 
Confidence  in  the  ultimate  wealth  of  Louisiana  was  all  that  was  re- 
quired, and  this  was  given  to  a  degree  that  would  not  now  be  credited 
as  true,  were  not  the  facts  beyond  dispute. 

After  awhile  the  balloon  exploded  ;  people  began  to  doubt ;  they 
realized  that  mere  confidence  was  not  solid  value ;  stocks  declined ; 
they  awoke  to  a  sorrowful  contemplation  of  their  delusion  and  ruin. 
Law,  from  the  summit  of  his  glory  as  a  financier,  fell  into  ignominy, 
and  to  escape  bodily  harm  fled  the  country  ;  and  Louisiana,  from  be- 
ing the  source  of  untold  wealth,  sunk  into  utter  ruin  and  contempt. 

It  should  be  said  to  the  credit  of  "  the  company  "  that  they  made 
some  efforts  toward  the  cultivation  of  the  soil.  The  growth  of  tobacco, 
sugar,  rice  and  indigo  was  encouraged.  Negroes  were  imported  to  till 
the  soil.  New  Orleans  was  laid  out  in  1718,  and  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment of  lower  Louisiana  subsequently  established  there.  A  settlement 
was  made  about  Natchez.  A  large  number  of  German  emigrants  were 
located  on  the  Mississippi,  from  whom  a  portion  of  the  Mississippi  has 
ever  since  been  known  as  the  "  German  coast."  The  French  settle- 
ments at  Kaskaskia  and  Cahokia,  begun,  as  appears  from  most  authen- 
tic accounts,  about  the  year  1700, —  certainly  not  later, —  were  largely 
increased  by  emigration  from  Canada  and  France.  In  the  year  1718 
the  "  Company  of  the  West  "  erected  a  fortification  near  Kaskaskia,  and 
named  it  Fort  Chartes,  having  a  charter  from  the  crown  so  to  do.  It 
is  situated  in  the  northwest  corner  of  Randolph  county,  Illinois,  on  the 
American  bottom.  It  was  garrisoned  with  a  small  number  of  soldiers, 
and  was  made  the  seat  of  government  of  "the  Illinois."  Under  the 
mild  government  of  the  "  Company,''1  the  Illinois  marked  a  steady 
prosperity,  and  Fort  Chartes  became  the  center  of  business,  fashion  and 
gaiety  of  all  "the  Illinois  country."  In  1756  the  fort  was  reconstruct- 
ed, this  time  with  solid  stone.  Its  shape  was  an  irregular  quadrangle, 
the  exterior  sides  of  the  polygon  being  four  hundred  and  ninety  feet, 
and  the  walls  were  two  feet  two  inches  thick,  pierced  with  port-holes 
for  cannon.  The  walls  of  the  fort  were  eighteen  feet  high,  and  con- 
tained  within,  guard  houses,  government  house,  barracks,  powder 
house,  bake  house,  prison  and  store  room.     A  very  minute  description 


FORT   CHARTES.  95 

is  given  of  the  whole  structure  within  and  without  in  the  minutes  of 
its  surrender,  October  10,  1765,  by  Louis  St.  Ange  de  Belrive,  captain 
of  infantry  and  commandant,  and  Joseph  Le  Febvre,  the  king's  store- 
keeper and  acting  commissary  of  the  fort,  to  Mr.  Sterling,  deputed  by 
Mr.  De  Gage  (Gage),  governor  of  New  York  and  commander  of  His 
Majesty's  troops  in  America,  to  receive  possession  of  the  fort  and  coun- 
try from  the  French,  according  to  the  seventeenth  article  of  the  treat}r 
of  peace,  concluded  on  the  10th  of  February,  1763,  between  the  kings 
of  France  and  Great  Britain.*  Fort  Chartes  was  the  strongest  and 
most  elaborately  constructed  of  any  of  the  French  works  of  defense  in 
America.  Here  the  intendants  and  several  commandants  in  charge, 
whose  will  was  law,  governed  "  the  Illinois,"  administered  justice  to 
its  inhabitants,  and  settled  up  estates  of  deceased  persons,  for  nearly 
half  a  century.  From  this  place  the  English  commandants  governed 
"the  Illinois,''  some  of  them  with  great  injustice  and  severity,  from 
the  time  of  its  surrender,  in  1765,  to  1772,  when  a  great  flood  inun- 
dated the  American  Bottom,  and  the  Mississippi  cut  a  new  channel  so 
near  the  fort  that  the  wall  and  two  bastions  on  the  west  side  were  un- 
dermined and  fell  into  the  river.  The  British  garrison  then  abandoned 
it,  and  their  headquarters  were  afterward  at  Kaskaskia. 

Dr.  Beck,  while  collecting  material  for  his  "  Gazetteer  of  Illinois 
and  Missouri,"  in  1820,  visited  the  ruins  of  old  Fort  Chartes.  At  that 
time  enough  remained  to  show  the  size  and  strength  of  this  remarkable 
fortification.  Trees  over  two  feet  in  diameter  were  growing  within  its 
walls.  The  ruin  is  in  a  dense  forest,  hidden  in  a  tangle  of  under- 
growth., furnishing  a  sad  memento  of  the  efforts  and  blasted  hopes  of 
La  Belle  France  to  colonize  "Les  lUinoix" 

*  The  articles  of  surrender  are  given  at  length  in  the  Paris  Documents,  vol.  10, 
pp. 1161  to  1166. 


CHAPTER   XII. 


SURRENDER  OF  LOUISIANA  BY  THE  INDIES  COMPANY— EARLY  ROUTES. 

In  1731  the  company  of  the  Indies  surrendered  to  France,  Louisiana, 
with  its  forts,  colonies  and  plantations,  and  from  this  period  forward  to 
the  time  of  the  conquest  by  Great  Britain  and  the  Anglo-American 
colonies,  Louisiana  was  governed  through  officers  appointed  by  the 
crown. 

We  have  shown  how,  when  and  where  colonies  were  permanently 
established  by  the  French  in  Canada,  about  Kaskaskia,  and  in  Lower 
Louisiana.  It  is  not  within  the  scope  of  our  inquiries  to  follow  these 
settlements  of  the  French  in  their  subsequent  development,  but  rather 
now  to  show  how  the  establishments  of  the  French  along  the  lakes 
and  near  the  gulf  communicated  with  each  other,  and  the  routes  of 
travel  by  which  they  were  connected. 

The  convenient  way  between  Quebec  and  the  several  villages  in  the 
vicinity  of  Kaskaskia  was  around  the  lakes  and  down  the  Illinois 
River,  either  by  way  of  the  St.  Joseph  River  and  the  Kankakee  port- 
age or  through  Chicago  Creek  and  the  Des  Plaines.  The  long  winters 
and  severe  climate  on  the  St.  Lawrence  made  it  desirable  for  many 
people  to  abandon  Canada  for  the  more  genial  latitudes  of  southern 
Illinois,  and  the  still  warmer  regions  of  Louisiana,  where  snows  were 
unknown  and  flowers  grew  the  year  round.  It  only  required  the  pro- 
tection of  a  fort  or  other  military  safeguards  to  induce  the  Canadians 
to  change  their  homes  from  Canada  to  more  favorable  localities 
southward. 

The  most  feasible  route  between  Canada  and  the  Lower  Mississippi 
settlements  was  by  the  Ohio  River.  This  communication,  however, 
was  effectually  barred  against  the  French.  The  Iroquois  Indians,  from 
the  time  of  Chaniplain,  were  allies,  first  of  the  Dutch  and  then  of  the 
English,  and  the  implacable  enemies  of  the  French.  The  upper  waters 
of  the  Ohio  were  within  the  acknowledged  territory  of  the  Iroquois, 
whose  possessions  extended  westward  of  New  York  and  Pennsylvania 
well  toward  the  Scioto.  The  Ohio  below  Pittsburgh  was,  also,  in  the 
debatable  ground  of  the  Miamis  northward,  and  Chickasaws  south- 
ward.    These  nations  were  warring  upon  each  other  continually,  and 

96 


THE   MAUMEE    AND    WABASH    ROUTE.  97 

the  country  for  many  miles   beyond  either  bank  of   the  Ohio  was 
infested  with  war  parties  of  the  contending  tribes.* 

There  were  no  Indian  villages  near  the  Ohio  River  at  the  period 
concerning  which  we  now  write.  Subsequent  to  this  the  Shawnees  and 
Delawares,  previously  subdued  by  the  Iroquois,  were  permitted  by  the 
latter  to  establish  their  towns  near  the  confluence  of  the  Scioto,  Mus- 
kingum and  other  streams.  The  valley  of  the  Ohio  was  within  the 
confines  of  the  "  dark  and  bloody  ground. "  Were  a  voyager  to  see 
smoke  ascending  above  the  forest  line  he  would  know  it  was  from  the 
camp  lire  of  an  enemy,  and  to  be  a  place  of  danger.  It  would  indi- 
cate the  presence  of  a  hunting  or  war  party.  If  they  had  been  suc- 
cessful they  would  celebrate  the  event  by  the  destruction  of  whoever 
would  commit  himself  to  their  hands,  and  if  unfortunate  in  the  chase 
or  on  the  war-path,  disappointment  would  give  a  sharper  edge  to  their 
cruelty,  t 

The  next  and  more  reliable  route  was  that  afforded  by  the  Maumee 
and  Wabash,  laying  within  the  territory  of  tribes  friendly  to  the 
French.  The  importance  of  this  route  was  noticed  by  La  Salle,  in  his 
letter  to  Count  Frontenac,  in  1683,  before  quoted.  La  Salle  says:  "There 
is  a  river  at  the  extremity  of  Lake  Erie,:}:  within  ten  leagues  of  the 
strait  (Detroit  River),  which  will  very  much  shorten  the  way  to  the 
Illinois,  it  being  navigable  for  canoes  to  within  two  leagues  of  their 
river."  §  As  early  as  1699,  Mons.  De  Iberville  conducted  a  colony  of 
Canadians  from  Quebec  to  Louisiana,  by  way  of  the  Maumee  and  Wa- 
bash. "  These  were  followed  by  other  families,  under  the  leadership 
of  M.  Du  Tessenet.  Emigrants  came  by  land,  first  ascending  the  St. 
Lawrence  to  Lake  Erie,  then  ascending  a  river  emptying  into  that  lake 
to  the  portage  of  Des  Jliamis  ;  their  effects  being  thence  transported 
to  the  river  Miamis,  where  pirogues,  constructed  out  of  a  single  tree, 
and  large  enough  to  contain  thirty  persons,  were  built,  with  which  the 
voyage  down  the  Mississippi  was  prosecuted."  This  memoir  corre- 
sponds remarkably  well  with  the  claim  of  Little  Turtle,  in  his  speech 
to  Gen.  Wayne,  concerning  the  antiquity  of  the  title,  in  his  tribe,  to 
the  portage  of  the  Wabash  at  Fort  Wayne.  It  also  illustrates  the 
fact   that  among  the  first  French  settlers   in  lower  Louisiana  were 

*  A  Miami  chief  said  that  his  nation  had  no  tradition  of  "  a  time  when  they  were 
not  at  war  with  the  Chickasaws." 

t  General  William  H.  Harrison's  Address    before   the  Historical  Society  of  Cin- 
cinnati. 

t  The  Maumee. 

§  Meaning  the  Wabash. 

||  Extract  taken  from  a  memoir,  showing  that  the  first  establishments  in  Louisiana 
were  at  Mobile,  etc.,  the  original  manuscript  being  among  the  archives  in  the  depart- 
ment "  De  la  Marine  et  Des  Colonies,"  in  Paris,  France. 
7 


98  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

those  who  found  their  way  thither  through  the  "  glorious  gate,"  be- 
longing to  the  Miamis,  connecting  the  Maumee  and  Wabash. 

Originally,  the  Maumee  was  known  to  the  French  as  the  "  Miami," 
"  Oumiami,"  or  the  "River  of  the  Miamis,"  from  the  fact  that  bands 
of  this  tribe  of  Indians  had  villages  upon  its  banks.  It  was  also  called 
"  Ottawa,"  or  "  Tawwa,"  which  is  a  contraction  of  the  word  Ottawa, 
as  families  of  this  tribe  "resided  on  this  river  from  time  immemorial." 
The  Shawnee  Indian  name  is  "  Ottawa-sepe,"  that  is  "  Ottawa  River." 
By  the  Hurons,  or  Wyandots,  it  was  called  "  Cagh-a-ren-du-te,"  the 
"River  of  the  Standing  Rock."  *  Lewis  Evans,  whose  map  was  pub- 
lished in  1755,  and  which  is,  perhaps,  the  first  English  map  issued  of 
the  territory  lying  north  and  west  of  the  Ohio  River,  lays  down  the 
Miami  as  "Mine-a-mi,"  a  way  the  Pennsylvania  Indian  traders  had  of 
pronouncing  the  word  Miami.  In  1703,  Mens  Cadillac,  the  French 
commandant  at  Detroit,  in  his  application  for  a  grant  of  land  six 
leagues  in  breadth  on  either  side  of  the  Maumee,  upon  which  he  pro- 
posed to  propagate  silk-worms,  refers  to  the  river  as  "Grand  River  "  f 
As  early  as  1718  it  is  mentioned  as  the  "  Miamis  River,";}:  and  it  bore 
this  name  more  generally  than  that  of  any  other  from  1718  to  a  pe- 
riod subsequent  to  the  War  of  1S12.  Capt  Robert  M'Afee,  who  was 
in  the  various  campaigns  up  and  down  the  Maumee  during  the  War 
of  1812,  and  whose  history  of  this  war,  published  at  Lexington,  Ky., 
in  1S16,  gives  the  most  authentic  account  of  the  military  movements 
in  this  quarter,  makes  frequent  mention  of  the  river  by  the  name  of 
"  Miami,"  occasionally  designating  it  as  the  "  Miami  of  the  Lake." 

Gen.  Joseph  Harmar,  in  his  report  of  the  military  expedition  con- 
ducted by  him  to  Fort  Wayne,  in  October,  1790,  calls  the  Miami  the 
"Omee."  He  says:  "As  there  are  three  Miamis  in  the  northwestern 
territory,  all  bearing  the  name  of  Miami,  I  shall  in  the  future,  for  dis- 
tinction's sake,  when  speaking  of  the  Miami  of  the  Lake,  call  it  the 
'  Omee,'  and  its  towns  the  Omee  Towns.  By  this  name  they  are  best 
known  on  the  frontier.  It  is  only,  however,  one  of  the  many  corrup- 
tions or  contractions  universally  used  among  the  French-Americans  in 
pronouncing  Indian  names.  'Au-Mi,'  for  instance,  is  the  contraction 
for  'Au  Miami.'  "  § 

The  habit  of  the  "Coureur  de  Bois"  and  others  using  the  mongrel 
language  of  the  border  Canadians,  as  well,  also,  the  custom  prevailing 

*  "Account  of  the  Present  State  of  Indian  Tribes,  etc.,  Inhabiting  Ohio."  By  John 
Johnson,  Indian  Agent,  June  17, 1819.     Published  in  vol.  1  of  Archseologia  Americana. 

t  Sheldon's  History  of  Michigan,  p.  108. 

X  Paris  Documents,  vol.  9,  p.  886  and  891. 

§  Gen.  Harmar's  official  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  under  date  of  November  23, 
1790,  published  in  the  American  State  Papers. 


ORIGIN    OF   THE    NAME    MAUMEE.  99 

among  this  class  of  persons  in  giving  nicknames  to  rivers  and  locali- 
ties, has  involved  other  observers  besides  Gen.  Harmar  in  the  same 
perplexity.  Thomas  Hutchins,  the  American  geographer,  and  Capt. 
Harry  Gordon  visited  Kaskaskia  and  the  adjacent  territory  subsequent 
to  the  conquest  of  the  northwest  territory  from  the  French,  and  be- 
came hopelessly  entangled  in  the  contractions  and  epithets  applied  to 
the  surrounding  villages  on  both  sides  of  the  Mississippi.  Kaskaskia 
was  abbreviated  to  "Au-kas"  and  St  Louis  nicknamed  "Pain  Court" 
—  Short  Bread ;  Carondelet  was  called  "Vide  Pouehe" — Empty 
Pocket;  Ste.  Genevieve  was  called  "  Missier  "  —  Misery.  The  Kas- 
kaskia, after  being  shortened  to  Au-kaus,  pronounced  "  Okau,"  has 
been  further  corrupted  to  Okaw,  and  at  this  day  we  have  the  singu- 
lar contradiction  of  the  ancient  Kaskaskia  being  called  Kaskaskia  near 
its  mouth  and  "  Okaw  "  at  its  source. 

The  Miamis,  or  bands  of  their  tribe,  had  villages  in  order  of  time ; 
first  on  the  St.  Joseph  of  Lake  Michigan,  then  upon  the  Maumee;  after 
this,  1750,  they,  with  factions  of  other  tribes  who  had  become  disaffected 
toward  the  French,  established  a  mixed  village  upon  the  stream  now 
known  as  the  Great  Miami,  which  empties  into  the  Ohio,  and  in  this  way 
the  name  of  Miami  has  been  transferred,  successively,  from  the  St.  Jo- 
seph to  the  Miami,  and  from  the  latter  to  the  present  Miami,  with 
which  it  has  become  permanently  identified.*'  The  Miamis  were,  also, 
called  the  "  Mau-mees," —  this  manner  of  spelling  growing  out  of  one 
of  the  several  methods  of  pronouncing  the  word  Miami  —  and  it  is 
doubtless  from  this  source  that  the  name  of  Maumee  is  derived  f 

In  this  connection  we  may  note  the  fact  that  the  St.  Marys  and  the 
Au-claize  were  named  by  the  Shawnee  Indians,  as  follows :  The  first 
was  called  by  this  tribe,  who  had  several  villages  upon  its  banks,  the 
"  Co-kothe-ke-sepe,"  Kettle  River;  and  the  Auglaize  "Cow-then-e- 
ke-sepe,"  or  Fallen  Timber  River.  These  aboriginal  names  are  given 
by  Mr.  John  Johnson,  in  his  published  account  of  the  Indian  tribes 
before  referred  to4 

We  will  now  give  a  derivation  of  the  name  of  the  Wabash,  which 
has  been  the  result  of  an  examination  of  a  number  of  authorities. 
Early  French  writers  have  spelled  the  word  in  various  ways,  each  en- 
deavoring, with  more  or  less  success,  to  represent  the  name  as  the  sev- 

*The  aboriginal  name  of  the  Great  Miami  was  "Assin-erient,"  or  Rocky  River, 
from  the  word  Assin,  or  Ussin,  the  Algonquin  appellation  for  stone  or  stony.  Lewis 
Evan's  map  of  1755. 

f  In  an  official  letter  of  Gen.  Harrison  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  dated  March  22, 
1814,  the  name  "  Miamis  "  and  "Maumees  "  are  given  as  synonymous  terms,  referring 
to  the  same  tribe. 

JMr.  Johnson  had  charge  of  the  Indian  affairs  in  Ohio  for  many  years,  and  was 
especially  acquainted  with  the  Shawnees  and  their  language. 


100  HISTORIC    NOTES   OX    THE    NORTHWEST. 

eral  Algonquin  tribes  pronounced  it.  First,  we  have  Father  Marquette's 
orthography,  "  Oua-bous-kigou ; "  and  by  later  French  authorities  it  is 
spelled  "Abache,"  "Ouabache,"  "Oubashe,"  "Oubache,"  "  Oubash," 
"Onbask,"  -Oubache,''  "Wabascou,"  "Wabache."  and  "  Waubache." 
It  should  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  French  alphabet  does  not  contain 
the  letter  W,  and  that  the  diphthong  "  ou  "  with  the  French  has  nearly 
the  same  sound  as  the  letter  W  of  the  English  alphabet.  The  Jesuits 
sometimes  used  a  character  much  like  the  figure  8,  which  is  a  Greek 
contraction  formulated  by  them,  to  represent  a  peculiar  guttural  sound 
among  the  Indians,  and  which  we  often,  though  imperfectly,  represent 
by  the  letter  W,  or  Wau.* 

That  Wabash  is  an  Indian  name,  and  was  early  applied  to  the  stream 
that  now  bears  this  name,  is  clearly  established  by  Father  Gravier. 
This  missionary  descended  the  Mississippi  in  the  year  1700,  and  speak- 
ing of  the  Ohio  and  its  tributaries,  savs  :  "  Three  branches  are  assigned 
to  it,  one  that  comes  from  the  northwest  (the  "Wabash),  passing 
behind  the  country  of  the  Oumiamis,  called  the  St.  Joseph,+  which 
the  Indians  properly  call  the  Ouabachei-  the  second  comes  from  the 
Iroquois  (whose  country  included  the  head-waters  of  the  Ohio), 
and  is  called  the  Ohio ;  and  the  third,  which  comes  from  the  Chaou- 
anona*  (Shawnees).  And  all  of  them  uniting  to  empty  into  the  Mis- 
sissippi, it  is  commonly  called  Ouabachi."  £ 

In  the  variety  of  manner  in  which  "Wabash  is  spelled  in  the  exam- 
ples given  above,  we  clearly  trace  the  Waw-hish-kaic,  of  the  Ojibe- 
ways :  the  Wabisca  (pronounced  Wa-bis-sa)  of  the  modern  Algon- 
quin ;  Wau-bish  of  the  Menominees,  and  Wa-hi  of  the  ancient  Algon- 
quins,  words  which  with  all  these  kindred  tongues  mean  White. 

Therefore  the  aboriginal  of  Wabash  (Sepe)  should  be  rendered 
White  River.  This  theory  is  supported  by  Lewis  Evans,  who  for  many 
years  was  a  trader  among  the  Indians,  inhabiting  the  country  drained 
bv  the  Wabash  and  its  tributary  waters.  The  extensive  knowledge 
which  he  acquired  in  his  travels  westward  of  the  Alleghanies  resulted 

*  Shea's  Discovery  and  Exploration  of  the  Mississippi,  p.  41.  foot-note.  For 
example,  we  find  in  the  Journal  of  Marquette,  8ab8kig8,  for  Wabash.  The  same  man- 
ner of  spelling  is  also  observed  in  names,  as  written  t>y  other  missionaries,  where  they 
design  to  represent  the  sound  of  the  French  "ou,"  or  "the  English  W. 

f  Probably  a  mistake  of  the  copyist,  and  which  should  be  the  St.  Jerome,  a  name 
given  by  the  French  to  the  Wabash,  as  we  have  seen  in  the  extracts  taken  from  Crozat's 
grant.     Dr.  Shea  has  pointed  out  numerous  mistakes  made  by  the  copyist  of  the  man- 
uscripts from  which  the  "  Voyages  Up  and  Down  the  Mississippi  "  are  composed. 
X  The  Tennessee. 

S  Father  Gravier's  Journal  in  Dr.  Shea's  Voyages  Up  and  Down  the  Mississippi, 
pp.  120,  121. 

||  The  several  aboriginal  names  for  white,  which  we  have  given  above,  are  taken 
from  the  vocabularies  of  Mackenzie,  Dr.  Ewin  James  and  Albert  Gallatin,  which  are 
regarded  as  standard  authorities. 


ORIGIN    OF   THE    NAME    WABASH.  101 

in  his  publishing,  in  1755,  a  map,  accompanied  with  an  extended  de- 
scription of  the  territory  it  embraced.  In  describing  the  Wabash,  Mr. 
Evans  calls  it  by  the  name  the  Iroquois  Indians  had  given  it,  viz  :  the 
"  Quia-agh-tena,"  and  says  "it  is  called  by  the  French  Ouabach,  though 
that  is  truly  the  name  of  its  southeastern  branch."  Why  the  White 
River,  of  Indiana,  which  is  the  principal  southeastern  branch  of  the 
Wabash,  should  have  been  invested  with  the  English  meaning  of  the 
word,  and  the  aboriginal  name  should  have  been  retained  by  the  river 
to  which  it  has  always  properly  belonged,  is  easily  explained,  when  we 
consider  the  ignorance  and  carelessness  of  many  of  the  early  travelers, 
whose  writings,  coming  down  to  us,  have  tended  to  confuse  rather  than 
aid  the  investigations  of  the  modern  historian.  The  Ohio  River  below 
the  confluence  of  the  Wabash  is  designated  as  the  Wabash  by  a  majority 
of  the  early  French  writers,  and  so  laid  down  on  many  of  the  contem- 
poraneous maps.  This  was,  probably,  due  to  the  fact  that  the  Wabash 
was  known  and  used  before  the  Ohio  had  been  explored  to  its  mouth. 
So  fixed  has  become  the  habit  of  calling  the  united  waters  of  these  two 
streams  Wabash,  from  their  union  continuously  to  their  discharge  into 
the  Mississippi,  that  the  custom  prevailed  long  after  a  better  knowledge 
of  the  geography  of  the  country  suggested  the  propriety  of  its  aban- 
donment. Even  after  the  French  of  Canada  accepted  the  change,  and 
treated  the  Ohio  as  the  main  river  and  the  Wabash  as  the  tributary,  the 
French  of  Louisiana  adhered  to  the  old  name. 

We  quote  from  M.  Le  Page  Du  Pratz'  History  of  Louisiana:* 
"  Let  us  now  repass  the  Mississippi  in  order  to  resume  a  description  of 
the  lands  to  the  east,  which  we  quit  at  the  river  Wabash.  This  river 
is  distant  from  the  sea  four  hundred  and  sixty  leagues ;  it  is  reckoned 
to  have  four  hundred  leagues  in  length  from  its  source  to  its  conflu- 
ence with  the  Mississippi.  It  is  called  Wabash,  though,  according  to 
the  usual  method,  it  ought  to  be  called  the  Ohio,  or  Beautiful  River,  f 
seeing  the  Ohio  was  known  under  that  name  before  its  confluence 
was  known;  and  as  the  Ohio  takes  its  rise  at  a  greater  distance  off 
than  the  three  others  which  mix  together  before  they  empty  them- 
selves into  the  Mississippi,  this  should  make  the  others  lose  their 

*  The  author  was  for  sixteen  years  a  planter  of  Louisiana,  having  gone  thither  from 
France  soon  after  the  Company  of  the  West  or  Indes  restored  the  country  to  the  crown. 
He  was  a  gentleman  of  superior  attainments,  and  soon  acquired  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  the  French  possessions  in  America.  He  returned  to  France,  and  m  1758  published 
his  "History  of  Louisiana,"  with  maps,  which,  in  1763,  was  translated  into  English. 
These  volumes  are  largely  devoted  to  the  experience  of  the  author  in  the  cultivation  of 
rice,  indigo,  sugar  and  other  products  congenial  to  the  climate  and  soil  of  Louisiana, 
and  to  quite  an  extended  topographical  description  of  the  whole  Mississippi  Valley. 

tThe  Iroquois'  name  for  the  Ohio  was  "  O-io,"  meaning  beautiful,  and  the  French 
retained  the  signification  in  the  name  of  "La  Belle  Riviere,"  by  which  the  Ohio  was 
known  to  them. 


102  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON    THE    NORTHWEST. 

names;  but  custom  has  prevailed  in  this  respect.  The  first  known 
to  us  which  falls  into  the  Ohio  is  that  of  the  Miamis  (Wabash),  which 
takes  its  rise  toward  Lake  Erie.  It  is  by  this  river  of  the  Miamis  that 
the  Canadians  come  to  Louisiana.  For  this  purpose  they  embark  on 
the  River  St.  Lawrence,  go  up  this  river,  pass  the  cataracts  quite  to 
the  bottom  of  Lake  Erie,  where  they  find  a  small  river,  on  which  they 
also  go  up  to  a  place  called  the  carriage  of  the  Miamis,  because  that 
people  come  and  take  their  effects  and  carry  them  on  their  backs  for 
two  leagues  from  thence  to  the  banks  of  the  river  of  their  name  which 
I  just  said  empties  itself  into  the  Ohio.  From  thence  the  Canadians 
go  down  that  river,  enter  the  Wabash,  and  at  last  the  Mississippi, 
which  brings  them  to  New  Orleans,  the  capital  of  Louisiana.  They 
reckon  eighteen  hundred  leagues  from  the  capital  of  Canada  to  that 
of  Louisiana,  on  account  of  the  great  turns  and  windings  they  are 
obliged  to  take.  The  river  of  the  Miamis  is  thus  the  first  to  the  north 
which  falls  into  the  Ohio,  then  that  of  the  Chaouanons  to  the  south, 
and  lastly,  that  of  the  Cherokee,  all  which  together  empty  themselves 
into  the  Mississippi.  This  is  what  we  (in  Louisiana)  call  the  Wabash, 
and  what  in  Canada  and  New  England  is  called  the  Ohio."  * 

A  failure  to  recognize  the  fact  that  the  Ohio  below  the  mouth  of  the 
Wabash  was,  for  a  period  of  over  half  a  century,  known  to  the  French 
as  the  Wabash,  has  led  not  a  few  later  writers  to  erroneously  locate 
ancient  French  forts  and  missionary  stations  upon  the  banks  of  the 
Wabash,  which  were  in  reality  situated  many  miles  below,  on  the  Ohio.f 

*  On  the  map  prefixed  to  Du  Pratz'  history,  the  Ohio  from  the  Mississippi  up  to 
the  confluence  of  the  Wabash  is  called  the  "Wabash  ";  above  this  the  Ohio  is  called 
Ohio,  and  the  Wabash  is  called  "The  River  of  the  Miamis,"  with  villages  of  that 
tribe  noted  near  its  source.  The  Maumee  is  called  the  "River  of  the  Carrying  Place." 
The  Upper  Mississippi,  the  Illinois  River  and  the  lakes  are  also  laid  down,  and,  alto- 
gether, the  map  is  quite  accurate. 

t  A  noticeable  instance  of  such  a  mistake  will  be  found  relative  to  the  city  of  Vin- 
cennes.  On  the  authority  of  LaHarpe.  and  the  later  historian  Charlevoix,  the  French 
in  the  year  1700,  established  a  trading  post  near  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio,  on  the  site  of 
the  more  modern  Fort  Massac,  in  Massac  county,  111.,  for  the  purpose  of  securing 
buffalo  hides.  The  neighboring  Mascotins,  as  was  customary  with  the  Indians,  soon 
gathered  about  for  the  purpose  of  barter.  Their  numbers,  as  well  as  the  expressed 
wish  of  the  French  traders,  induced  Father  Merment  to  visit  the  place  and  engage  in 
mission  work.  At  the  end  of  four  or  five  years,  in  1705,  the  establishment  was  broken 
up  on  account  of  a  quarrel  of  the  Indians  among  themselves,  and  which  so  threatened 
the  lives  of  the  Frenchmen  that  the  latter  fled,  leaving  behind  their  effects  and  13.000 
buffalo  hides  which  they  had  collected.  Some  years  later  Father  Marest,  writing  from 
Kaskaskia,  in  his  letter  before  referred  to,  relates  the  failure  of  Father  Merment  to 
convert  the  Indians  at  this  "  post  on  the  Wabash  ";  and  on  the  authority  of  this  letter 
alone,  and  although  Father  Marest  only  followed  the  prevailing  style  in  calling  the 
lower  Ohio  the  Wabash,  some  writers,  the  late  Judge  John  Law  being  the  first,  have 
contended  that  this  post  was  on  the  Wabash  and  at  Vincennes.  Charlevoix  says  "  it 
was  at  the  mouth  of  the  Wabash  which  discharges  itself  into  the  Mississippi."  La 
Harpe.  and  also  Le  Suere,  whose  personal  knowledge  of  the  post  was  contemporaneous 
with  its  existence,  definitely  fix  its  position  near  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio.  The  latter 
gives  the  date  of  its  beginning,  and  the  former  narrates  an  account  of  its  trade  and 
final  abandonment.  In  this  way  an  antiquity  has  been  claimed  for  Vincennes  to  which 
it  is  not  historically  entitled. 


EARLY    ACCOUNT    OF   THE    MAUMEE.  103 

We  now  give  a  description  of  the  Maumee  and  Wabash,  the  location 
of  the  several  Indian  villages,  and  the  manners  of  their  inhabitants, 
taken  from  a  memoir  prepared  in  1718  by  a  French  officer  in  Canada, 
and  sent  to  the  minister  at  Paris.* 

"I  return  to  the  Miamis  River.  Its  entrance  from  Lake  Erie  is 
very  wide,  and  its  banks  on  both  sides,  for  a  distance  of  ten  leagues 
up,  are  nothing  but  continued  swamps,  abounding  at  all  times,  espe- 
cially in  the  spring,  with  game  without  end,  swans,  geese,  ducks,  cranes, 
etc.,  which  drive  sleep  away  by  the  noise  of  their  cries.  This  river  is 
sixty  leagues  in  length,  very  embarrassing  in  summer  in  consequence 
of  the  lowness  of  the  water.  Thirty  leagues  up  the  river  is  a  place 
called  La  Glaise^  where  buffalo  are  always  to  be  found ;  they  eat  the 
clay  and  wallow  in  it.  The  Miamis  are  sixty  leagues  from  Lake  Erie, 
and  number  four  hundred,  all  well  formed  men,  and  well  tattooed  \\ 
the  women  are  numerous.  They  are  hard  working,  and  raise  a  species 
of  maize  unlike  that  of  our  Indians  at  Detroit.  It  is  white,  of  the 
same  size  as  the  other,  the  skin  much  finer,  and  the  meal  much  whiter. 
This  nation  is  clad  in  deer  skin,  and  when  a  woman  goes  with  another 
man  her  husband  cuts  off  her  nose  and  does  not  see  her  any  more. 
They  have  plays  and  dances,  wherefore  they  have  more  occupation. 
The  women  are  well  clothed ;  but  the  men  use  scarcely  any  covering, 
and  are  tattooed  all  over  the  body. 

"  From  this  Miami  village  there  is  a  portage  of  three  leagues  to  a 
little  and  very  narrow  stream,§  that  falls,  after  a  course  of  twenty 
leagues,  into  the  Ohio  or  Beautiful  River,  which  discharges  into  the 
Ouabache,  a  fine  river  that  falls  into  the  Mississippi  forty  leagues  from 
the  Cascachias.  Into  the  Ouabache  falls  also  the  Casquinampo,  ||  which 
communicates  with  Carolina ;  but  this  is  far  off,  and  is  always  up 
stream. 

"  The  River  Ouabache  is  the  one  on  which  the  Ouyatanons  T  are 
settled. 

"They  consist  of  five  villages,  which  are  contiguous  the  one  to  the 
other.     One  is  called  Oujatanon,  the  other  Peanguichias,**  and  another 

*  The  document  is  quite  lengthy,  covering  all  the  principal  places  and  Indian  tribes 
east  of  the  Mississippi,  and  showing  the  compiler  possessed  a  very  thorough  acquaint- 
ance with  the  whole  subject.  It  is  given  entire  in  the  Paris  Documents,  vol.  9;  that 
relating  to  the  Maumee  and  Wabash  on  pages  886  to  891. 

t  Defiance,  Ohio. 

X  These  villages  were  near  the  confluence  of  the  St.  Mary's  and  St.  Joseph,  and 
this  is  the  first  account  we  have  of  the  present  site  of  Fort  Wayne. 

§  Little  River,  that  empties  into  the  Wabash  just  below  Huntington. 

I  The  Tennessee  River. 

^[The  "Weas,"  whose  principal  villages  were  near  the  mouth  of  Eel  River,  near 
Logansport,  and  on  the  Wea  prairie,  between  Attica  and  La  Fayette. 

**The  ancient  Piankashaw  town  was  on  the  Vermilion  of  the  Wabash,  and  the 
Miami  name  of  the  Vermilion  was  Piankashaw. 


104  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

Petitscotias,  and  a  fourth  Le  Gros.  The  name  of  the  last  I  do  not 
recollect,  but  they  are  all  Oujatanons,  having  the  same  language  as  the 
Miamis,  whose  brothers  they  are,  and  properly  all  Miamis,  having  the 
same  customs  and  dress.*  The  men  are  very  numerous ;  fully  a 
thousand  or  twelve  hundred. 

"  They  have  a  custom  different  from  all  other  nations,  which  is  to 
keep  their  fort  extremely  clean,  not  allowing  a  blade  of  grass  to  remain 
within  it.  The  whole  of  the  fort  is  sanded  like  the  Tuilleries.  The 
village  is  situated  on  a  high  hill,  and  they  have  over  two  leagues  of 
improvement  where  they  raise  their  Indian  corn,  pumpkins  and 
melons.  From  the  summit  of  this  elevation  nothing  is  visible  to  the 
eye  but  prairies  full  of  buffaloes.  Their  play  and  dancing  are  inces- 
sant.f 

"All  of  these  tribes  use  a  vast  cpantity  of  vermilion.  The  women 
wear  clothing,  the  men  very  little.  The  River  Ohio,  or  Beautiful  river, 
is  the  route  which  the  Iroquois  take.  It  would  be  of  importance  that 
they  should  not  have  such  intercourse,  as  it  is  very  dangerous.  Atten- 
tion has  been  called  to  this  matter  long  since,  but  no  notice  has  been 
taken  of  it." 

*The  "Le  Gros,"  that  is,  The  Great  (village),  was  probably  "Chip-pe-co-ke,"  or 
the  town  of  "Brush- wood,"  the  name  of  the  old  village  at  Vincennes,  which  was  the 
principal  city  of  the  Piankashaws. 

t  The  village  here  described  is  Ouatanon,  which  was  situated  a  few  miles  below 
La  Fayette,  near  which,  though  on  the  opposite  or  north  bank  of  the  Wabash,  the 
Stockade  Fort  of  "Ouatanon "  was  established  by  the  French. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

ABORIGINAL  INHABITANTS— THE  SEVERAL  ILLINOIS  TRIBES. 

The  Indians  who  lived  in  and  claimed  the  territory  to  which  our 
attention  is  directed  were  the  several  tribes  of  the  Illinois  and  Miami 
confederacies, —  the  Pottawatomies,  the  Kickapoos  and  scattered  bands 
of  Shawnees  and  Delawares.  Their  title  to  the  soil  had  to  be  extin- 
guished by  conquest  or  treatise  of  purchase  before  the  country  could 
be  settled  by  a  higher  civilization  ;  for  the  habits  of  the  two  races,  red 
and  white,  were  so  radically  different  that  there  could  be  no  fusion,  and 
they  could  not,  or  rather  did  not,  live  either  happily  or  at  peace 
too-ether. 

We  proceed  to  treat  of  these  several  tribes,  observing  the  order  in 
which  their  names  have  been  mentioned ;  and  we  do  so  in  this  con- 
nection for  the  reason  that  it  will  aid  toward  a  more  ready  under- 
standing of  the  subjects  which  are  to  follow. 

The  Illinois  were  a  subdivision  of  the  great  Algonquin  family. 
Their  language  and  manners  differed  somewhat  from  other  surround- 
ing tribes,  and  resembled  most  the  Miamis,  with  whom  they  originally 
bore  a  very  close  affinity.  Before  Joliet  and  Marquette's  voyage  to  the 
Mississippi,  all  of  the  Indians  who  came  from  the  south  to  the  mission 
at  La  Pointe,  on  Lake  Superior,  for  the  purposes  of  barter,  were  by  the 
French  called  Illinois,  for  the  reason  that  the  first  Indians  who  came 
to  La  Pointe  from  the  south  "  called  themselves  Illinois.'1''  * 

In  the  Jesuit  Relations  the  name  Illinois  appears  as  "  Illi-mouek," 
"Illinoues,"  "  Ill-i-ne-wek,"  "  Allin-i-wek  "  and  "  Lin-i-wek."  By 
Father  Marquette  it  is  "Ilinois,"  and  Hennepin  has  it  the  same  as  it 
is  at  the  present  day.  The  ois  was  pronounced  like  our  way,  so  that 
ouai,  ois,  wek  and  ouek  were  almost  identical  in  pronunciation. f 
"Willinis"  is  Lewis  Evans'  orthography.  Major  Thomas  Forsyth, 
who  for  many  years  was  a  trader  and  Indian  agent  in  the  territory,  and 
subsequently  the  state,  of  Illinois,  says  the  Confederation  of  Illinois 

*As  we  have  given  the  name  of  Ottawas  to  all  the  savages  of  these  countries,  al- 
though of  different  nations,  because  the  first  who  have  appeared  among  the  French 
have  been  Ottawas;  so  also  it  is  with  the  name  of  the  Illinois,  very  numerous,  and 
dwelling  toward  the  south,  because  the  first  who  have  come  to  the  "  point  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  for  commerce  called  themselves  Illinois." — Father  Claude  Dablon,  in  the  Jesuit 
Relations  for  1670,  1671. 

t  Note  by  Dr.  Shea  in  the  article  entitled  "The  Indian  Tribes  of  Wisconsin,"  fur- 
nished by  him  for  the  Historical  Society  of  Wisconsin,  and  published  in  Vol.  Ill  o£ 
their  collections,  p.  128. 


106  HISTORIC    NOTES   ON    THE    NORTHWEST. 

"called  themselves  Linneway" — which  is  almost  identical  with  the 
Lin-i-wek  of  the  Jesuits,  having  a  regard  for  its  proper  pronuncia- 
tion,— "  and  that  by  others  they  were  called  Minneway.  signifying  men," 
and  that  their  confederacy  embraced  the  combined  Illinois  and  Miami 
tribes;  "that  all  these  different  bands  of  the  Minneway  nation  spoke 
the  language  of  the  present  Miamis,  and  the  whole  considered  them- 
selves as  one  and  the  same  people,  yet  from  their  local  situation,  and 
having  no  standard  to  go  by,  their  language  became  broken  up  into 
different  dialects."*  They  were  by  the  Iroquois  called  "Chick-tagh- 
icks." 

Many  theories  have  been  advanced  and  much  fine  speculation  in- 
dulged in  concerning  the  origin  and  meaning  of  the  word  Illinois. 
We  have  seen  that  the  Illinois  first  made  themselves  known  to  the 
French  b}T  that  name,  and  we  have  never  had  a  better  signification  of 
the  name  than  that  which  the  Illinois  themselves  gave  to  Fathers  Mar- 
quette and  Hennepin.  The  former,  in  his  narrative  journal,  observes: 
•"To  say  Illinois  is,  in  their  language,  to  say  'the  men."  as  if  other 
Indians,  compared  to  them,  were  mere  beasts."  +  "The  word  Illinois 
signifies  a  man  of  full  age  in  the  vigor  of  his  strength.  This  word  Illi- 
nois comes,  as  it  has  already  been  observed,  from  Ittini,  which  in  the 
language  of  that  nation   signifies  a  perfect  and  accomplished  man.'"  \ 

Subsequently  the  name  Illini,  Linneway,  AVillinis  or  Illinois,  with 
mure  propriety  became  limited  to  a  confederacy,  at  first  composed  of 
four  subdivisions,  known  as  the  Kaskaskias,  Cahokias,  Tamaroas  and 
Peorias.  Not  many  years  before  the  discovery  of  the  Mississippi  by 
the  French,  a  foreign  tribe,  the  Metchigamis,  nearly  destroyed  by  wars 
with  the  Sacs  to  the  north  and  the  Chickasaws  to  the  south,  to  save 
themselves  from  annihilation  appealed  to  the  Kaskaskias  for  admission 
into  their  confederacy. §  The  request  was  granted,  and  the  Metchiga- 
mis left  their  homes  on  the  Osao-e  river  and  established  their  villages 
on  the  St.  Francis,  within  the  limits  of  the  present  State  of  Missouri 
and  below  the  mouth  of  the  Ivaskaskia. 

The  subdivision  of  the  Illinois  proper  into  cantons,  as  the  French 
writers  denominate  the  families  or  villages  of  a  nation,  like  that  of 
other  tribes  was  never  very  distinct.  There  were  no  villages  exclu- 
sively for  a  separate  branch  of  the  tribe.  Owing  to  intermarriage, 
adoption  and  other  processes  familiar  to  modern  civilization,  the  sub- 

*  Life  of  Black-Hawk,  by  Benjamin  Drake,  seventh  edition,  pp.  16  and  17. 

t  Shea's  Discovery  and  Exploration  of  the  Mississippi  Valley,  p.  25. 

X  Hennepin's  Discovery  of  America,  pp.  35  and  119,  London  edition.  1698. 

S  Charlevoix's  "  Narrative  Journal."  Vol.  II.  p.  228.     Also  note  of  B.  F.  French,  p. 

61  of  Vol.  III.  First  Series  of  Historical  Collections  of  Louisiana. 


LOCATION    OF    VILLAGES.  107 

tribal  distinctions  were  not  well  preserved ;  and  when  Charlevoix,  that 
acute  observer,  in  1721  visited  these  several  Illinois  villages  near  Kas- 
kaskia,  their  inhabitants  were  so  mixed  together  and  confounded  that 
it  was  almost  impossible  to  distinguish  the  different  branches  of  the 
tribe  from  each  other.* 

The  first  accounts  we  have  of  the  Illinois  are  given  by  the  Jesuit 
missionaries.  In  the  "Relations"  for  the  year  1655  we  find  that  the 
Lin-i-ouek  are  neighbors  of  the  Winnebagoes ;  again  in  the  "  Rela- 
tions" for  the  next  year,  "that  the  Illinois  nation  dwell  more  than 
sixty  leagues  from  here,  t  and  beyond  a  great  river,  %  which  as  near 
as  can  be  conjectured  flows  into  the  sea  toward  Virginia.  These 
people  are  warlike.  They  use  the  bow,  rarely  the  gun,  and  never  the 
canoe. 

When  Joliet  and  Marquette  were  descending  the  Mississippi,  they 
found  villages  of  the  Illinois  on  the  Des  Moines  river,  and  on  their 
return  they  passed  through  larger  villages  of  the  same  nation  situated 
on  the  Illinois  river,  near  Peoria  and  higher  up  the  stream. 

While  the  Illinois  were  nomads,  though  not  to  the  extent  of  many 
other  tribes,  they  had  villages  of  a  somewhat  permanent  character,  and 
when  they  moved  after  game  they  went  in  a  body.  It  would  seem 
from  the  most  authentic  accounts  that  their  favorite  abiding  places 
were  on  the  Illinois  river,  from  the  Des  Plaines  down  to  its  confluence 
with  the  Mississippi,  and  on  the  Mississippi  from  the  Ivaskaskia  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Ohio.  This  beautiful  region  abounded  in  game;  its  riv- 
ers were  well  stocked  with  fish,  and  were  frequented  by  myriads  of 
wild  fowls.  The  climate  was  mild.  The  soil  was  fertile.  By  the 
mere  turning  of  the  sod,  the  lands  in  the  rich  river  bottoms  yielded 
bountiful  crops  of  Indian  corn,  melons  and  squashes. 

In  disposition  and  morals  the  Illinois  were  not  to  be  very  highly 
commended.  Father  Charlevoix,  speaking  of  them  as  they  were  in 
1700,  says:  "Missionaries  have  for  some  years  directed  quite  a  flour- 
ishing church  among  the  Illinois,  and  they  have  ever  since  continued 
to  instruct  that  nation,  in  whom  Christianity  had  already  produced  a 
change  such  as  she  alone  can  produce  in  morals  and  disposition.  Before 
the  arrival  of  the  missionaries,  there  were  perhaps  no  Indians  in  any 
part  of  Canada  with  fewer  good  qualities  and  more  vices.     They  have 

*  "  These  tribes  are  at  present  very  much  confounded,  and  are  become  very  inconsid- 
erable. There  remains  only  a  very  small  number  of  Kaskaskias,  and  the  two  villages 
of  that  name  are  almost  entirely  composed  of  Tamaroas  and  Metchigamis,  a  foreign 
nation  adopted  by  the  Kaskaskias,  and  oi'iginally  settled  on  a  small  river  you  meet 
with  going  down  the  Mississippi."— Charlevoix'  "  Narrative  Journal,"  Letter  XXVIII, 
dated  Kaskaskia,  October  20.  1721;  p.  228.  Vol.  II. 

t  The  letter  is  sent  from  the  Mission  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  at  La  Pointe. 

JThe  Mississippi. 


108  HISTORIC    NOTES   ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

always  been  mild  and  docile  enough,  but  they  were  cowardly,  treach- 
erous, fickle,  deceitful,  thievish,  brutal,  destitute  of  faith  or  honor, 
selfish,  addicted  to  gluttony  and  the  most  monstrous  lusts,  almost  un- 
known  to  the  Canada  tribes,  who  accordingly  despised  them  heartily, 
but  the  Illinois  were  not  a  whit  less  haughty  or  self-complacent  on 
that  account. 

"  Such  allies  could  bring  no  great  honor  or  assistance  to  the  French  ; 
yet  we  never  had  any  more  faithful,  and,  if  we  except  the  Abenaqui 
tribes,  they  are  the  only  tribe  who  never  sought  peace  with  their  ene- 
mies to  our  prejudice.  They  did,  indeed,  see  the  necessity  of  our  aid 
to  defend  themselves  against  several  nations  who  seemed  to  have  sworn 
their  ruin,  and  especially  against  the  Iroquois  and  Foxes,  who,  by  con- 
stant harrassing,  have  somewhat  trained  them  to  war,  the  former  taking 
home  from  their  expeditions  the  vices  of  that  corrupt  nation."  * 

Father  Charlevoix'  comments  upon  the  Illinois  confirm  the  state- 
ments of  Hennepin,  who  says :  "  They  are  lazy  vagabonds,  timorous, 
pettish  thieves,  and  so  fond  of  their  liberty  that  they  have  no  great 
respect  for  their  chiefs."f 

Their  cabins  were  constructed  of  mats,  made  out  of  flags,  spread 
over  a  frame  of  poles  driven  into  the  ground  in  a  circular  form  and 
drawn  together  at  the  top. 

"Their  villages,"  says  Father  Hennepin,:}:  "are  open,  not  enclosed 
with  palisades  because  they  had  no  courage  to  defend  them  ;  they  would 
flee  as  they  heard  their  enemies  approaching."  Before  their  acquaint- 
ance with  the  French  they  had  no  knowledge  of  iron  and  fire-arms. 
Their  two  principal  weapons  were  the  bow  and  arrow  and  the  club. 
Their  arrows  were  pointed  with  stone,  and  their  tomahawks  were  made 
out  of  stag's  horns,  cut  in  the  shape  of  a  cutlass  and  terminating  in  a 
large  ball.  In  the  use  of  the  bow  and  arrow,  all  writers  agree,  that 
the  Illinois  excelled  all  neighboring  tribes.  For  protection  against  the 
missies  of  an  enemy  they  used  bucklers  composed  of  buffalo  hides 
stretched  over  a  wooden  frame. 

In  form  they  were  tall  and  lithe.  They  were  noted  for  their  swift- 
ness of  foot.  They  wore  moccasins  prepared  from  buffalo  hides ;  and, 
in  summer,  this  generally  completed  their  dress.  Sometimes  they  wore 
a  small  covering,  extending  from  the  waist  to  the  knees.  The  rest  of 
the  body  wras  entirely  nude. 

The  women,  beside  cultivating  the  soil,  did  all  of  the  household 
drudgery,  carried   the  game  and  made   the  clothes.      The  garments 

*  Charlevoix's  "  History  of  New  France,"  vol.  5,  page  130. 
t  Hennepin,  page  132,  London  edition,  1698. 
X  Page  132. 


MANNERS    AND    CUSTOMS.  109 

were  prepared  from  buffalo  hides,  and  from  the  soft  wool  that  grew 
upon  these  animals.  Both  the  wool  and  hides  were  dyed  with  bril- 
liant colors,  black,  yellow  or  vermilion.  In  this  kind  of  work  the 
Illinois  women  were  greatly  in  advance  of  other  tribes.  Articles  of 
dress  were  sewed  together  with  thread  made  from  the  nerves  and  ten- 
dons of  deer,  prepared  by  exposure  to  the  sun  twice  in  every  twenty- 
four  hours.  After  which  the  nerves  and  tendons  were  beaten  so  that 
their  fibers  would  separate  into  a  fine  white  thread.  The  clothing  of 
the  women  was  something  like  the  loose  wrappers  worn  by  ladies  of 
the  present  day.  Beneath  the  wrapper  were  petticoats,  for  warmth  in 
winter.  With  a  fondness  for  finery  that  characterizes  the  feminine  sex 
the  world  over,  the  Illinois  women  wore  head-dresses,  contrived  more 
for  ornament  than  for  use.  The  feet  were  covered  with  moccasins,  and 
leggings  decorated  with  quills  of  the  porcupine  stained  in  colors  of 
brilliant  contrasts.  Ornaments,  fashioned  out  of  clam  shells  and  other 
hard  substances,  were  worn  about  the  neck,  wrists  and  ankles ;  these,  with 
the  face,  hands  and  neck  daubed  with  pigments,  completed  the  toilet  of 
the  highly  fashionable  Illinois  belle. 

Their  food  consisted  of  the  scanty  products  of  their  fields,  and  prin- 
cipally of  game  and  fish,  of  which,  as  previously  stated,  there  was  in 
their  country  a  great  abundance.  Father  Allouez,  who  visited  them  in 
1673,  stated  that  they  had  fourteen  varieties  of  herbs  and  forty-two 
varieties  of  fruits  which  they  use  for  food.  Their  plates  and  other 
dishes  were  made  of  wood,  and  their  spoons  were  constructed  out  of 
buffalo  bones.  The  dishes  for  boiling  food  were  earthen,  sometimes 
glazed.  * 

From  all  accounts,  it  seems  that  the  Illinois  claimed  an  extensive 
tract  of  country,  bounded  on  the  east  by  the  ridge  that  divides  the 
waters  flowing  into  the  Illinois  from  the  streams  that  drain  into  the 
Wabash  above  the  head  waters  of  Saline  creek,  and  as  high  up  the  Illi- 
nois as  the  Des  Plaines,  extending  westward  of  the  Mississippi,  and 
reaching  northward  to  the  debatable  ground  between  the  Illinois, 
Chippeways.  Winnebagoes,  Sacs  and  Foxes.  Their  favorite  and  most 
populous  cities  were  on   the   Illinois  river,  near  Starved   Rock,  and 

*  The  account  we  have  given  of  the  manners,  habits  and  customs  of  the  Illinois  is 
compiled  from  the  following  authorities  :  La  Hontan,  Charlevoix,  Hennepin,  Tonti, 
Marquette,  Joutel,  the  missionaries  Marest,  Rasles  and  Allouez.  Besides,  the  historic 
letter  of  Marest,  found  in  Kip's  Jesuit  Missions,  is  another  from  this  distinguished 
priest,  written  from  Kaskaskia  to  M.  Bienville,  and  incorporated  in  Penicaut's  Annals 
of  Louisiana,  a  translation  of  which  is  contained  in  the  Historical  Collections  of  Louisi- 
ana and  Florida,  by  B.  F.  French.  In  this  letter  of  Father  Marest,  dated  in  1711,  is  a 
very  fine  description  of  the  customs  of  the  Illinois  Indians,  and  their  prosperous  condi- 
tion at  Kaskaskia  and  adjacent  villages. 


110  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

below  as  far  as  Peoria.  The  missionary  station  founded  by  Father 
Marquette  was,  in  all  probability,  near  the  latter  place. 

Prior  to  the  year  1700,  Father  Marest  had  charge  of  a  mission  at 
the  neck,  strait  or  narrows  of  Peoria  lake.  In  Peoria  lake,  above 
Peoria,  is  a  contracted  channel,  and  this  is  evidently  referred  to  by 
Father  Gravier  in  his  "  Narrative  Journal"  where  he  states:  "  I  ar- 
rived too  late  at  the  Illinois  du  Detroit,  of  whom  Father  Marest  has 
charge,  to  prevent  the  transmigration  of  the  village  of  the  Kaskaskias, 
which  was  too  precipitately  made  on  vague  news  of  the  establishment 
on  the  Mississippi.  I  do  not  believe  that  the  Kaskaskias  would  have 
thus  separated  from  the  Peouaroua  and  other  Illinois  du  Detroit.  At 
all  events,  I  came  soon  enough  to  unite  minds  a  little,  and  to  prevent 
the  insult  which  the  Peouaroua  and  the  Mouin-gouena  were  bent  on 
offering  to  the  Kaskaskias  and  French  as  they  embarked.  I  spoke  to 
all  the  chiefs  in  full  council,  and  as  they  continued  to  preserve  some 
respect  and  good  will  for  me,  we  separated  very  peaceably.  But  I 
argue  no  good  from  this  separation,  which  I  have  always  hindered, 
seeing  too  clearly  the  evil  results.  God  grant  that  the  road  from 
Chikagoua  to  this  strait"  (au  Detroit)  "be  not  closed,  and  the  whole 
Illinois  mission  suffer  greatly.  I  avow  to  you,  Reverend  Father,  that 
it  rends  my  heart  to  see  my  old  flock  thus  divided  and  dispersed,  and 
I  shall  never  see  it,  after  leaving  it,  without  having  some  new  cause  of 
affliction.  The  Peouaroua,  whom  I  left  without  a  missionary  (since 
Father  Marest  has  followed  the  Kaskaskias),  have  promised  me  that 
they  would  preserve  the  church,  and  that  they  would  await  my  return 
from  the  Mississippi,  where  I  told  them  I  went  only  to  assure  myself 
of  the  truth  of  all  that  was  said  about  it."  * 

The  area  of  the  original  country  of  the  Illinois  was  reduced  by 
continuous  wars  with  their  neighbors.  The  Sioux  forced  them  east- 
ward  ;  the  Sac  and  Fox,  and  other  enemies,  encroached  upon  them 
from  the  north,  while  war  parties  of  the  foreign  Iroquois,  from  the  east, 
rapidly  decimated  their  numbers.  These  unhappy  influences  were  doing 

*  Father  Gravier's  Journal  in  Shea's  Early  Voyages  Up  and  Down  the  Mississippi, 
pp.  116  and  117.  Dr.  Shea,  in  a  foot  note,  p.  116,  says:  "This  designation  {Illinois 
Du  Detroit)  does  not  appear  elsewhere,  and  I  cannot  discover  what  strait  is  referred  to. 
It  evidently  includes  the  Peorias." 

Dr.  Shea's  conjecture  is  very  nearly  correct.  The  narrows  in  Peoria  lake  retained 
the  appellation  of  Little  Detroit,  a  name  handed  clown  from  the  French-Canadians. 
Dr.  Lewis  Beck,  in  his  "Gazetteer  of  Illinois  and  Missouri,"  p.  124,  speaks  of  "Little 
Detroit,  an  Indian  village  situated  on  the  east  bank  of  lake  Peoria,  six  miles  above 
Ft.  Clark."  On  the  map  prefixed  to  the  Gazetteer  prepared  in  1820  the  contraction  of 
the  lake  is  shown  and  designated  as  "  Little  Detroit." 

We  have  seen  from  extracts  from  Father  Marquette's  Journal,  quoted  on  a  preced- 
ing page,  that  it  was  the  Kaskaskias  at  whose  village  this  distinguished  missionary 
promised  to  return  and  to  establish  a  mission,  and  that  with  the  ebbing  out  of  his  life 
he  fulfilled  his  engagement.     From  Father  Gravier's  Journal,  just  quoted,  it  is  appar- 


ATTACK    OF   THE    IROQUOIS.  Ill 

their  fatal  work,  and  the  Illinois  confederacy  was  in  a  stage  of  decline 
when  they  first  came  in  contact  with  the  French.  Their  afflictions  made 
them  accessible  to  the  voice  of  the  missionary,  and  in  their  weakness 
they  hailed  with  delight  the  coming  of  the  Frenchman  with  his  prom- 
ises of  protection,  which  were  assured  by  guns  and  powder.  The  mis- 
fortunes of  the  Illinois  drew  them  so  kindly  to  the  priests,  the  coureurs 
des  Bois  and  soldiers,  that  the  friendship  between  the  two  races  never 
abated ;  and  when  in  the  order  of  events  the  sons  of  France  had  de- 
parted from  the  Illinois,  their  love  for  the  departed  Gaul  was  inculcated 
into  the  minds  of  their  children. 

The  erection  of  Fort  St.  Louis  on  the  Illinois,  St.  Joseph  on  the 
stream  of  that  name,  and  the  establishment  at  Detroit,  for  a  while 
stayed  the  calamity  that  was  to  befall  the  Illinois.  Frequent  allusion 
has  been  made  to  the  part  the  Iroquois  took  in  the  destruction  of  this 
powerful  confederacy.  For  the  gratification  of  the  reader  we  give  a 
condensed  account  of  some  of  these  Iroquois  campaigns  in  the  Illinois 
country.  The  extracts  we  take  are  from  a  memoir  on  the  western 
Indians,  by  M.  Du  Chesneau,*  dated  at  Quebec,  September  13,  1681 : 
"  To  convey  a  correct  idea  of  the  present  state  of  all  those  Indian  na- 
tions it  is  necessary  to  explain  the  cause  of  the  cruel  war  waged  by  the 
Iroquois  for  these  three  years  past  against  the  Illinois.  The  former 
were  great  warriors,  cannot  remain  idle,  and  pretend  to  subject  all  other 
nations  to  themselves,  and  never  want  a  pretext  for  commencing  hos- 
tilities. The  following  was  their  assumed  excuse  for  the  present  war: 
Going,  about  twenty  years  ago,  to  attack  the  Outagamis  (Foxes), 
thev  met  the  Illinois  and  killed  a  considerable  number  of  them.  This 
continued  during  the  succeeding  years,  and  finally,  having  destroyed  a 
great  many,  they  forced  them  to  abandon  their  country  and  seek  refuge 
in  very  distant  parts.  The  Iroquois  having  got  quit  of  the  Illinois, 
took  no  more  trouble  with  them,  and  went  to  war  against  another 
nation  called  the  Andostagues.f  Pending  this  war  the  Illinois  re- 
turned to  their  country,  and  the  Iroquois  complained  that  they  had 

ent  that  the  mission  had  for  some  years  been  in  successful  operation  at  the  combined 
village  of  the  Kaskaskias,  Peorias  and  Mouin-gouena,  situated  at  the  Du  Detroit  of  the 
Illinois;  and  also  that  the  Kaskaskias,  hearing  that  the  French  were  about  to  form  es- 
tablishments on  the  lower  Mississippi,  in  company  with  the  French  inhabitants  of  their 
ancient  village,  were  in  the  act  of  going  down  the  Mississippi  at  the  time  of  Gravier's 
arrival,  in  September,  1700.  All  these  facts  taken  together  would  seem  to  definitely 
locate  the  Mission  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary  at  the 
narrows,  six  miles  above  the  present  city  of  Peoria,  which  is  upon  the  site  of  old  Fort 
Clark,  and  probably,  from  the  topography  of  the  locality,  upon  the  east  bank  of  the 
strait.  In  conclusion,  we  may  add  that  the  Kaskaskias  were  induced  to  halt  in  their 
journey  southward  upon  the  river,  which  has  ever  since  borne  their  name  ;  and  the 
mission,  transferred  from  the  old  Kaskaskias,  above  Peoria,  retained  the  name  of  "  The 
Immaculate  Conception,"  etc. 

*  Paris  Documents,  vol.  9,  pp.  161  to  166. 

t  The  Eries,  or  Cats,  were  entirely  destroyed  by  the  Iroquois. 


112  HISTORIC    NOTES    OX    THE    NORTHWEST. 

killed  forty  of  their  people  who  were  on  their  way  to  hunt  beaver  in 
the  Illinois  country.  To  obtain  satisfaction,  the  Iroquois  resolved  to 
make  war  upon  them.  Their  true  motive,  however,  was  to  gratify  the 
English  at  Manatte*  and  Orange,+  of  whom  they  are  too  near  neigh- 
bors, and  who,  by  means  of  presents,  engaged  the  Iroquois  in  this  ex- 
pedition, the  object  of  which  was  to  force  the  Illinois  to  bring  their 
beaver  to  them,  so  that  they  may  go  and  trade  it  afterward  to  the 
English  ;  also,  to  intimidate  the  other  Indians,  and  constrain  them  to 
to  do  the  same  thing. 

"The  improper  conduct  of  Sieur  de  la  Salle. \  governor  of  Fort 
Frontenac,  has  contributed  considerably  to  cause  the  latter  to  adopt 
this  proceeding ;  for  after  he  had  obtained  permission  to  discover  the 
Great  River  Mississippi,  and  had,  as  he  alleged,  the  grant  of  the 
Illinois,  he  no  longer  observed  any  terms  with  the  Iroquois.  He  ill- 
treated  them,  and  avowed  that  he  would  convey  arms  and  ammunition 
to  the  Illinois,  and  would  die  assisting  them. 

"The  Iroquois  dispatched  in  the  month  of  April  of  last  year,  1680, 
an  armv,  consisting  of  between  live  and  six  hundred  men,  who  ap- 
proached an  Illinois  village  where  Sieur  Tonty.  one  of  Sieur  de  la 
Salle's  men  happened  to  be  with  some  Frenchmen  and  two  Recollect 
fathers,  whom  the  Iroquois  left  unharmed.  (  hie  of  these,  a  most  holy 
man,  §  has  since  been  killed  by  the  Indians.  Bnt  they  would  listen 
to  no  terms  of  peace  proposed  to  them  by  Sieur  de  Tonty,  who  was 
slightly  wounded  at  the  beginning  of  the  attack  :  the  Illinois  having 
fled  a  hundred  leagues  thence,  were  pursued  by  the  Iroquois,  who 
killed  and  captured  as  many  as  twelve  hundred  of  them,  including 
women  and  children,  having  lost  only  thirty  men. 

"  The  victory  achieved  by  the  Iroquois  rendered  them  so  insolent  that 
thev  have  continued  ever  since  that  time  to  send  out  divers  war  parties. 
The  success  of  these  is  not  yet  known,  but  it  is  not  doubted  that  they 
have  been  successful,  because  those  tribes  are  very  warlike  and  the  Illi- 
nois are  but  indifferently  so.  Indeed,  there  is  no  doubt,  and  it  is  the 
universal  opinion,  that  if  the  Iroquois  are  allowed  to  proceed  they  will 
subdue  the  Illinois,  and  in  a  short  time  render  themselves  masters  of 
all  the  Outawa  tribes  and  divert  the  trade  to  the  English,  so  that  it  is 
absolutely  essential  to  make  them  our  friends  or  to  destroy  them." 

*  New  York. 

t  Albany.  New  York. 

%  It  must  be  remembered  that  La  Salle  was  not  exempt  from  the  jealousy  and  envy 
which  is  inspired  in  souls  of  little  men  toward  those  engaged  in  great  undertakings  ; 
and  we  see  this  spirit  manifested  here.  La  Salle  could  not  have  done  otherwise  than 
supply  fire-arms  to  the  Illinois,  who  were  his. friends  and  the  owners  of  the  country,  the 
trade  of  which  he  had  opened  up  at  great  hardship  and  expense  to  himself. 

§  Gabriel  Ribourde. 


DEFEAT  OF  THE  IROQUOIS.  113 

The  Iroquois  were  not  always  successful  in  their  western  forays. 
Tradition  records  two  instances  in  which  they  were  sadly  discomfited. 
The  first  was  an  encounter  with  the  Sioux,  on  an  island  in  the  Missis- 
sippi, at  the  mouth  of  the  Des  Moines.  The  tradition  of  this  engage- 
ment is  preserved  in  the  curious  volumes  of  La  ITontan,  and  is  as  fol- 
lows :  "  March  2nd,  16S9, 1  arrived  in  the  Mississippi.  To  save  the  labor 
of  rowing  we  left  our  boats  to  the  current,  and  arrived  on  the  tenth  in 
the  island  of  Rencontres,  which  took  its  name  from  the  defeat  of  four 
hundred  Iroquois  accomplished  there  by  three  hundred  Nadouessis 
(Sioux).  The  story  of  the  encounter  is  briefly  this :  A  party  of 
four  hundred  Iroquois  having  a  mind  to  surprise  a  certain  people  in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  Otentas  (of  whom  more  anon),  marched  to 
the  country  of  the  Illinois,  where  they  built  canoes  and  were  furnished 
with  provisions.  After  that  they  embarked  upon  the  river  Mississippi, 
and  were  discovered  by  another  little  fleet  that  was  sailing  down  the 
other  side  of  the  same  river.  The  Iroquois  crossed  over  immediately 
to  that  island  which  is  since  called  Aux  Rencontres.  The  Nadouessis, 
i.  e.,  the  other  little  fleet,  being  suspicious  of  some  ill  design,  without 
knowing  what  people  they  were  (for  they  had  no  knowledge  of  the 
Iroquois  but  by  hear-say)  —  upon  this  suspicion,  I  say,  they  tugged  hard 
to  come  up  with  them.  The  two  armies  posted  themselves  upon  the 
point  of  the  island,  where  the  two  crosses  are  put  down  in  the  map,* 
and  as  soon  as  the  Nadouessis  came  in  sight,  the  Iroquois  cried  out  in 
the  Illinese  language:  '  Who  are  ye?'  To  which  the  Nadouessis 
answered,  '  Somebody '/  and  putting  the  same  question  to  the  Iroquois, 
received  the  same  answer.  Then  the  Iroquois  put  this  question  to 
'em:  '  TTTwe  are  you  going  f  'To  hunt  buffalo,"  answered  the  Na- 
douessis ;  '  but,  pray,'  says  the  Nadouessis, '  what  is  your  business  ? '  '  To 
hunt  men,'  reply'd  the  Iroquois.  ''Tis  well,'  says  the  Nadouessis; 
'  we  are  men,  and  so  you  need  go  no  farther.'  Upon  this  challenge, 
the  two  parties  disembarked,  and  the  leader  of  the  Nadouessis  cut  his 
canoes  to  pieces,  and,  after  representing  to  his  warriors  that  they  be- 
hoved either  to  conquer  or  die,  marched  up  to  the  Iroquois,  who 
received  them  at  first  onset  with  a  cloud  of  arrows.  But  the  Nadou- 
essis having  stood  their  first  discharge,  which  killed  eighty  of  them, 
fell  in  upon  them  with  their  clubs  in  their  hands  before  the  others 
could  charge  again,  and  so  routed  them  entirely.  This  engagement 
lasted  for  two  hours,  and  was  so  hot  that  two  hundred  and  sixty  Iro- 
quois fell  upon  the  spot,  and  the  rest  were  all  taken  prisoners.  Some 
of  the  Iroquois,  indeed,  attempted  to  make  their  escape  after  the  action 

*  On  La  Hontan's  map  the  place  marked  is  designated  by  an  island  in  the  Missis- 
sippi, immediately  at  the  mouth  of  the  Des  Moines. 
8 


114  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON    THE    NORTHWEST. 

was  over;  but  the  victorious  general  sent  ten  or  twelve  of  bis  men  to 
pursue  them  in  one  of  the  canoes  that  he  had  taken,  and  accordingly 
they  were  all  overtaken  and  drowned.  The  Xadouessis  having  ob- 
tained this  victory,  cut  off  the  noses  and  ears  of  two  of  the  cleverest 
prisoners,  and  supplying  them  with  fusees,  powder  and  ball,  gave  them 
the  liberty  of  returning  to  their  own  country,  in  order  to  tell  their 
countrymen  that  they  ought  not  to  employ  women  to  hunt  after  men 
any  longer."* 

The  second  tradition  is  that  of  a  defeat  of  a  war  party  of  Iroquois 
upon  the  banks  of  the  stream  that  now  bears  the  name  of  "  Irocpiois 
River."  Father  Charlevoix,  in  his  Narrative  Journal,  referring  to  his 
passage  down  the  Kankakee,  in  September,  1721,  alludes  to  this  defeat 
of  the  Iroquois  in  the  following  language :  "  I  was  not  a  little  sur- 
prised at  seeing  so  little  water  in  the  The-a-ki-ki,  notwithstanding  it 
receives  a  good  many  pretty  large  rivers,  one  of  which  is  more  than  a 
hundred  and  twenty  feet  in  breadth  at  its  mouth,  and  has  been  called 
the  River  of  the  Iroquois,  because  some  of  that  nation  were  surprised 
on  its  banks  by  the  Illinois  who  killed  a  great  many  of  them.  This 
check  mortified  them  so  much  the  more,  as  they  held  the  Illinois  in 
great  contempt,  who,  indeed,  for  the  most  part  are  not  able  to  stand, 
before  them."  f 

The  tradition  has  been  given  with  fuller  particulars  to  the  author, 
bv  Colonel  Guerdon  S.  Hubbard,  as  it  was  related  by  the  Indians  to 
him.  It  has  not  as  yet  appeared  in  print,  and  is  valuable  as  well  as 
interesting,  inasmuch  as  it  explains  why  the  Iroquois  River  has  been 
so  called  for  a  period  of  nearly  two  centuries,  and  also  because  it  gives 
the  origin  of*  the  name  Watseka. 

The  tradition  is  substantially  as  follows:  Many  years  a<>-o  the  Iro- 
quois  attacked  an  Indian  village  situated  on  the  banks  of  the  river  a 
few  miles  below  the  old  county  seat, —  Middleport, —  and  drove  out 
the  occupants  with  great  slaughter.  The  fugitives  were  collected  in 
the  night  time  some  distance  away,  lamenting  their  disaster.  A  wo- 
man, possessing  great  courage,  urged  the  men  to  return  and  attack  the 
Iroquois,  saying  the  latter  were  then  rioting  in  the  spoils  of  the  village 
and  exulting  over  their  victory  ;  that  they  would  not  expect  danger 
from  their  defeated  enemy,  and  that  the  darkness  of  the  night  would 
prevent  their  knowing  the  advance  upon  them.  The  warriors  refused 
to  go.  The  woman  then  said  that  she  would  raise  a  party  of  squaws 
and  return  to  the  village  and  fight  the  Iroquois ;  adding  that  death  or 
captivity  M'ould  be  the  fate  of  the  women  and  children  on  the  morrow, 

*La  HontarTs  New  Voyages  to  America,  vol.  1,  pp.  128,  129. 
t  Charlevoix'  Narrative  Journal,  vol.  2,  p.  199. 


INDIAX    LEGEND.  115 

and  that  they  might  as  well  die  in  an  effort  to  regain  their  village  and 
property  as  to  submit  to  a  more  dreadful  fate.  She  called  for  volun- 
teers and  the  women  came  forward  in  large  numbers.  Seeing  the 
braverv  of  their  wives  and  daughters  the  men  were  ashamed  of  their 
cowardice  and  became  inspired  with  a  desperate  courage.  A  plan  of 
attack  was  speedily  formed  and  successfully  executed.  The  Iroquois, 
taken  entirely  unawares,  were  surprised  and  utterly  defeated. 

The  name  of  the  heroine  who  suggested  and  took  an  active  part  in 
this  act  of  bold  retaliation,  bore  the  name  of  Watch-e-kee.  In  honor 
of  her  bravery  and  to  perpetuate  the  story  of  the  engagement,  a  coun- 
cil of  the  tribe  was  convened  which  ordained  that  when  Watch-e-kee 
died  her  name  should  be  bestowed  upon  the  most  accomplished  maiden 
of  the  tribe,  and  in  this  way  be  handed  down  from  one  generation  to 
another.  By  such  means  have  the  name  and  the  tradition  been  pre- 
served. 

The  last  person  who  bore  this  name  was  the  daughter  of  a  Potta- 
watomie chief,  with  whose  band  Col.  Hubbard  was  intimately  associ- 
ated as  a  trader  for  many  years.  She  was  well  known  to  many  of  the 
old  settlers  in  Danville  and  upon  the  Kankakee.  She  was  a  person  of 
great  beauty,  becoming  modesty,  and  possessed  of  superior  intelligence. 
She  had  great  influence  among  her  own  people  and  was  highly  re- 
spected by  the  whites.  She  accompanied  her  tribe  to  the  westward  of 
the  Mississippi,  on  their  removal  from  the  state.  The  present  county 
seat  of  Iroquois  county  is  named  after  her,  and  Col.  Hubbard  advises 
the  author  that  Watseka,  as  the  name  is  generally  spelled,  is  incorrect, 
and  that  the  orthography  for  its  true  pronunciation  should  be  "Watch-e- 
kee.* 

We  resume  the  narration  of  the  decline  of  the  Illinois :  La  Salle's 
fortification  at  Starved  Hock  gathered  about  it  populous  villages  of 
Illinois,  Shawnees,  Weas,  Piankeshaws  and  other  kindred  tribes,  shown 
on  Franquelin's  map  as  the  Colonie  Du  Sr.  de  la  Salle,  f  The  Iroquois 
were  barred  out  of  the  country  of  the  Illinois  tribes,  and  the  latter 
enjoyed  security  from  their  old  enemies.  La  Salle  himself,  speaking 
of  his  success  in  establishing  a  colony  at  the  Rock,  says  :  "  There  would 
be  nothing  to  fear  from  the  Iroquois  when  the  nations  of  the  south, 

*  The  Iroquois  also  bore  the  name  of  Can-o-wa-ga,  doubtless  an  Indian  name.  It 
had  another  aboriginal  name,  Mocabella  (which  was,  probably,  a  French-Canadian  cor- 
ruption of  the  Kickapoo  word  Mo-qua),  signifying  a  bear.  Beck's  Illinois  and  Mis- 
souri Gazetteer,  p.  90.  The  joint  commission  appointed  by  the  legislatures  of  Indiana 
and  Illinois  to  run  the  boundary  line  between  the  two  states,  in  their  report  in  1821, 
and  upon  their  map  deposited  in  the  archives  at  Indianapolis,  designate  the  Iroquois 
by  the  name  of  Pick-a-mink  River.  They  also  named  Sugar  Creek  after  Mr.  McDon- 
ald, of  Vincennes,  Indiana,  who  conducted  the  surveys  for  the  commission. 

fThis  part  of  Franquelin's  map  appears  in  the  well  executed  frontispiece  of  Park- 
insons Discovery  of  the  Great  West. 


116  HISTORIC    NOTES    OX   THE    NORTHWEST. 

strengthened  through  their  intercourse  with  the  French,  shall  stop 
their  conquest,  and  prevent  their  being  powerful  by  carrying  off  a  great 
number  of  their  women  and  children,  which  they  can  easily  do  from 
the  inferiority  of  the  weapons  of  their  enemies.  As  respects  com- 
merce, that  post  will  probably  increase  our  traffic  still  more  than  has 
been  done  by  the  establishment  of  Fort  Frontenac,  which  was  built 
with  success  for  that  purriose  :  for  if  the  Illinois  and  their  allies  were 
to  catch  the  beavers  which  the  Iroquois  now  kill  in  the  neighborhood 
in  order  to  carry  them  to  the  English,  the  latter  not  being  anv  longer 
able  to  get  them  from  their  own  colonies  would  be  obliged  to  buy  from 
us,  to  the  great  benefit  of  those  who  have  the  privilege  of  this  traffic. 
These  were  the  views  which  the  Sieur  de  la  Salle  had  in  placing  the 
settlement  where  it  is.  The  colony  has  already  felt  its  effects,  as  all 
our  allies,  who  had  fled  after  the  departure  of  M.  de  Frontenac,  have 
returned  to  their  ancient  dwellings,  in  consequence  of  the  confidence 
caused  by  the  fort,  near  which  they  have  defeated  a  party  of  Iroquois, 
and  have  built  four  forts  to  protect  themselves  from  hostile  incursions. 
The  Governor,  M.  de  la  Barre,  and  the  intendant,  M.  de  Muelles,  have- 
told  Sieur  de  la  Salle  that  they  would  write  to  Monseigneur  to  inform 
him  of  the  importance  of  that  fort  in  order  to  keep  the  Iroquois  in 
check,  and  that  M.  de  Sagny  had  proposed  its  establishment  in  1678. 
Monsiegneur  Colbert  permitted  Sieur  de  la  Salle  to  build  it,  and 
granted  it  to  him  as  a  property."  * 

The  fort  at  Le  Bocher  (the  rock)  was  constructed  on  its  summit  in 
16S2,  and  enclosed  with  a  palisade.  It  was  subsequently  granted  to 
Tonti  and  Forest.  +  It  was  abandoned  as  a  military  post  in  the  year 
1702  :  and  when  Charlevoix  went  down  the  Illinois  in  1721  he  passed 
the  Rock,  and  said  of  it:  "This  is  the  point  of  a  very  high  terrace 
stretching  the  space  of  two  hundred  paces,  and  bending  or  winding 
with  the  course  of  the  river.  This  rock  is  steep  on  all  sides,  and  at  a 
distance  one  would  take  it  for  a  fortress.  Some  remains  of  a  palisado 
are  still  to  be  seen  on  it,  the  Illinois  having  formerly  cast  up  an  en- 
trenchment here,  which  might  be  easily  repaired  in  case  of  any  inter- 
ruption of  the  enemy.":}: 

The  abandonment  of  Fort  St.  Louis  in  1702  was  followed  soon  after 
by  a  dispersion  of  the  tribes  and  remnants  of  tribes  that  La  Salle  and 
Tonti  had  gathered  about  it,  except .  the  straggling  village  of  the 
Illinois. 

*  Memoir  of  the  Sieur  de  la  Salle,  reporting  to  Monseigneur  de  Seingelay  the  dis- 
coveries made  by  him  under  the  order  of  His  Majesty.  Historical  Collections  of 
Louisiana,  Part  I,  p.  42. 

t  Paris  Documents,  vol.  9,  p.  494. 

t  Charlevoix'  Narrative  Journal,  vol.  2,  p.  200. 


DECLINE    OF    THE    ILLINOIS.  117 

The  Iroquois  came  no  more  subsequent  to  1721,  having  war  enough 
on  their  hands  nearer  home ;  but  the  Illinois  were  constantly  harassed 
by  other  enemies ;  the  Sacs,  Foxes,  Kickapoos  and  Pottawatomies. 
In  1722  their  villages  at  the  Rock  and  on  Peoria  Lake  were  besieged 
by  the  Foxes,  and  a  detachment  of  a  hundred  men  under  Chevalier  de 
Artaguette  and  Sieur  de  Tisne  were  sent  to  their  assistance.  Forty  of 
these  French  soldiers,  with  four  hundred  Indians,  marched  by  land  to 
Peoria  Lake.  However,  before  the  reinforcements  reached  their  des- 
tination they  learned  that  the  Foxes  had  retreated  with  a  loss  of  more 
than  a  hundred  and  twenty  of  their  men.  "  This  success  did  not, 
however,  prevent  the  Illinois,  although  they  had  only  lost  twenty  men, 
with  some  women  and  children,  from  leaving  the  Rock  and  Pimiteony, 
where  they  were  kept  in  constant  alarm,  and  proceeding  to  unite  with 
those  of  their  brethren  who  had  settled  on  the  Mississippi ;  this  was  a 
stroke  of  srace  for  most  of  them,  the  small  number  of  missionaries 
preventing  their  supplying  so  many  towns  scattered  far  apart ;  but  on 
the  other  side,  as  there  was  nothing  to  check  the  raids  of  the  Foxes 
along  the  Illinois  River,  communication  between  Louisiana  and  New 
France  became  much  less  practicable."* 

The  fatal  dissolution  of  the  Illinois  still  proceeded,  and  their 
ancient  homes  and  hunting  grounds  were  appropriated  by  the  more 
vigorous  Sacs,  Foxes,  Pottawatomies  and  Kickapoos.  The  killing  of 
Pontiac  at  Cahokia,  whither  he  had  retired  after  the  failure  of  his 
effort  to  rescue  the  country  from  the  English,  was  laid  upon  the 
Illinois,  a  charge  which,  whether  true  or  false,  hastened  the  climax  of 
their  destruction. 

General  Harrison  stated  that  "  the  Illinois  confederacy  was  com- 
posed of  live  tribes :  the  Kaskaskias,  Cahokias,  Peorians,  Michiganians 
and  the  Temarois,  speaking  the  Miami  language,  and  no  doubt 
branches  of  that  nation.  When  I  was  first  appointed  Governor  of  the 
Indiana  Territory  (May,  1800),  these  once  powerful  tribes  were  re- 
duced to  about  thirty  warriors,  of  whom  twenty-five  were  Kaskaskias, 
four  Peorians,  and  a  single  Michiganian.  There  was  an  individual 
lately  alive  at  St.  Louis  who  saw  the  enumeration  made  of  them  by 
the  Jesuits  in  1745,  making  the  number  of  their  warriors  four  thou- 
sand. A  furious  war  between  them  and  the  Sacs  and  Kickapoos 
reduced  them  to  that  miserable  remnant  which  had  taken  refuse 
amongst  the  white  people  in  the  towns  of  Kaskaskia  and  St.  Genieve."f 

*  History  of  New  France,  vol.  6,  p.  71. 

t  Official  letter  of  Gen.  Harrison  to  Hon.  John  Armstrong-,  Secretary  of  War, 
dated  at  Cincinnati,  March  22,  1814:  contained  in  Captain  M'Afee's  "  History  of  the 
Late  War  in  the  Western  Country." 


118  HISTORIC    NOTES    OX   THE    NORTHWEST. 

By  successive  treaties  their  lands  in  Illinois  were  ceded  to  the 
United  States,  and  they  were  removed  west  of  the  Missouri.  In  1872 
they  had  dwindled  to  forty  souls  —  men,  women  and  children  all  told. 

Thus  have  wasted  away  the  original  occupants  of  the  larger  part  of 
Illinois  and  portions  of  Iowa  and  Missouri.  In  1684  their  single  vil- 
lage at  La  Salle's  colony,  could  muster  twelve  hundred  warriors.  In  the 
days  of  their  strength  they  nearly  exterminated  the  Winnebagoes,  and 
their  war  parties  penetrated  the  towns  of  the  Iroquois  in  the  valleys  of 
the  Mohawk  and  Genesee.  They  took  the  Metchigamis  under  their 
protection,  giving  them  security  against  enemies  with  whom  the  latter 
could  not  contend.  This  people  who  had  dominated  over  the  surround- 
ing tribes,  claiming  for  themselves  the  name  Illini  or  Linneway,  to  rep- 
resent their  superior  manhood,  have  disappeared  from  the  earth  ;  another 
race,  representing  a  higher  civilization,  occupy  their  ancient  domains, 
and  already,  even  the  origin  of  their  name  and  the  location  of  their 
cities  have  become  the  subjects  of  speculation. 


s 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

THE  MIAMIS— THE  MIAMI,   PIANKESHAW,  AND  WEA  BANDS. 

The  people  known  to  us  as  the  Miamis  formerly  dwelt  beyond  the 
Mississippi,  and,  according  to  their  own  traditions,  came  originally 
from  the  Pacific.  "  If  what  I  have  heard  asserted  in  several  places  be 
true,  the  Illinois  and  Miamis  came  from  the  banks  of  a  very  distant  sea 
to  the  westward.  It  would  seem  that  their  first  stand,  after  they  made 
their  first  descent  into  this  country,  was  at  Moingona.*  At  least  it  is 
certain  that  one  of  their  tribes  bears  that  name.  The  rest  are  known 
under  the  name  of  Peorias,  Tamaroas,  Caoquias  and  Kaskaskias." 

The  migration  of  the  Miamis  from  the  west  of  the  Mississippi, 
eastward  through  Wisconsin  and  northern  Illinois,  around  the  south- 
ern end  of  Lake  Michigan  to  Detroit,  and  thence  up  the  Maumee  and 
down  the  Wabash,  and  eastward  through  Indiana  into  Ohio  as  far  as 
the  Great  Miami,  can  be  followed  through  the  mass  of  records  handed 
down  to  us  from  the  missionaries,  travelers  and  officers  connected  with 
the  French.  Speaking  of  the  mixed  village  of  Maskoutens,  situated  on 
Fox  River,  Wisconsin,  at  the  time  of  his  visit  there  in  1GT0,  Father 
Claude  Dablon  says  the  village  of  the  Fire-nation  "is  joined  in  the 
circle  of  the  same  barriers  to  another  people,  named  Oumiami,  which 
is  one  of  the  Illinois  nations,  which  is,  as  it  were,  dismembered  from 
the  others,  in  order  to  dwell  in  these  quarters.f  It  is  beyond  this 
great  river  ^  that  are  placed  the  Illinois  of  whom  we  speak,  and  from 
whom  are  detached  those  who  dwell  here  with  the  Fire-nation  to  form 
here  a  transplanted  colony." 

From  the  quotations  made  there  remains  little  doubt  that  the  Mi- 
amis were  originally  a  branch  of  the  great  Illinois  nation.  This  theory 
is  confirmed  by  writers  of  our  own  time,  among  whom  we  may  men- 
tion General  William  IT.  Harrison,  whose  long  acquaintance  and  official 
connection  with  the  several  bands  of  the  Miamis  and  Illinois  gave  him 

*  Charlevoix'  Narrative  Journal,  vol.  2,  p.  227.  Moingona,  from  undoubted 
authorities,  was  a  name  given  to  the  Des  Moines  River;  and  we  find  on  the  original 
map,  drawn  by  Marquette,  the  village  of  the  Moingona  placed  on  the  Des  Moines 
above  a  village  of  the  Peorias  on  the  same  stream. 

t  Father  Dablon  is  here  describing  the  same  village  referred  to  by  Father  Mar- 
quette in  that  part  of  his  Journal  which  we  have  copied  on  page  44. 

X  The  Mississippi,  of  which  the  missionary  had  been  speaking  in  the  paragraph 
preceding  that  which  we  quote. 

119 


120  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

the  opportunities,  of  which  he  availed  himself,  to  acquire  an  intimate 
knowledge  concerning  them.  "Although  the  language,  manners 
ami  customs  of  the  Kaskaskias  make  it  sufficiently  certain  that  they 
derived  their  origin  from  the  same  source  with  the  Miamis,  the 
connection  had  been  dissolved  before  the  French  had  penetrated 
from  Canada  to  the  Mis>issippi.""::'  The  assertion  of  General  Har- 
rison that  the  tribal  relation  between  the  Illinois  and  Miamis  had 
been  broken  at  the  time  of  the  discovery  of  the  Upper  Mississippi 
valley  by  the  French  is  sustained  with  great  unanimity  by  all  other 
authorities.  In  the  long  and  disastrous  wars  waged  upon  the  Illinois 
by  the  Iroquois,  Sacs  and  Foxes.  Kickapoos  and  other  enemies,  we 
have  no  instance  given  where  the  Miamis  ever  offered  assistance  to 
their  ancient  kinsmen.  After  the  separation,  on  the  contrary,  they 
often  lifted  the  bloody  hatchet  against  them. 

Father  Dablon,  in  the  narrative  from  which  we  have  quoted, f 
give-  a  detailed  account  of  the  civility  of  the  Miamis  at  Maseouten, 
and  the  formality  and  court  routine  with  which  their  o-reat  chief  was 
surrounded.  '"The  chief  of  the  Miamis,  whose  name  was  Tetin- 
choria,  was  surrounded  by  the  most  notable  people  of  the  village, 
who,  assuming  the  role  of  courtiers,  with  civil  posture  full  of  defer- 
ence, and  keeping  always  a  respectful  silence,  magnified  the  great- 
ness of  their  king.  The  chief  and  his  routine  gave  Father  Dablon 
every  mark  of  their  most  distinguished  esteem.  The  physiognomy 
of  the  chief  was  as  mild  and  as  attractive  as  any  one  could  wish  to 
see  ;  and  while  his  reputation  as  a  warrior  was  great,  his  features 
bore  a  softness  which  charmed  all  those  who  beheld  him." 

Nicholas  Perrot,  with  Sieur  de  St.  Lussin,  dispatched  by  Talon, 
the  intendant,  to  visit  the  westward  nations,  with  whom  the  French 
had  intercourse,  and  invite  them  to  a  council  to  be  held  the  follow- 
ing spring  at  the  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  was  at  this  Miami  village  shortly 
after  the  visit  of  Dablon.  Perrot  was  treated  with  great  consider- 
ation by  the  Miamis.  Tatinchoua  "sent  out  a  detachment  to  meet 
the  French  agent  and  receive  him  in  military  style.  The  detach- 
ment advanced  in  battle  array,  all  the  braves  adorned  with  feathers, 
armed  at  all  points,  were  uttering  war  cries  from  time  to  time.  The 
Pottawatomies  who  escorted  Perrot,  seeing  them  come  in  this  guise, 
prepared  to  receive  them  in  the  same  manner,  and  Perrot  put  him- 
self at  their  head.  When  the  two  troops  were  in  face  of  each  other, 
they  stopped  as  if  to  take  breath,  then  all  at  once  Perrot  took  the 
right,  the  Miamis  the  left,  all  running  in  Indian  tile,  as  though  they 
wished  to  gain  an  advantage  to  charge. 

*  Memoirs  of  General  Harrison,  by  Moses  Dawson,  p.  62. 
t  Relations,  1670.  1671. 


OF    THE    NAME    MIAMI.  121 

"But  the  Miamis  wheeling  in  the  form  of  an  arc,  the  Pottawat- 
omies  were  invested  on  all  sides.  Then  both  uttered  loud  veils, 
which  were  the  signals  for  a  kind  of  combat.  The  Miamis  fired  a 
volley  from  their  guns,  which  were  only  loaded  with  powder,  and 
the  Pottawatomies  returned  it  in  the  same  way;  after  this  they 
closed,  tomahawk  in  hand,  all  the  blows  being  received  on  the  tom- 
ahawks. Peace  was  then  made;  the  Miamis  presented  the  calumet 
to  Perrot,  and  led  him  with  all  his  chief  escort  into  the  town,  where 
the  great  chief  assigned  him  a  guard  of  fifty  men,  regaled  him  mag- 
nificently after  the  custom  of  the  country,  and  gave  him  the  diver- 
sion  of  a  game  of  ball."""'  The  Miami  chief  never  spoke  to  his 
subjects,  but  imparted  his  orders  through  some  of  his  officers.  On 
account  of  his  advanced  age  he  was  dissuaded  from  attending  the 
council  to  be  held  at  Ste.  Marie,  between  the  French  and  the  Indians; 
however,  he  deputized  the  Pottawatomies  to  act  in  his  name. 

This  confederacy  called  themselves  "Miamis,"  and  by  this  name 
were  known  to  the  surrounding  tribes.  The  name  was  not  bestowed 
upon  them  by  the  French,  as  some  have  assumed  from  its  resem- 
blance to  Mon-ami,  because  they  were  the  friends  of  the  latter. 
When  Hennepin  was  captured  on  the  Mississippi  by  a  war  party  of 
the  Sioux,  these  savages,  with  their  painted  faces  rendered  more 
hideous  by  the  devilish  contortions  of  their  features,  cried  out  in 
angry  voices,  "  ' Mia-hama  !  Mia-hama  !  '  and  we  made  signs  with 
our  oars  upon  the  sand,  that  the  Miamis,  their  enemies,  of  whom 
they  were  in  search,  had  passed  the  river  upon  their  flight  to  join 
the  Illinois/^ 

"The  confederacy  wdiich  obtained  the  general  appellation  of 
Miamis,  from  the  superior  numbers  of  the  individual  tribe  to  whom 
that  name  more  properly  belonged,"  were  subdivided  into  three 
principal  tribes  or  bands,  namely,  the  Miamis  proper,  Weas  and 
Piankeshaws.  French  writers  have  given  names  to  two  or  three 
other  subdivisions  or  families  of  the  three  principal  bands,  whose 
identity  has  never  been  clearly  traced,  and  who  figure  so  little  in 
the  accounts  which  we  have  of  the  Miamis,  that  it  is  not  necessary 
here  to  specify  their  obsolete  names.     The  different  ways  of  writing 

*  History  of  New  France,  vol.  3,  pp.  1G6,  167.  Father  Charlevoix  improperly 
locates  this  village,  where  Perrot  was  received,  at  "  Chicago,  at  the  lower  end  of  Lake 
Michigan,  where  the  Miamis  then  were,"  page  166,  above  quoted.  The  Miamis  were 
not  then  at  Chicago.  The  reception  of  Perrot  was  at  the  mixed  village  on  Fox  River, 
Wisconsin,  as  stated  in  the  text.  The  error  of  Charlevoix,  as  to  the  location  of  this 
village,  has  been  pointed  out  by  Dr.  Shea,  in  a  note  on  page  166,  in  the  "History  of 
New  France,"  and  also  by  Francis  Parkman,  in  a  note  on  page  40  of  his  "  Discovery 
of  the  Great  West." 

t  Hennepin,  p.  187. 


122  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

Miamis   are:     Oumiamwek,*   Oumamis,t    Maumees,^  Au-Miami  § 
(contracted  to  An- Mi  and  Omee)  and  Mine-ami. 

The  French  called  the  Weas  Ouiatenons,  Syatanons,  Ouvatanons 
and  Ouias ;  the  English  and  Colonial  traders  spelled  the  word, 
Ouicatanon,*  Way-ough-ta  nies,**  Wawiachtens.H  and  Wehahs.^ 

For  the  Piankeshaws,  or  Pou-an-ke-M-as,  as  they  were  called  in 
the  earliest  accounts,  we  have  Peanguichias,  Pian-gui-shaws.  Pyan- 
ke-shas  and   Pianquishas. 

The  Miami  tribes  were  known  to  the  Iroquois,  or  Five  Nations 
of  New  York,  as  the  Twiyht-wees,  a  name  generally  adopted  by  the 
British,  as  well  as  by  the  American  colonists.  Of  this  name  there 
are  various  corruptions  in  pronunciation  and  spelling,  examples  of 
which  we  have  in  "  Twich-twichs, "  "  Twick-twicks,"  "  Twis-twicks, " 
"  Twigh-twees, ,1  and  "Twiek-tovies. "  The  insertion  of  these  many 
names,  applied  to  one  people,  would  seem  a  tedious  superfluity,  were 
it  otherwise  possible  to  retain  the  identity  of  the  tribes  to  which 
these  different  appellations  have  been  given  by  the  French,  British 
and  American  officers,  traders  and  writers.  It  will  save  the  reader 
much  perplexity  in  pursuing  a  history  of  the  Miamis  if  it  is  borne  in 
mind  that  all  these  several  names  refer  to  the  Miami  nation  or  to 
one  or  the  other  of  its  respective  bands. 

Besides  the  colony  mentioned  by  Dablon  and  Charlevoix,  on  the 
Fox  River  of  Wisconsin,  Hennepin  informs  us  of  a  village  of 
Miamis  south  and  west  of  Peoria  Lake  at  the  time  he  was  at  the 
latter  place  in  1679,  and  it  was  probably  this  village  whose  inhabit- 
ants the  Sioux  were  seeking.  St.  Cosmie,  in  1699,  mentions  the 
"village  of  the  '  Peanzichias-Miamis,  who  formerly  dwelt  on  the 
—  of  the  Mississippi,  and  who  had  come  some  years  previous 
and  settled  '  on  the  Illinois  River,  a  few  miles  below  the  confluence 
of  the  DesPlaines."§§ 

The  Miamis  were  within  the  territory  of  La  Salle's  colony,  of 
which  Starved  Pock  was  the  center,  and  counted  thirteen  hundred 
warriors.  The  Weas  and  Piankeshaws  were  also  there,  the  former 
having  five  hundred  warriors  and  the  Piankeshaw  band  one  hundred 
and  fifty.  This  was  prior  to  1687.  |j|  At  a  later  day  the  Weas  ''were 
at  Chicago,  but  being  afraid  of  the  canoe  people,  left  it."* _-r  Sieur 
de  Courtmanche,  sent  westward  in  1701  to  negotiate  with  the  tribes 
in  that  part  of  New  France,  was  at  "Chicago,  where  he  found  some 

Marquette,  t  La  Hontan.  %  Gen.  Harrison.  §  Gen.  Harmar.  ||  Lewis  Evans. 
TT  George  Croghan's  Narrative  Journal.  **  Croghan's  List  of  Indian  Tribes. 
ft    John  Heckwelder,  a  Moravian  Missionary.  XX  Catlin's  Indian  Tribes. 

§§    St.  Cosmie's  Journal  in  "  Early  Voyages  Up  and  Down  the  Mississippi,"  p.  58. 

Parkman's  Discovery  of  the  Great  West,  note  on  p.  290. 
"if^T  Memoir  on  the  Indian  tribes,  prepared  in  1718:  Paris  Documents,  vol.  9,  p.  890. 


AT   WAR   WITH    THE    SIOUX.  123 

Weas  (Ouiatanons),  a  Miami  tribe,  who  had  sung  the  war-song 
against  the  Sioux  and  the  Iroquois.  He  obliged  them  to  lay  down 
their  arms  and  extorted  from  them  a  promise  to  send  deputies  to 
Montreal."* 

In  a  letter  dated  in  1721,  published  in  his  "Narrative  Journal," 
Father  Charlevoix,  speaking  of  the  Miamis  about  the  head  of  Lake 
Michigan,  says:  "Fifty  years  ago  the  Miamis  were  settled  on  the 
southern  extremity  of  Lake  Michigan,  in  a  place  called  Chicagou, 
from  the  name  of  a  small  river  which  runs  into  the  lake,  the  source 
of  which  is  not  far  distant  from  that  of  the  river  of  the  Illinois; 
they  are  at  present  divided  into  three  villages,  one  of  which  stands 
on  the  river  St.  Joseph,  the  second  on  another  river  which  bears 
their  name  and  runs  into  Lake  Erie,  and  the  third  upon  the  river 
Ouabache,  which  empties  its  waters  into  the  Mississippi.  These  last 
are  better  known  by  the  appellation  of  Ouyatanons."  f 

In  1694,  Count  Frontenac,  in  a  conference  with  the  Western  In- 
dians, requested  the  Miamis  of  the  Pepikokia  band  who  resided  on 
the  Maramek,J  to  remove,  and  join  the  tribe  which  was  located  on 
the  Saint  Joseph,  of  Lake  Michigan.  The  reason  for  this  request, 
as  stated  by  Frontenac  himself,  was,  that  he  wished  the  different 
bands  of  the  Miami  confederacy  to  unite,  "so  as  to  be  able  to  exe- 
cute with  greater  facility  the  commands  which  he  might  issue.''  At 
that  time  the  Iroquois  were  at  war  with  Canada,  and  the  French 
were  endeavoring  to  persuade  the  western  tribes  to  take  up  the  tom- 
ahawk in  their  behalf.  The  Miamis  promised  to  observe  the  Gov- 
ernor's wishes  and  began  to  make  preparations  for  the  removal. § 

"Late  in  August,  1690,  they  started  to  join  their  brethren  settled 
on  the  St.  Joseph.  On  their  way  they  were  attacked  by  the  Sioux, 
who  killed  several.  The  Miamis  of  the  St.  Joseph,  learning  this 
hostility,  resolved  to  avenge  their  slaughter.  They  pursued  the 
Sioux  to  their  own  country,  and  found  them  entrenched  in  their  fort 
with  some  Frenchmen  of  the  class  known  as  coureurs  des  bois  (bush- 
lopers).  They  nevertheless  attacked  them  repeatedly  with  great  res- 
olution, but  were  repulsed,  and  at  last  compelled  to  retire,  after 
losing  several  of  their  braves.  On  their  way  home,  meeting  other 
Frenchmen  carrying  arms  and  ammunition  to  the  Sioux,  they  seized 
all  they  had,  but  did  them  no  harm."  || 

The  Miamis  were  very  much  enraged  at  the  French  for  supplying 

*  History  of  New  France,  vol.  5,  p.  142. 

f  Charlevoix'  Narrative  Journal,  vol.  1,  p.  287. 

%  The  Kalamazoo,  of  Michigan. 

§  Paris  Documents,  vol.  9,  pp.  624,  625. 

||  Charlevoix'  History  of  New  France,  vol.  5,  p.  65. 


124  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON"   THE    NORTHWEST. 

their  enemies,  the  Sioux,  with  guns  and  ammunition.  It  took  all 
the  address  of  Count  Frontenac  to  prevent  them  from  joining  the 
[roquois ;  indeed,  they  seized  upon  the  French  agent  and  trader. 
Nicholas  Perrot,  who  had  been  commissioned  to  lead  the  Maramek 
band  to  the  St.  Josephs,  and  would  have  burnt  him  alive  had  it  not 
been  for  the  Foxes,  who  interposed  in  his  behalf.*  This  was  the 
commencement  of  the  bitter  feeling  of  hostility  with  which,  from 
that  time,  a  part  of  the  Miamis  always  regarded  the  French.  From 
this  period  the  movements  of  the  tribe  were  observed  by  the  French 
with  jealous  suspicion. 

We  have  already  shown  that  in  1699  the  Miamis  were  at  Fort 
Wayne,  engaged  in  transferring  across  their  portage  emigrants  from 
Canada  to  Louisiana,  and  that,  within  a  few  years  after,  the  Weas 
are  described  as  having  their  fort  and  several  miles  of  cultivated 
fields  on  the  Wea  plains  below  La  Fayette.  +  From  the  extent  and 
character  of  these  improvements,  it  may  be  safely  assumed  that  the 
Weas  had  been  established  here  some  years  prior  to  1718,  the  date 
of  the  Memoir. 

When  the  French  first  discovered  the  Wabash,  the  Piankeshaws 
were  found  in  possession  of  the  land  on  either  side  of  that  stream, 
from  its  mouth  to  the  Vermilion  River,  and  no  claim  had  ever 
been  made  to  it  by  any  other  tribe  until  L804,  the  period  of  a  ces- 
sion of  a  part  of  it  to  the  Tinted  States  by  the  Delawares,  who  had 
obtained  their  title  from  the  Piankeshaws  themselves.^: 

We  have  already  seen  that  at  the  time  of  the  first  account  we 
have  relating  to  the  Maumee  and  the  Wabash,  the  Miamis  had  vil- 
lages and  extensive  improvements  near  Fort  Wayne,  on  the  Wea 
prairie  below  La  Fayette,  on  the  Yermilion  of  the  Wabash,  and  at 
Yineennes.  At  a  later  day  they  established  villages  at  other  places, 
viz,  near  the  forks  of  the  Wabash  at  Huntington,  on  the  Mississin- 
ewa,§  on  Eel  River  near  Logansport,  while  near  the  source  of  this 
river,  and  westward  of  Fort  Wayne,  was  the  village  of  the  "Little 
Turtle."     Xear  the  mouth  of  the  Tippecanoe  was  a  sixth  village. 

*  Paris  Documents,  vol.  9,  p.  672. 
fVide,  p.  104. 

}  Memoirs  of  General  Harrison,  pp.  61,  63. 

§This  stream  empties  into  the  Wabash  near  Peru,  and  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
river  from  that  city.  The  word  is  a  compound  of  }>iissi,  great,  and  assin,  stone,  signify- 
ing the  river  of  the  great  or  much  stone.  "The  Mississinewa,  with  its  pillared  rocks, 
is  full  of  geological  as  well  as  romantic  interest.  Some  three  miles  from  Peru  the 
channel  is  cut  through  a  solid  wall  of  cherty  silico-magnesian  limestone.  The  action 
of  the  river  and  unequal  disintegration  of  the  rocks  has  carved  the  precipitous  wall, 
which  converts  the  river's  course  into  a  system  of  pillars,  rounded  buttresses,  alcoves, 
chambers  and  overhanging  sides."  Prof.  Collett's  Report  on  the  Geology  of  Miami 
count j,  Indiana. 


A    WARLIKE    PEOPLE.  125 

Passing  below  the  Yermilion,  tlie  Miamis  had  other  villages,   one 
on  Sugar  creek*  and  another  near  Terre  Haute,  f 

The  country  of  the  Miamis  extended  west  to  the  watershed  be- 
tween the  Illinois  and  Wabash  rivers,  which  separated  their  posses- 
sions from  those  of  their  brethren,  the  Illinois.  On  the  north  were 
the  Pottawatomies,  who  were  slowly  but  steadily  pushing  their  lines 
southward  into  the  territory  of  the  Miamis.  The  superior  numbers 
of  the  Miamis  and  their  great  valor  enabled  them  to  extend  the 
limit  of  their  hunting  grounds  eastward  into  Ohio,  and  far  within 
the  territory  claimed  by  the  Iroquois.  -'They  were  the  undoubted 
proprietors  of  all  that  beautiful  country  watered  by  the  Wabash  and 
its  tributaries,  and  there  remains  as  little  doubt  that  their  claim  ex- 
tended as  far  east  as  the  Scioto.":}: 

Unlike  the  Illinois,  the  Miamis  held  their  own  until  they  were 
placed  upon  an  equal  footing  with  the  tribes  eastward  by  obtaining 
possession  of  fire-arms.  With  these  implements  of  civilized  warfare 
they  were  able  to  maintain  their  tribal  integrity  and  the  independ- 
ence they  cherished.  They  were  not  to  be  controlled  by  the  French, 
nor  did  they  suffer  enemies  from  any  quarter  to  impose  upon  them 
without  prompt  retaliation.  They  traded  and  fought  with  the 
French,  English  and  Americans  as  their  interests  or  passions  in- 
clined. They  made  peace  or  declared  war  against  other  nations  of 
their  own  race  as  policy  or  caprice  dictated.  More  than  once  they 
compelled  even  the  arrogant  Iroquois  to  beg  from  the  governors  of 
the  American  colonies  that  protection  which  they  themselves  had 
failed  to  secure  by  their  own  prowess.  Bold,  independent  and 
flushed  with  success,  the  Miamis  afforded  a  poor  field  for  missionary 
work,  and  the  Jesuit  Relations  and  pastoral  letters  of  the  French 
priesthood  have  less  to  say  of  the  Miami  confederacy  than  any  of  the 
other  western  tribes,  the  Kickapoos  alone  excepted. 

The  country  of  the  Miamis  was  accessible,  by  way  of  the  lakes, 
to  the  fur  trader  of  Canada,  and  from  the  eastward,  to  the  adven- 
turers engaged  in  the  Indian  trade  from  Pennsylvania,  New  York 
and  Virginia,  either  by  way  of  the  Ohio  River  or  a  commerce  car- 
ried on  overland  by  means  of  pack-horses.  The  English  and  the 
French  alike  coveted  their  peltries  and  sought  their  powerful  alli- 

*This  stream  was  at  one  time  called  Rocky  River,  vide  Brown's  Western  Gazet- 
teer. By  the  Wea  Miamis  it  was  called  Ptot-yo-se-con-e,  "Sugar  tree  "  (creek),  vide 
statement  of  Mary  Ann  Baptiste  to  the  author. 

fThe  villages  below  the  Vermilion  and  above  Vincennes  figure  on  some  of  the  early 
English  maps  and  in  accounts  given  by  traders  as  the  lower  or  little  Wea  towns.  Be- 
sides these,  which  were  the  principal  ones,  the  Miamis  had  a  village  at  Thorntown, 
and  many  others  of  lesser  note  on  the  Wabash  and  its  tributaries. 

X  Official  Letter  of  General  Harrison  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  before  quoted. 


126  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

ance,  therefore  the  Miamis  were  harassed  with  the  jealousies  and 
diplomacy  of  both,  and  if  they  or  a  part  of  their  several  tribes  be- 
came inveigled  into  an  alliance  with  the  one,  it  involved  the  hostility 
of  the  other.  The  French  government  sought  to  use  them  t<>  check 
the  westward  advance  of  the  British  colonial  influence,  while  the 
latter  desired  their  assistance  to  curb  the  French,  whose  ambitious 
schemes  involved  nothing  less  than  the  exclusive  subjugation  of 
the  entire  continent  westward  of  the  Alleghanies.  In  these  wars 
between  the  English  and  the  French  the  Miamis  were  constantly 
reduced  in  numbers,  and  whatever  might  have  been  the  result  to 
either  of  the  former,  it  only  ended  in  disaster  to  themselves.  Some- 
times they  divided  ;  again  they  were  entirely  devoted  to  the  interest 
of  the  English  and  Iroquois.  Then  they  joined  the  French  against 
the  British  and  Iroquois,  and  when  the  British  ultimately  obtained 
the  mastery  and  secured  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi, —  the  long 
sought  for  prize, —  the  Miamis  entered  the  confederacy  of  Pontiac 
to  drive  them  out  of  the  country.  They  fought  with  the  British, 
—  except  the  Piankeshaw  band, —  against  the  colonies  during  the 
revolutionary  war.  xVfter  its  close  their  young  men  were  largely 
occupied  in  the  predatory  warfare  waged  by  the  several  Maumee 
and  Wabash  tribes  upon  the  frontier  settlements  of  Ohio,  Pennsyl- 
vania, Virginia  and  Kentucky.  They  likewise  entered  the  con- 
federacy of  Tecumseh,  and,  either  openly  or  in  secret  sympathy, 
they  were  the  allies  of  the  British  in  the  war  of  1812.  Their  history 
occupies  a  conspicuous  place  in  the  military  annals  of  the  west, 
extending  over  a  period  of  a  century,  during  which  time  they  main- 
tained a  manly  struggle  to  retain  possession  of  their  homes  in  the 
valleys  of  the  Wabash  and  Maumee. 

The  disadvantage  under  which  the  Miamis  labored,  in  encounters 
with  their  enemies,  before  they  obtained  fire-arms,  was  often  over- 
come by  the  exercise  of  their  cunning  and  bravery.  "'In  the  year 
1680  the  Miamis  and  Illinois  were  hunting  on  the  St.  Joseph  River. 
A  party  of  four  hundred  Iroquois  surprised  them  and  killed  thirty 
or  forty  of  their  hunters  and  captured  three  hundred  of  their  women 
and  children.  After  the  victors  had  rested  awhile  they  prepared  to 
return  to  their  homes  by  easy  journeys,  as  they  had  reason  to  believe 
that  they  could  reach  their  own  villages  before  the  defeated  enemy 
would  have  time  to  rally  and  give  notice  of  their  disaster  to  those  of 
their  nation  who  were  hunting  in  remoter  places.  But  they  were 
deceived  ;  for  the  Illinois  and  Miamis  rallied  to  the  number  of  two 
hundred,  and  resolved  to  die  lighting  rather  than  suffer  their  women 
and  children  to  be  carried  away.     In  the  meantime,  because  they 


DEFEAT    OF   THE    IROQUOIS.  127 

were  not  equal  to  their  enemies  in  equipment  of  arms  or  numbers, 
they  contrived  a  notable  stratagem. 

After  the  Miamis  had  duly  considered  in  what  way  they  would  at- 
tack the  Iroquois,  they  decided  to  follow  them,  keeping  a  small  dis- 
tance in  the  rear,  until  it  should  rain.  The  heavens  seemed  to  favor 
their  plan,  for,  after  awhile  it  began  to  rain,  and  rained  continually 
the  whole  day  from  morning  until  night.  "When  the  rain  began  to 
fall  the  Miamis  quickened  their  march  and  passed  by  the  Iroquois, 
and  took  a  position  two  leagues  in  advance,  where  they  lay  in  an  am- 
buscade, hidden  by  the  tall  grass,  in  the  middle  of  a  prairie,  which 
the  Iroquois  had  to  cross  in  order  to  reach  the  woods  beyond,  where 
they  designed  to  kindle  fires  and  encamp  for  the  night.  The  Illi- 
nois and  Miamis,  lying  at  full  length  in  the  grass  on  either  side  of 
the  trail,  waited  until  the  Iroquois  were  in  their  midst,  when  they 
shot  off  their  arrows,  and  then  attacked  vigorously  with  their  clubs. 
The  Iroquois  endeavored  to  use  their  fire-arms,  but  finding  them  of 
no  service  because  the  rain  had  dampened  and  spoiled  the  priming, 
threw  them  upon  the  ground,  and  undertook  to  defend  themselves 
with  their  clubs.  In  the  use  of  the  latter  weapon  the  Iroquois  were 
no  match  for  their  more  dexterous  and  nimble  enemies.  They  were 
forced  to  yield  the  contest,  and  retreated,  fighting  until  night  came 
on.      They  lost  one  hundred  and  eighty  of  their  warriors. 

The  fight  lasted  about  an  hour,  and  would  have  continued  through 
the  night,  were  it  not  that  the  Miamis  and  Illinois  feared  that  their 
women  and  children  (left  in  the  rear  and  bound)  would  be  exposed 
to  some  surprise  in  the  dark.  The  victors  rejoined  their  women  and 
children,  and  possessed  themselves  of  the  fire-arms  of  their  enemies. 
The  Miamis  and  Illinois  then  returned  to  their  own  country,  without 
taking  one  Iroquois  for  fear  of  weakening  themselves.""' 

Failing  in  their  first  efforts  to  withdraw  the  Miamis  from  the 
French,  and  secure  their  fur  trade  to  the  merchants  at  Albany  and 
New  York,  the  English  sent  their  allies,  the  Iroquois,  against  them. 
A  series  of  encounters  between  the  two  tribes  was  the  result,   in 

*This  account  is  taken  from  La  Hontan,  vol.  2,  pp.  63,  64  and  65.  The  facts  con- 
cerning the  engagement,  as  given  by  La  Hontan,  may  be  relied  upon  as  substantially 
correct,  for  they  were  written  only  a  few  years  after  the  event.  La  Hontan,  as  appears 
from  the  date  of  his  letters  which  comprise  the  principal  part  of  his  volumes,  was  in 
this  country  from  November,  1683,  to  1689,  and  it  was  during  this  time  that  he  was 
collecting  the  information  contained  in  his  works.  The  place  where  this  engagement 
between  the  Miamis  and  Illinois  against  the  Iroquois  occurred,  is  a  matter  of  doubt. 
Some  late  commentators  claim  that  it  was  upon  the  Maumee.  La  Hontan  says  that 
the  engagement  was  '"near  the  river  Oumamis."  When  he  wrote,  the  St.  Joseph  of 
Lake  Michigan  was  called  the  river  Oumamis,  and  on  the  map  accompanying  LaHon- 
tan's  volume  it  is  so-called,  while  the  Maumee,  though  laid  down  on  the  map,  is 
designated  by  no  name  whatever.  It  would,  therefore,  appear  that  when  La  Hontan 
mentioned  the  Miami  River  he  referred  to  the  St.  Joseph. 


128  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON    THE    NORTHWEST. 

which  the  blood  of  both  was  profusely  shed,  to  further  the  purposes 
of  a  purely  commercial  transaction. 

In  these  engagements  the  Senecas — a  tribe  of  the  Iroquois,  or 
Five  Nations,  residing  to  the  west  of  the  other  tribes  of  the  confed- 
eracy, and.  in  consequence,  being  nearest  to  the  Miamis,  and  more 
directly  exposed  to  their  fury  —  were  nearly  destroyed  at  the  out- 
set. The  Miamis  followed  up  their  success  and  drove  the  Senecas 
behind  the  palisades  that  inclosed  their  villages.  For  three  years 
the  war  was  carried  on  with  a  bitterness  only  known  to  exasperated 
savages. 

When  at  last  the  Iroquois  saw  they  could  no  longer  defend  them- 
selves against  the  Miamis,  they  appeared  in  council  before  the  Gov- 
ernor of  Xew  York.  and.  pittyingly,  claimed  protection  from  him, 
who,  to  say  the  least,  had  remained  silent  and  permitted  his  own 
people  to  precipitate  this  calamity  upon  them. 

"You  say  you  will  support  us  against  all  your  kings  and  our 
enemies;  we  will  then  forbear  keeping  any  more  correspondence 
with  the  French  of  Canada  if  the  great  King  of  England  will  de- 
fend our  people  from  the  Twichtwicks  and  other  nations  over  whom 
the  French  have  an  influence  and  have  encouraged  to  destroy  an 
abundance  of  our  people,  even  since  the  peace  between  the  two  crowns" 
etc.  * 

The  governor  declined  sending  troops  to  protect  the  Iroquois 
against  their  enemies,  but  informed  them:  "You  must  be  sensible 
that  the  Dowaganhaes,  Twichtwicks,  etc.,  and  other  remote  Indians, 
are  vastly  more  numerous  than  you  Five  Nations,  and  that,  by  their 
continued  warring  upon  you,  they  will,  in  a  few  years,  totally  de- 
stroy you.  I  should,  therefore,  think  it  prudence  and  good  policy  in 
you  to  try  all  possible  means  to  fix  a  trade  and  correspondence  with 
all  those  nations,  by  which  means  you  wrould  reconcile  them  to  your- 
selves, and  with  my  assistance,  I  am  in  hopes  that,  in  a  short  time, 
they  might  be  united  with  us  in  the  covenant  chain,  and  then  you 
might,  at  all  times,  without  hazard,  go  hunting  into  their  country, 
which.  I  understand,  is  much  the  best  for  beaver.  I  wish  you  would 
try  to  bring  some  of  them  to  speak  to  me.  and  perhaps  I  might  pre- 
vail upon  them  to  come  and  live  amongst  you.  I  should  think  my- 
self obliged  to  reward  you  for  such  a  piece  of  service  as  I  tender 
your  good  advantage,  and  will  always  use  my  best  endeavor  to  pre- 
serve you  from  all  your  enemies." 

•""Speech  of  an  Iroquois  chief  at  a  conference  held  at  Albany,  August  26.  1700,  be- 
tween Richard,  Earl  of  Belmont,  Captain-General  and  Governor-in-Chief  of  His  Maj- 
esty's provinces  of  New  York,  etc.,  and  the  sachems  of  the  Five  Nations.  New  York 
Colonial  Documents,  vol.  4,  p.  729. 


tkfdk 


h-€r>^. 


P  E  C  D 

DANVILLE 


TRADE    WITH    THE    ENGLISH.  129 

The  conference  continued  several  days,  during  which  the  Iroquois 
stated  their  grievances  in  numerous  speeches,  to  which  the  governor 
graciously  replied,  using  vague  terms  and  making  no  promises, 
after  the  manner  of  the  extract  from  his  speech  above  quoted,  but 
placed  great  stress  on  the  value  of  the  fur  trade  to  the  English,  and 
enjoining  his  brothers,  the  Iroquois,  to  bring  all  their  peltries  to 
Albany;  to  maintain  their  old  alliance  with  the  English,  offensive 
and  defensive,  and  have  no  intercourse  whatever,  of  a  friendly  na- 
ture, with  the  rascally  French  of  Canada. 

The  Iroquois  declined  to  follow  the  advice  of  the  governor, 
deeming  it  of  little  credit  to  their  courage  to  sue  for  peace.  In  the 
meantime  the  governor  sent  emissaries  out  among  the  Miamis,  with 
an  invitation  to  open  a  trade  with  the  English.  The  messengers  were 
captured  by  the  commandant  at  Detroit,  and  sent,  as  prisoners,  to 
Canada.  However,  the  Miamis,  in  July,  1702,  sent,  through  the 
sachems  of  the  Five  JNTations,  a  message  to  the  governor  at  Albany, 
advising  him  that  many  of  the  Miamis,  with  another  nation,  had 
removed  to,  and  were  then  living  at,  Tjughsaghrondie, *  near  by  the 
fort  which  the  French  had  built  the  previous  summer ;  that  they  had 
been  informed  that  one  of  their  chiefs,  who  had  visited  Albany  two 
years  before,  had  been  kindly  treated,  and  that  they  had  now  come 
forward  to  inquire  into  the  trade  of  Albany,  and  see  if  goods  could 
not  be  purchased  there  cheaper  than  elsewhere,  and  that  they  had 
intended  to  go  to  Canada  with  their  beaver  and  peltries,  but.  that 
they  ventured  to  Albany  to  inquire  if  goods  could  not  be  secured  on 
better  terms.  The  governor  replied  that  he  was  extremely  pleased 
to  speak  with  the  Miamis  about  the  establishment  of  a.  lasting  friend- 
ship and  trade,  and  in  token  of  his  sincere  intentions  presented  his 
guests  with  guns,  powder,  hats,  strouds,  tobacco  and  pipes,  and  sent 
to  their  brethren  at  Detroit,  waumpura,  pipes,  shells,  nose  and  ear 
jewels,  looking-glasses,  fans,  children's  toys,  and  such  other  light 
articles  as  his  guests  could  conveniently  carry  ;  and,  finally,  assured 
them  that  the  Miamis  might  come  freely  to  Albany,  where  they 
would  be  treated  kindly,  and  receive,  in  exchange  for  their  peltries, 
everything  as  cheap  as  any  other  Indians  in  covenant  of  friendship 
with  the  English,  f 

During  the  same  year  (1702)  the  Miamis  and  Senecas  settled  their 
quarrels,  exchanged  prisoners,  and  established  a  peace  between 
themselves.^: 

*  The  Iroquois  name  for  the  Straits  of  Detroit. 

f  Proceedings  of  a  conference  between  the  parties  mentioned  above.  New  York 
Colonial  Documents,  vol.  4,  pp.  979  to  981. 

X  New  York  Colonial  Documents,  vol.  4,  p.  989. 

9 


130  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

The  French  were  not  disposed  to  allow  a  portion  of  the  fur  trade 
to  be  diverted  to  Albany.  Peaceable  means  were  first  used  to  dis- 
suade the  Miamis  from  trading  with  the  English ;  failing  in  this, 
forcible  means  were  resorted  to.  Captain  Antoine  De  La  Mothe 
Cadillac  marched  against  the  Miamis  and  reduced  them  to  terms.* 

The  Miamis  were  not  unanimous  in  the  choice  of  their  friends. 
Some  adhered  to  the  French,  while  others  were  strongly  inclined  to 
trade  with  the  English,  of  whom  they  could  obtain  a  better  quality 
of  goods  at  cheaper  rates,  while  at  the  same  time  they  were  allowed 
a  greater  price  for  their  furs.  Cadillac  had  hardly  effected  a  coercive 
peace  with  the  Miamis  before  the  latter  were  again  at  Albany.  "I 
have,'1  writes  Lord  Cournbury  to  the  Board  of  Trade,  in  a  letter 
dated  August  20,  1708,f  "been  there  five  years  endeavoring  to  get 
these  nations  [referring  to  the  Miamis  and  another  nation]  to  trade 
with  our  people,  but  the  French  have  always  dissuaded  them  from 
coming  until  this  year,  when,  goods  being  very  scarce,  they  came  to 
Albany,  where  our  people  have  supplied  them  with  goods  much 
cheaper  than  ever  the  French  did,  and  they  promise  to  return  in  the 
spring  with  a  much  greater  number  of  their  nations,  which  would  be 
a  very  great  advantage  to  this  province.  I  did,  in  a  letter  of  the 
25th  day  of  June  last,  inform  your  Lordships  that  three  French 
soldiers,  having  deserted  from  the  French  at  a  place  they  call  Le 
Destroit,  came  to  Albany.  Another  deserter  came  from  the  same 
place,  whom  I  examined  myself,  and  I  inclose  a  copy  of  his  exam- 
ination, by  which  your  Lordships  will  perceive  how  easily  the  French 
may  be  beaten  out  of  Canada.  The  better  I  am  acquainted  with  this 
country,  and  the  more  I  inquire  into  matters,  so  much  the  more  I 
am  confirmed  in  my  opinion  of  the  facility  of  effecting  that  conquest, 
and  by  the  method  I  then  proposed.11 

Turning  to  French  documents  we  find  that  Sieur  de  Callier  de- 
sired the  Miamis  to  withdraw  from  their  several  widely  separated 
villages  and  settle  in  a  body  upon  the  St.  Joseph.  At  a  great  council 
of  the  westward  tribes,  held  in  Montreal  in  1004,  the  French  In- 
tendant,  in  a  speech  to  the  Miamis,  declares  that  "he  will  not  believe 
that  the  Miamis  wish  to  obey  him  until  they  make  altogether  one 
and  the  same  fire,  either  at  the  River  St.  Joseph  or  at  some  other 
place  adjoining  it.  lie  tells  them  that  he  has  got  near  the  Iroquois, 
and  has  soldiers  at  Katarakoui, X  m  the  fort  that  had  been  abandoned  ; 
that  the  Miamis  must  get  near  the  enemy,  in  order  to  imitate  him 

*  Paris  Documents,  vol.  9,  p.  671:  note  of  the  editor. 
t  New  York  Colonial  Documents,  vol.  5,  p.  65. 
X  At  Fort  Frontenac. 


URGED   TO    UNITE    AT    ONE    PLACE.  131 

(the  Intendant),  and  be  able  to  strike  the  Iroquois  the  more  readily. 
M. y  children,"  continued  the  Intendant,  k'tell  me  that  the  Miamis 
are  numerous,  and  able  of  themselves  to  destroy  the  Iroquois.  Like 
them,  all  are  afraid.  What!  do  you  wish  to  abandon  your  country 
to  your  enemy  ?  .  .  .  Have  you  forgotten  that  I  waged  war  against 
him,  principally  on  your  account,  alone  ?  Your  dead  are  no  longer 
visible  in  his  country  ;  their  bodies  are  covered  by  those  of  the 
French  who  have  perished  to  avenge  them.  I  furnished  you  the 
means  to  avenge  them,  likewise.  It  depends  only  on  me  to  receive 
the  Iroquois  as  a  friend,  which  I  will  not  do  on  account  of  you,  who 
would  be  destroyed  were  I  to  make  peace  without  including  you  in 
its  ternls.,1  - 

"I  have  heard,"'  writes  Governor  Vaudreuil,  in  a  letter  dated 
the  28th  of  October,  1711),  to  the  Council  of  Marine  at  Paris,  '<that 
the  Miamis  had  resolved  to  remain  where  they  were,  and  not  go 
to  the  St.  Joseph  River,  and  that  this  resolution  of  theirs  was  dan- 
gerous, on  account  of  the  facility  they  would  have  of  communicating 
with  the  English,  who  were  incessantly  distributing  belts  secretly 
among  the  nations,  to  attract  them  to  themselves,  and  that  Sieur 
Dubinson  had  been  designed  to  command  the  post  of  Ouaytanons, 
where  he  should  use  his  influence  among  the  Miamis  to  induce  them 
to  go  to  the  River  St.  Joseph,  and  in  case  they  were  not  willing, 
that  he  should  remain  with  them,  to  counteract  the  effect  of  those 
belts,  which  had  already  caused  eight  or  ten  Miami  canoes  to  go  that 
year  to  trade  at  Albany,  and  which  might  finally  induce  all  of  the 
Miami  nation  to  follow  the  example,  "f  Finally,  some  twenty -five 
years  later,  as  we  learn  from  the  letter  of  M.  de  Beauharnois,  that 
this  French  officer,  having  learned  that  the  English  had  established 
trading  magazines  on  the  Ohio,  issued  his  orders  to  the  command- 
ants among  the  Weas  and  Miamis,  to  drive  the  British  off"  by  force 
of  arms  and  plunder  their  stores. J 

Other  extracts  might  be  drawn  from  the  voluminous  reports  of 
the  military  and  civil  officers  of  the  French  and  British  colonial 
governments  respectively,  to  the  same  purport  as  those  already 
quoted ;  but  enough  has  been  given  to  illustrate  the  unfortunate 
position  of  the  Miamis.  For  a  period  of  half  a  century  they  were 
placed  between  the  cutting  edges  of  English  and  French  pur- 
poses, during  which  there  was  no  time  when  they  were  not  threat- 
ened with  danger  of,  or  engaged  in.  actual  war  either  with  the 
French  or  the  English,  or  with  some  of  their  several  Indian  allies. 

*  Paris  Documents,  vol.  9,  p.  625.  f  Ibid,  p.  894.  %  Ibid,  p.  1105. 


132  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON    THE    NORTHWEST. 

By  this  continual  abrasion,  the  peace  and  happiness  which  should 
have  been  theirs  was  wholly  lost,  and  their  numbers  constantly 
reduced.  They  had  no  relief  from  the  strife,  in  which  only  injury 
could  result  to  themselves,  let  the  issue  have  been  what  it  might 
between  the  English  and  the  French,  until  the  power  of  the  latter 
was  finally  destroyed  in  1703  ;  and  even  then,  after  the  French  had 
given  up  the  country,  the  Miamis  were  compelled  to  defend  their 
own  title  to  it  against  the  arrogant  claims  of  the  English.  In  the 
effort  of  the  combined  westward  tribes  to  wrest  their  country  from 
the  English,  subsequent  to  the  close  of  the  colonial  wai\  the  Miamis 
took  a  conspicuous  part.  This  will  be  noticed  in  a  subsequent  chap- 
ter. After  the  conclusion  of  the  revolutionary  war,  the  several 
Miami  villages  from  the  Vermilion  River  to  Fort  Wayne  suffered 
severely  from  the  attacks  of  the  federal  government  under  General 
Harmer,  and  the  military  expeditions  recruited  in  Kentucky,  and 
commanded  by  Colonels  Scott  and  Wilkinson.  Besides  these  dis- 
asters, whole  villages  were  nearly  depopulated  by  the  ravages  of 
small-pox.  The  uncontrollable  thirst  for  whisky,  acquired,  through 
a  long  course  of  years,  by  contact  with  unscrupulous  traders,  reduced 
their  numbers  still  more,  while  it  degraded  them  to  the  last  degree. 
This  was  their  condition  in  1814,  when  General  Harrison  said  of 
them:  kkThe  Miamis  will  not  be  in  our  way.  They  are  a  poor, 
miserable,  drunken  set,  diminishing  every  year.  Becoming  too  lazy 
to  hunt,  they  feel  the  advantage  of  their  annuities.  The  fear  of  the 
other  Indians  has  alone  prevented  them  from  selling  their  whole 
claim  to  the  United  States;  and  as  soon  as  there  is  peace,  or  when 
the  British  can  no  longer  intrigue,  they  will  sell."*  The  same 
authority,  in  his  historical  address  at  Cincinnati  in  1838,  on  the 
aborigines  of  the  Valley  of  the  Ohio,  says:  k'At  any  time  before 
the  treaty  of  Greenville  in  1795  the  Miamis  alone  could  have  fur- 
nished more  than  three  thousand  warriors.  Constant  war  with  our 
frontier  had  deprived  them  of  many  of  their  braves,  but  the  ravages 
of  small-pox  was  the  principal  cause  of  the  great  decrease  in  their 
numbers.  They  composed,  however,  a  body  of  the  p'/n.sf  light 
troops  in  the  world.  And  had  they  been  under  an  efficient  system  of 
discipline,  or  possessed  enterprise  equal  to  their  valor,  the  settle- 
ment of  the  country  would  have  been  attended  with  much  greater 
difficulty  than  was  encountered  in  accomplishing  it,  and  their  final 
subluxation  would  have  been  delaved  for  some  vears/'f 

Yet  their  decline,  from  causes  assigned,  was  so  rapid,  that  when 

*  Official  letter  of  General  Harrison  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  of  date  March  24,  1814. 
t  P.  39  of  General  Harrison's  address,  original  pamphlet  edition. 


CESSION"    OF   THEIR    LANDS.  133 

the  Baptist  missionary,  Isaac  McCoy,  was  among  them  from  1817 
until  1822,  and  drawing  conclusions  from  personal  contact,  declared 
that  the  Miamis  were  not  a  warlike  people.  There  is,  perhaps,  in 
the  history  of  the  North  American  Indians,  no  instance  parallel  to 
the  utter  demoralization  of  the  Miamis,  nor  an  example  of  a  tribe 
which  stood  so  high  and  had  lallen  so  low  through  the  practice  of 
all  the  vices  which  degrade  human  beings.  Mr.  McCoy,  within  the 
period  named,  traveled  up  and  down  the  Wabash,  from  Terre  Haute 
to  Fort  Wayne  ;  and  at  the  villages  near  Montezuma,  on  Eel  River, 
at  the  Mississinewa  and  Fort  Wayne,  there  were  continuous  rounds 
of  drunken  debauchery  whenever  whisky  could  be  obtained,  of  which 
men,  women  and  children  all  partook,  and  life  was  often  sacrificed 
in  personal  broils  or  by  exposure  of  the  debauchees  to  the  inclemency 
of  the  weather.* 

By  treaties,  entered  into  at  various  times,  from  1795  to  1845,  in- 
clusive, the  Miamis  ceded  their  lands  in  Illinois,  Indiana  and  Ohio, 
and  removed  west  of  the  Mississippi,  going  in  villages  or  by  detach- 
ments, from  time  to  time.  At  a  single  cession  in  1838  they  sold 
the  government  177,000  acres  of  land  in  Indiana,  which  was  only  a 
fragment  of  their  former  possessions,  still  retaining  a  large  tract. 
Thus  they  alienated  their  heritage,  and  gradually  disappeared  from 
the  valleys  of  the  Maumee  and  Wabash.  A  few  remained  on  their 
reservations  and  adapted  themselves  to  the  ways  of  the  white  peo- 
ple, and  their  descendants  may  be  occasionally  met  with  about  Peru, 
Wabash  and  Fort  Wayne.  The  money  received  from  sales  of  their 
lands  proved  to  them  a  calamity,  rather  than  a  blessing,  as  it  intro- 
duced the  most  demoralizing  habits.  It  is  estimated  that  within  a 
period  of  eighteen  years  subsequent  to  the  close  of  the  war  of  1812 
more  than  five  hundred  of  them  perished  in  drunken  broils  and  lights.  f 

The  last  of  the  Miamis  to  go  westward  were  the  Mississinewa 
band.  This  remnant,  comprising  in  all  three  hundred  and  fifty  per- 
sons, under  charge  of  Christmas  Dagney,^:  left  their  old  home  in  the 

*  Mr.  McCoy  has  contributed  a  valuable  fund  of  original  information  in  his  History 
of  Baptist  Indian  Missions,  published  in  1840.  The  volume  contains  six  hundred  and 
eleven  pages.  He  mentions  many  instances  of  drunken  orgies  which  he  witnessed  in 
the  several  Miami  towns.  We  quote  one  of  them:  '"An  intoxicated  Indian  at  Fort 
Wayne  dismounted  from  his  horse  and  ran  up  to  a  young  Indian  woman  who  was  his 
sister-in-law,  with  a  knife  in  his  hand.  She  first  ran  around  one  of  the  company  pres- 
ent, and  then  another,  to  avoid  the  murderer,  but  in  vain.  He  stabbed  her  with  his 
knife.  She  then  fled  from  the  company.  He  stood  looking  after  her,  and  seeing  she 
did  not  fall,  pursued  her,  threw  her  to  the  earth  and  drove  his  knife  into  her  heart,  in 
the  presence  of  the  whole  company,  none  of  whom  ventured  to  save  the  girl's  life." 
P.  85. 

t  Vide  American  Cyclopaedia,  vol.  11,  p.  490. 

X  His  name  was,  also,  spelled  Dazney  and  Dagnett.  He  was  born  on  the  25th  of 
December,  1790,  at  the  Wea  village  of  Old  Orchard  Town,  or  We-au-ta-no,  "The 
Risen  Sun,"  situated  two  miles  below  Fort  Harrison.     His  father,  Ambroise  Dagney, 


134  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON"   THE    NORTHWEST. 

fall  of  1846,  and  reached  Cincinnati  on  canal-boats  in  October  of 
that  year.  Here  they  were  placed  upon  a  steamboat  and  taken  down 
the  Ohio,  up  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri,  and  landed  late  in  the 
season  at  AVestport,  near  Kansas  City.  Ragged  men  and  nearly 
naked  women  and  children,  forming  a  motley  group,  were  huddled 
upon  the  shore,  alone,  with  no  friends  to  relieve  their  wants,  and 
exposed  to  the  bitter  December  winds  that  blew  from  the  chilly 
plains  of  Kansas.  In  1670  the  Jesuit  Father  Dablon  introduces  the 
Miamis  to  our  notice  at  the  village  of  Maskoutench,  where  we  see 
the  chief  surrounded  by  his  officers  of  state  in  all  the  routine  of  bar- 
baric display,  and  the  natives  of  other  tribes  paying  his  subjects  the 
greatest  deference.  The  Miamis,  advancing  eastward,  in  the  rear  of 
the  line  of  their  valorous  warriors,  pushed  their  villages  into  Michi- 
gan, Indiana,  and  as  far  as  the  river  still  bearing  their  name  in  Ohio. 
Coming  in  collision  with  the  French,  English  and  Americans,  re- 
duced by  constant  wars,  and  decimated,  more  than  all,  with  vices 
contracted  by  intercourse  with  the  whites,  whose  virtues  they  failed 
to  emulate,  they  make  a  westward  turn,  and  having,  in  the  progress 
of  time,  described  the  round  of  a  most  singular  journey,  we  at  last 
behold  the  miserable  and  friendless  remnant  on  the  same  side  of  the 

was  a  Frenchman,  a  native  of  Kaskaskia,  and  served  during  Harrison's  campaign 
against  the  Indians,  in  1811,  in  Captain  Scott's  company,  raised  at  Vincennes.     He 
took  part  in  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe.     His  mother,  Me-chin-quam-e-sha,  the  Beauti- 
ful Shade  Tree,  was  the  sister  of  Jocco,  or  Tack-ke-ke-kah,  "The  Tall  Oak."  who 
was  chief  of  the  Wea  band  living  at  the  village  named,  and  whose  people  claimed 
the  country  east  of  the  Wabash,  from  the  mouth  of  Sugar  Creek  to  a  point  some  dis- 
tance below  Terre  Haute.     "Me-chin-quam-e-sha"  died  in  1822,  and  was  buried  at 
Fort  Harrison.     Christmas  Bagney  received  a  good  education  under  the  instruction  of 
the  Catholics.     He  spoke  French  and  English  with  great  fluency,  and  was  master  of 
the  dialects  of  the  several  Wabash  tribes.     For  many  years  he  was  government  inter- 
preter at  Fort  Harrison,  and  subsequently  Indian  agent,  having  the  superin tendency 
of  the  Wabash  Miamis,  whom  he  conducted  westward.     On  the  16th  of  February, 
1819,  he  was  married  to  "Mary  Ann  Isaacs,"  of  the  Brothertown  Indians,  who  had 
been  spending  a  few  weeks  at  the  mission  house  of  Isaac  McCoy,  situated  on  Raccoon 
Creek, —  or  Pishewa,  as  it  was  called  by  the  Indians,— a  few  miles  above  Armysburg. 
The  marriage  was  performed  by  Mr.  McCoy  "in  the  presence  of  our  Indian  neighbors, 
who  were  invited  to  attend  the  ceremony.    And  we  had  the  happiness  to  have  twenty- 
three  of  the  natives  partake  of  a  meal  prepared  on  the  occasion."    ]ride  page  64  in  his 
book,  before  quoted.     This  was,  doubtless,  the  first  marriage  that  was  celebrated  after 
the  formality  of  our  laws  within  the  present  limits  of  Parke  country.     By  the  terms  of 
the  treaty  at  St.  Mary's,  concluded  on  the  2d  of  October.  1818,  one  section  of  land  was 
reserved  for  the  exclusive  use  of  Mr.  Dagney,  and  he  went  to  Washington  and  selected 
a  section  that  included  the  village  of  Armysburg,  which  at  that  time  was  the  county 
seat,  and  consisted  of  a  row  of  log  houses  formed  out  of  sugar-tree  logs  and  built 
continuously  together,  from  which  circumstance  it  derived  the  name  of  "String- 
town."     As  a  speculation  the  venture  was  not  successful,  for  the  seat  of  justice  was 
removed  to  Rockville,  and  town  lots  at  Stringtown  ceased  to  have  even  a  prospective 
value.    Mr.  Dagney's  family  occupied  the  reservation  as  a  farm  until  about  1846.    Mr. 
Dagney  died  in  1848,  at  Coldwater  Grove,  Kansas.     Her  second  husband  was  Babtise 
Peoria.   Mrs.  Babtise  Peoria  had  superior  opportunities  to  acquire  an  extensive  knowl- 
edge of  the  Wabash  tribes  between  Vincennes  and  Fort  Wayne,  as  she  lived  on  the 
Wabash  from  1817  until  1846.     She  is  now  living  at  Paola,  Kansas,  where  the  author 
met  her  in  November,  1878. 


REMOVAL    WESTWARD.  135 

Mississippi  from  whence  their  warlike  progenitors  had  come  nearly 
two  centuries  before. 

From  Westport  the  Mississinewas  were  conducted  to  a  place 
near  the  present  village  of  Lowisburg,  Kansas,  in  the  county  named 
(Miami)  after  the  tribe.  Here  they  suffered  greatly.  Nearly  one 
third  of  their  number  died  the  first  year.  They  were  homesick  and 
disconsolate  to  the  last  degree.  "  Strong  men  would  actually  weep, 
as  their  thoughts  recurred  to  their  dear  old  homes  in  Indiana, 
whither  many  of  them  would  make  journeys,  barefooted,  begging 
their  way,  and  submitting  to  the  imprecations  hurled  from  the  door 
of  the  white  man  upon  them  as  they  asked  for  a  crust  of  bread. 
They  wanted  to  die  to  forget  their  miseries."  k,I  have  seen,"  says 
Mrs.  Mary  Baptiste  to  the  author,  "mothers  and  fathers  give  their 
little  children  away  to  others  of  the  tribe  for  adoption,  and  after 
singing  their  funeral  songs,  and  joining  in  the  solemn  dance  of 
death,  go  calmly  away  from  the  assemblage,  to  be  seen  no  more 
alive.  The  Miamis  could  not  be  reconciled  to  the  prairie  winds  of 
Kansas;  they  longed  for  the  woods  and  groves  that  gave  a  partial- 
shade  to  the  flashing  waters  of  the   Wah-pe-sha."* 

The  AVea  and  Piankeshaw  bands  preceded  the  Mississinewas  to 
the  westward.  They  had  become  reduced  to  a  wretched  community 
of  about  two  hundred  and  fifty  souls,  and  they  suffered  severely 
during  the  civil  war,  in  Kansas.  The  Miamis,  AVeas,  Piankeshaws, 
and  the  remaining  fragments  of  the  Kaskaskias,  containing  under 
that  name  what  yet  remained  of  the  several  subdivisions  of  the  old 
Illini  confederacy,  were  gathered  together  by  Baptiste  Peoria,  and 
consolidated   mule]-  the  title  of    The  Confederated  Tribes. f     This 

*The  peculiar  sound  with  which  Mrs.  Baptiste  gave  the  Miami  pronunciation  of 
Wabash  is  difficult  to  express  in  mere  letters.  The  principal  accent  is  on  the  first  syl- 
lable, the  minor  accent  on  the  last,  while  the  second  syllable  is  but  slightly  sounded. 
The  word  means  "white"  in  both  the  Miami  and  Peoria  dialects.  In  treating  upon 
the  derivation  of  the  word  Wabash  (p.  100),  the  manuscript  containing  the  statements 
of  Mrs.  Baptiste  was  overlooked. 

fThis  remarkable  man  was  the  son  of  a  daughter  of  a  sub-chief  of  the  Peoria 
tribe.  He  was  born,  according  to  the  best  information,  in  1793,  near  the  confluence  of 
the  Kankakee  and  Maple,  as  the  Des  Plaines  River  was  called  by  the  Illinois  Indians 
and  the  French  respectively.  His  reputed  father  was  a  French  Canadian  trader  liv- 
ing with  this  tribe,  and  whose  name  was  Baptiste.  Young  Peoria  was  called  Batticy 
by  his  mother.  Later  in  life  he  was  known  as  Baptiste  the  Peoria,  and  finally  as  Bap- 
tiste Peoria.  The  people  of  his  tribe  gave  the  name  a  liquid  sound,  and  pronounced 
it  as  if  it  were  spelled  Paola.  The  county  seat  of  Miami  county,  Kansas,  is  named 
after  him.  He  was  a  man  of  large  frame,  active,  and  possessed  of  great  strength  and 
courage.  Like  Keokuk,  the  great  chief  of  the  Sacs  and  Fox  Indians,  Paola  was  fond 
of  athletic  sports,  and  was  an  expert  horseman.  He  had  a  ready  command  both  of 
the  French  Canadian  and  the  English  languages.  He  was  familiar  with  the  dialects  of 
the  Pottawatomies,  Shawnees,  Delawares,  Miamis  and  Kickapoos.  These  qualifications 
as  a  linguist  soon  brought  him  into  prominence  among  the  Indians,  while  his  known 
integrity  commended  his  services  to  the  United  States  government.  From  the  year 
1821  to  the  year  1838  he  assisted  in  the  removal  of  the  above-named  tribes  from  Indi- 


136  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

little  confederation  disposed  of  their  reservation  in  Miami  county. 
Kansas,  and  adjacent  vicinity,  and  retired  to  a  tract  of  reduced 
dimensions  within  the  Indian  Territory.  Since  their  last  change  of 
location  in  L867  they  have  made  but  little  progress  in  their  efforts 
toward  a  higher  civilization.  The  numbers  of  what  remains  of  the 
once  numerous  Illinois  and  Miami  confederacies  are  reduced  to  less 
than  two  hundred  persons.  The  Miamis,  like  the  unfortunate  man 
who  has  carried  his  dissipations  beyond  the  limit  from  which  there 
can  be  no  healthy  reaction,  seem  not  to  have  recovered  from  the 
vices  contracted  before  leaving  the  states,  and  with  some  notable 
exceptions,  they  are  a  listless,  idle  people,  little  worthy  of  the  spirit 
that  inspired  the  breasts  of  their  ancestors. 

ana  and  Illinois  to  their  reservations  beyond  the  Mississippi.  His  duties  as  Indian 
agent  brought  him  in  contact  with  many  of  the  early  settlers  on  the  Illinois  and  the 
Wabash,  from  Vincennes  to  Fort  Wayne.  In  1818,  when  about  twenty-five  years  of 
age,  Batticy  represented  his  tribe  at  the  treaty  at  Edwardsville.  By  this  treaty,  which  is 
signed  by  representatives  from  all  the  five  tribes  comprising  the  Illinois  or  Illini  nation 
of  Indians,  viz.  the  Peorias.  Kaskaskias,  Mitchigamias,  Cahokias  and  Tamaoris,  it 
appears  that  for  a  period  of  years  anterior  to  that  time  the  Peorias  had  lived,  and  were 
then  living,  separate  and  apart  from  the  other  tribes  named.  Treaties  with  the  Indian 
Tribes,  etc.,  p.  247,  government  edition.  1837.  By  this  treaty  the  several  tribes  named 
ceded  to  the  United  States  the  residue  of  their  lands  in  Illinois.  For  nearly  thirty  years 
was  Baptiste  Peoria  in  the  service  of  the  United  States.  In  1867  Peoria  became  the 
chief  of  the  consolidated  tribes  of  the  Miamis  and  Illinois,  and  went  with  them  to 
their  new  reservation  in  the  northeast  corner  of  the  Indian  Territory,  where  he  died 
on  the  13th  of  September,  1873,  aged  eighty  years.  Some  years  before  his  death  he 
married  Mary  Baptiste.  the  widow  of  Christmas  Dagney,  who.  as  before  stated,  still 
survives.  I  am  indebted  to  this  lady  for  copies  of  the  "  Western  Spirit."  a  newspaper 
published  at  Paola.  and  the  "Fort  Scott  Monitor."  containing  obituary  notices  and 
biographical  sketches  of  her  late  husband,  from  which  this  notice  of  Baptiste  Peoria 
has  been  summarized.  Baptiste  may  be  said  to  be  "'the  last  of  the  Peorias."  He 
made  a  manly  and  persistent  effort  to  save  the  fragment  of  the  Illinois  and  Miamis, 
and  by  precepts  and  example  tried  to  encourage  them  to  adopt  the  ways  of  civilized 
life. 


CHAPTER   XV. 

THE  POTTAWATOMIES. 

When  the  Jesuits  were  extending  their  missions  westward  of 
Quebec  they  found  a  tribe  of  Indians,  called  Ottawas,  living  upon 
a  river  of  Canada,  to  which  the  name  of  Ottawa  was  given.  After 
the  dispersion  of  the  Ilurons  by  the  Iroquois,  in  1649,  the  Ottawas, 
to  the  number  of  one  thousand,  joined  five  hundred  of  the  discom- 
fited Ilurons,  and  with  them  retired  to  the  southwestern  shore  of 
Lake  Superior.'"  The  fugitives  were  followed  by  the  missionaries, 
who  established  among  them  the  Mission  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  at  La 
Pointe,  already  mentioned.  Shortly  after  the  establishment  of  the 
mission  the  Jesuits  made  an  enumeration  of  the  western  Algonquin 
tribes,  in  which  all  are  mentioned  except  the  Ojibbeways  and  Pian- 
keshaws.  The  nation  which  dwelt  south  of  the  mission,  classified  as 
speaking  the  pure  Algonquin,  is  uniformly  called  Ottawas,  and  the 
Ojibbeways,  by  whom  they  were  surrounded,  were  never  once  noticed 
by  that  name.  Hence  it  is  certain  that  at  that  early  day  the  Jesuits 
considered  the  Ottawas  and  Ojibbeways  as  one  people. f 

In  close  consanguinity  with  the  Ottawas  and  ( )jibbeways  were 
the  Pottawatomies,  between  whom  there  was  only  a  slight  dialectical 
difference  in  language,  while  the  manners  and  customs  prevailing  in 
the  three  tribes  were  almost  identical.:}:  This  view  was  again  re- 
asserted by  Mr.  Gallatin:  "Although  it  must  be  admitted  that  the 
Algonquins,  the  Ojibbewrays,  the  Ottawas  and  the  Pottawatomies 
speak  different  dialects,  these  are  so  nearly  allied  that  they  may  be 
considered  rather  as  dialects  of  the  same,  than  as  distinct  languages. "§ 

This  conclusion  of  Mr.  Gallatin  was  arrived  at  after  a  scientific 
and  analytical  comparison  of  the  languages  of  the  tribes  mentioned. 

In  confirmation  of  the  above  statement  we  have  the  speeches  of 
three  Indian  chiefs  at  Chicago  in  the  month  of  August,  1821.  Dur- 
ing the  progress  of  the  treaty,  Keewaygooshkum,  a  chief  of  the  first 
authority  among  the  Ottawas,  stated  that  "the  Chippewas,  the  Pot- 

*  Jesuit  Relations  for  16G6. 

t  Albert  Gallatin's  Synopsis  of  the  Indian  Tribes,  p.  27. 

%  Jesuit  Relations. 

§  Synopsis  of  the  Indian  Tribes,  p.  29. 

137 


138  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

tawatomies  and  the  Ottawas  were  originally  one  nation.  We  sepa- 
rated from  each  other  near  Michilimackinac.  We  were  related  by 
the  ties  of  blood,  language  and  interest,  but  in  the  course  of  a  long- 
time these  things  have  been  forgotten,''  etc. 

At  the  conclusion  of  this  speech,  Mich-el,  an  aged  chief  of  the 
Chippewas,  said  :  "My  Brethren, — I  am  about  to  speak  a  few  words. 
I  know  von  expect  it.  Be  silent,  therefore,  that  the  words  of  an  old 
man  may  be  heard. 

"My  Brethren, — You  have  heard  the  man  who  has  just  spoken. 
We  are  all  descended  from  the  same  stock, —  the  Pottawatomies,  the 
(  nippeways  and  the  Ottawas.  We  consider  ourselves  as  one.  Why 
should  we  not  always  act  in  concert '.  " 

Metea,  the  most  powerful  of  the  Pottawatomie  chieftains,  in  his 
speech  made  this  statement : 

"Brothers,  Chippeways  and  Ottawas, — we  consider  ourselves  as 
one  people,  which  you  know,  as  also  our  father*  here,  who  has  trav- 
eled over  our  country." 

Mr.  Schoolcraft,  in  commenting  on  the  above  statements,  re- 
marks :  "This  testimony  of  a  common  origin  derives  additional 
weight  from  the  general  resemblance  of  these  tribes  in  person,  man- 
ners, customs  and  dress,  but  above  all  by  their  having  one  council- 
tire  and  speaking  one  language.  Still  there  are  obvious  characteris- 
tics which  will  induce  an  observer,  after  a  general  acquaintance,  to 
pronounce  the  Pottawatomies  tall,  tierce,  haughty ;  the  Ottawas 
short,  thick-set,  good-natured,  industrious ;  the  Chippeways  warlike, 
daring,  etc.  But  the  general  lineaments,  or,  to  borrow  a  phrase 
from  natural  history,  the  suite  features,  are  identical,  f 

The  first  mention  that  we  have  of  the  Pottawatomies  is  in  the 
Jesuit  Relations  for  the  years  1639-40.  They  are  then  mentioned  as 
dwelling  beyond  the  River  St.  Lawrence,  and  to  the  north  of  the 
great  lake  of  the  Hurons.  At  this  period  it  is  very  likely  that  the 
Pottawatomies  had  their  homes  both  north  of  Lake  Huron  and 
south  of  it,  in  the  northern  part  of  the  present  State  of  Michigan. 
Twenty-six  or  seven  years  after  this  date  the  country  of  the  Potta- 
watomies is  described  as  being  "'about  the  Lake  of  the  Ilimouek. "* 
They  were  mentioned  as  being  "a  warlike  people,  hunters  and  fish- 
ers. Their  country  is  very  good  for  Indian  corn,  of  which  they 
plant  fields,  and  to  which  they  willingly  retire  to  avoid  the  famine 
that  is  too  common  in  these  quarters.  They  are  in  the  highest  de- 
gree idolaters,  attached  to  ridiculous  fables  and  devoted  to  polygamy. 

*  Lewis  Cass.  t  Schoolcraft's  Central  Mississippi  Valle}'.  pp.  357,  360,  368. 

%  Lake  Michigan. 


THE    POTT  AW  ATOMIES.  139 

We  have  seen  them  here*  to  the  number  of  three  hundred  men,  all 
capable  of  bearing  arms.  Of  all  the  people  that  I  have  associated  with 
in  these  countries,  they  are  the  most  docile  and  the  most  affectionate 
toward  the  French.  Their  wives  and  daughters  are  more  reserved 
than  those  of  other  nations.  They  have  a  species  of  civility  among 
them,  and  make  it  apparent  to  strangers,  which  is  very  rare  among 
our  barbarians. ' '  -f 

In  1670  the  Pottawatomies  had  collected  at  the  islands  at  the 
mouth  of  Green  Bay  which  have  taken  their  name  from  this  tribe. 
Father  Claude  Dablon,  in  a  letter  concerning  the  mission  of  St. 
Francis  Xavier,  which  was  located  on  Qreen  Bay,  in  speaking  of 
this  tribe,  remarks  that  "the  Pouteouatami,  the  Ousaki,  and  those 
of  the  Forks,  also  dwell  here,  but  as  strangers,  the  fear  of  the  Iro- 
quois having  driven  them  from  their  lands,  which  are  between  the 
Lake  of  the  Ilurons  and  that  of  the  Illinois.' '[J; 

In  1721,  says  Charlevoix,  "the  Poutewatamies  possessed  only 
one  of  the  small  islands  at  the  mouth  of  Green  Bay,  but  had  two 
other  villages,  one  on  the  St.  Joseph  and  the  other  at  the  Nar- 
rows. "§ 

Driven  out  of  the  peninsula  between  lakes  Huron  and  Michigan, 
the  Pottawatomies  took  up  their  abode  on  the  Bay  de  Noquet,  and 
other  islands  near  the  entrance  of  Green  Bay.  From  these  islands 
they  advanced  southward  along  the  west  shore  of  Lake  Michigan. 
Extracts  taken  from  Hennepin's  Narrative  of  La  Salle's  Voyage 
mention  the  fact  that  the  year  previous  to  La  Salle's  coming  west- 
ward (1678),  he  had  sent  out  a  party  of  traders  in  advance,  who  had 
bartered  successfully  with  the  Pottawatomies  upon  the  islands 
named,  and  who  were  anxiously  waiting  for  La  Salle  at  the  time  of 
his  arrival  in  the  Griffin.  Hennepin  further  states  that  La  Salle's 
party  bartered  with  the  Pottawatomies  at  the  villages  they  passed 
on  the  voyage  southward. 

From  this  time  forward  the  Pottawatomies  steadily  moved  south- 
ward.  When  La  Salle  reached  the  St.  Joseph  of  Lake  Michigan 
there  were  no  Pottawatomies  in  that  vicinity.  Shortly  after  this 
date,  however,  they  had  a  village  on  the  south  bank  of  this  stream, 
near  the  present  city  of  Xiles,  Michigan.  On  the  northern  bank 
was  a  village  of  Miamis.  The  Mission  of  St.  Joseph  was  here 
established  and  in  successful  operation  prior  to  1711,  from  which 
fact,  with  other  incidental  circumstances,  it  has  been  inferred  that 

*  La  Pointe.  %  Jesuit  Relations,  1 670-7 1 . 

t  Jesuit  Relations,  1GG6-7.  §  Detroit. 


140  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

the  Pottawatomies,  as  well  as  the  mission,  were  on  the  St.  Joseph  as 
early  as  the  year  1700.* 

Father  Charlevoix  fixes  the  location  of  both  the  mission  and  the 
military  post  as  being  at  the  same  place  beyond  a  doubt.      "It  was 
eight  days  yesterday  since  I  arrived  at  this  post,  where  we  have  a 
mission,  and  where  there  is  a  commandant   with  a  small  garrison. 
The  commandant's  house,  which  is  a  very  sorry  one,  is  called  the 
fort,  from   its  being  surrounded  by  an  indifferent  palisado,  which  is 
pretty  near  the  case  in  all  the  rest,  except  Forts  Chambly  and  Cata- 
rocony,  which  are  real  fortresses.     We  have  here  two   villages  of 
Indians,  one  of  Miamis  and  the  other  of  Pottawatomies,  both  of 
them  mostly  Christians  ;  but  as  they  have  been  for  a  long  time  with- 
out any  pastors,  the  missionary  who  has  lately  been  sent  them  will 
have  no  small  difficulty  in  bringing  them  back  to  the  exercise  of 
their  religion."  + 

The  authorities  for  locating  the  old  mission  and  fort  of  St.  Joseph 
near  Xiles  are  Charlevoix,  Prof.  Keating  and  the  Rev.  Isaac  Mc- 
Coy. Commenting  on  the  remains  of  the  old  villages  upon  the  St. 
Joseph  River  at  the  time  Long's  expedition  passed  that  way,  in  1S23, 
the  compiler  states  that  "the  prairies,  woodland  and  river  were 
rendered  more  picturesque  by  the  ruins  of  Strawberry,  Rum  and 
St.  Joseph's  villages,  formerly  the  residence  of  the  Indians  or  of 
the  first  French  settlers.  It  was  curious  to  trace  the  difference  in 
the  remains  of  the  habitations  of  the  red  and  white  man  in  the 
midst  of  this  distant  solitude.     While  the  untenanted  cabin  of  the 

*  Some  confusion  has  arisen  from  a  confounding  of  the  Mission  of  St.  Joseph  and 
Fort  St.  Joseph  with  the  Fort  Miamis.  The  two  were  distinct,  some  miles  apart,  and 
erected  at  different  dates.  It  is  plain,  from  the  accounts  given  by  Hennepin,  Membre 
and  La  Hontan,  that  Fort  Miamis  was  located  on  Lake  Michigan,  at  the  month  of  the 
St.  Joseph.  It  is  equally  clear  that  the  Mission  of  St.  Joseph  and  Fort  St.  Joseph 
were  some  miles  up  the  St.  Joseph  River,  and  a  few  miles  below  the  "portage  of  the 
Kankakee  "  at  South  Bend.  Father  Charlevoix,  in  his  letter  of  the  16th  of  August, 
1721. —  after  having  in  a  previous  letter  referred  to  his  reaching  the  St.  Joseph  and 
going  up  it  toward  the  fort, —  says:  "We  afterward  sailed  up  twenty  leagues  before 
we  reached  the  fort."  Vol.  2,  p.  94.  Again,  in  a  subsequent  letter  (p.  184):  "  I  de- 
parted yesterday  from  the  Fort  of  the  River  St.  Joseph  and  sailed  up  that  river  about 
six  leagues.  I  went  ashore  on  the  right  and  walked  a  league  and  a  quarter,  first  along 
the  water  side  and  afterward  across  a  field  in  an  immense  meadow,  entirely  covered 
with  copses  of  wood."  And  in  the  next  paragraph,  on  the  same  page,  follows  his 
description  of  the  sources  of  the  Kankakee,  quoted  in  this  work  on  page  77.  Here, 
then,  we  have  the  position  of  Fort  St.  Joseph  and  the  mission  of  that  name  and  the 
two  villages  of  the  Pottawatomies  and  the  Miamis.  on  the  St.  Joseph  River,  six  leagues 
below  South  Bend.  In  Dr.  Shea's  Catholic  Missions,  page  423,  it  is  stated  that  "La  Salle, 
on  his  way  to  the  Mississippi,  had  built  a  temporary  fort  on  the  St.  Joseph,  not  far 
from  the  portage  leading  to  the  The-a-ki-ke";  and  Mr.  Charles  R.  Brown,  in  his 
Missions.  Forts  and  Trading  Posts  of  the  Northwest,  p.  14,  says  that  "Fort  Miamis, 
built  at  the  mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph's  River  by  La  Salle,  was  afterward  called  St. 
Joseph,  to  distinguish  it  from  (Fort)  Miamis,  on  the  Maumee."  In  this  instance 
neither  of  these  writers  follow  the  text  of  established  authorities, 
t  Charlevoix'  Narrative  Journal,  pp.  93,  94. 


ST.    JOSEPH.  141 

Indian  presented  in  its  neighborhood  but  the  remains  of  an  old 
cornlield  overgrown  with  weeds,  the  rude  hut  of  the  Frenchman  was 
surrounded  with  vines,  and  with  the  remains  of  his  former  garden- 
ing exertions.  The  asparagus,  the  pea  vine  and  the  woodbine  still 
grow  about  it,  as  though  in  defiance  of  the  revolutions  which  have 
dispersed  those  who  planted  them  here.  The  very  names  of  the 
villages  mark  the  difference  between  their  former  tenants.  Those 
of  the  Indians  were  designated  by  the  name  of  the  fruit  which  grew 
abundantly  on  the  spot  or  of  the  object  which  they  coveted  most, 
while  the  French  missionary  has  placed  his  village  under  the  patron- 
age of  the  tutelar  saint  in  whom  he  reposed  his  utmost  confidence. "* 

The  asparagus,  the  pea-vine  and  the  woodbine  preserved  the 
identity  of  the  spot  against  the  encroachments  of,  the  returning  for- 
ests until  1822,  when  Isaac  McCoy  established  among  the  Pottawat- 
omies  the  Baptist  mission  called  Carey,  out  of  respect  for  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Carey,  a  missionary  of  the  same  church  in  Hindostan.  "It  is 
said  that  the  Pottawatoniies  themselves  selected  this  spot  for  Carey's 
mission,  it  being  the  site  of  their  old  village.  This  must  have  been 
very  populous,  as  the  remains  of  corn-hills  are  very  visible  at  this 
time,  and  are  said  to  extend  over  a  thousand  acres.  The  village 
was  finally  abandoned  about  fifty  years  ago  (1773),  but  there  are  a 
few  of  the  oldest  of  the  nation  who  still  recollect  the  sites  of  their 
respective  huts.  They  are  said  to  frequently  visit  the  establishment 
and  to  trace  with  deep  feeling  a  spot  which  is  endeared  to  them.11  f 

On  a  cold  winter  night  in  1833  a  traveler  was  ferried  over  the 
St.  Joseph  at  the  then  straggling  village  of  Niles.  "Ascending  the 
bank,  a  beautiful  plain  with  a  clump  of  trees  here  and  there  upon  its 
surface  opened  to  his  view.  The  establishment  of  Carey's  mission, 
a  long,  low,  white  building,  could  be  distinguished  afar  off  faintly 
in  the  moonlight,  while  several  winter  lodges  of  the  Pottawatoniies 
were  plainly  visible  over  the  plain.'1  \ 

Concerning  the  Pottawatomie  village  near  Detroit,  and  also  some 
of  the  customs  peculiar  to  the  tribe,  we  have  the  following  account. 
It  was  written  in  1718  :  § 

"The  fort  of  Detroit  is  south  of  the  river.  The  village  of  the 
Pottawatoniies  adjoins  the  fort;   they  lodge  partly  under  Apaquois,  fl 

*  Long's  Second  Expedition,  vol.  1,  pp.  147,  148. 

t  Long's  Second  Expedition,  vol.  1,  p.  153,  McCoy's  History  of  Baptist  Indian  Mis- 
sions. 

X  Hoffman's  Winter  in  the  West,  vol.  1,  p.  225. 

§  Memoir  on  the  Indians  between  Lake  Erie  and  the  Mississippi.  Paris  Documents, 
vol.  9,  p.  887. 

||  Apaquois,  matting  made  of  flags  or  rushes;  from  apee,  a  leaf,  and  wigquoi&m.,  a 
hut.     They  cover  their  huts  with  mats  made  of  rushes  platted.     Carver's  Travels. 


142  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON"   THE    NORTHWEST. 

which  are  made  of  mat-grass.  The  women  do  all  the  work.  The 
men  belonging  to  that  nation  are  well  clothed,  like,  our  domiciliated 
Indians  at  Montreal.  Their  entire  occupation  is  hunting  and  dress  ; 
they  make  use  of  a  great  deal  of  vermilion,  and  in  winter  wear 
buffalo  robes  richly  painted,  and  in  summer  either  blue  or  red  cloth. 
They  play  a  good  deal  at  La  Crosse  in  summer,  twenty  or  more  on 
each  side.  Their  bat  is  a  sort  of  a  little  racket,  and  the  ball  with 
which  they  play  is  made  of  very  heavy  wood,  somewhat  larger  than 
the  balls  used  at  tennis.  When  playing  they  are  entirely  naked, 
except  a  breech  cloth  and  moccasins  on  their  feet.  Their  body  is 
completely  painted  with  all  sorts  of  colors.  Some,  with  white  clay, 
trace  white  lace  on  their  bodies,  as  if  on  all  the  seams  of  a  coat,  and 
at  a  distance  it  would  be  apt  to  be  taken  for  silver  lace.  They  play 
very  deep  and  often.  The  bets  sometimes  amount  to  more  than 
eight  hundred  livres.  They  set  up  two  poles,  and  commence  the 
game  from  the  center;  one  party  propels  the  ball  from  one  side  and 
the  others  from  the  opposite,  and  whichever  reaches  the  goal  wins. 
This  is  fine  recreation  and  worth  seeing.  They  often  play  village 
against  village,  the  Poux*  against  the  Ottawas  or  Hurons,  and 
lay  heavy  stakes.  Sometimes  Frenchmen  join  in  the  game  with 
them.  The  women  cultivate  Indian  corn,  beans,  peas,  squashes  and 
melons,  which  come  up  very  fine.  The  women  and  girls  dance  at 
night ;  adorn  themselves  considerably,  grease  their  hair,  put  on  a 
white  shift,  paint  their  cheeks  with  vermilion,  and  wear  whatever 
wampum  they  possess,  and  are  very  tidy  in  their  way.  They  dance 
to  the  sound  of  the  drum  and  sisiquoi,  which  is  a  sort  of  gourd  con- 
taining some  grains  of  shot.  Four  or  five  young  men  sing  and  beat 
time  with  the  drum  and  sisiquoi,  and  the  women  keep  time  and  do 
not  lose  a  step.  It  is  very  entertaining,  and  lasts  almost  the  entire 
night.  The  old  men  often  dance  the  Medicine,  f  They  resemble  a 
set  of  demons ;  and  all  this  takes  place  during  the  night.  The 
young  men  often  dance  in  a  circle  and  strike  posts.  It  is  then  they 
recount  their  achievements  and  dance,  at  the  same  time,  the  war 
dance  ;  and  whenever  they  act  thus  they  are  highly  ornamented.  It 
is  altogether  very  curious.  They  often  perform  these  things  for 
tobacco.  "When  they  go  hunting,  which  is  every  tall,  they  carry 
their  apaquois  with  them,  to  hut  under  at  night.     Everybody  follows, 

*  The  Pottawatomies  were  sometimes  known  by  the  contraction  Poux.  La  Hontan 
uses  this  name,  and  erroneously  confounds  them  with  the  Puans  or  Winnebagoes.  In 
giving  the  coat-of-arms  of  the  Pottawatomies,  representing  a  dog  crouched  in  the 
grass,  he  says:  "They  were  called  Puants."     Vol.  2,  p.  84. 

t  Medicine  dance. 


ORIGIN    OF    POTTAWATOMIE.  143 

men,  women  and  children.      They  winter  in  the  forest  and  return  in 
the  spring." 

The  Pottawatomies  swarmed  from  their  prolific  hives  about  the 
islands  of  Mackinaw,  and  spread  themselves  over  portions  of  Wis- 
consin, and  eastward  to  their  ancient  homes  in  Michigan.  At  a 
later  day  they  extended  themselves  upon  the  territory  of  the  ancient 
Illinois,  covering  a  large  portion  of  the  state.  From  the  St.  Joseph 
Eiver  and  Detroit  their  bands  moved  southward  over  that  part  of 
Indiana  north  and  west  of  the  Wabash,  and  thence  down  that 
stream.  They  were  a  populous  horde  of  hardy  children  of  the 
forests,  of  great  stamina,  and  their  constitutions  were  hardened  by 
the  rierorous  climate  of  the  northern  lakes. 

Among  the  old  French  writers  the  orthography  of  the  word 
Pottawatomies  varied  to  suit  the  taste  of  the  writer.  "We  give  some 
of  the  forms:  Poutouatimi,*  Pouteotatamis.f  Poutouatamies, |  Pou- 
tewatamis,^  Pautawattamies,  Puttewatamies,  Potto wottamies  and 
Pottawattamies.  |  The  tribe  was  divided  into  four  clans,  the  Golden 
Carp,  the  Frog,  the  Crab,  and  the  Tortoise.8^  The  nation  was  not 
like  the  Illinois  and  Miamis,  divided  into  separate  tribes,  but  the 
different  bands  would  separate  or  unite  according  to  the  scarcity  or 
abundance  of  game. 

The  word  Pottawatomie  signifies,  in  their  own  language,  we  are 
making  afire,  for  the  origin  of  which  they  have  the  following  tradi- 
tion :  "  It  is  said  that  a  Miami,  having  wandered  out  from  his  cabin, 
met  three  Indians  whose  language  was  unintelligible  to  him;  by  signs 
and  motions  he  invited  them  to  follow  him  to  his  cabin,  where  they 
were  hospitably  entertained,  and  where  they  remained  until  after 
dark.  During  the  night  two  of  the  strange  Indians  stole  from  the 
hut,  while  their  comrade  and  host  were  asleep  ;  they  took  a  few 
embers  from  the  cabin,  and,  placing  these  near  the  door  of  the  hut, 
they  made  a  fire,  which,  being  afterward  seen  by  the  Miami  and 
remaining  guest,  was  understood  to  imply  a  council  fire  in  token  of 
peace  between  the  two  nations.  From  this  circumstance  the  Miami 
called  them  in  his  language  Wa-ho-na-ha,  or  the  fire-makers,  which, 
being  translated  into  the  language  of  the  three  guests,  produced  the 
term  by  which  their  nation  has  ever  since  been  distinguished." 

After  this  the  Miamis  termed  the  Pottawatomies  their  younger 
brothers ;  but  afterward,  in  a  council,  this  was  changed,  from  the 

*  Jesuit  Relations.  §  Charlevoix, 

f  Father  Membre.  ||  Paris  Documents, 

jjoutel's  Journal. 

II  Enumeration  of  the  Indian  tribes,  the  Warriors  and  Armorial  Bearings  of  each 
Nation,  made  in  1736.     Published  in  Documentary  History  of  New  York. 


144  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

circumstance  that  they  resided  farther  to  the  west;  "as  those  nations 
which  reside  to  the  west  of  others  are  deemed  more  ancient."* 

The  Pottawatomies  were  unswerving  in  their  adherence  to  the 

French,  when  the  latter  had  possession  of  the  boundless  Northwest. 
In  1712,  when  a  large  force  of  Mascoutins  and  Foxes  besieged  De- 
troit, they  were  conspicuous  for  their  fidelity.  They  rallied  the 
other  tribes  to  the  assistance  of  the  French,  and  notified  the  besieged 
garrison  to  hold  out  against  their  enemies  until  their  arrival.  Mak- 
isabie,  the  war  chief  of  the  Pottawatomies,  sent  word  through  Mr. 
de  Vincennes,  "  l'ust  arrived  from  the  Miami  country,  that  he  would 
soon  be  at  Detroit  with  six  hundred  of  his  warriors  to  aid  the  French 
and  eat  those  miserable  nations  who  had  troubled  all  the  country." 
The  commandant,  M.  du  Buisson,  was  gratified  when  he  ascended 
a  bastion,  and  looking  toward  the  forest  saw  the  army  of  the  nations 
issuing  from  it ;  the  Pottawatomies,  the  Illinois,  the  Missouris,  the 
Ottawas,  the  Sacs  and  the  Menominees  were  there,  armed  and  painted 
in  all  the  glory  of  war.  Detroit  never  saw  such  a  collection.  "My 
Father,"  says  the  chief  to  the  commandant,  '-I  speak  to  you  on 
the  part  of  all  the  nations,  your  children  who  are  before  you.  What 
you  did  last  year  in  drawing  their  flesh  from  the  fire,  which  the  Ou- 
tagamies  (Foxes)  were  about  to  roast  and  eat.  demands  we  should 
bring  you  our  bodies  to  make  vou  the  master  of  them.  We  do  not 
fear  death,  wdienever  it  is  necessary  to  die  for  you.  We  have  only 
to  request  that  you  pray  the  father  of  all  nations  to  have  pity  on  our 
women  and  our  children,  in  case  we  lose  our  lives  for  you.  We  beg 
you  throw  a  blade  of  grass  upon  our  bones  to  protect  them  from  the 
flies.  You  see.  my  father,  that  we  have  left  our  villages,  our  women 
and  children  to  hasten  to  join  you.  Have  pity  on  us;  give  us  some- 
thing to  eat  and  a  little  tobacco  to  smoke.  We  have  come  a  long 
ways  and  are  destitute  of  everything.  Give  us  powder  and  balls  to 
fight  with  you." 

Makisabie,  the  Pottawatomie,  said  to  the  Foxes  and  Mascoutines: 
"Wicked  nations  that  you  are,  you  hope  to  frighten  us  by  all  the 
red  color  which  you  exhibit  in  your  village.  Learn  that  if  the  earth 
is  covered  with  blood,  it  wrill  be  with  yours.  You  talk  to  us  of  the 
English,  they  are  the  cause  of  your  destruction,  because  vou  have 
listened  to  their  bad  council.  .  .  .  The  English,  who  are  cowards, 
only  defend  themselves  by  killing  men  by  that  wicked  strong  drink, 
which  has  caused  so  many  men  to  die  after  drinking  it.  Thus  we 
shall  see  what  will  happen  to  you  for  listening  to  them."  f 

*  Long's  Expedition  to  the  Sources  of  the  St.  Peter's  River,  vol.  1,  pp.  91,  02,  93. 
fThe  extracts  we  have  quoted  are  taken  from  the  official  report  of  Du  Buisson, 


WAKS    AGAINST   THE    WHITES.  145 

The  Pottawatomies  sustained  their  alliance  with  the  French  con- 
tinuously to  the  time  of  the  overthrow  of  their  power  in  the  north- 
west. They  then  aided  their  kinsman,  Pontiac,  in  his  attempt  to 
recover  the  same  territory  from  the  British.  They  fought  on  the 
side  of  the  British  against  the  Americans  throughout  the  war  of  the 
revolution,  and  their  war  parties  made  destructive  and  frequent  raids 
upon  the  line  of  pioneer  settlements  in  Pennsylvania,  Kentucky, 
Ohio  and  Indiana.  In  the  war  of  1812  they  were  again  ranged  on 
the  side  of  the  British,  with  their  bloody  hands  lifted  alike  against 
the  men,  women  and  children  of  ''the  States." 

In  the  programme  of  Pontiac1  s  war  the  capture  of  Post  St. 
Joseph,  on  the  St.  Joseph's  river  of  Lake  Michigan,  was  assigned  to 
the  Pottawatomies,  which  was  effected  as  will  be  hereafter  narrated. 

It  was  also  the  Pottawatomies  who  perpetrated  the  massacre  at 
Chicago  on  the  15th  day  of  August,  1812.  Bands  of  this  tribe,  from 
their  villages  on  the  St.  Joseph,  the  Kankakee  and  the  Illinois  rivers, 
whose  numbers  were  augmented  by  the  appearance  of  Metea  with 
his  warriors,  from  their  village  westward  of  Fort  Wayne,  fell  upon 
the  forces  of  Captain  Ileald,  and  the  defenseless  women  and  chil- 
dren retreating  with  him  after  the  surrender  of  Fort  Dearborn,  and 
murdered  or  made  prisoners  of  them  all.  Metea  was  a  conspicuous 
leader  in  this  horrible  affair.* 

Robert  Dixon,  the  British  trader  sent  out  among  the  Indians 
during  the  war  of  1812  to  raise  recruits  for  Proctor  and  Tecumseh, 
gathered  in  the  neighborhood  of  Chicago,  which  after  the  massacre 
was  his  place  of  general  rendezvous,  nearly  one  thousand  warriors 
of  as  wild  and  cruel  savages  as  ever  disgraced  the  human  race.  They 
were  the  most  worthless  and  abandoned  desperadoes  whom  Dixon 
had  been  enabled  to  collect  from  among  all  the  tribes  he  had  visited. 
These  accomplices  of  the  British  were  to  be  let  loose  upon  the  re- 
mote settlements  under  the  leadership  of  the  Pottawatomie  chief, 
Mai-pock,  or  Mai-po,  a  monster  in  human  form,  who  distinguished 
himself  with  a  girdle  sewed  full  of  human  scalps,  which  he  wore 
around  his  waist,  and  strings  of  bear's  claws  and  bills  of  owls  and 
hawks  around  his  ankles,  worn  as  trophies  of  his  power  in  arms  and 
as  a  terror  to  his  enemies,  f 

relating  to  the  siege  of  Detroit.  The  manuscript  copy  of  it  was  obtained  from  the 
archives  at  Paris,  by  Gen.  Cass,  when  minister  to  France,  and  is  published  at  length 
in  volume  III  of  the  History  of  Wisconsin,  compiled  by  the  direction  of  the  legislature 
of  that  state  by  William  R.  Smith,  President  of  the  State  Historical  Society  ;  a  work 
of  very  great  value,  not  only  to  the  State  of  Wisconsin  but  to  the  entire  Northwest,  for 
the  amount  of  reliable  historical  information  it  contains. 

*Hall  and  McKenney's  History  of  the  Indian  Tribes  of  North  America,  vol.  2, 
pp.  59,  60. 

t  McAfee's  History  of  the  Late  War,  pp.  297,  298. 
10 


146  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

Their  manners,  like  their  dialect,  were  rough  and  barbarous  as 
compared  with  other  Algonquin  tribes.  They  were  hot  the  civil, 
modest  people,  an  exceptional  and  christianized  band  of  whom  the 
Jesuits  before  quoted  drew  a  nattering  description. 

"It  is  a  fact  that  for  many  years  the  current  of  emigration  as  to 
the  tribes  east  of  the  Mississippi  has  been  from  the  north  to  the  south. 
This  was  owing  to  two  causes  :  the  diminution  of  those  animals  from 
which  the  Indians  derive  their  support,  and  the  pressure  of  the  two 
great  tribes, —  the  Ojibbewavs  and  the  Sioux, —  to  the  north  and 
west.  So  long  ago  as  1795,  at  the  treaty  of  Greenville,  the  Potta- 
watomies notified  the  Miamis  that  they  intended  to  settle  upon  the 
Wabash.  They  made  no  pretensions  to  the  country,  and  the  only 
excuse  for  the  intended  aggression  was  that  they  were  tired  of  eating 
fish  and  wanted  meat."*  And  come  they  did.  They  bore  down 
upon  their  less  populous  neighbors,  the  Miamis.  and  occupied  a  large 
portion  of  their  territory,  impudently  and  by  sheer  force  of  numbers, 
rather  than  by  force  of  arms.  Thev  established  numerous  villages 
upon  the  north  and  west  bank  of  the  Wabash  and  its  tributaries 
flowing  in  from  that  side  of  the  stream  above  the  Vermilion.  They, 
with  the  Sacs,  Foxes  and  Ivickapoos.  drove  the  Illinois  into  the  vil- 
lages about  Kaskaskia.  and  portioned  the  conquested  territory  among 
themselves.  By  other  tribes  they  were  called  squatters,  who  justly 
claimed  that  the  Pottawatomies  never  had  any  land  of  their  own. 
and  were  mere  intruders  upon  the  prior  rights  of  others.  They  were 
foremost  at  all  treaties  where  lands  were  to  be  ceded,  and  were  clam- 
orous for  a  lion's  share  of  presents  and  annuities,  particularly  where 
these  last  were  the  price  given  for  the  sale  of  others'  lands  rather 
than  their  own.-f-  Between  the  years  17S9  and  183Y  the  Pottawato- 
mies, by  themselves,  or  in  connection  with  other  tribes,  made  no 
less  than  thirty-eight  treaties  with  the  United  States,  all  of  which. — 
excepting  two  or  three  which  were  treaties  of  peace  only. — were  for 
cessions  of  lands  claimed  wholly  by  the  Pottawatomies.  or  in  com- 
mon with  other  tribes.  These  cessions  embraced  territory  extending 
from  the  Mississippi  eastward  to  Cleveland,  Ohio,  and  reaching  over 
the  entire  vallevs  of  the  Illinois,  the  Wabash,  the  Maumee  and  their 
tributaries.^: 

They  also  had  villages  upon  the  Kankakee  and  Illinois  river-. 
Among   them  we    name  Minemaung,   or  Yellow  Head,   situated  a 

*  Official  letter  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  dated  March  22.  1814. 
t  Schoolcraft's  Central  Mississippi  Valley,  p.  358. 

\  Treaties  between  the  United  States  and  the  several  Indian  tribes,  from  1778  to 
1837:  Washington.  D.C..  1837. 


THEIR    VILLAGES.  147 

few  miles  north  of  Momence,  at  a  point  of  timber  still  known  as 
Yellow  Head  Point;  SAe-mar-gar,  or  the  Soldier's  Village,  at  the 
mouth  of  Soldier  Creek,  that  runs  through  Kankakee  City,  and  the 
village  of  "Little  Rock"  or  /SAaw-waio-nas-see,  at  the  mouth  of  Rock 
Creek,  a  few  miles  below  Kankakee  City.*  Besides  these,  the  Pot- 
tawatomies  had  villages  farther  down  the  Illinois,  particularly  the 
great  town- of  Como,  Gumo,  or  Gumbo  as  the  pioneers  called  it,  at  the 
upper  end  of  Peoria  Lake.  They  had  other  towns  on  the  Milwaukee 
River,  Wisconsin.  On  the  St.  Joseph,  near  Niles,  was  the  village  of 
To-pen-ne-bee,  the  great  hereditary  chief  of  the  Pottawatomie  nation  ; 
higher  up,  near  the  present  village  of  White  Pigeon,  was  situated 
Wappe-me-me' 's,  or  White  Pigeon's  town.  Westward  of  Fort  Wayne, 
Indiana,  nine  miles,  was  3Ius-kvja-wa-sepe-otan,  "the  town  of  old 
Red  Wood  creek,"  where  resided  the  band  of  the  distinguished  war- 
rior and  orator  of  the  Pottawatomies,  Metea,  whose  name  in  their 
language  signifies  kiss  me. 

Finally,  the  renowned  Kesris,  or  the  sun,  the  old  friend  of  Gen- 
eral Hanitrauck  and  the  Americans,  in  a  speech  to  General  Wayne 
at  the  treaty  of  Greenville  in  1795,  said  that  his  village  "was  a  day's 
walk  below  the  Wea  towns  on  the  Wabash,"  referring,  doubtless,  to 
the  mixed  Pottawatomie  and  Kickapoo  town  which  stood  on  the  site 
of  the  old  Shelby  farm,  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Vermilion,  a- short 
distance  above  its  mouth,  f 

The  positions  of  several  of  the  principal  Pottawatomie  villages 
have  been  given  for  the  purpose  of  showing  the  area  of  country 
over  which  this  people  extended  themselves.  As  late  as  1823  their 
hunting  grounds  appeared  to  have  been  "bounded  on  the  north  by 
the  St.  Joseph  (which  on  the  east  side  of  Lake  Michigan  separate*  1 
them  from  the  Ottawas)  and  the  Milwacke,^:  which,  on  the  west  side 
of  the  lake,  divided  them  from  the  Menomonees.  They  spread  to  the 
south  along  the  Illinois  River  about  two  hundred  miles ;  to  the  west 

*  The  location  of  these  three  villages  of  Pottawatomies  is  fixed  by  the  surveys  of 
reservations  to  Mine-raaung,  Shemargar  and  Shaw-waw-nas-see  respectively,  secured 
to  them  by  the  second  article  of  a  treaty  concluded  at  Camp  Tippecanoe,  near  Logans- 
port,  Indiana,  on  the  20th  of  October.  1832,  between  the  United  States  and  the  chiefs 
and  head  men  of  the  Pottawatomie  tribe  of  Indians  of  the  pi-airie  and  of  the  Kanka- 
kee. The  reservations  were  surveyed  in  the  presence  of  the  Indians  concerned  and 
General  Tipton,  agent  on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  in  the  month  of  May,  1834. 
by  Major  Dan  W.  Beckwith,  surveyor.  The  reservations  were  so  surveyed  as  to  include 
the  several  villages  we  have  named,  as  appears  from  the  manuscript  volumes  of  the 
surveys  in  possession  of  the  author. 

f  Journal  of  the  Proceedings  at  the  Treaty  of  Greenville:  American  State  Papers 
on  Indian  Affairs,  vol.  1,  p.  580.  The  author  has  authorities  and  manuscripts  from 
which  the  location  of  Kesis'  band  at  the  mouth  of  the  Vermilion  may  be  quite  confi- 
dently affirmed. 

X  Milwaukee. 


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150  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

commissary  department  was  wretchedly  supplied.  The  Indians 
begged  for  food  at  the  houses  of  the  citizens.  Others,  in  their 
extremity,  killed  rats  at  the  old  mill  on  the  Xorth  Fork  and  ate 
them  to  appease  their  hunger.  Without  tents  or  other  shelter, 
many  of  them,  with  young  babes  in  their  arms,  walked  on  foot,  as 
there  was  no  adequate  means  of  conveyance  for  the  weak,  the  aged 
or  infirm.  Thus  the  mournful  procession  passed  across  the  state  of 
Illinois. 

The  St.  Joseph  band  were  removed  westward  the  same  year.  So 
strong  was  their  attachment  to  southern  Michigan  and  northern 
Indiana,  that  the  Federal  government  invoked  the  aid  of  troops  to 
coerce  their  removal.  The  soldiers  surrounded  them,  and,  as  prison- 
ers of  war,  compelled  them  to  leave.  At  South  Bend,  Indiana,  was 
the  village  of  Chichipe  Outipe.  The  town  was  on  a  rising  ground 
near  four  small  lakes,  and  contained  ten  or  twelve  hundred  christian- 
ized Pottawatomies.  Benjamin  M.  Petit,  the  Catholic  missionary  in 
charge  at  Po-ke-ganns  village  on  the  St.  Joseph,  asked  Bishop  Brute 
for  leave  to  accompany  the  Indians,  but  the  prelate  withheld  his 
consent,  not  deeming  it  proper  to  give  even  an  implied  indorsement 
of  the  cruel  act  of  the  government.  But  being  himself  on  their 
route,  he  afterward  consented.  The  power  of  religion  then  appeared. 
Amid  their  sad  march  he  confirmed  several,  while  hymns  and  prayers, 
chanted  in  Ottawa,  echoed  for  the  last  time  around  their  lakes.  Sick 
and  well  were  carried  off  alike.  After  giving  all  his  Episcopal  bless- 
ing. Bishop  Brute  proceeded  with  Petit  to  the  tents  of  the  sick, 
where  they  baptized  one  and  confirmed  another,  both  of  whom  ex- 
pired soon  after.  The  march  was  resumed.  The  men,  women  and 
elder  children,  urged  on  by  the  soldiers  in  their  rear,  were  followed 
with  the  wagons  bearing  the  sick  and  dying,  the  mothers,  little  chil- 
dren and  property.  Thus  they  proceeded  through  the  country,  tur- 
bulent at  that  time  on  account  of  the  Mormon  war.  to  the  Osage 
River,  Missouri,  where  Mr.  Petit  confided  the  wretched  exiles  to  the 
care  of  the  Jesuit  Father  J.  Hoecken.* 

In  the  year  1846  the  different  bands  of  Pottawatomies  united  on 
the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi.  A  general  treaty  was  made,  in 
which  the  following  clause  occurs:  "Whereas,  the  various  bands  of 
the  Pottawatomie  Indians,  known  as  the  Chippeways,  Ottawas  and 
Pottawatomies,  the  Pottawatomies  of  the  Prairie,  the  Pottawatomies 
of  the  Wabash,  and  the  Pottawatomies  of  Indiana,  have,  subsequent 
to  the  year  1820,  entered  into  separate  and  distinct  treaties  with  the 

*  Extract  from  Shea's  Catholic  Missions,  p.  397. 


THE    POTTAWATOMIE    NATION.  151 

United  States,  by  which  they  have  been  separated  and  located 
in  different  countries,  and  difficulties  have  arisen  as  to  the  proper 
distributions  of  the  stipulations  under  various  treaties,  and  being 
the  same  people  by  kindred,  by  feeling  and  by  language,  and 
having  in  former  periods  lived  on  and  owned  their  lands  in  com- 
mon, and  being  desirous  to  unite  in  one  common  country  and 
again  become  one  people  and  receive  their  annuities  and  other 
benefits  in  common,  and  to  abolish  all  minor  distinctions  of  bands 
by  which  they  have  heretofore  been  divided,  and  are  anxious  to 
be  known  as  the  Pottawatomie  Nation,  thereby  reinstating  the 
national  character;  and  whereas,  the  United  States  are  also  anxious 
to  restore  and  concentrate  said  tribes  to  a  state  so  desirable  and 
necessary  for  the  happiness  of  their  people,  as  well  as  to  enable 
the  government  to  arrange  and  manage  its  intercourse  with  them  ; 
now,  therefore,  the  United  States  and  said  Indians  do  hereby  agree 
that  said  people  shall  hereafter  be  known  as  a  nation,  to  be  called 

the  PoTTAWTATOMIE  NATION." 

Pursuant  to  the  terms  of  this  treaty,  the  Pottawatomies  received 
$850,000,  in  consideration  of  which  they  released  all  lands  owned 
by  them  within  the  limits  of  the  territory  of  Iowa  and  on  the  Osage 
River  in  Missouri,  or  in  any  state  or  place  whatsoever.  Eighty- 
seven  thousand  dollars  of  the  purchase  money  coming  to  them  was 
paid,  by  cession  from  the  United  States,  of  576,000  acres  of  land 
lying  on  both  sides  of  the  Kansas  River.  The  tract  embraces  the 
finest  body  of  land  within  the  present  state  of  Kansas,  and  Topeka, 
the  state  capital,  has  since  been  located  nearly  in  the  center  of  the 
reservation.  While  the  territory  was  going  through  .the  process  of 
organization,  adventurers  trespassed  upon  the  lands  of  the  Potta- 
watomies, sold  them  whisky,  and  spread  demoralization  among 
them.  The  squatters  who  intruded  upon  the  farmer-Indians  killed 
their  stock  and  burned  some  of  their  habitations,  all  of  which  was 
borne  without  retaliation.  Notwithstanding  the  old  habendum  clause 
inserted  in  Indian  treaties  (as  a  mere  matter  of  form,  as  may  be  in- 
ferred from  the  little  regard  paid  to  it)  that  these  lands  should  inure 
to  Pottawatomies,  "their  heirs  and  assigns  forever,"  the  squatter 
sovereigns  wanted  them,  and  resorted  to  all  the  well-known  methods 
in  vogue  on  the  border  to  make  it  unpleasant  for  the  Indians,  who 
were  progressing  with  assured  success  from  barbarism  to  the  ways 
of  civilized  society.  The  usual  result  of  dismemberment  of  the  re- 
serve followed.  The  farmer-Indians,  who  so  desired,  had  their  por- 
tions of  the  reserve  set  off  in  severalty;  the  uncivilized  members  of 
the  tribe  had  their  proportion  set  off  in  common.      These  last,  which 


152  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON    THE    NORTHWEST. 

were  exchanged  for  money,  or  lands  farther  southward,  fell  into  the 
possession  of  a  needy  railroad  corporation. 

We  gather  from  the  several  reports  of  the  commissioners  on  In- 
dian affairs  that,  in  L863,  the  tribe  numbered  2,274.  inclusive  of  men, 
women  and  children,  which  was  an  alarming  decrease  since  the  cen- 
sus of  1854.  The  diminution  was  caused,  probably,  aside  from  the 
casualties  of  death,  by  some  having  returned  to  their  former  homes 
east  of  the  Missouri,  while  many  of  the  young  and  wild  men  of  the 
tribe  went  to  the  buffalo  grounds  to  enjoy  the  exciting  and  unre- 
strained freedom  of  the  chase.  The  farmers  raised  3. 720  bushels  of 
wheat,  45,000  of  corn,  1,200  of  oats  and  1,000  tons  of  hay,  and  had 
1,200  horses.  1,000  cattle  and  2,000  hogs,  as  appears  from  the  offi- 
cial report  for  1863. 

The  Catholic  school  at  St.  Mary's  enumerated  an  average  of 
ninety-five  boys  and  seventy-five  girls  in  1863,  and  in  1866  the  total 
number  was  two  hundred  and  forty  scholars.  Of  his  pupils  the 
superintendent  says:  "They  not  only  spell,  read,  write  and  cipher, 
but  successfully  master  the  various  branches  of  geography,  history, 
book-keeping,  grammar,  philosophy,  logic,  geometry  and  astronomy. 
Besides  this,  they  are  so  docile,  so  willing  to  improve,  that  between 
school-hours  they  employ  their  time,  with  pleasure,  in  learning 
whatever  handiwork  may  be  assigned  to  them ;  and  they  particu- 
larly desire  to  become  good  farmers."1  The  girls,  in  addition  to 
their  studies,  are  "trained  to  whatever  is  deemed  useful  to  good 
housekeepers  and  accomplished  mothers.'1 

The  Pottawatomies  attested  their  fidelity  to  the  government  by 
the  volunteering  of  seventy-five  of  their  young  men  in  the  "army 
of  the  Union." 

In  1867,  out  of  a  population  of  2,400,  1.400  elected  to  become 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  under  an  enabling  act  passed  by  con- 
gress. Of  those  who  became  citizens,  some  did  well,  others  soon 
squandered  their  lands  and  joined  the  wild  band.  There  are  still 
a  few  left  in  Michigan,  while  about  one  hundred  and  eighty  remain 
in  Wisconsin. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 


THE  KICKAPOOS  AND  MASCOUTINS. 

The  Kickapoos  and  Mascoutins,  if  there  was  more  than  a  nominal 
difference  between  the  two  tribes,  are  here  treated  of  together,  for 
reasons  explained  farther  on  in  the  chapter.  The  name  of  the  Kick- 
apoos has  been  written  by  the  French,  "Kicapoux,"  "Kickapous," 
"Kikapoux,"  "  Quickapous,"  "Kickapoos,"  "Kikabu."  This 
tribe  has  long  been  connected  with  the  northwest,  and  have  acquired 
a  notoriety  for  the  wars  in  which  they  were  engaged  with  other  tribes, 
as  well  for  their  persistent  hostility  to  the  white  race,  which  con- 
tinued uninterrupted  for  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  years. 
They  were  first  noticed  by  Samuel  Champlain.  who,  in  1612,  dis- 
covered the  "Mascoutins  residing  near  the  place  called  Sakinam," 
meaning  the  country  of  the  Sacs,  comprising  that  part  of  the  state 
of  Michigan  bordering  on  Lake  Huron,  in  the  vicinity  of  Saginaw 
Bay.* 

Father  Claude  Allouez  visited  the  mixed  village  of  Miamis,  Kick- 
apoos and  Mascoutins  on  Fox  River,  Wisconsin,  in  the  winter  of 
1669-70.  Leaving  his  canoe  at  the  water's  edge  he  walked  a  league 
over  beautiful  prairies  and  perceived  the  fort.  The  savages,  having 
discovered  him,  raised  the  cry  of  alarm  in  their  villages,  and  then 
ran  out  to  receive  the  missionary  with  honor,  and  conducted  him  to 
the  lodge  of  the  chief,  where  they  regaled  him  with  refreshments, 
and  further  honored  him  by  greasing  his  feet  and  legs.  Every  one 
took  their  places,  a  dish  was  filled  with  powdered  tobacco  ;  an  old 
man  arose  to  his  feet,  and,  filling  his  two  hands  with  tobacco  from 
the  dish,  addressed  the  missionary  thus  : 

"This  is  well.  Black-robe,  that  thou  hast  come  to  visit  us  ;  have 
pity  on   us.     Thou   art   a  Manitou.-f     We  give   thee  wherewith  to 

*  Memoir  of  Louis  XTY,  and  Cobert,  Minister  of  France,  on  the  French  Limits  in 
North  America:  Paris  Documents,  vol.  9,  p.  378,  and  note  by  E.  B.  O'Callaghan,  the 
editor,  on  p.  293. 

t  Manitou,  with  very  few  changes  in  form  of  spelling  or  manner  of  pronunciation, 
is  the  word  used  almost  universally  by  the  Algonquin  tribes  to  express  a  spirit  or  God 
having  control  of  their  destinies.  Their  Manitous  were  numerous.  It  was  also  an 
expression  sometimes  applied  to  the  white  people, —  particularly  the  missionaries.  At 
first  they  regarded  the  Europeans  as  spirits,  or  persons  possessing  superior  intelligence 
to  themselves. 

153 


154  HISTORIC    NOTES    OX    THE    NORTHWEST. 

smoke.  The  Xadoiiessious  and  the  Iroquois  eat  us  up ;  have  pity 
on  us.  We  often  are  sick,  our  children  die,  we  are  hungry.  Listen, 
my  Manitou,  I  give  thee  wherewith  to  smoke,  that  the  earth  may 
yield  us  corn,  that  the  rivers  may  furnish  us  with  fish,  that  sickness 
no  more  shall  kill  us,  that  famine  no  longer  shall  so  harshly  treat 
us."  At  each  wish,  the  old  men  who  were  present  answered  by  a 
great  "O-oh  !  "  * 

The  good  father  was  shocked  at  this  ceremony,  and  replied  that 
they  should  not  address  such  requests  to  him.  Protesting  that  he 
could  afford  them  no  relief  other  than  offering  prayers  to  Him  who 
was  the  only  and  true  God,  of  whom  he  was  only  the  servant  and 
messenger,  f 

Father  Allouez  says  in  the  same  letter  that  four  leagues  from  this 
village  "are  the  Kihahou  and  Kitchigamick,  who  speak  the  same 
languagt  with  the  Machkonteng. " 

The  Kickapoos  were  not  inclined  to  receive  religious  impressions 
from  the  early  missionaries.  In  fact,  they  appear  to  have  acquired 
their  first  notoriety  in  history  by  seizing  Father  Gabriel  Ribourde, 
whom  they  "carried  away  and  broke  his  head."  as  Tonti  quaintly 
expresses  it  in  referring  to  this  ruthless  murder.  Again,  in  1728, 
as  Father  Ignatius  Guignas,  compelled  to  abandon  his  mission  among 
the  Sioux,  on  account  of  the  victory  of  the  Foxes  over  the  French, 
was  attempting  to  reach  the  Illinois,  he,  too,  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  Kickapoos  and  Mascoutins,  and  for  five  months  was  held  a  cap- 
tive and  constantly  exposed  to  death.  During  this  time  he  was  con- 
demned to  be  burnt,  and  was  only  saved  through  the  friendly  inter- 
vention of  an  old  man  in  the  tribe,  who  adopted  him  as  a  son. 
While  held  a  prisoner,  the  missionaries  from  the  Illinois  relieved 
his  necessities  by  sending  timely  supplies,  which  Father  Guignas 
used  to  gain  over  the  Indians.  Having  induced' them  to  make 
peace,  he  was  taken  to  the  Illinois  missions,  and  suffered  to  remain 
there  on  parole  until  November,  172!'.  when  his  old  captors  returned 
and  took  him  back  to  their  own  country:^  after  which  nothing 
seems  to  have  been  known  concerning  the  fate  of  this  worthy  mis- 
sionary. 

The  Kickapoos  early  incurred  the  displeasure  of  the  French  by 

*The  o-oh  of  the  Algonquin  and  the  yo-hah  of  the  Iroquois  (Colden's  History  of 
the  Five  Nations  I  is  an  expression  of  assent  given  by  the  hearers  to  the  remarks  of  the 
speaker  who  is  addressing  them,  and  is  equivalent  to  good  or  bravo!  The  Indians 
indulged  in  this  kind  of  encouragement  to  their  orators  with  great  liberality,  drawing 
out  their  o-ohs  in  unison  and  with  a  prolonged  cry,  especially  when  the  speaker's 
utterances  harmonized  with  their  own  sentiments. 

f. Jesuit  Relations.  1669-70. 

X  Shea's  Catholic  Missions,  p.  379. 


MIGRATIONS    OF   THE    KICKAPOOS.  155 

committing  depredations  south  of  Detroit.  A  band  living  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Maumee  River  in  1712,  with  thirty  Mascoutins,  were 
about  to  make  war  upon  the  French.  They  took  prisoner  one 
Langlois,  a  messenger,  on  his  return  from  the  Miami  country, 
whither  he  was  bringing  many  letters  from  the  Jesuit  Fathers  of  the 
Illinois  villages,  and  also  dispatches  from  Louisiana.  The  letters  and 
dispatches  were  destroyed,  which  gave  much  uneasiness  to  M.  Du 
Boisson,  the  commandant  at  Detroit.  A  canoe  laden  with  Kicka- 
poos,  on  their  way  to  the  villages  near  Detroit,  was  captured  by  the 
Hurons  and  Ottawas  residing  at  these  villages,  and  who  were  the 
allies  of  the  French.  Among  the  slain  was  the  principal  Kickapoo 
chief,  whose  head,  with  those  of  three  others  of  the  same  tribe, 
were  brought  to  De  Boisson,  who  alleges  that  the  Hurons  and 
Ottawas  committed  this  act  out  of  resentment,  because  the  previous 
winter  the  Kickapoos  had  taken  some  of  the  Hurons  and  Iroquois 
prisoners,  and  also  because  they  considered  the  Kickapoo  chief  to 
be  a  litrue  Outtagamie^ ;  that  is,  they  regarded  him  as  one  of  the 
Fox  nation.* 

From  the  village  of  Machkoutench,  where  first  Father  Claude 
Allouez,  and  afterward  Father  Marquette,  found  the  Kickapoos  inhab- 
iting the  same  village  with  the  Muscotins  and  Miamis,  the  Kickapoos 
and  the  Muscotins  appear  to  have  passed  to  the  south,  extending 
their  flanks  to  the  right  in  the  direction  of  Rockf  River,  and  their 
left  to  the  southern  trend  of  Lake  Michigan.  Referring  to  the 
country  on  Fox  River  about  "Winnebago  Lake,  Father  Charlevoix 
says:£  "All  this  country  is  extremely  beautiful,  and  that  which 
stretches  to  the  southward  as  far  as  the  river  of  the  Illinois  is  still 
more  so.  It  is,  however,  inhabited  by  two  small  nations  only,  who 
are  the  Kickapoos  and  the  Mascoutins."  Father  Charlevoix,^ 
speaking  of  Fox  River,  says:  "The  largest  of  these,"  referring  to 
the  streams  that  empty  into  the  Illinois,  "is  called  Pisticoui,  and 
proceeds  from  the  fine  country  of  the  Mascoutins. 


"  i 


*  Extract  from  M.  Du  Boisson's  official  report  to  the  Marquis  De  Vaudreuil,  gov- 
ernor-genera! of  New  France,  of  the  siege  of  Detroit,  dated  June  15,  1712.  This  val- 
uable paper  is  published  entire  in  vol.  3  of  Wm.  R.  Smith's  History  of  Wisconsin, 
a  work  that  contains  many  important  documents  not  otherwise  accessible  to  the  gen- 
eral public.  Indeed,  the  publications  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Wisconsin,  of  which 
Judge  Smith's  two  volumes  are  the  beginning,  are  the  repository  of  a  fund  of  infor- 
mation of  great  utility,  not  only  to  the  people  of  that  state,  but  to  the  entire  North- 
west. 

fRock  River — Assin-Sepe — was  also  called  Kickapoo  River,  and  so  laid  down  on  a 
map  of  La  Salle's  discoveries. 

X Narrative  Journal,  vol.  1,  p.  287. 

§  Vol.  2,  p.  199. 

||  "The  Fox  Rivpr  of  the  Illinois  is  called  by  the  Indians  Pish-ta-ko.  It  is  the 
same  mentioned  by  Charlevoix  under  the  name  of  Pisticoui,  and  which  flows  as  he, 


156  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

Prior  to  1718  the  Mascoutins  and  Kickapoos  had  villages  upon 
the  banks  of  Rock  River,  Illinois.  "Both  these  tribes  together  do 
not  amount  to  two  hundred  men.  They  are  a  clever  people  and 
brave  warriors.  Their  language  and  manners  strongly  resemble 
those  of  the  Foxes.  They  are  the  same  stock.  They  catch  deer  by 
chasing  them,  and  even  at  this  day  make  considerable  use  of  bows 
and  arrows."*  On  a  French  map,  issued  in  1712,  a  village  of  Mas- 
coutins is  located  near  the  forks  of  the  north  and  south  branches  of 
Chicago  River. 

From  references  given,  it  is  apparent  that  this  people,  like  the 
Miamis  and  Pottawatomies,  were  progressing  south  and  eastward. 
This  movement  was  probably  on  account  of  the  fierce  Sioux,  whose 
encroaching  wars  from  the  northwest  were  pressing  them  in  this 
direction.  Even  before  this  date  the  Foxes,  with  Mascoutins  and 
Kickapoos,  were  meditating  a  migration  to  the  AY  abash  as  a  place  of 
security  from  the  Sioux.  This  threatened  exodus  alarmed  the  French, 
who  feared  that  the  migrating  tribes  would  be  in  a  position  on  the 
Wabash  to  effect  a  junction  with  the  Iroquois  and  English,  which 
would  be  exceedingly  detrimental  to  the  French  interests  in  the 
northwest.  From  an  official  document  relative  to  the  "occurrences 
in  Canada,  sent  from  Quebec  to  France  in  1695,  the  Department  at 
Paris  is  informed  that  the  Sioux,  who  have  mustered  some  two  or 
three  thousand  warriors  for  the  purpose,  would  come  in  large  num- 
bers to  seize  their  village.  This  has  caused  the  outagamies  to  quit 
their  country  and  disperse  themselves  for  a  season,  and  afterward 
return  and  save  their  harvest.  They  are  then  to  retire  toward  the 
river  Wabash  to  form  a  settlement,  so  much  the  more  permanent,  as 
they  will  be  removed  from  the  incursions  of  the  Sioux,  and  in  a 
position  to  effect  a  junction  easily  with  the  Iroquois  and  the  English 
without  the  French  being  able  to  prevent  it.  Should  this  project  be 
realized,  it  is  very  apparent  that  the  Mascoutins  and  Kickapoos  will 
be  of  the  party,  and  that  the  three  tribes,  forming  a  new  village  of 
fourteen  or  fifteen  hundred  men,  would  experience  no  difficulty  in 
considerably  increasing  it  by  attracting  other  nations  thither,  which 
would  be  of  most  pernicious  consequence,  "t  That  the  Mascoutins, 
at  least,  did  go  soon  after  this  date  toward  the  lower  Wabash  is  con- 
says,  through  the  country  of  the  Mascoutins."  Long's  Second  Expedition,  vol.  1,  p. 
170.  The  Algonquin  word  Pish-tah-te-koosh,  according  'to  Edwin  James'  vocabulary, 
means  an  antelope.  The  Pottawatomies,  from  whom  Major  Long's  party  obtained  the 
word  Pish-ta-ko,  may  have  used  it  to  designate  the  same  animal,  judging  from  the 
similarity  of  the  two  words. 

*  Memoir  prepared  in  1718  on  the  Indians  between  Lake  Erie  and  the  Missis- 
sippi:  Paris  Documents,  vol.  9,  p.  889. 

t  Paris  Documents,  vol.  9,  p.  619. 


OF   THE    NAME    MASCOUTINS.  157 

clusively  shown  by  the  fact  of  their  presence  about  Juchereau's 
trading  post,  which  was  erected  near  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  in  the 
year  1700. 

It  is  doubtful  if  either  the  Foxes  or  the  Kickapoos  followed  the 
Mascoutins  to  the  Wabash  country,  and  it  is  evident  that  the  Mas- 
coutins  who  survived  the  epidemic  that  broke  out  among  them  at 
Juchereau's  post  on  the  Ohio  soon  returned  to  the  north.  The 
French  effected  a  conciliation  with  the  Sioux,  and  for  a  number  of 
years  subsequent  to  17*>5  we  find  the  Mascoutins  back  again  among 
the  Foxes  and  Kickapoos  upon  their  old  hunting  grounds  in  northern 
Illinois  and  southern  Wisconsin. 

The  Kickapoos  entered  the  plot  of  the  Mascoutins  to  capture  the 
post  of  Detroit  in  1712,  and  the  latter  had  repaired  to  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Detroit,  and  were  awaiting  the  arrival  of  the  Kickapoos  to 
execute  their  purposes,  when  they  were  attacked  by  the  confedera- 
tion of  Indians  who  were  friendly  toward  the  French  and  had  hast- 
ened to  the  relief  of  the  garrison.* 

The  Mascoutins  were  called  "Machkoutench,"y  "Machkouteng," 
"  Maskouteins  "  and  "  Masquitens, "  by  French  writers.  The  Eng- 
lish called  them  "Masquattimes,";j:  "  Musquitons,"  §  "Mascou- 
|  tins,  "||  and  "Musquitos,"  a  corruption  used  by  the  American  colo- 
nial traders,  and  "Meadows,"  the  English  synonym  for  the  French 
word  "prairie."!" 

The  derivation  of  the  name  has  been  a  subject  of  discussion. 
Father  Marquette,  with  some  others,  following  the  example  of  the 
Hurons,  rendered  it  "fire-nation"  while  Fathers  Allouez  and  Char- 
levoix, with  recent  American  authors,  claim  that  the  word  signifies 
a  prairie,  or  '"a  land  bare  of  trees,'1  such  as  that  which  this  people 
inhabit.""  The  name  is  doubtless  derived  from  mus-kor-tence,\\  or 
mus-ko-tia,  a  prairie,  a  derivative  from  skoutay  or  scote,  the  word  for 
fire.^  "  The  Mascos  or  Mascoutins  were,  by  the  French  traders  of  a 
more  recent  day,  called  gens  des  prairies*  and  lived  and  hunted  on 
the  great  prairies  between  the  Wabash  and  Illinois  Riyers."§§    That 

*   History  of  New  France,  vol.  5,  p.  257. 

t  Fathers  Claude  Allouez  and  Marquette. 

\   George  Croghan's  Narrative  Journal. 

§  Minutes  of  the  treaty  at  Greenville  in  1795. 
Samuel  R.  Brown's  Western  Gazetteer. 

IT  It  was  some  years  after  the  conquest  of  the  northwest  from  the  French  before 
the  name  "  prairie  "  became  naturalized,  as  it  were,  into  the  English  language. 

**  Charlevoix'  Narrative  Journal,  vol.  1,  p.  287.  Father  Allouez,  in  the  Jesuit  Re- 
lations between  the  years  1670  and  1671. 

ttNote  of  Callaghan:  Paris  Documents,  vol.  10. 

XX  Tanner,  Gallatin,  Mackenzie  and  .Johnson's  vocabularies  of  Algonquin  words. 

§§  Manuscript  account  of  this  and  other  tribes,  by  Major  Forsyth,  quoted  by  Drake, 
in  his  Life  of  Black  Hawk. 


158  HISTORIC    NOTES   ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

the  word  Muskotia  is  synonymous  with,  and  has  the  same  meaning 
as,  the  word  prairie,  is  further  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  the  Indians 
prefixed  it  to  the  names  of  those  animals  and  plants  found  exclu- 
sively on  the  prairies.* 

Were  the  Kickapoos  and  Mascoutins  separate  tribes,  or  were  they 
one  and  the  same  \  These  queries  have  elicited  the  attention  of 
scholars  well  versed  in  the  history  of  the  North  American  Indians, 
among  whom  might  be  named  Schoolcraft,  Gallatin  and  Shea. 
Sufficient  references  have  been  given  in  this  chapter  to  show  that, 
by  the  French,  the  Kickapoos  and  Mascoutins  were  regarded  as  dis- 
tinct tribes.  If  necessary,  additional  extracts  to  the  same  purport 
could  be  produced  from  numerous  French  documents  down  to  the 
close  of  the  French  colonial  war,  in  1763,  all  bearing  uniform  testi- 
mony upon  this  point. 

The  theory  has  been  advanced  that  the  Mascoutins  and  Kickapoos 
were  bands  of  one  tribe,  first  known  to  the  French  by  the  former 
name,  and  subsequently  to  the  English  by  the  latter,  under  which 
name  alone  they  figure  in  our  later  annals,  -f  This  supposition  is  at 
variance  with  English  and  American  authorities.  It  was  a  war  party 
of  Kickapoos  and  Mascoutins,  from  their  contiguous  villages  near 
Fort  Ouitanon,  on  the  Wabash,  who  captured  George  Croghan.  the 
English  plenipotentiary,  below  the  mouth  of  that  river  in  1765.^;  Sir 
"William  Johnson,  the  English  colonial  agent  on  Indian  affairs,  in 
the  classified  list  of  Indians  within  his  department,  prepared  in  1763, 
enumerates  both  the  Kickapoos  and  Mascoutins.  locating  them  "in 
the  neighborhood  of  the  fort  at  Wawiaghta,  and  about  the  Wabash 
River. "§  Captain  Imlay,  "commissioner  for  laying  out  lands  in  the 
back  settlements," — as  the  territory  west  of  the  Alleghanies  was 
termed  at  that  period,  —  in  his  list  of  westward  Indians,  classifies  the 
Kickapoos  (under  the  name  of  Vermilions)  and  the  Muscatines.  lo- 
cating these  two  tribes  between  the  Wabash  and  Illinois  Rivers.  This 
was  in  1792.  The  distinction  between  these  two  tribes  was  main- 
tained still  later,  and  down  to  a  period  subsequent  to  the  year  1S16. 
At  that  time  the  Mascoutins  were  residing  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
Wabash,  between  Vincennes  and  the  Tippecanoe  River,  while  their 
old   neighbors,  the   Kickapoos,  were  living  a  short   distance  above 

*For  example,  mus-ko-tia-chit-ta-mo,  prairie  squirrel;  nvis-ko-ti-pe-neeg,  prairie 
potatoes.  Edwin  James'  Catalogue  of  Plants  and  Animals  found  in  the  country  of 
the  Ojibbeways.     See  further  references  on  page  35. 

fThe  Indian  Tribes  of  Wisconsin:  Historical  Collections  of  that  State,  vol.  3,  p. 
130. 

X  Vide  his  Narrative  Journal. 

§  Colonial  History  of  New  York,  vol.  7:  London  Documents,  p.  583. 

I  Imlay's  America,  third  edtion,  London,  1797,  p.  290. 


KICKAPOOS    AND    MASCOUTINS    ONE    PEOPLE.  159 

them  in  several  large  villages.  At  this  date  the  Kickapoos  could 
raise  four  hundred  warriors.*  From  the  authors  cited, —  and  other 
references  to  the  same  effect  would  be  produced  but  for  want  of  space, 
— it  is  evident  that  the  English  and  the  Americans,  equally  with  the 
French,  regarded  the  Kickapoos  and  Mascoutins  as  separate  bands 
or  subdivisions  of  a  tribe. 

While  this  was  so.  the  language,  manners  and  customs  of  the  two 
tribes  were  not  only  similar,  but  the  two  tribes  were  almost  invaria- 
bly found  occupying  continguous  villages,  and  hunting  in  company 
with  each  other  over  the  same  country.  "The  Kickapoos  are  neigh- 
bors of  the  Mascoutins,  and  it  seems  that  these  two  tribes  have 
always  been  united  in  interests."!  There  is  no  instance  recorded 
where  they  were  ever  arrayed  against  each  other,  nor  of  a  time  when 
they  took  opposite  sides  in  any  alliance  with  other  tribes.  Another 
noticeable  fact  is  that,  with  but  one  exception,  the  Mascoutins  were 
never  known  as  such  in  any  treaty  with  the  United  States,  while  the 
Kickapoos  were  parties  to  many.  We  have  seen  that  the  former 
were  occupying  the  Wabash  country  in  common  with  the  latter  as 
far  back,  at  least,  as  1765,  when  they  captured  Croghan,  until  1816 ; 
and  in  all  of  the  treaties  for  the  extinguishment  of  the  title  of  the 
several  Indian  tribes  bordering  on  the  Wabash  and  its  tributaries, 
the  Mascoutins  are  nowhere  alluded  to,  while  the  Kickapoos  are 
prominent  parties  to  many  treaties  at  which  extensive  tracts  of  coun- 
try were  ceded.  No  man  living,  in  his  time,  was  better  informed 
than  Gen.  Harrison, — wTho  conducted  these  several  treaties  on  behalf 
of  the  United  States, —  of  the  relations  and  distinctions,  however 
trifling,  that  may  have  existed  among  the  numerous  Indian  tribes 
with  whom,  in  a  long  course  of  official  capacity,  he  came  in  contact, 
either  with  the  pen,  around  the  friendly  council-tire,  or  with  the  up- 
lifted sword  upon  the  field  of  hostile  encounter.  In  all  his  volumi- 
nous correspondence  during  the  years  when  the  northwest  was  com- 
mitted to  his  charge  the  General  makes  no  mention  of  the  Mascoutins 

*  Western  Gazetteer,  by  Samuel  R.  Brown,  p.  71.  This  work  of  Mr.  Brown's  is 
exceedingly  valuable  for  the  amount  of  reliable  information  it  affords  not  obtainable 
from  any  other  source.  He  was  with  Gen.  Harrison  in  the  campaigns  of  the  war  of 
1812.  In  the  preface  to  his  Gazetteer  he  says:  "  Business  and  curiosity  have  made  the 
writer  acquainted  with  a  large  portion  of  the  western  country  never  before  described. 
Where  personal  knowledge  was  wanting  I  have  availed  myself  of  the  correspondence  of 
many  of  the  most  intelligent  gentlemen  in  the  west."  At  the  time  Mr. Brown  was  compil- 
ing material  for  his  Gazetteer,  "the  Harrison  Purchase  was  being  run  out  into  townships 
and  sections,"  and  Mr.  Brown  came  in  contact  with  the  surveyors  doing  the  work,  and 
derived  much  information  from  them.  The  book  is  carefully  prepared,  covering  a 
topographical  description  of  the  country  embraced,  its  towns,  rivers,  counties,  popula- 
tion, Indian  tribes,  etc.,  and  altogether  is  one  of  the  most  authentic  and  useful  books 
relative  to  "  the  west,"  which  was  attracting  the  attention  of  emigrants  at  the  time  of 
its  publication. 

t  Charlevoix'  History  of  New  France. 


160  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NOKTHWEST. 

by  that  name,  but  often  refers  to  "the  Kickapoos  of  the  prairies," 
to  distinguish  them  from  other  bands  of  the  same  tribe  who  occupied 
villages  in  the  timbered  portions  of  the  Wabash  and  its  tributaries.* 

At  a  subsequent  treaty  of  peace  and  friendship,  concluded  on  the 
27th  of  September,  1815,  between  Governor  Ninian  Edwards,  of 
Illinois  Territory,  and  the  chiefs,  warriors,  etc.,  of  the  Kickapoo 
nation,  Wash-e-own,  who  at  the  treaty  of  Yincennes  signed  as  a  Mas- 
coutin,  was  a  party  to  it,  and  in  this  instance  signed  as  a  Kickapoo. 
No  Mascoutins  by  that  name  appear  in  the  record  of  the  treaty. f 

The  preceding  facts,  negative  and  direct,  admit  of  the  following 
inferences :  that  there  were  two  subdivisions  of  the  same  nation, 
known  first  to  the  French,  then  to  the  English,  and  more  recently 
to  the  Americans,  the  one  under  the  name  of  Kickapoos  and  the 
other  as  Mascoutines ;  that  they  spoke  the  same  language  and  ob- 
served the  same  customs  ;  that  they  were  living  near  each  other, 
and  always  had  a  community  of  interest  in  their  wars,  alliances  and 
migrations ;  and  that  since  the  United  States  have  held  dominion 
over  the  territory  of  the  northwest  the  Kickapoos  and  Mascoutines 
have  considered  themselves  as  one  and  the  same  people,  whose  tri- 
bal relations  were  so  nearly  identical  that,  in  all  official  transactions 
with  the  federal  government,  they  were  recognized  only  as  Kicka- 
poos. And  is  it  not  apparent,  after  all,  that  there  was  only  a  nom- 
inal distinction  between  these  two  tribes,  or,  rather,  families  of  the 
same  tribe  ?  Were  not  the  Mascoutins  bands  of  the  Kickapoos  who 
dwelt  exclusively  on  the  prairies  (  It  seems,  from  authorities  cited, 
that  this  question  admits  of  but  one  answer. 

The  destruction  that  followed  the  attempt  of  the  Mascoutins  to 
capture  Detroit  was,  perhaps,  one  of  the  most  remorseless  in  which 
white  men  took  a  part  of  which  we  have  an  account  in  the  annals  of 
Indian  warfare.  As  before  stated,  the  Muscotins  in  1712  laid  siege 
to  the  Fort,  hearing  of  which  the  Pottawatomies,  with  other  tribes 
friendly  to  the  French,  collected  in  a  large  force  for  their  assistance. 

*  The  only  treaty  which  the  Mascoutins,  as  such,  were  parties  to  was  the  one 
concluded  at  Vincennes  on  the  27th  of  September,  1792,  between  the  several  Wabash 
tribes  and  Gen.  Rufus  Putnam,  on  behalf  of  the  United  States.  Two  Mascoutins 
signed  this  treaty,  viz,  Waush-eown  and  At-schat-schaw.  Three  Kickapoo  chiefs  also 
signed  the  parchment,  viz,  Me-an-ach-kah,  Ma-en-a-pah  and  Mash-a-ras-a,  the  Black 
Elk,  and,  what  is  singular,  this  last  person,  although  a  Kickapoo.  signs  himself  to  the 
treaty  as  "The  Chief  of  The  Meadows."  This  treaty  was  only  one  of  peace  and  friend- 
ship. The  text  of  the  treaty  is  found  in  the  American  State  Papers,  Indian  Affairs, 
vol.  1,  p.  388;  in  Judge  Dillon's  History  of  Indiana,  edition  of  1859,  pp.  293,  294,  and 
in  the  Western  Annals,  Pittsburg  edition,  pp.  605,  606.  The  names  of  the  tribes  and 
of  the  individual  chiefs  who  participated  in  it  are  not  given  in  any  of  the  works  cited. 
They  only  appear  in  the  copy  on  file  at  the  War  Department  and  in  the  original  manu- 
script journal  of  Gen.  Putnam.  The  author  is  indebted  to  Dr.  Israel  W.  Andrews, 
president  of  Marietta  College,  for  transcripts  from  Gen.  Putnam's  journal. 

t  Treaties  with  the  Indian  Tribes,  Washington  edition,  p.  172. 


IDENTITY    OF    KICKAPOOS    WITH   THE    MASCOUTINS.  ltil 

The  Muscotines,  after  protracted  efforts,  abandoned  the  position  in 
which  the}7  were  attacked,  and  fled,  closely  pursued,  to  an  intrenched 
position  on  Presque  Isle,  opposite  Hog  Island,  near  Lake  St.  Clair, 
some  distance  above  the  fort.  Here  they  held  out  for  four  days 
against  the  combined  French  and  Indian  forces.  Their  women  and 
children  were  actually  starving,  numbers  dying  from  hunger  every 
day.  They  sent  messengers  to  the  French  officer,  begging  for  quar- 
ter, offering  to  surrender  at  discretion,  only  craving  that  their  re- 
maining women  and  children  and  themselves  might  be  spared  the 
horror  of  a  general  massacre.  The  Indian  allies  of  the  French 
would  submit  to  no  such  terms.  "At  the  end  of  the  fourth  day, 
after  fighting  with  much  courage,"  says  the  French  commander, 
"and  not  being  able  to  resist  further,  the  Muscotins  surrendered  at 
discretion  to  our  people,  who  gave  them  no  quarter.  Our  Indians 
lost  sixty  men,  killed  and  wounded.  The  enemy  lost  a  thousand 
souls  —  men,  women  and  children.  All  our  allies  returned  to  our 
fort  with  their  slaves  (meaning  the  captives),  and  their  amusement 
was  to  shoot  four  or  five  of  them  every  day.  The  Ilurons  did  not 
spare  a  single  one  of  theirs."* 

We  find  no  instance  in  which  the  Kickapoos  or  Muscotins  assisted 
either  the  French  or  the  English  in  any  of  the  intrigues  or  wars  for 
the  control  of  the  fur  trade,  or  the  acquisition  of  disputed  territory 
in  the  northwest.  At  the  close  of  Pontiac's  conspiracy,  the  Kicka- 
poos, whose  temporary  lodges  were  pitched  on  the  prairie  near  Fort 
Wayne,  notified  Captain  Morris,  the  English  ambassador,  on  his 
way  from  Detroit  to  Fort  Chartes,  to  take  possession  of  "the  coun- 
try of  the  Illinois"  ;  that  if  the  Miamis  did  not  put  him  to  death, 
they  themselves  would  do  so,  should  he  attempt  to  pass  their  camp.f 

Still  later,  on  the  Sth  of  June,  1765,  as  George  Croghan,  likewise 
an  English  ambassador,  on  his  route  by  the  Ohio  River  to  Fort 
Chartes,  was  attacked  at  daybreak,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Wabash,  by 
a  party  of  eighty  Kickapoo  and  Mascoutin  warriors,  who  had  set  out 
from  Fort  Ouiatanon  to  intercept  his  passage,  and  killed  two  of  his 
men  and  three  Indians,  and  wounded  Croghan  himself,  and  all  the 
rest  of  his  party  except  two  white  men  and  one  Indian.  They  then 
made  all  of  them  prisoners,  and  plundered  them  of  everything  they 
had.} 

*  Official  Report  of  M.  Du  Boisson  on  the  Siege  of  Detroit. 

f  Parkman's  History  of  the  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac,  3d  single  volume  edition,  p.  474. 

\  The  narrative,  Journal  of  Col.  George  Croghan,  "who  was  sent,  at  the  peace 
of  1768,  etc.,  to  explore  the  country  adjacent  to  the  Ohio  River,  and  to  conciliate  the 
Indian  nations  who  had  hitherto  acted  with  the  French."     [ReprintedJ  from  Feather- 
stonhaugh  Am.  Monthly  Journal  of  Geology,  Dec.  1831.     Pamphlet,  p.  17. 
11 


162  HISTORIC    NOTES    OX    THE    NORTHWEST. 

Having  thrown  such  obstacles  as  were  within  their  power  against 
the  French  and  English,  the  Kickapoos  were  ready  to  offer  the 
same  treatment  to  the  Americans  ;  and,  when  Col.  Rogers  Clark 
was  at  Kaskaskia,  in  1778,  negotiating  peace  treaties  with  the  west- 
ward Indians,  his  enemies  found  a  party  of  young  Kickapoos  the 
willing  instruments  to  undertake,  for  a  reward  promised,  to  kill  him. 

As  a  military  people,  the  Kickapoos  were  inferior  to  the  Miamis, 
Delawares  and  Shawnees  in  movements  requiring  large  bodies  of 
men,  but  they  were  preeminent  in  predatory  warfare.  Parties  con- 
sisting of  from  five  to  twenty  persons  were  the  usual  number  com- 
prising their  war  parties.  These  small  forces  would  push  out  hun- 
dreds of  miles  from  their  villages,  and  swoop  down  upon  a  feeble 
settlement,  or  an  isolated  pioneer  cabin,  and  burn  the  property,  kill 
the  cattle,  steal  the  horses,  capture  the  women  and  children,  and  be 
off  again  before  an  alarm  could  be  given  of  their  approach.  From 
such  incursions  of  the  Kickapoos  the  people  of  Kentucky  suffered 
severely.  * 

A  small  war  party  of  these  Indians  hovered  upon  the  skirts  of 
Gen.  Harmer's  army  when  he  was  conducting  the  campaign  against 
the  upper  TV  abash  tribes,  in  1790.  They  cut  out  a  squad  of  ten 
regular  soldiers  of  Gen.  Harmer  bv  decoying  them  into  an  ambuscade. 
Jackson  Johonnot.  the  orderly  sergeant  in  command  of  the  regulars, 
gave  an  interesting  account  of  their  capture  and  the  killing  of  his 
companions,  after  they  were  subjected  to  the  severest  hunger  and 
fatigue  on  the  march,  and  the  running  of  the  gauntlet  on  reaching 
the  Indian  villages,  f 

The  Kickapoos  were  noted  for  their  fondness  of  horses  and  their 
skill  and  daring  in  stealing  them.  They  were  so  addicted  to  this 
practice  that  Joseph  Brant,  having  been  sent  westward  to  the  Maumee 
River  in  1788,  in  the  interest  of  the  United  States,  to  bring  about  a 
reconciliation  with  the  several  tribes  inhabiting  the  j\Iaumee  and 
Wabash,  wrote  back  that,  in  his  opinion,  "the  Kickapoos,  with  the 
Shawnees  and  Miamis,  were  so  much  addicted  to  horse  stealing  that 
it  would  be  difficult  to  break  them  of  it,  and  as  that  kind  of  business 
was  their  best  v  harvest,  they  would,  of  course,  declare  for  war  and 
decline  giving  up  any  of  their  country.";}; 

*  One  of  the  reasons  urged  to  induce  the  building  of  a  town  at  the  falls  of  the 
Ohio  was  that  it  would  afford  a  means  of  strength  against,  and  be  an  object  of  terror 
to,  "our  savage  enemies,  the  Kickapoo  Indians."  Letter  of  Col.  Williams,  January 
3,  1776,  from  Boonsborough,  to  the  proprietors  of  the  grant,  found  in  Sketches  of  the 
West,  by  James  Hall. 

t  Sketches  of  Western  Adventure,  by  M'Lung,  contains  a  summarized  account, 
taken  from  Johonnot's  original  narrative,  published  at  Keene,  New  Hampshire,  1816. 

%  Stone's  Life  of  Joseph  Brant,  vol.  2,  p.  278. 


KICKAPOOS    DESTROY   THE    ILLINOIS.  163 

Between  the  years  1786  and  1796,  the  Kickapoo  war  parties,  from 
their  villages  on  the  Wabash  and  Vermilion  Rivers,  kept  the  settle- 
ments in  the  vicinity  of  Kaskaskia  in  a  state  of  continual  alarm. 
Within  the  period  named  they  killed  and  captured  a  number  of 
men,  women  and  children  in  that  part  of  Illinois.  Among  their 
notable  captures  was  that  of  William  Biggs,  whom  they  took  across 
the  prairies  to  their  village  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Wabash,  above 
Attica,  Indiana.  * 

Subsequent  to  the  close  of  the  Pontiac  war,  the  Kickapoos,  as- 
sisted by  the  Pottawatomies,  almost  annihilated  the  Kaskaskias  at  a 
place  since  called  Battle  Ground  Creek,  on  the  road  leading  from 
Kaskaskia  to  Shawneetown,  and  about  twenty-five  miles  from  the 
former  place,  f  The  Kaskaskias  were  shut  up  in  the  villages  of 
Kaskaskia  and  Cahokia,  and  the  Kickapoos  became  the  recognized 
proprietors  of  a  large  portion  of  the  territory  of  the  Kaskaskias  on 
the  west,  and  the  hunting  grounds  of  the  Piankeshaw-Miamis  on 
the  east,  of  the  dividing  ridge  between  the  Illinois  and  Wabash 
Rivers.  The  principal  Kickapoo  towns  were  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
Illinois,  near  Peoria,  and  on  the  Vermilion,  of  the  Wabash,  and  at 
several  places  on  the  west  bank  of  the  latter  stream.;}; 

The  Kickapoos  of  the  prairie  had  villages  west  of  Charleston, 
Illinois,  about  the  head-waters  of  the  Kaskaskia  and  in  many  of  the 
groves  scattered  over  the  prairies  between  the  Illinois  and  the  Wa- 
bash and  south  of  the  Kankakee,  notable  among  which  were  their 
towns  at  Elkhart  Grove,  on  the  Mackinaw,  twelve  miles  north  of 
Bloomington,  and  at  Oliver's  Grove,  in  Livingston  county,  Illinois. 

These  people  were  much  attached  to  the  country  along  the  Ver- 
milion River,  and  Gen.  Harrison  had  great  trouble  in  gaining  their 
consent  to  cede  it  away.  The  Kickapoos  valued  it  highly  as  a 
desirable  home,  and  because  of  the  minerals  it  was  supposed  to 
contain.      In  a  letter,  dated  December  10,  1809,  addressed  to  the 

*  Biggs  was  a  tall  and  handsome  man.  He  had  been  one  of  Col.  Clark's  soldiers, 
and  had  settled  near  Bellefountaine.  He  was  well  versed  in  the  Indians'  ways  and 
their  language.  The  Kickapoos  took  a  great  fancy  to  him.  They  adopted  him  into  their 
tribe,  put  him  through  a  ridiculous  ceremony  which  transformed  him  into  a  genuine 
Kickapoo,  after  which  he  was  offered  a  handsome  daughter  of  a  Kickapoo  brave  for  a 
wife.  He  declined  all  these  flattering  temptations,  however,  purchased  his  freedom 
through  the  agency  of  a  Spanish  trader  at  the  Kickapoo  village,  and  returned  home  to 
his  family,  going  down  the  Wabash  and  Ohio  and  up  the  Mississippi  in  a  canoe.  His- 
torical Sketch  of  the  Early  Settlements  in  Illinois,  etc.,  by  John  M.  Peck,  read  before 
the  Illinois  State  Lyceum,  August  16,  1832.  In  1826,  shortly  before  his  death,  Mr. 
Biggs  published  a  narrative  of  his  experience  "  while  he  was  a  prisoner  with  the  Kick- 
apoo Indians."  It  was  published  in  pamphlet  form,  with  poor  type,  and  on  very  com- 
mon paper,  and  contains  twenty-three  pages. 

t  J.  M.  Peck's  Historical  Address. 

%  Reynolds'  Pioneer  History  of  Illinois,  J.  M.  Peck's  Address,  and  Gen.  Harrison's 
Memoirs. 


164  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

Secretary  of  War,  by  Gen.  Harrison,  the  latter, —  referring  to  the 
treaty  at  Fort  Wayne  in  connection  with  his  efforts  at  that  treaty  to 
induce  the  Kickapoos  to  release  their  title  to  the  tract  of  country 
bounded  on  the  east  by  the  Wabash,  on  the  south  by  the  northern 
line  of  the  so-called  Harrison  Purchase,  extending  from  opposite  the 
mouth  of  Raccoon  Creek,  northwest  fifteen  miles;  thence  to  a  point 
on  the  Vermilion  River,  twentv-fiye  miles  in  a  direct  line  from  its 
mouth:  thence  down  the  latter  stream  to  its  confluence, —  says  ''he 
was  extremely  anxious  that  the  extinguishment  of  title  should  extend 
as  high  up  as  the  Vermilion  River.  This  small  tract  [of  about 
twenty  miles  square]  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  that  can  be  con- 
ceived, and  is,  moreover,  believed  to  contain  a  very  rich  copper 
mine.  The  Indians  were  so  extremely  jealous  of  any  search  being 
made  for  this  mine  that  the  traders  were  always  cautioned  not  to 
approach  the  hills  which  were  supposed  to  contain  it."* 

In  the  desperate  plans  of  Tecumseh  and  his  brother,  the  Prophet, 
to  unite  all  of  the  Indian  tribes  in  a  war  of  extermination  against 
the  whites,  the  Kickapoos  took  an  actiye  part.  Gen.  Harrison  made 
extraordinary  efforts  to  avert  the  troubles  that  culminated  in  the  bat- 
tie  of  Tippecanoe.  The  Kickapoos  were  particularly  uneasy ;  and 
in  1S06  Gen.  Harrison  dispatched  Capt.  Wm.  Prince  to  the  Vermil- 
ion towns  with  a  speech  addressed  to  all  the  chiefs  and  warriors  of 
the  Kickapoo  tribe,  giving  Capt.  Prince  further  instructions  to  pro- 
ceed to  the  villages  in  the  prairies,  if,  after  haying  delivered  the 
speech  at  the  Vermilion  towns,  he  discovered  that  there  would  be  no 
danger  in  proceeding  beyond.  The  speech,  which  was  full  of  good 
words,  had  little  effect,  and   "shortly  after  the  mission  of  Capt. 

*  General  Harrison's  Official  Letter:  American  State  Papers  of  Indian  Affairs,  vol. 
1,  p.  726.  It  was  not  copper,  but  a  mineral  having  something  like  the  appearance  of 
silver,  that  the  Indians  so  jealously  guarded.  Recent  explorations  among  the  bluffs  on 
the  Little  Vermilion  have  resulted  in  the  discovery  of  a  number  of  ancient  smelting 
furnaces,  with  the  charred  coals  and  slag  remaining  in  and  about  them.  The  furnaces 
are  crude,  consisting  of  shallow  excavations  of  irregular  shape  in  the  hillsides.  These 
basins,  averaging  a  few  feet  across  the  top,  were  lined  with  fire-clay.  The  bottoms  of 
the  pits  were  connected  by  ducts  or  troughs,  also  made  of  fire-clay,  leading  into  reser- 
voirs a  little  distance  lower  down  the  hillside,  into  which  the  metal  could  flow,  when 
reduced  to  a  liquid  state,  in  the  furnaces  above.  The  pits  were  carefully  filled  with 
earth,  and  every  precaution  was  taken  to  prevent  their  discovery,  a  slight  depression  in 
the  surface  of  the  ground  being  the  only  indication  of  their  presence.  The  mines  are 
from  every  appearance  entitled  to  a  claim  of  considerable  antiquity,  and  are  probably 
"the  silver  mines  on  the  Wabash  "  that  figure  in  the  works  of  Hutchins,  Imlay,  and 
other  early  writers,  as  the  geological  formation  of  the  country  precludes  there  being 
any  of  the  metals  as  high  up  or  above  "Ouiatanon,"  in  the  vicinity  of  which  those 
authors,  as  well  as  other  writers,  have  located  these  mines.  The  most  plausible  ex- 
planation of  the  use  to  which  the  metal  was  put  is  given  by  a  half-breed  Indian, 
whose  ancestors  lived  in  the  vicinity  and  were  in  the  secret  that,  after  being  smelted, 
the  metal  was  sent  to  Montreal,  where  it  was  used  as  an  alloy  with  silver,  and  con- 
verted into  brooches,  wristbands,  and  other  like  jewelry,  and  brought  back  by  the 
traders  and  disposed  of  to  the  Indians. 


PA-KOI-SHEE-CAN.  165 

Prince,  the  Prophet  found  means  to  bring  the  whole  of  the  Kicka- 
poos  entirely  under  his  influence.  He  prevailed  on  the  warriors  to 
reduce  their  old  chief,  Joseph  Renard's  son,  to  a  private  man.  He 
would  have  been  put  to  death  but  for  the  insignificance  of  his  char- 
acter."* 

The  Kickapoos  fought  in  great  numbers,  and  with  frenzied  cour- 
age, at  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe.  They  early  sided  with  the  British 
in  the  war  that  was  declared  between  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain  the  following  June,  and  sent  out  numerous  war  parties  that 
kept  the  settlements  in  Illinois  and  Indiana  territories  in  constant 
peril,  while  other  warriors  represented  their  tribe  in  almost  every 
battle  fought  on  the  western  frontier  during  this  war. 

As  the  Pottawatomies  and  other  tribes  friendlv  to  the  English 
laid  siege  to  Fort  "Wayne,  the  Kickapoos,  assisted  by  the  Winneba- 
goes,  undertook  the  capture  of  Fort  Plarrison.  They  nearly  suc- 
ceeded, and  would  have  taken  the  fort  but  for  one  of  the  most  he- 
roic and  determined  defenses  under  Capt.  (afterward  Gen.)  Zachary 
Taylor. 

Capt.  Taylor's  official  letter  to  Gen.  Harrison,  dated  September 
10,  1S12,  contains  a  graphic  account  of  the  affair  at  Fort  Harrison. 
The  writer  will  here  give  the  version  of  Pa-koi-shee-can,  whom  the 
French  called  La  Farine  and  the  Americans  The  Flour,  the  Kicka- 
poo  chief  who  planned  the  attack  and  personally  executed  the  most 
difficult  part  of  the  programme.  f 

First,  the  Indians  loitered  about  the  fort,  having  a  few  of  their 
women  and  children  about  them,  to  induce  a  belief  that  their  pres- 
ence was  of  a  friendly  character,  while  the  main  body  of  warriors 
were  secreted  at  some  distance  off,  waiting  for  favorable  develop- 
ments.    Under  the  pretense  of  a  want  of  provisions,  the  men  and 

*  Memoirs  of  Gen.  Harrison,  p.  85.  A  foot-note  on  the  same  page  is  as  follows: 
"  Old  Joseph  Renard  was  a  very  different  character,  a  great  warrior  and  perfectly  sav- 
age—  delighting  in  blood.  He  once  told  some  of  the  inhabitants  of  Vincennes  that 
he  used  to  be  much  diverted  at  the  different  exclamations  of  the  Americans  and  the 
French  while  the  Indians  were  scalping  them,  the  one  exclaiming  Oh  Lord!  oh  Lord! 
oh  Lord!  —  the  other  Mon  Dieu!  mon  Dieu!  mon  Dieu!" 

fThe  account  here  given  was  narrated  to  the  author  by  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Baptiste, 
substantially  as  it  was  told  to  her  by  "  Pa-koi-shee-can."  This  lady,  with  her  hus- 
band, Christmas  Dagney,  was  at  Fort  Harrison  in  1821,  where  the  latter  was  assisting 
in  disbursing  annuities  to  the  assembled  Indians.  The  business,  and  general  spree 
which  followed  it,  occupied  two  or  three  days.  La  Farine  was  present  with  his  people 
to  receive  their  share  of  annuities,  and  the  old  chief,  having  leisure,  edified  Mr.  Dag- 
ney and  his  wife  with  a  minute  description  of  his  attempt  to  capture  the  fort,  pointing 
out  the  position  of  the  attacking  party  and  all  the  movements  on  the  part  of  the 
Indians,  La  Farine  was  a  large,  fleshy  man,  well  advanced  in  years  and  a  thorough 
savage.  As  he  related  the  story  he  warmed  up  and  indulged  in  a  great  deal  of  pan- 
tomime, which  gave  force  to,  while  it  heightened  the  effect  of,  his  narration.  The 
particulars  are  given  substantially  as  they  were  repeated  to  the  author.  The  lady  of 
whom  he  received  it  had  never  read  an  account  of  the  engagement. 


166  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON    THE    NORTHWEST. 

women  were  permitted  to  approach  the  fort,  and  had  a  chance  to 
inspect  the  fort  and  its  defenses,  an  opportunity  of  which  the  men 
fully  availed  themselves.  A  dark  night,  giving  the  appearance  of 
rain,  favored  a  plan  which  was  at  once  put  into  execution.  The 
warriors  were  called  to  the  front,  and  the  women  and  children 
retired  to  a  place  of  safety.  La  Farine,  with  a  large  butcher  knife 
in  each  hand,  extended  himself  at  full  length  upon  the  ground.  He 
drove  one  knife  into  the  ground  and  drew  his  body  up  against  it, 
then  he  reached  forward,  with  the  knife  in  the  other  hand,  and  driv- 
ing that  into  the  ground  drew  himself  along.  In  this  way  he  ap- 
proached the  lower  block-house,  stealthily  through  the  grass.  He 
could  hear  the  sentinels  on  their  rounds  within  the  fortified  enclo- 
sure. As  they  advanced  toward  that  part  of  the  works  where  the 
lower  block-house  was  situated,  La  Farine  would  lie  still  upon  the 
ground,  and  when  the  sentinels  made  the  turn  and  were  moving  in 
the  opposite  direction,  he  would  again  crawl  nearer.*  In  this  manner 
La  Farine  reached  the  very  walls  of  the  block-house.  There  was  a 
crack  between  the  logs  of  the  block-house,  and  through  this  opening 
the  Kickapoo  placed  a  quantity  of  dry  grass,  bits  of  wood,  and 
other  combustible  material,  brought  in  a  blanket  tied  about  his  back, 
so  as  to  form  a  sack.  As  the  preparation  for  this  incendiarism  was 
in  progress,  the  sentinels  passed  within  a  very  few  feet  of  the  place, 
as  they  paced  by  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  block-house.  Everything 
being  in  readiness,  and  the  sentinels  at  the  farther  end  of  the  works, 
La  Farine  struck  a  fire  with  his  flint  and  thrust  it  between  the  logs, 
and  threw  his  blanket  quickly  over  the  opening,  to  prevent  the  light 
from  flashing  outside,  and  giving  the  alarm  before  the  building 
should  be  well  ablaze.  When  assured  that  the  fire  -was  well  under 
way,  he  fell  back  and  gave  the  signal,  when  the  attack  was  immedi- 
ately begun  by  the  Indians  at  the  other  extremity  of  the  fort.  The 
lower  block-house  burned  up  in  spite  of  all  the  efforts  of  the  gar- 
rison to  put  out  the  fire,  and  for  awhile  the  Indians  were  exultant  in 
the  belief  of  an  assured  and  complete  victory.  Gen.  Taylor  con- 
structed a  barricade  out  of  material  taken  from  another  building, 
and  by  the  time  the  block-house  burned  the  Indians  discovered  a 
new  line  of  defenses,  closing  up  the  breach  by  which  they  expected 
to  effect  an  entrance,  f 

*  Capt.  Taylor,  being  suspicious  of  mischief,  took  the  precaution  to  order  sentinels 
to  make  the  rounds  within  the  inclosure,  as  appears  from  his  official  report. 

t  The  Indians,  exasperated  by  the  failure  of  their  attempt  upon  Fort  Harrison, 
made  an  incursion  to  the  Pigeon  Roost  Fork  of  White  River,  where  they  massacred 
twenty-one  of  the  inhabitants,  many  of  them  women  and  children.  The  details  of 
some  of  the  barbarities  committed  on  this  incursion  are  too  shocking  to  narrate.    They 


TERRITORY    OF   THE    KICKAPOOS.  167 

in  1819,  at  a  treaty  concluded  at  Edwardsville,  Illinois,  they 
ceded  to  the  United  States  all  of  their  lands.  Their  claim  included 
the  following  territory:  "Beginning  on  the  Wabash  River,  at  the 
upper  point  of  their  cession,  made  by  the  second  article  of  their 
treaty  at  Vincennes  on  the  9th  of  December,  1809  ;*  thence  running 
northwestwardly!  to  the  dividing  line  between  the  states  of  Illinois 
and  Indiana  ;-J  thence  along  said  line  to  the  Kankakee  River  ;  thence 
with  said  river  to  the  Illinois  River;  thence  down  the  latter  to  its 
mouth  ;  thence  in  a  direct  line  to  the  northwest  corner  of  the  Vin- 
cennes tract,§  and  thence  (north  by  a  little  east)  with  the  western 
and  northern  boundaries  of  the  cessions  heretofore  made  by  the 
Kickapoo  tribe  of  Indians,  to  the  beginning.  Of  which  tract  of  land 
the  said  Kickapoo  tribe  claim  a  large  portion  by  descent  from  their 
ancestors,  and  the  balance  by  conquest  from  the  Illinois  Nation  and 
uninterrupted  possession  for  more  than  half  a  century.'1'1  An  exam- 
ination, extended  through  many  volumes,  leaves  no  doubt  of  the  just 
claims  of  the  Kickapoos  to  the  territory  described,  or  the  length  of 
time  it  had  been  in  their  possession. 

With  the  close  of  the  war  of  1812,  the  Kickapoos  ceased  their 
active  hostilities  upon  the  whites,  and  within  a  few  years  afterward 
disposed  of  their  lands  in  Illinois  and  Indiana,  and,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  a  few  bands,  went  westward  of  the  Mississippi.  "The 
Kickapoos,"  says  ex-Go  v.  Reynolds,  "disliked  the  United  States  so 
much  that  they  decided,  when  they  left  Illinois  that  they  would  not 
reside  within  the  limits  of  our  government,"  but  would  settle  in 
Texas.  |     A  large  body  of  them  did  go  to  Texas,  and  when   the 

are  given  by  Capt.  M'Affe  in  his  History  of  the  Late  War  in  the  Western  Country, 
p.  155.  The  garrison  at  Fort  Harrison  was  cut  off  from  communication  with  Vincennes 
for  several  days,  and  reduced  to  great  extremity  for  want  of  provisions.  They  were 
relieved  by  Col.  Russell.  Alter  this  officer  had  left  the  fort,  on  his  return  to  Vincennes, 
he  passed  several  wagons  with  provisions  on  their  way  up  to  the  fort  under  an  escort  of 
thirteen  men,  commanded  by  Lieut.  Fairbanks,  of  the  regular  army.  This  body  of 
men  were  surprised  and  cut  to  pieces  by  the  Indians,  two  or  three  only  escaping,  while 
the  provisions  and  wagons  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  savages.     Vide,  M'Affe,  p.  155. 

*  At  the  mouth  of  Raccoon  Creek,  opposite  Montezuma. 

t  Following  the  northwestern  line  of  the  so-called  Harrison  Purchase. 

\  The  state  line  had  not  been  run  at  this  time,  and  when  it  was  surveyed  in  1821 
it  was  discovered  to  be  several  miles  west  of  where  it  was  generally  supposed  it  would 
be.  The  territory  of  the  Kickapoos  extended  nearly  as  far  east  as  La  Fayette,  as  is 
evident  from  the  location  of  some  of  their  villages. 

§  By  the  terms  of  the  fourth  article  of  the  treaty  of  Greenville  the  United  States 
reserved  a  tract  of  land  on  both  sides  of  the  Wabash,  above  and  below  Vincennes,  to 
cover  the  rights  of  the  inhabitants  of  that  village  who  had  received  grants  from  the 
French  and  British  governments.  In  1803,  for  the  purpose  of  settling  the  limits  of 
this  tract,  General  Harrison,  on  the  7th  of  June,  1803,  at  Fort  Wayne,  concluded  a 
treaty  with  the  Mianns,  Kickapoos.  Shawnees,  Pottawatomies  and  Delawares.  This 
cession  of  land  became  known  as  the  Vincennes  tract,  and  its  northwest  corner  extends 
some  twelve  miles  into  Illinois,  crossing  the  Wabash  at  Palestine. 

||  Pioneer  History  of  Illinois,  p.  8. 


168  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

Lone  Star  Republic  became  one  of  the  United  States  the  Kickapoos 
retired  to  New  Mexico,  and  subsequently  some  of  them  went  to  Old 
Mexico.  Here  on  these  isolated  borders  the  wild  bands  of  Kicka- 
poos have  for  years  maintained  the  reputation  of  their  sires  as  a  busy 
and  turbulent  people." 

A  mixed  band  of  Kickapoos  and  Pottawatomies,  who  resided  on 
the  Vermilion  River  and  its  tributaries,  became  christianized  under 
the  instructions  of  Ka-en-ne-kuck.  This  remarkable  man,  once  a 
drunkard  himself,  reformed  and  became  an  exemplary  christian, 
and  commanded  such  influence  over  his  band  that  they,  too,  became 
christians,  abstained  entirely  from  whiskv,  which  had  brought  them 
to  the  verge  of  destruction,  and  gave  up  many  of  the  other  vices  to 
which  they  were  previously  addicted.  Ka-en-ne-kuck  had  religious 
services  every  Sunday,  and  so  conscientious  were  his  people  that 
they  abstained  from  labor  and  all  frivolous  pastimes  on  that  day.f 

Ka-en-ne-kuck' s  discourses  were  replete  with  religious  thought, 
and  advice  given  in  accordance  with  the  precepts  of  the  Bible,  and 
are  more  interesting  because  they  were  the  utterances  of  an  unedu- 
cated Indian,  who  is  believed  to  have  done  more,  in  his  sphere  of 
action,  in  the  cause  of  temperance  and  other  moral  reforms,  than 
any  other  person  has  been  able  to  accomplish  among  the  Indians, 
although  armed  with  all  the  power  that  education  and  talent  could 
confer. 

Ka-en-ne-kuck' s  band,  numbering  about  two  hundred  persons, 
migrated  to  Kansas,  and  settled  upon  a  reservation  within  the  pres- 
ent limits  of  Jackson  and  Brown  counties,  where  the  survivors,  and 
the  immediate  descendants  of  those  who  have  since  died,  are  now 
residing  upon  their  farms.  Their  well-cultivated  fields  and  their 
uniform  good  conduct  attest  the  lasting  effect  of  Ka-en-ne-kuck's 
teachings. 

The  wild  bands  have  always  been  troublesome  upon  the  south- 
western borders,  plundering  upon  all  sides,  making  inroads  into  the 
settlements,  killing  stock  and  stealing  horses.     Every  now  and  then 

*  In  1854  a  band  of  them  were  found  by  Col.  Marcy,  living  near  Fort  Arbuckle. 
He  says  of  them:  "  They  are  intelligent,  active  and  brave;  they  frequently  visit  and 
traffic  with  the  prairie  Indians,  and  have  no  fear  of  meeting  these  people  in  battle, 
provided  the  odds  are  not  more  than  six  to  one  against  them."  Marcy's  Thirty  Years 
of  Army  Life  on  the  Border,  p.  95. 

fOne  of  Ka-en-ne-kuck's  sermons  was  delivered  at  Danville,  Illinois,  on  the  17th 
of  July,  1831,  to  his  own  tribe,  and  a  large  concourse  of  citizens  who  asked  permission 
to  be  present.  The  sermon  was  delivered  in  the  Kickapoo  dialect,  interpreted  into 
English,  sentence  at  a  time  as  spoken  by  the  orator,  by  Gurdeon  S.  Hubbard,  who  spoke 
the  Kickapoo  as  well  as  the  Pottawatomie  dialect  with  great  fluency.  The  sermon  was 
taken  down  in  writing  by  Solomon  Banta,  a  lawyer  then  living  in  Danville,  and  for- 
warded by  him  and  Col.  Hubbard  to  Judge  James  Hall,  at  Vandalia,  Illinois,  and  pub- 
lished in  the  October  number  (1831)  of  his  "  Illinois  Monthly  Magazine." 


CHAKACTERISTICS.  169 

their  depredations  form  the  subject  of  items  for  the  current  news- 
papers of  the  day.  For  years  the  government  has  failed  in  efforts 
to  induce  the  wild  band  to  remove  to  some  point  within  the  Indian 
Territory,  where  they  might  be  restrained  from  annoying  the  border 
settlements  of  Texas  and  ±Sew  Mexico.  Some  years  ago  a  part  of 
the  semi-civilized  Kickapoos  in  Kansas,  preferring  their  old  wild 
life  to  the  ways  of  civilized  society,  left  Kansas  and  joined  the  bands 
to  the  southwest.  These  last,  after  twelve  years'1  roving  in  quest  of 
plunder,  were  induced  to  return,  and  in  1875  they  were  settled  in 
the  Indian  Territory  and  supplied  with  the  necessary  implements 
and  provisions  to  enable  them  to  go  to  work  and  earn  an  honest  liv- 
ing. In  this  commendable  effort  at  reform  they  are  now  making 
very  satisfactory  progress.*  In  1875  the  number  of  civilized  Kick- 
apoos within  the  Kansas  agency  was  three  hundred  and  eight-five, 
while  the  wild  or  Mexican  band  numbered  four  hundred  and  twenty, 
as  appears  from  the  official  report  on  Indian  affairs  for  that  year. 

As  compared  with  other  Indians,  the  Kickapoos  were  industrious, 
intelligent,  and  cleanly  in  their  habits,  and  were  better  armed  and 
clothed  than  the  other  tribes. f  The  men,  as  a  rule,  were  tall,  sin- 
ewy and  active ;  the  women  were  lithe,  and  many  of  them  by  no 
means  lacking  in  beauty.  Their  dialect  was  soft  and  liquid,  as  com- 
pared with  the  rough  and  guttural  language  of  the  Pottawatomies. ^ 
They  kept  aloof  from  the  white  people,  as  a  rule,  and  in  this  way 
preserved  their  characteristics,  and  contracted  fewer  of  the  vices  of 
the  white  man  than  other  tribes.  Their  numbers  were  never  great, 
as  compared  with  the  Miamis  or  Pottawatoinies ;  however,  they 
made  up  for  the  deficiency  in  this  respect  by  the  energy  of  their 
movements. 

In  language,  manners  and  customs  the  Kickapoos  bore  a  very 
close  resemblance  to  the  Sac  and  Fox  Indians,  whose  allies  they 
generally  were,  and  with  whom  they  have  by  some  writers  been 
confounded. 

*  Report  of  Commissioner  on  Indian  Affairs  for  the  year  1875. 
t  Reynolds'  Pioneer  History  of  Illinois. 
X  Statement  of  Col.  Hubbard  to  the  writer. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

THE   SHAWNEES  AND  DELA WARES. 

The  Shawnees  were  a  branch  of  the  Algonquin  family,  and  in 
manners  and  customs  bore  a  strong  resemblance  to  the  Delawares. 
They  were  the  Bedouins  of  the  wilderness,  and  their  wanderings 
form  a  notable  instance  in  the  history  of  the  nomadic  races  of  North 
America.  Before  the  arrival  of  the  Europeans  the  Shawnees  lived 
on  the  shores  of  the  great  lakes  eastward  of  Cleveland.  At  that 
time  the  principal  Iroquois  villages  were  on  the  northern  side  of  the 
lakes,  above  Montreal,  and  this  tribe  was  under  a  species  of  subjec- 
tion to  the  Adirondacks,  the  original  tribe  from  whence  the  several 
Algonquin  tribes  are  alleged  to  have  sprung,*  and  made  "the  plant- 
ing of  corn  their  business." 

"  The  Adirondacks,  however,  valued  themselves  as  delighting  in 
a  more  manly  employment,  and  despised  the  Iroquois  in  following 
a  business  which  they  thought  only  fit  for  women.  But  it  once  hap- 
pened that  game  failed  the  Adirondacks,  which  made  them  desire 
some  of  the  young  men  of  the  Iroquois  to  assist  them  in  hunting. 
These  young  men  soon  became  much  more  expert  in  hunting,  and 
able  to  endure  fatigues,  than  the  Adirondacks  expected  or  desired ; 
in  short,  they  became  jealous  of  them,  and  one  night  murdered  all 
the  young  men  they  had  with  them."  The  chiefs  of  the  Iroquois 
complained,  but  the  Adirondacks  treated  their  remonstrances  with 
contempt,  without  being  apprehensive  of  the  resentment  of  the  Iro- 
quois, ""for  they  looked  upon  them  as  women." 

The  Iroquois  determined  on  revenge,  and  the  Adirondacks,  hear- 
ing of  it,  declared  war.  The  Iroquois  made  but  feeble  resistance, 
and  were  forced  to  leave  their  country  and  fly  to  the  south  shores  of 
the  lakes,  where  they  ever  afterward  lived.  "Their  chiefs,  in  order 
to  raise  their  people's  spirits,  turned  them  against  the  Satanas,  a  less 
warlike  nation,  who  then  lived  on  the  shores  of  the  lakes."  The 
Iroquois  soon  subdued  the  Satanas,  and  drove  them  from  their 
country,  f 

*  Adirondack  is  the  Iroquois  name  for  Algonquin. 

t  ( 'olden's  History  of  the  Five  Nations,  pp.  22,  23,  The  Shawnees  were  known  to 
the  Iroquois  by  the  name  of  Satanas.     Same  authority. 

no 


WANDERINGS    OF   THE   SHAWNEES.  171 

In  1632  the  Shawnees  were  on  the  south  side  of  the  Delaware.* 
From  this  time  the  Iroquois  pursued  them,  each  year  driving  them 
farther  southward.  Forty  years  later  they  were  on  the  Tennessee, 
and  Father  Marquette,  in  speaking  of  them,  calls  them  Chaouanons, 
which  was  the  Illinois  word  for  southerners,  or  people  from  the 
south,  so  termed  because  they  lived  to  the  south  of  the  Illinois  cantons. 
The  Iroquois  still  waged  war  upon  the  Shawnees,  driving  them  to  the 
extremities  mentioned  in  the  extracts  quoted  from  Father  Marquette's 
journal. -f  To  escape  further  molestation  from  the  Iroquois,  the  Shaw- 
nees continued  a  more  southern  course,  and  some  of  their  bands 
penetrated  the  extreme  southern  states.  The  Suwanee  River,  in 
Florida,  derived  its  name  from  the  fact  that  the  Shawnees  once  lived 
upon  its  banks.  Black  Hoof,  the  renowned  chief  of  this  tribe,  was 
born  in  Florida,  and  informed  Gen.  Harrison,  with  whom  for  many 
years  he  was  upon  terms  of  intimacy,  that  he  had  often  bathed  in 
the  sea. 

"It  is  well  known  that  they  were  at  a  place  which  still  bears 
their  namej  on  the  Ohio,  a  few  miles  below  the  mouth  of  the  Wabash, 
some  time  before  the  commencement  of  the  revolutionary  war,  where 
they  remained  before  their  removal  to  the  Sciota,  where  they  were 
found  in  the  year  177-i  by  Gov.  Dunmore.  Their  removal  from 
Florida  was  a  necessity,  and  their  progress  from  thence  a  flight 
rather  than  a  deliberate  march.  This  is  evident  from  their  appear- 
ance when  they  presented  themselves  upon  the  Ohio  and  claimed 
protection  of  the  Miamis.  They  are  represented  by  the  chiefs  of  the 
Miamis  and  Delawares  as  supplicants  for  protection,  not  against  the 
Iroquois,  but  against  the  Creeks  and  Seminoles,  or  some  other  south- 
ern tribe,  who  had  driven  them  from  Florida,  and  they  are  said  to 
have  been  literally  sans  provant  et  sans  culottes  [hungry  and  naked]. § 

After  their  dispersion  by  the  Iroquois,  remnants  of  the  tribe  were 
found  in  Illinois.  Indiana,  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania,  but  after  the 
return  of  the  main  body  from  the  south,  they  became  once  more 
united,  the  Pennsylvania  band  leaving  that  colony  about  the  same 
time  that  the  Delawares  did.  During  the  forty  years  following  that 
period,  the  whole  tribe  was  in  a  state  of  perpetual  war  with  America, 
either  as  British  colonies  or  as  independent  states.     By  the  treaty  of 

*  De  Laet. 

t  Vide  p.  49  of  this  work. 

\  Shawneetown,  Illinois. 

§Gen.  Harrison's  Historical  Address,  pp.  30.  31.  This  history  of  the  Shawnees, 
says  Gen.  Harrison,  was  brought  forward  at  a  council  at  Vincennes  in  1810,  to  resist 
the  pretensions  of  Tecumseh  to  an  interference  with  the  Miamis  in  the  disposal  of  their 
lands,  and  however  galling  the  reference  to  these  facts  must  have  been  to  Tecumseh, 
he  was  unable  to  deny  them. 


172  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

Greenville,  they  lost  nearly  all  the  territory  they  had  been  permitted 
to  occupy  north  of  the  Ohio." 

In  1819  they  were  divided  into  four  tribes. —  the  Pequa.+  the  Me- 
quachake,  the  Chillicothe,  and  the  Kiskapocoke.  The  latter  tribe 
was  the  one  to  which  Tecumseh  belonged.  They  were  always  hos- 
tile to  the  United  States,  and  joined  every  coalition  against  the  gov- 
ernment. In  1806  they  separated  from  the  rest  of  the  tribe,  and 
took  up  their  residence  at  Greenville.  Soon  afterward  they  removed 
to  their  former  place  of  residence  on  Tippecanoe  Creek.  Indiana.;}; 

At  the  close  of  Gen.  Wayne's  campaign,  a  large  body  of  the 
Shawnees  settled  near  Cape  Girardeau.  Missouri,  upon  a  tract  of 
land  granted  to  them  and  the  Delawares  in  1793.  bv  Baron  de  Ca- 
rondelet.  governor  of  the  Spanish  provinces  west  of  the  Mississippi..^ 

From  their  towns  in  eastern  Ohio,  the  Shawnees  spread  north  and 
westward  to  the  headwaters  of  the  Big  and  Little  Miamis,  the  St. 
Mary's,  and  the  An  Glaize,  and  for  quite  a  distance  down  the  Mau- 
mee.  They  had  extensive  cultivated  fields  upon  these  streams, 
which,  with  their  villages,  were  destroyed  bv  Gen.  "Wavne  on  his 
return  from  the  victorious  engagement  with  the  confederated  tribes 
on  the  field  of  "fallen  timbers."!  Gen.  Ilarmer,  in  his  letter  to 
the  Secretary  of  War,  communicating  the  details  of  his  campaign 
on  the  Maumee,  in  October,  1790,  gives  a  fine  description  of  the 
country,  and  the  location  of  the  Shawnee,  Delaware  and  Miami  vil- 
lages, in  the  neighborhood  of  Fort  AVayne,  as  they  appeared  at  that 
early  day.  We  quote:  '^The  savages  and  traders  (who  were,  perhaps, 
the  worst  savages  of  the  two )  had  evacuated  their  towns,  and  burnt 
the  principal  village  called  the  Omee'  together  with  all  the  traders' 
houses.  This  village  lay  on  a  pleasant  point,  formed  by  the  junc- 
tion of  the  rivers  Omee  and  St.  Joseph.     It  was  situate  on  the  east 

*  Gallatin. 

t "  In  ancient  times  they  had  a  large  fire,  which,  being  burned  down,  a  great  puffing 
and  blowing  was  heard  among  the  ashes;  they  looked,  and  behold  a  man  stood  up 
from  the  ashes!  hence  the  name  Piqua — a  man  coming  out  of  the  ashes,  or  made  of 
ashes." 

X  Account  of  the  Present  State  of  the  Indian  Tribes  Inhabiting  Ohio  :  Archaeologia 
Americana,  vol.  1,  pp.  274,  275.  Mr.  Johnson  is  in  error  in  locating  this  band  upon 
the  Tippecanoe.  The  prophets'  town  was  upon  the  west  bank  of  the  Wabash,  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Tippecanoe. 

§  Treaties  with  the  Several  Indian  Tribes,  etc.:  Government  edition.  1837.  The 
Shawnees  and  Delawares  relinquished  their  title  to  their  Spanish  grant  by  a  treaty 
concluded  between  them  and  the  United  States  on  the  26th  of  October,  1832. 

||  "The  army  returned  to  this  place  [Fort  Defiance]  on  the  27th,  by  easy  marches, 
laying  waste  to  the  villages  and  corn-fields  for  about  fifty  miles  on  each  side  of  the 
Miami  [Maumee J.  There  remains  yet  a  great  number  of  villages  and  a  great  quantity 
of  corn  to  be  consumed  or  destroyed  upon  the  Au  Glaize  and  Miami  above  this  place, 
which  will  be  effected  in  a  few  days."  Gen.  Wayne  to  the  Secretary  of  War:  Ameri- 
can State  Papers  on  Indian  Affairs,  vol.  1,  p.  491. 

H  The  Miami  village. 


COUNTRY    OF   THE    SHAWNEES.  173 

bank  of  the  latter,  opposite  the  mouth  of  St.  Mary,  and  had  for  a 
long  time  past  been  the  rendezvous  of  a  set  of  Indian  desperadoes, 
who  infested  the  settlements,  and  stained  the  Ohio  and  parts  adjacent 
with  the  blood  of  defenseless  inhabitants.  This  day  we  advanced 
nearly  the  same  distance,  and  kept  nearly  the  same  course  as  yester- 
day ;  we  encamped  within  six  miles  of  the  object,  and  on  Sunday, 
the  17th,  entered  the  ruins  of  the  Omee  town,  or  French  village,  as 
part  of  it  is  called.  Appearances  confirmed  accounts  I  had  received 
of  the  consternation  into  which  the  savages  and  their  trading  allies 
had  been  thrown  by  the  approach  of  the  army.  Many  valuables  of 
the  traders  were  destroyed  in  the  confusion,  and  vast  quantities  of 
corn  and  other  grain  and  vegetables  were  secreted  in  holes  dug  in 
the  earth,  and  other  hiding  places.  Colonel  Hardin  rejoined  the 
army." 

" Besides  the  town  of  Ome'e,  there  were  several  other  villages  situ- 
ate upon  the  banks  of  three  rivers.  One  of  them,  belonging  to 
the  Omee  Indians,  called  Kegaiogue,*  was  standing  and  contained 
thirty  houses  on  the  bank  opposite  the  principal  village.  Two  others, 
consisting  together  of  about  forty-five  houses,  lay  a  few  miles  up 
the  St.  Mary's,  and  were  inhabited  by  Delawares.  Thirty-six  houses 
occupied  by  other  savages  of  this  tribe  formed  another  but  scattered 
town,  on  the  east  bank  of  the  St.  Joseph,  two  or  three  miles  north 
from  the  French  village.  About  the  same  distance  down  the  Omee 
River,  lay  the  Shawnee  town  of  Chillicothe,  consisting  of  fifty-eight 
houses,  opposite  which,  on  the  other  bank  of  the  river,  were  sixteen 
more  habitations,  belonging  to  savages  of  the  same  nation.  All 
these  I  ordered  to  be  burnt  during  my  stay  there,  together  with 
great  quantities  of  corn  and  vegetables  hidden  as  at  the  principal 
village,  in  the  earth  and  other  places  by  the  savages,  who  had  aban- 
doned them.  It  is  computed  that  there  were  no  less  than  twenty 
thousand  bushels  of  corn,  in  the  ear,  which  the  army  either  con- 
sumed or  destroyed,  "f 

The  Shawnees  also  had  a  populous  village  within  the  present 
limits  of  Fountain  county,  Indiana,  a  few  miles  east  of  Attica. 
They  gave  their  name  to  Shawnee  Prairie  and  to  a  stream  that  dis- 
charges into  the  Wabash  from  the  east,  a  short  distance  below  Will- 
iam sport. 

* Ke-ki-ong-a. — "The  name  in  English  is  said  to  signify  a  blackberry  patch  [more 
probably  a  blackberry  bush]  which,  in  its  turn,  passed  among  the  Miamis  as  a  symbol 
of  antiquity."     Brice's  History  of  Fort  Wayne,  p.  23. 

fGen.  Harmer's  Official  Letter.  It  will  be  observed  that  Gen.  Harmer  treats  the 
French  Omee  or  Miami  village  as  a  separate  town  from  that  of  Ke-ki-ong-a.  His  de- 
scription is  so  minute,  and  his  opportunities  so  favorable  to  know  the  facts,  that  there 
is  scarcely  a  probability  of  his  having  been  mistaken. 


174.  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

In  1854  the  Shawnees  in  Kansas  numbered  nine  hundred  persons, 
occupying  a  reservation  of  one  million  six  hundred  thousand  acres. 
Their  lands  were  divided  into  severalty.  They  have  banished 
whisky,  and  many  of  them  have  line  farms  under  cultivation.  Be- 
ing on  the  border  of  Missouri,  they  suffered  from  the  rebel  raids, 
and  particularly  that  of  Gen.  Price  in  1864.  In  1865  they  numbered 
eight  hundred  and  forty-five  persons.  They  furnished  for  the  Union 
army  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  men.  The  Shawnees  have  illus- 
trated by  their  own  conduct  the  capability  of  an  Indian  tribe  to 
become  civilized." 

The  Delawares  called  themselves  Lenno  Zenape,  whiclusignifies 
"original"  or  "unmixed"  men.  They  were  divided  into  .three 
clans :  the  Turtle,  the  Wolf  and  the  Turkey.  When  first  met  with 
by  the  Europeans,  they  occupied  a  district  of  country  bounded 
eastwardly  by  the  Hudson  River  and  the  Atlantic ;  on  the  west 
their  territories  extended  to  the  ridge  separating  the  flow  of  the 
Delaware  from  the  other  streams  emptying  into  the  Susquehanna 
River  and  Chesapeake  Bay.-f 

Thev,  according  to  their  own  traditions,  "many  hundred  years 
ago  resided  in  the  western  part  of  the  continent ;  thence  by  slow 
emigration,  they  at  length  reached  the  Alleghany  River,  so  called 
from  a  nation  of  giants,  the  Allegewi.  against  whom  the  Delawares 
and  Iroquois  (the  latter  also  emigrants  from  the  west)  carried  on 
successful  war ;  and  still  proceeding  eastward,  settled  on  the  Dela- 
ware, Hudson,  Susquehanna  and  Potomac  rivers,  making  the  Dela- 
ware the  center  of  their  possessions.^: 

By  the  other  Algonquin  tribes  the  DelawTares  were  regarded  with 
the  utmost  respect  and  veneration.  They  were  called  "fathers," 
"grandfathers,"'  etc. 

"  "When  William  Penn  landed  in  Pennsylvania  the  Delawares  had 
been  subjugated  and  made  women  by  the  Iroquois."  They  were 
prohibited  from  making  war.  placed  under  the  sovereignty  of  the 
Iroquois,  and  even  lost  the  right  of  dominion  to  the  lands  which 
they  had  occupied  for  so  many  generations.  Gov.  Penn,  in  his  treaty 
with  the  Delawares,  purchased  from  them  the  right  of  possession 
merely,  and  afterward  obtained  the  relinquishment  of  the  sovereignty 
from  the  Iroquois. §  The  Delawares  accounted  for  their  humiliating 
relation  to  the  Iroquois  by  claiming  that  their  assumption  of  the 
role  of  women,  or  mediators,  was  entirely  voluntary  on  their  part. 

*  Gale's  Upper  Mississippi.  f  Taylor's  History  of  Ohio,  p.  33. 

f  Gallatin's  Synopsis  of  the  Indian  Tribes,  p.  44.      §  Gallatin's  Synopsis,  etc. 


DELAWARES    BECOME    WOMEN.  .  175 

They  said  they  became  "peacemakers,"  not  through  compulsion, 
but  in  compliance  with  the  intercession  of  different  belligerent  tribes, 
and  that  this  position  enabled  their  tribe  to  command  the  respect  of 
all  the  Indians  east  of  the  Mississippi.  While  it  is  true  that  the 
Delawares  were  very  generally  recognized  as  mediators,  they  never 
in  any  war  or  treaty  exerted  an  influence  through  the  possession  of 
this  title.  It  was  an  empty  honor,  and  no  additional  power  or  ben- 
efit ever  accrued  from  it.  That  the  degrading  position  of  the  Dela- 
wares was  not  voluntary  is  proven  in  a  variety  of  ways.  "  We  possess 
none  of  the  details  of  the  war  waged  against  the  Lenapes,  but  we 
know  that  it  resulted  in  the  entire  submission  of  the  latter,  and  that 
the  Iroquois,  to  prevent  any  further  interruption  from  the  Delawares, 
adopted  a  plan  to  humble  and  degrade  them,  as  novel  as  it  was  ef- 
fectual. Singular  as  it  may  seem,  it  is  nevertheless  true  that  the 
Lenapes,  upon  the  dictation  of  the  Iroquois,  agreed  to  lay  aside  the 
character  of  warriors  and  assume  that  of  women."*  The  Iroquois, 
while  they  were  not  present  at  the  treaty  of  Greenville,  took  care  to 
inform  Gen.  Wayne  that  the  Delawares  were  their  subjects—1'  that 
they  had  conquered  them  and  put  petticoats  upon  them."  At  a 
council  held  July  12,  1742,  at  the  house  of  the  lieutenant-governor 
of  Pennsylvania,  where  the  subject  of  previous  grants  of  land  was 
under  discussion,  an  Iroquois  orator  turned  to  the  Delawares  who 
were  present  at  the  council,  and  holding  a  belt  of  waumpum,  ad- 
dressed them  thus:  "Cousins,  let  this  belt  of  waumpum  serve  to 
chastise  you.  You  ought  to  be  taken  by  the  hair  of  your  head  and 
shaked  severelv,  till  you  recover  your  senses  and  become  sober.  .  .  . 
But  how  came  you  to  take  upon  yourself  to  sell  land  at  all  ? '  refer- 
ring to  lands  on  the  Delaware  River,  which  the  Delawares  had  sold 
some  fifty  years  before.  "We  conquered  you;  we  made  women  of 
you.  You  know  you  are  women,  and  can  no  more  sell  land  than 
women ;  nor  is  it  fit  you  should  have  the  power  of  selling  lands, 
since  you  would  abuse  it."  The  Iroquois  orator  continues  his  chas- 
tisement of  the  Delawares,  indulging  in  the  most  opprobrious  lan- 
guage, and  closed  his  speech  by  telling  the  Delawares  to  remove 
immediately.  "We  don't  give  you  the  liberty  to  think  about  it. 
You  may  return  to  the  other  side  of  the  Delaware,  where  you  came 
from  ;  but  we  don't  know,  considering  how  you  had  demeaned  your- 
selves, whether  you  will  be  permitted  to  live  there,  "f 

The  Quakers  who  settled  Pennsylvania  treated  the  Delawares  in 

*  Discourse  of  Gen.  Harrison. 

t  Minutes  of   the  Conference  at  Philadelphia,  in  Colden's  History  of  the  Five 
Nations. 


176  HISTORIC    NOTES   OX    THE    NORTHWEST. 

accordance  with  the  rules  of  justice  and  equity.  The  result  was  that 
during  a  period  of  sixty  years  peace  and  the  utmost  harmony  pre- 
vailed. This  is  the  only  instance  in  the  settling  of  America  by  the 
English  where  uninterrupted  friendship  and  good  will  existed  be- 
tween the  colonists  and  the  aboriginal  inhabitants.  Gradually  and 
by  peaceable  means  the  Quakers  obtained  possession  of  the  greater 
portion  of  their  territory,  and  the  Delawares  were  in  the  same  situa- 
tion as  other  tribes, — without  lands,  without  means  of  subsistence. 
They  were  threatened  with  starvation.  Induced  by  these  motives, 
some  of  them,  between  the  years  1710  and  1750,  obtained  from  their 
uncles,  the  "Wvandots.  and  with  the  assent  of  the  Iroquois,  a  grant  of 
land  on  the  Muskingum,  in  Ohio.  The  greater  part  of  the  tribe  re- 
mained in  Pennsylvania,  and  becoming  more  and  more  dissatisfied 
with  their  lot.  shook  off  the  yoke  of  the  Iroquois,  joined  the  French 
and  ravaged  the  frontiers  of  Pennsylvania.  Peace  was  concluded  at 
Easton  in  175S.  and  ten  years  after  the  last  remaining  bands  of  the 
Delawares  crossed  the  Alleghanies.  Here,  being  removed  from  the 
influence  of  their  dreaded  masters,  the  Iroquois,  the  Delawares  soon 
assumed  their  ancient  independence.  During  the  next  four  or  five 
decades  they  were  the  most  formidable  of  the  western  tribes.  "While 
the  revolutionary  war  was  in  progress,  as  allies  of  the  British,  after 
its  close,  at  the  head  of  the  northwestern  confederacy  of  Indians, 
they  fully  regained  their  lost  reputation.  By  their  geographical 
position  placed  in  the  front  of  battle,  they  were,  during  those  two 
wars,  the  most  active  and  dangerous  enemies  of  America.  - 

The  territory  claimed  by  the  Delawares  subsequent  to  their  being 
driven  westward  from  their  former  possessions,  is  established  in  a 
paper  addressed  to  congress  May  10,  1779,  from  delegates  assem- 
bled at  Princeton.  Xew  Jersey.  The  boundaries  of  their  country, 
as  declared  in  the  address,  is  as  follows:  "From  the  mouth  of  the 
Alleghany  River,  at  Fort  Pitt,  to  the  Yenango,  and  from  thence  up 
French  Creek,  and  by  Le  Boeuf,T  along  the  old  road  to  Presque  Isle, 
on  the  east.  The  Ohio  River,  including  all  the  islands  in  it,  from 
Fort  Pitt  to  the  Ouabache,  on  tJie  south ;  thence  up  the  River  Oua- 
bache  to  that  branch,  Ope-co-mee-cah^  and  up  the  same  to  the  head 
thereof;  from  thence  to  the  headwaters  and  springs  of  the  Great 
Miami,  or  Rocky  River ;  thence  across  to  the  headwaters  and  springs 
of  the  most  northwestern  branches  of  the  Scioto  River ;  thence  to 

*  In  the  battle  of  Fallen  Timbers  there  were  three  hundred  Delawares  out  of  seven 
hundred  Indians  who  were  in  this  engagement:  Colonial  History  of  Massachusetts, 
vol.  10. 

t  A  fort  on  the  present  site  of  Waterford.  Pa. 

\  This  was  the  name  given  by  the  Delawares  to  White  River,  Indiana. 


MAKE    PEACE.  177 

the  westernmost  springs  of  Sandusky  River ;  thence  down  said  river, 
including  the  islands  in  it  and  in  the  little  lake,'"'  to  Lake  Erie,  on  the 
west  and  northwest,  and  Lake  Erie  on  the  north.  These  boundaries 
contain  the  cessions  of  lands  made  to  the  Delaware  nation  by  the 
Wayandots  and  other  nations,  +  and  the  country  we  have  seated  our 
grandchildren,  the  Shawnees,  upon,  in  our  laps;  and  we  promise  to 
give  to  the  United  States  of  America  such  a  part  of  the  above 
described  country  as  would  be  convenient  to  them  and  us,  that  they 
may  have  room  for  their  children's  children  to  set  down  upon.":}: 

After  Wayne's  victory  the  Delawares  saw  that  further  contests 
with  the  American  colonies  would  be  worse  than  useless.  They 
submitted  to  the  inevitable,  acknowledged  the  supremacy  of  the 
( Jaucasian  race,  and  desired  to  make  peace  with  the  victors.  At  the 
treaty  of  Greenville,  in  1705,  there  were  present  three  hundred  and 
eighty-one  Delawares,  —  a  larger  representation  than  that  of  any 
other  Indian  tribe.  By  this  treaty  they  ceded  to  the  United  States 
the  greater  part  of  the  lands  allotted  to  them  by  the  Wyandots  and 
Iroquois.     For  this  cession  they  received  an  annuity  of  $1,000.§ 

At  the  close  of  the  treaty,  Bu-kon-ge-he-las,  a  Delaware  chief, 
spoke  as  follows : 

Father :  |j  Your  children  all  well  understand  the  sense  of  the 
treaty  which  is  now  concluded.  \Ve  experience  daily  proofs  of  your 
increasing  kindness.  I  hope  we  may  all  have  sense  enough  to  enjoy 
our  dawning  happiness.  Many  of  your  people  are  yet  among  us. 
I  trust  they  will  be  immediately  restored.  Last,  winter  our  king 
came  forward  to  you  with  two;  and  when  he  returned  with  your 
speech  to  us,  we  immediately  prepared  to  come  forward  with  the 
remainder,  which  we  delivered  at  Fort  Defiance.  All  who  know 
me  know  me  to  be  a  man  and  a  warrior,  and  I  now  declare  that  I  will 
for  the  future  be  as  steady  and  true  a  friend  to  the  United  States  as 
I  have  heretofore  been  an  active  enemy. "^[ 

This  promise  of  the  orator  was  faithfully  kept  by  his  people. 
They  evaded  all  the  efforts  of  the  Shawnee  prophet,  Tecumseh,  and 
the  British  who  endeavored  to  induce  them,  by  threats  or  bribes,  to 
violate  it.** 

*  Sandusky  Bay. 

tThe  Hurons  and  Iroquois. 

X  Pioneer  History,  by  S.  P.  Hildreth,  p.  137,  where  the  paper  setting  forth  the 
claims  of  the  Delawares  is  copied. 

S  American  State  Papers:  Indian  Affairs,  vol.  1. 
Gen.  Wayne. 

■[  American  State  Papers:  Indian  Affairs,  vol.  1,  p.  582. 

**  Bu-kon-ge-he-las  was  a  warrior  of  great  ability.     He  took  a  leading  part  in 
manoeuvering  the  Indians  at  the  dreadful  battle  known  as  St.  Clair's  defeat.     He  rose 
from  a  private  warrior  to  the  head  of  his  tribe.     Until  after  Gen.  Wayne's  great  victory 
12 


178  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

The  Delawares  remained  faithful  to  the  United  States  during  the 
war  of  1812,  and,  with  the  Shawnees,  furnished  some  very  able  war- 
riors and  scouts,  who  rendered  valuable  service  to  the  United  States 
during-  this  war. 

After  the  treaty  of  Greenville,  the  great  body  of  Delawares  re- 
moved to  their  lands  on  White  River,  Indiana,  whither  some  of 
their  people  had  already  preceded  them. 

Their  manner  of  obtaining  possession  of  their  lands  on  White 
River  is  thus  related  in  Dawson's  Life  of  Harrison:  "The  land  in 
question  had  been  granted  to  the  Delawares  about  the  year  177<>,  by 
the  Piankeshaws,  on  condition  of  their  settling  upon  it  and  assist- 
ing them  in  a  war  with  the  Kickapoos. "  These  terms  were  complied 
with,  and  the  Delawares  remained  in  possession  of  the  land. 

The  title  to  the  tract  of  land  lying  between  the  Ohio  and  White 
Rivers  soon  became  a  subject  of  dispute  between  the  Piankeshaws 
and  Delawares.  A  chief  of  the  latter  tribe,  in  1803,  at  Vincennes, 
stated  to  Gen.  Harrison  that  the  land  belonged  to  his  tribe,  "and 
that  he  had  with  him  a  chief  wdio  had  been  present  at  the  transfer 
made  by  the  Piankeshaws  to  the  Delawares,  of  all  the  country  be- 
tween the  Ohio  and  White  Rivers  more  than  thirty  years  previous.1" 
This  claim  was  disputed  by  the  Piankeshaws.  They  admitted  that 
while  they  had  granted  the  Delawares  the  right  of  occupancy,  yet 
they  had  never  conveyed  the  right  of  sovereignty  to  the  tract  in 
question. 

Gov.  Harrison,  on  the  19th  and  27th  of  August,  180-1,  concluded 
treaties  with  the  Delawares  and  Piankeshaws  by  which  the  United 
States  acquired  all  that  fine  country  between  the  Ohio  and  Wabash 
Rivers.      Both  of  "these  tribes  laying  claim  to  the  land,  it  became 

In  1794,  he  had  been  a  devoted  partisan  of  the  British  and  a  mortal  foe  to  the  United 
States.  He  was  the  most  distinguished  warrior  in  the  Indian  Confederacy;  and  as  it 
was  the  British  interests  which  had  induced  the  Indians  to  commence,  as  well  as  to  con- 
tinue, the  war,  Buck-on-ge-he-las  relied  upon  British  support  and  protection.  This 
support  had  been  given  so  far  as  relates  to  provisions,  arms  and  ammunition;  but 
at  the  end  of  the  battle  referred  to,  the  gates  of  Fort  Miamis,  near  which  the  action 
was  fought,  were  shut,  by  the  British  within,  against  the  wounded  Indians  after 
the  battle.  This  opened  the  eyes  of  the  Delaware  warrior.  He  collected  his  braves 
in  canoes,  with  the  design  of  proceeding  up  the  river,  under  a  flag  of  truce,  to  Fort 
Wayne.  On  approaching  the  British  fort  he  was  requested  to  land.  He  did  so,  and 
addressing  the  British  officer,  said.  "What  have  you  to  say  to  me?"  The  officer  re- 
plied that  the  commandant  wished  to  speak  with  him.  '"Then  he  may  come  here," 
was  the  chief's  reply.  "  He  will  not  do  that,"  said  the  sub-officer;  "and  you  will  not 
be  suffered  to  pass  the  fort  if  you  do  not  comply."  "What  shall  prevent  me?" 
"These,"  said  the  officer,  pointing  to  the  cannon  of  the  fort.  "I  fear  not  your 
cannon,"  replied  the  intrepid  chief.  "After  suffering  the  Americans  to  insult  and 
treat  you  with  such  contempt,  without  daring  to  fire  upon  them,  you  cannot  expect  to 
frighten  me."  Buck-on-ge-he-las  then  ordered  his  canoes  to  push  off  from  the  shore, 
and  the  fleet  passed  the  fort  without  molestation.  A  note  [No.  2]:  Memoirs  of  Gen. 
Harrison. 


BECOME   CITIZENS.  171) 

necessary  that  both  should  be  satisfied,  in  order  to  prevent  disputes 
in  the  future.  In  this,  however,  the  governor  succeeded,  on  terms, 
perhaps,  more  favorable  than  if  the  title  had  been  vested  in  only 
one  of  these  tribes;  for,  as  both  claimed  the  land,  the  value  of  each 
claim  was  considerably  lowered  in  the  estimation  of  both;  and, 
therefore,  by  judicious  management,  the  governor  effected  the  pur- 
chase upon  probably  as  low,  if  not  lower,  terms  that  if  he  had  been 
obliged  to  treat  with  only  one  of  them.  For  this  tract  the  Pianke- 
shaws  received  $700  in  goods  and  $200  per  annum  for  ten  years; 
the  compensation  of  the  Delawares  was  an  annuity  of  $300  for  ten 
years. 

The  Delawares  continued  to  reside  upon  White  River  and  its 
branches  until  1819,  when  most  of  them  joined  the  band  who  had 
emigrated  to  Missouri  upon  the  tract  of  land  granted  jointly  to  them 
and  the  Shawnees,  in  1793,  by  the  Spanish  authorities.  Others  of 
their  number  who  remained  scattered  themselves  among  the  Miamis, 
Pottawatomies  and  Kiekapoos;  while  still  others,  including  the  Mo- 
ravian converts,  went  to  Canada.  At  that  time,  1819,  the  total  num- 
ber of  those  residing  in  Indiana  was  computed  to  be  eight  hundred 
souls.* 

In  1829  the  majority  of  the  nation  were  settled  on  the  Kansas 
and  Missouri  rivers.  They  numbered  about  1,000,  were  brave,  en- 
terprising hunters,  cultivated  lands  and  were  friendly  to  the  whites. 
In  1853  they  sold  to  the  government  all  the  lands  granted  them,  ex- 
cepting a  reservation  in  Kansas.  During  the  late  Rebellion  they 
sent  to  the  United  States  army  one  hundred  and  seventy  out  of  their 
two  hundred  able-bodied  men.  Like  their  ancestors  they  proved 
valiant  and  trustworthy  soldiers.  Of  late  years  they  have  almost 
entirely  lost  their  aboriginal  customs  and  manners.  They  live  in 
houses,  have  schools  and  churches,  cultivate  farms,  and,  in  fact,  bid 
fair  to  become  useful  and  prominent  citizens  of  the  great  Republic. 

*  Their  principal  towns  were  on  the  branches  of  White  River,  within  the  present 
limits  of  Madison  and  Delaware  counties,  and  the  capital  of  the  latter  is  named  after 
the  '"  Miuicy"  or  " Mon-o-sia  "  band.  Pipe  Creek  and  Kill  Buck  Creek,  branches  of 
White  River,  are  also  named  after  two  distinguished  Delaware  chiefs. 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

THE   INDIANS:  THEIR   IMPLEMENTS,  UTENSILS,  FORTIFICATIONS, 
MOUNDS,  AND  THEIR  MANNERS  AND  CUSTOMS. 

p 

Before  the  arrival  of  the  Europeans  the  use  of  iron  was  but  little 
known  to  the  North  American  Indians.  Marquette,  in  speaking  of 
the  Illinois,  states  that  they  were  entirely  ignorant  of  the  use  of  iron 
t<  >ols,  their  weapons  being  made  of  stone. "  This  was  true  of  all  the 
Indians  who  made  their  homes  north  of  the  Ohio,  but  south  of  that 
stream  metal  tools  were  occasionally  met  with.  When  Hernando 
De  Soto,  in  1539— 13,  was  traversing  the  southern  part  of  that  terri- 
tory, now  known  as  the  United  States,  in  his  vain  search  for  gold, 
some  of  his  followers  found  the  natives  on  the  Savanna  River  using 
hatchets  made  of  copper.  +  It  is  evident  that  these  hatchets  were  of 
native  manufacture,  for  they  were  "said  to  have  a  mixture  of  gold. '' 

The  southern  Indians  "had  long  bows,  and  their  arrows  were 
made  of  certain  canes  like  reeds,  very  heavy,  and  so  strong  that  a 
sharp  cane  passeth  through  a  target.  Some  they  arm  in  the  point 
with  a  sharp  bone  of  a  fish,  like  a  chisel,  and  in  others  they  fasten 
certain  stones  like  points  of  diamonds.":}:  These  bones  or  "scale 
of  the  armed  fish"  were  neatly  fastened  to  the  head  of  the  arrows 
with  splits  of  cane  and  fish  glue.§  The  northern  Indians  used 
arrows  with  stone  points.  Father  Rasles  thus  describes  them  : 
••Arrows  are  the  principal  arms  which  they  use  in  war  and  in  the 
chase.  They  are  pointed  at  the  end  with  a  stone,  cut  and  sharpened 
in  the  shape  of  a  serpent's  tongue  ;  and,  if  no  knife  is  at  hand,  they 
use  them  also  to  skin  the  animals  they  have  killed."  "'The  bow- 
strings  were  prepared  from  the  entrails  of  a  stag,  or  of  a  stag's  skin, 
which  they  know  how  to  dress  as  well  as  any  man  in  France,  and 
with  as  many  different  colors.  They  head  their  arrows  with  the  teeth 
of  fishes  and  stone,  which  they  work  very  finely  and  handsomely."^ 

*  Sparks'  Life  of  Marquette,  p.  281. 

t  A  Narrative  of  the  Expedition  of  Hernando  De  Soto,  by  a  Gentleman  of  Elvas; 
published  at  Evora  in  1557,  and  afterward  translated  and  published  in  the  second 
volume  of  the  Historical  Collections  of  Louisiana,  p.  149.  \  Idem,  p.  124. 

§  Du  Pratz'  History  of  Louisiana:  English  translation,  vol.  2,  pp.  223,  224. 

|  Kip's  Jesuit  Missions,  p.  39. 

*I  History  of  the  First  Attempt  of  the  French  to  Colonize  Florida,  in  1562,  by  Rene" 
Laudonniere:  published  in  Historical  Collections  of  Louisiana  and  Florida,  vol.  1,  p.  170. 

180 


THEY    USE    STONE    IMPLEMENTS.  181 

Most  of  the  hatchets  and  knives  of  the  northern  Indians  were 
likewise  made  of  sharpened  stones,  '•'which  they  fastened  in  a  cleft 
piece  of  wood  with  leathern  thongs."*  Their  tomahawks  were  con- 
structed from  stone,  the  horn  of  a  stag,  or  "from  wood  in  the  shape 
of  a  cutlass,  and  terminated  by  a  large  ball.''1  The  tomahawk  was 
held  in  one  hand  and  a  knife  in  the  other.  As  soon  as  they  dealt  a 
blow  on  the  head  of  an  enemy,  they  immediately  cut  it  round  with 
the  knife,  and  took  off  the  scalp  with  extraordinary  rapidity,  f 

Du  Pratz  thus  describes  their  method  of  felling  trees  with  stone 
implements  and  with  lire:  "Cutting  instruments  are  almost  con- 
tinually wanted  ;  but  as  they  had  no  iron,  which  of  all  metals  is  the 
most  useful  in  human  society,  they  were  obliged,  with  infinite  pains, 
to  form  hatchets  out  of  large  flints,  by  sharpening  their  thin  edge, 
and  making  a  hole  through  them  for  receiving  the  handle.  To  cut 
down  trees  with  these  axes  would  have  been  almost  an  impracticable 
work  ;  they  were,  therefore,  obliged  to  light  fires  round  the  roots  of 
them,  and  to  cut  away  the  charcoal  as  the  fire  eat  into  the  tree.";}: 

Charlevoix  makes  a  similar  statement:  '"These  people,  before 
we  provided  them  with  hatchets  and  other  instruments,  were  very 
much  at  a  loss  in  felling  their  trees,  and  making  them  fit  for  such 
uses  as  they  intended  them  for.  They  burned  them  near  the  root, 
and  in  order  to  split  and  cut  them  into  proper  lengths  they  made 
use  of  hatchets  made  of  flint,  which  never  broke,  but  which  required 
a  prodigious  time  to  sharpen.  In  order  to  fix  them  in  a  shaft,  they 
cut  oft'  the  top  of  a  young  tree,  making  a  slit  in  it,  as  if  they  were 
going  to  draft  it.  into  which  slit  they  inserted  the  head  of  the  axe. 
The  tree,  growdng  together  again  in  length  of  time,  held  the  head 
of  the  hatchet  so  firm  that  it  was  impossible  for  it  to  get  loose; 
they  then  cut  the  tree  at  the  length  they  deemed  sufficient  for  the 
handle."§ 

When  they  were  about  to  make  wooden  dishes,  porringers  or 
spoons,  they  cut  the  blocks  of  wood  to  the  required  shape  with 
stone  hatchets,  hollowed  them  out  with  coals  of  fire,  and  polished 
them  with  beaver  teeth. 

Early  settlers  in  the  neighborhood  of  Thorntown,  Indiana,  no- 
ticed that  the  Indians  made  their  hominy-blocks  in  a  similar  manner. 
Hound  stones  were  heated  and  placed  upon  the  blocks  which  were 
to  be  excavated.     The  charred  wood  wTas  dug  out  with  knives,  and 

*  Hennepin,  vol.  2,  p.  103. 

t  Letter  of  Father  Rasles  in  Kip's  Jesuit  Missions,  p.  40. 

i  Volume  2,  p.  223. 

§  Narrative  Journal,  vol.  2,  p.  12G. 

I  Hennepin,  vol.  2,  p.  103. 


182  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON    THE    NOKTHWEST. 

then  the  surface  was  polished  with  stone  implements.  These  round 
stones  were  the  common  property  of  the  tribe,  and  were  used  by 
individual  families  as  occasion  required.'"' 

"They  dug  their  ground  with  an  instrument  of  wood,  which  was 
fashioned  like  a  broad  mattock,  wherewith  they  dig  their  vines  as  in 
France;  they  put  two  grains  of  maize  together."f 

For  boiling  their  victuals  thev  made  use  of  earthen  kettles.!  The 
kettle  was  held  up  by  two  crotches  and  a  stick  of  wood  laid  across. 
The  pot  ladle,  called  by  them  rnihoine,  laid  at  the  side. ^  "In  the 
north  they  often  made  use  of  wooden  kettles,  and  made  the  water 
boil  by  throwing  into  it  red  hot  pebbles.  Our  iron  pots  are  esteemed 
by  them  as  much  more  commodious  than  their  own.'" 

That  the  North  American  Indians  not  only  used,  but  actually 
manufactured,  pottery  for  various  culinary  and  religious  purposes 
admits  of  no  argument.  Hennepin  remarks:  "Before  the  arrival 
of  the  Europeans  in  North  America  both  the  northern  and  southern 
savages  made  use  of,  and  do  to  this  day  use,  earthen  pots,  especially 
such  as  have  no  commerce  with  the  Europeans,  from  whom  they  may 
procure  kettles  and  other  movables."^  M.  Pouchot,  who  was  ac- 
quainted with  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  Canadian  Indians, 
states  "that  they  formerly  had  usages  and  utensils  to  which  they 
are  now  scarcely  accustomed.  They  made  pottery  and  drew  tire  from 
wood."  ** 

In  1700,  Father  Gravier,  in  speaking  of  the  Yazoos,  says:  "You 
see  there  in  their  cabins  neither  clothes,  nor  sacks,  nor  kettles,  nor 
guns  ;  they  carry  all  with  them,  and  have  no  riches  bid  earthen  pots, 
quite  well  made,  especially  little  glazed  pitchers,  as  neat  as  you  would 
see  in  France."  ft  The  Illinois  also  occasionally  used  glazed  pitch- 
ers.^ The  manufacturing  of  these  earthen  vessels  was  done  by  the 
women. §;4  By  the  southern  Indians  the  earthenware  goods  were 
used  for  religious  as  well  as  domestic  purposes.  Gravier  noticed 
several  in  their  temples,  containing  bones  of  departed  warriors,, 
ashes,  etc. 

*    Statements  of  early  settlers. 

t    Laudonniere.  p.  174. 

%   Hennepin,  vol.  2,  p.  105. 

S   Pouchot's  Memoirs,  vol.  2,  p.  186. 

Charlevoix'  Narrative  .Journal,  vol.  2.  pp.  123.  124. 

"T  Volume  2,  pp.  102,  103.     This  work  was  written  in  1697. 

**  Pouchot's  Memoirs,  vol.  2,  p.  219. 

tfGravier's  Journal,  published  in  Shea's  Early  Voyages  Up  and  Down  the  Missis- 
sippi, p   135. 

XX  Vide  p.  109  of  this  work. 

§§  Gravier's  Journal,  published  in  Shea's  Early  Voyages  Up  and  Down  the  Missis- 
sippi, p.  135;  also,  Du  Pratz'  History  of  Louisiana,  vol.  2,  p.  166. 


INDIAN    FORTIFICATIONS.  183 

The  American  Indians,  both  northern  and  southern,  had  most  of 
their  villages  fortified  either  by  wooden  palisades,  or  earthen 
breastworks  and  palisades  combined.  De  Soto,  on  the  19th  of  June, 
1541,  entered  the  town  of  Pacaha,*  which  was  very  great,  walled, 
and  beset  with  towers,  and  many  loopholes  were  in  the  towers  and 
wall.r  Charlevoix  said:  "The  Indians  are  more  skillful  in  erect- 
ing their  fortifications  than  in  building  their  houses.  Here  you  see 
villages  surrounded  with  good  palisades  and  with  redoubts;  and 
they  are  very  careful  to  lay  in  a  proper  provision  of  water  and 
stones.  These  palisades  are  double,  and  even  sometimes  treble, 
and  generally  have  battlements  on  the  outer  circumvallation.  The 
piles,  of  which  they  are  composed,  are  interwoven  with  branches  of 
trees,  without  any  void  space  between  them.  This  sort  of  fortifica- 
tion was  sufficient  to  sustain  a  long  siege  whilst  the  Indians  were 
ignorant  of  the  use  of  fire-arms. '"^ 

La  Hontan  thus  describes  these  palisaded  towns  :  "  Their  villages 
are  fortified  with  double  palisadoes  of  very  hardwood,  which  are 
as  thick  as  one's  thigh,  and  fifteen  feet  high,  with  little  squares  about 
the  middle  of  courtines.,,§ 

These  wooden  fortifications  were  used  to  a  comparatively  late 
day.  At  the  siege  of  Detroit,  in  1712,  the  Foxes  and  Mascoutins 
resisted,  in  a  wooden  fort,  for  nineteen  days,  the  attack  of  a  much 
larger  force  of  Frenchmen  and  Indians.  In  order  to  avoid  the 
fire  of  the  French,  they  dug  holes  four  or  five  feet  deep  in  the  bot- 
tom of  their  fort. 

The  western  Indians,  in  their  fortifications,  made  use  of  both 
earth  and  wood.  An  early  American  author  remarks:  "The  re- 
mains of  Indian  fortifications  seen  throughout  the  western  country, 
have  given  rise  to  strange  conjectures,  and  have  been  supposed  to 
appertain  to  a  period  extremely  remote;  but  it  is  a  fact  well  known 
that  in  some  of  them  the  remains  of  palisadoes  were  found  by  the 
first  settlers."0  When  Maj.  Long's  party,  in  1823,  passed  through 
Fort  Wayne,  they  inquired  of  Metea,  a  celebrated  Pottawatomie  chief 
well  versed  in  the  lore  of  his  tribe,  whether  he  had  ever  heard  of  any 
tradition  accounting  for  the  erection  of  those  artificial  mounds  which 
are  found  scattered  over  the  whole  country.  "He  immediately 
replied  that  they  had  been  constructed  by  the  Indians  as  fortifica- 

*   Probably  in  the  limits  of  the  present  state  of  Arkansas. 
t   Account  by  the  Gentleman  of  Elvas,  p.  172. 
t  Narrative  .Journal,  vol.  2,  p.  128. 
S  Vol.  2.  p.  6. 

|   Dubuisson's  Official  Report. 
T[  Views  of  Louisiana:  Brackenridge,  p.  14. 


184  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON    THE    NORTHWEST. 

tions  before  the  white  man  had  come  among  them.  He  had  always 
heard  this  origin  ascribed  to  them,  and  knew  three  of  those  con- 
structions which  were  supposed  to  have  been  made  by  his  nation. 
One  is  at  the  fork  of  the  Kankakee  and  the  Des  Plaines  Rivers,  a 
second  on  the  Ohio,  which,  from  his  description,  was  supposed  to  be 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Muskingum.  lie  visited  it.  but  could  not  de- 
scribe the  spot  accurately,  and  a  third,  which  he  had  also  seen,  he 
stated  to  be  on  the  head-waters  of  the  St.  Joseph  of  Lake  Michigan. 
This  latter  place  is  about  forty  miles  northwest  of  Fort  Wayne." 

One  of  the  Miami  chiefs,  whom  the  traders  named  Le  Gros,  told 
Barron-  that  "  he  had  heard  that  his  father  had  fought  with  his  tribe 
in  one  of  the  forts  at  Piqua,  Ohio;  that  the  fort  had  been  erected 
by  the  Indians  against  the  French,  and  that  his  father  had  been 
killed  during  one  of  the  assaults  made  upon  it."f 

While  at  Chicago,  and  '"with  a  view  to  collect  as  much  informa- 
tion as  possible  on  the  subject  of  Indian  antiquities,  we  inquired  of 
Robinson  \  whether  any  traditions  on  this  subject  were  current 
among  the  Indians.  He  observed  that  these  ancient  fortifications 
were  a  frequent  subject  of  conversation,  and  especially  those  in  the 
nature  of  excavations  made  in  the  ground.  He  had  heard  of  one 
made  by  the  Kickapoos  and  Fox  Indians  on  the  Sangamo  River,  a 
stream  running  into  the  Illinois.  This  fortification  is  distinguished 
by  the  name  of  Etnataek.  It  is  known  to  have  served  as  an  in- 
trenchment  to  the  Kickapoos  and  Foxes,  who  were  met  there  and 
defeated  by  the  Pottawatomies,  the  Ottawas  and  Chippeways.  No 
date  was  assigned  to  this  transaction.  We  understood  that  the  Et- 
nataek was  near  the  Kickapoo  village  on  the  Sangamo. '^ 

Near  the  dividing  line  between  sections  4  and  .5,  township  31 
north,  of  range  11  east,  in  Kankakee  county.  Illinois,  on  the  prairie 
about  a  mile  above  the  mouth  of  Rock  ('reek,  are  some  ancient 
mounds.  "One  is  very  large,  being  about  one  hundred  feet  base  in 
diameter  and  about  twenty  feet  high,  in  a  conic  form,  and  is  said  to 
contain  the  remains  of  two  hundred  Indians  who  were  killed  in  the 
celebrated  battle  between  the  Illinois  and  Chippeways,  Delawares 
and  Shawmees;  and  about  two  chains  to  the  northeast,  and  the  same 

*  An  Indian  interpreter. 

+  Long's  Expedition  to  the  Sources  of  the  St.  Peters,  vol.  1.  pp.  121,  122. 

X  Robinson  was  a  Pottawatomie  half-breed,  of  superior  intelligence,  and  his  state- 
ments can  be  relied  upon.     He  died,  only  a  few  years  ago,  on  the  Au  Sable  River. 

§  Long's  Expedition,  vol.  1,  p.  121.  This  stream  is  laid  down  on  Joliet's  map,  pub- 
lished in  1681,  as  the  Pierres  Sanguines.  In  the  early  gazetteers  it  is  called  Sangamo: 
vide  Beck's  Illinois  and  Missouri  Gazetteer,  p.  154.  Its  signification  in  the  Pottawat- 
omie dialect  is  "  a  plenty  to  eat  ":  Early  History  of  the  West  and  Northwest,  by  S.  R. 
Beggs.  p.  157.     This  definition,  however,  is  somewhat  doubtful. 


INDIAN    MOUNDS.  185 

distance  to  the  northwest,  are  two  other  small  mounds,  which  are 
said  to  contain  the  remains  of  the  chiefs  of  the  two  parties.11* 

Uncorroborated  Indian  traditions  are  not  entitled  to  any  high 
degree  of  credibility,  and  these  quoted  are  introduced  to  refute  the 
often  repeated  assertion  that  the  Indians  had  n<>  tradition  concerning 
the  origin  of  the  mounds  scattered  through  the  western  states,  or 
that  they  supposed  them  to  have  been  erected  by  a  race  who  occu- 
pied the  continent  anterior  to  themselves. 

These  mounds  were  seldom  or  never  used  for  religious  purpose's 
bv  the  Algonquins  or  Iroquois,  but  Penicault  states  that  when  he 
visited  the  Natchez  Indians,  in  17<U,  "the  houses  of  the  Sunsf  are 
built  on  mounds,  and  are  distinguished  from  each  other  by  their  size. 
The  mound  upon  which  the  house  of  the  Great  Chief,  or  Sun,  is 
built  is  larger  than  the  rest,  and  its  sides  are  steeper.  The  temple  in 
the  village  of  the  Great  Sun  is  about  thirty  feet  high  and  forty-eight 
in  circumference,  with  the  walls  eight  feet  thick  and  covered  with  a 
matting  of  canes,  in  which  they  keep  up  a  perpetual  fire.11;}: 

De  Soto  found  the  houses  of  the  chiefs  built  on  mounds  of  differ- 
ent heights,  according  to  their  rank,  and  their  villages  fortified  with 
palisades,  or  walls  of  earth,  with  gateways  to  go  in  and  out§ 

When  Gravier,  in  1700,  visited  the  Yazoos,  he  noticed  that  their 
temple  was  raised  on  a  mound  of  earth,  jj  He  also,  in  speaking  of 
the  Ohio,  states  that  "it  is  called  by  the  Illinois  and  Oumiamis  tin- 
river  of  the  Akansea,  because  the  Akansea  formerly  dwelt  on  it.11" 
The  Akansea  or  Arkansas  Indians  possessed  many  traits  and  cus- 
toms in  common  with  the  Natchez,  having  temples,  pottery,  etc. 
A  still  more  important  fact  is  noticed  by  Du  Pratz,  who  was  inti- 
mately acquainted  with  the  Great  Sun.  He  says:  "The  temple  is 
about  thirty  feet  square,  and  stands  on  an  artificial  mound  about 
eight  feet  high,  by  the  side  of  a  small  river.  The  mound  slopes 
insensibly  from  the  main  front,  which  is  northward,  but  on  the  other 
sides  it  is  somewhat  steeper/' 

According  to  their  own  traditions,   the  Natchez   "were  at  one 

*  Manuscript  Kankakee  Surveys,  conducted  by  Dan  W.  Beckwith,  deputy  govern- 
ment surveyor,  in  1834.  Major  Beckwith  was  intimately  acquainted  with  the  Potta- 
watonnes  of  the  Kankakee,  whose  villages  were  in  the  neighborhood,  and  without 
doubt  the  account  of  these  mounds  incorporated  in  his  Field  Notes  was  communicated 
to  him  by  them. 

t  The  chiefs  of  the  Natches  were  so  called  because  they  were  supposed  to  be  the 
direct  descendants  of  a  man  and  woman,  who,  descending  from  the  sun,  were  the  first 
rulers  of  this  people. 

t  Annals  of  Louisiana:  Historical  Collections  of  Louisiana  and  Florida,  new  series, 
pp.  94,  95. 

§  Account  by  the  Gentleman  of  Elvas. 

||    Early  Voyages  Up  and  Down  the  Mississippi,  p.  136. 

IT  Idem,  p.  '120. 


186  HISTORIC    >fOTES    OX   THE    NORTHWEST. 

time  the  most  powerful  nation  in  all  North  America,  and  were 
looked  upon  by  the  other  nations  as  their  superiors,  and  were,  on 
that  account,  respected  by  them.  Their  territory  extended  from 
the  River  Il/ervilfc,  in  Louisiana^  to  the  Wabash."*  They  had  over 
five  hundred  suns.  and.  consequently,  nearly  that  many  villages. 
Their  decline  and  retreat  to  the  south  was  owing  not  to  the  superi- 
ority in  arms  of  the  less  civilized  surrounding  tribes,  but  was  due  to 
the  pride  of  their  own  chiefs,  who.  to  lend  an  imposing  magnificence 
to  their  funeral  rites,  adopted  the  impolitic  custom  of  having  hun- 
dreds of  their  followers  strangled  at  their  pyre.  Many  of  the 
mounds,  scattered  up  and  down  valleys  of  the  Wabash,  Ohio  and 
Mississippi,  while  being  the  only,  may  be  the  time-defying  monu- 
ments of  the  departed  power  and  grandeur  of  these  two  tribes. 

The  Indian  manner  of  making  a  fire  is  thus  related  by  Hennepin : 
"Their  way  of  making  a  fire,  which  is  new  and  unknown  to  us,  is 
thus  ;  they  take  a  triangular  piece  of  cedar  wood  of  a  foot  and  a  half 
in  length,  wherein  they  bore  some  holes  half  through  ;  then  they 
take  a  switch,  or  another  small  piece  of  hard  wood,  and  with  both 
their  hands  rub  the  strongest  upon  the  weakest  in  the  hole,  which  is 
made  in  the  cedar,  and  while  thev  are  thus  rubbing  thev  let  fall  a 
sort  of  dust  or  powder,  which  turns  into  fire.  This  white  dust  they 
roll  up  in  a  pellet  of  herbs,  dried  in  autumn,  and  rubbing  them  all 
together,  and  then  blowing  upon  the  dust  that  is  in  the  pellets,  the 
tire  kindles  in  a  moment,  "r 

The  food  of  the  Indians  consisted  of  all  the  varieties  of  game, 
fishes  and  wild  fruits  in  the  vicinity  :  and  they  cultivated  Indian 
corn,  melons  and  squashes.  From  corn  they  made  a  preparation 
called  sagamite.  They  pulverized  the  corn,  mixed  it  with  water, 
and  added  a  small  proportion  of  ground  gourds  or  beans. 

The  clothing  of  the  northern  Indians  consisted  only  of  the  skins 
of  wild  animals,  roughly  prepared  for  that  purpose.  Their  southern 
brethren  were  far  in  advance  of  them  in  this  respect.  "Many  of  the 
women  wore  cloaks  of  the  bark  of  the  mulberry  tree,  or  of  the 
feathers  of  swans,  turkies  or  Indian  ducks.  The  bark  they  take  from 
young  mulberry  shoots  that  rise  from  the  roots  of  trees  that  have 
been  cut  down.  After  it  is  dried  in  the  sun  they  beat  it  to  make  all 
the  woody  parts  fall  off.  and  they  give  the  threads  that  remain  a 
second  beating,  after  which  thev  bleach  them  bv  exposing  them  to 
the  dew.  AVhen  they  are  well  whitened  thev  spin  them  about  the 
coarseness  of  pack-thread,  and  weave  them  in  the  following  manner: 

*  Du  Pratz'  History  of  Louisiana,  vol.  2.  p.  14G.  t  Ibid.  vol.  2.  p.  103. 


THEIR    CANOES.  187 

They  plant  two  stakes  in  the  ground  about  a  yard  and  a  half  asunder, 
and  having  stretched  a  cord  from  the  one  to  the  other,  thev  fasten 
their  threads  of  bark  double  to  this  cord,  and  then  interweave  them 
in  a  curious  manner  into  a  cloak  of  about  a  yard  square,  with  a 
wrought  border  round  the  edges/' •• 

The  Indians  had  three  varieties  of  canoes,  elm-bark,  birch-bark 
and  pirogues.  "Canoes  of  elm-bark  were  not  used  for  long  voyages, 
as  they  were  very  frail.  When  the  Indians  wish  to  make  a  canoe 
of  elm-bark  thev  select  the  trunk  of  a  tree  which  is  very  smooth,  at 
the  time  when  the  sap  remains.  They  cut  it  around,  above  and 
below,  about  ten,  twelve  or  fifteen  feet  apart,  according  to  the  num- 
ber of  people  which  it  is  to  carry.  After  having  taken  off  the  whole 
in  one  piece,  they  shave  off  the  roughest  of  the  bark,  which  they 
make  the  inside  of  the  canoe.  They  make  end  ties  of  the  thickness 
of  a  finger,  and  of  sufficient  length  for  the  canoe,  using  young'  oak 
or  any  other  flexible  and  strong  wood,  and  fasten  the  two  larger 
folds  of  the  bark  between  these  strips,  spreading  them  apart  with 
wooden  bows,  which  are  fastened  in  about  two  feet  apart.  They  sew 
up  the  two  ends  of  the  bark  with  strips  drawn  from  the  inner  bark 
of  the  elm,  giving  attention  to  raise  up  a  little  the  two  extremities, 
which  they  callpinces,  making  a  swell  in  the  middle  and  a  curve  on 
the  sides,  to  resist  the  wind.  If  there  are  any  chinks,  they  sew  them 
together  with  thongs  and  cover  them  with  chewing-gum,  which  they 
crowd  by  heating  it  with  a  coal  of  fire.  The  bark  is  fastened  to  the 
wooden  bows  by  wooden  thongs.  They  add  a  mast,  made  of  a  piece 
of  wood  and  cross-piece  to  serve  as  a  yard,  and  their  blankets  serve 
them  as  sails.  These  canoes  will  carry  from  three  to  nine  persons 
and  all  their  equipage.  They  sit  upon  their  heels,  without  moving, 
as  do  also  their  children,  when  they  are  in,  from  fear  of  losing  their 
balance,  when  the  whole  machine  would  upset.  But  this  very  seldom 
happened,  unless  struck  by  a  flaw  of  wind.  They  use  these  vessels 
particularly  in  their  war  parties. 

"The  canoes  made  of  birch  bark  were  much  more  solid  and  more 
artistically  constructed.  The  frames  of  these  canoes  are  made  of 
strips  of  cedar  wood,  which  is  very  flexible,  and  which  they  render 
as  thin  as  a  side  of  a  sword-scabbard,  and  three  or  four  inches  wide. 
They  all  touch  one  another,  and  come  up  to  a  point  between  the 
two  end  strips.  This  frame  is  covered  with  the  bark  of  the  birch  tree, 
sewed  together  like  skins,  secured  between  the  end  strips  and  tied 

*  Du  Pratz,  vol.  2,  p.  231 ;  also,  Gravier's  Voyage,  p.  134.  The  aboriginal  method  of* 
procuring  thread  to  sew  together  their  garments  made  of  skins  has  already  been  no- 
ticed in  the  description  of  the  manners  and  customs  of  the  Illinois. 


188  HISTORIC    NOTES    OX    THE    NOKTHWEST. 

along  the  ribs  with  the  inner  bark  of  the  roots  of  the  cedar,  as  we 
twist  willows  around  the  hoops  of  a  cask.  All  these  seams  are  cov- 
ered with  gum,*  as  is  done  with  canoes  of  elm  bark.  They  then 
put  in  cross-bars  to  hold  it  and  to  serve  as  seats,  and  a  long  pole, 
which  they  lay  on  from  fore  to  aft  in  rough  weather  to  prevent  it 
from  being  broken  by  the  shocks  occasioned  by  pitching.  They 
have  with  them  three,  six,  twelve  and  even  twenty-four  places,  which 
are  designated  as  so  many  seats.  The  French  are  almost  the  only 
people  who  use  these  canoes  for  their  long  voyages.  They  will  carry 
as  much  as  three  thousand  pounds."f  These  were  vessels  in  which 
the  fur  trade  of  the  entire  northwest  has  been  carried  on  for  so  many 
years.  They  were  very  light,  four  men  being  able  to  carry  the 
largest  of  them  over  portages.  At  night  they  were  unloaded,  drawn 
upon  the  shore,  turned  over  and  served  the  savages  or  traders  as 
huts.  They  could  endure  gales  of  wind  that  would  play  havoc  with 
vessels  of  European  manufacture.  In  calm  water,  the  canoe  men, 
in  a  sitting  posture,  used  paddles ;  in  stemming  currents,  rising  from 
their  seats,  they  substituted  poles  for  paddles,  and  in  shooting 
rapids,  they  rested  on  their  knees. 

Pirogues  were  the  trunks  of  trees  hollowed  out  and  pointed  at 
the  extremities.  A  fire  was  started  on  the  trunk,  out  of  which  the 
pirogue  was  to  be  constructed.  The  fire  was  kept  within  the  desired 
limits  by  the  dripping  of  water  upon  the  edges  of  the  trunk.  As  a 
part  became  charred,  it  was  dug  out  with  stone  hatchets  and  the  fire 
rekindled.  This  kind  of  canoes  was  especially  adapted  for  the  navi- 
gation of  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri ;  the  current  of  these  streams 
carrying  down  trees,  which  formed  snags,  rendered  their  navigation 
bv  bark  canoes  exceedinglv  hazardous.  It  was  probably  owing  to 
this  reason,  as  well  as  because  there  were  no  birch  trees  in  their 
country,  that  the  Illinois  and  Miamis  were  not,  as  the  Jesuits  re- 
marked, "canoe  nations  ;''  they  used  the  awkward,  heavy  pirogue 
instead. 

Each  nation  was  divided  into  villages.  The  Indian  village,  when 
unfortified,  had  its  cabins  scattered  along  the  banks  of  a  river  or  the 

*  "  The  small  roots  of  the  spruce  tree  afford  the  icattap  with  which  the  bark  is 
sewed,  and  the  gum  of  the  pine  tree  supplies  the  place  of  tar  and  oakum.  Bark,  some 
spare  wattap  and  gum  are  always  carried  in  each  canoe,  for  the  repairs  which  fre- 
quently become  necessary."      Vide  Henry's  Travels,  p.  14. 

t  The  above  extracts  are  taken  from  the  Memoir  Upon  the  Late  War  in  North  Amer- 
ica Between  the  French  and  English.  1755-1760,  by  M.  Pouchot;  translated  and  edited 
by  Franklin  Hough,  vol.  2,  pp.  21G,  217,  218.  Pouchot  was  the  commandant  at  Fort 
Niagara  at  the  time  of  its  surrender  to  the  English.  He  was  exceedingly  well  versed 
in  all  that  pertained  to  Indian  manners  and  customs,  and  his  work  received  the  indorse- 
ment of  Marquis  Yaudreuil,  Governor  of  Canada.  Of  the  translation,  there  were  only 
two  hundred  copies  printed. 


WIGWAMS.  189 

shores  of  a  lake,  and  often  extended  for  three  or  four  miles.  Each 
cabin  held  the  head  of  the  family,  the  children,  grandchildren,  and 
often  the  brothers  and  sisters,  so  that  a  single  cabin  not  unfrequently 
contained  as  many  as  sixty  persons.  Some  of  their  cabins  were  in 
the  form  of  elongated  squares,  of  which  the  sides  were  not  more 
than  five  or  six  feet  high.  They  were  made  of  bark,  and  the  roof 
was  prepared  from  the  same  material,  having  an  opening  in  the  top 
for  the  passage  of  smoke.  At  both  ends  of  the  cabin  there  were 
entrances.  The  fire  was  built  under  the  hole  in  the  roof,  and  there 
were  as  many  fires  as  there  were  families. 

The  beds  were  upon  planks  on  the  floor  of  the  cabin,  or  upon 
simple  hides,  which  they  called  ajppichimon,  placed  along  the  parti- 
tions. They  slept  upon  these  skins,  wrapped  in  their  blankets, 
which,  during  the  day,  served  them  for  clothing.  Each  one  had 
his  particular  place.  The  man  and  wife  crouched  together,  her 
back  being  against  his  body,  their  blankets  passed  around  their 
heads  and  feet,  so  that  they  looked  like  a  plate  of  ducks. ;:  These 
bark  cabins  were  used  by  the  Iroquois,  and,  indeed,  by  many  Indian 
tribes  who  lived  exclusively  in  the  forests. 

The  prairie  Indians,  who  were  unable  to  procure  bark,  generally 
made  mats  out  of  platted  reeds  or  flags,  and  placed  theseniats  around 
three  or  four  poles  tied  together  at  the  ends.  They  were,  in  form, 
round,  and  terminated  in  a  cone.  These  mats  were  sewed  together 
with  so  much  skill  that,  when  new,  the  rain  could  not  penetrate 
them.  This  variety  of  cabins  possessed  the  great  advantage  that, 
when  they  moved  their  place  of  residence,  the  mats  of  reeds  were 
rolled  up  and  carried  along  by  the  squaws,  f 

"The  nastiness  of  these  cabins  alone,  and  that  infection  which 
was  a  necessary  consequence  of  it.  would  have  been  to  any  one  but 
an  Indian  a  severe  punishment,  Having  no  windows,  they  were  full 
of  smoke,  and  in  cold  weather  they  were  crowded  with  dogs.  The 
Indians  never  changed  their  garments  until  they  fell  off  by  their 
very  rottenness.  Being  never  washed,  they  were  fairly  alive  with 
vermin.  In  summer  the  savages  bathed  every  day,  but  immediately 
afterward  rubbed  themselves  with  oil  and  grease  of  a  very  rank 
smell.  "  In  winter  they  remained  unwashed,  and  it  was  impossible 
to  enter  their  cabins  without  being  poisoned  with  the  stench." 

All  their  food  was  very  ill-seasoned  and  insipid,  "and  there  pre- 
vailed in  all  their  repasts  an  iincleanliness  which  passed  all  cohcep- 

*  Extract  from  Pouchot's  Memoirs,  pp.  185.  186. 

t  Letter  of  Father  Marest,  Kip's  Jesuit  Missions,  p.  199. 


190  HISTORIC    NOTES    OX    THE    NORTHWEST. 

tion.  There  were  very  few  animals  which  did  not  feed  cleaner." 
They  never  washed  their  wooden  or  bark  dishes,  nor  their  porringers 
and  spoons. +  In  this  connection  William  Biggs  states:  '•They^; 
plucked  off  a  few  of  the  largest  feathers,  then  threw  the  duck. — 
feathers,  entrails  "and  all,  —  into  the  soup-kettle,  and  cooked  it  in  that 
manner."^ 

The  Indians  were  cannibals,  though  human  flesh  was  only  eaten 
at  war  feasts.  It  was  often  the  case  that  after  a  prisoner  had  been 
tortured  his  body  was  thrown  into  "the  war-kettle."  and  his  remains 
greedily  devoured.  This  fact  is  uniformly  asserted  by  the  early 
French  writers.  Members  of  Major  Long's  party  made  especial 
inquiries  at  Fort  Wayne  concerning  this  subject,  and  were  entirely 
convinced.  They  met  persons  who  had  attended  the  feasts,  and  saw 
Indians  who  acknowledged  that  they  had  participated  in  them. 
Joseph  Barron  saw  the  Pottawatomies  with  hands  and  limbs,  both 
of  white  men  and  Cherokees.  which  they  were  about  to  devour. 
Among  some  tribes  cannibalism  was  universal,  but  it  appears  that 
among  the  Pottawatomies  and  Miamis  it  was  restricted  to  a  frater- 
nity whose  privilege  and  duty  it  was  on  all  occasions  to  eat  of  the 
enemy's  flesh;  —  at  least  one  individual  must  be  eaten.  The  flesh 
was  sometimes  dried  and  taken  to  the  villages. 

The  Indians  had  some  peculiar  funeral  customs.  Joutel  thus 
records  some  of  his  observations:  "They  pay  a  respect  to  their 
dead,  as  appears  by  their  special  care  of  burying  them,  and  even  of 
putting  into  lofty  coffins  the  bodies  of  such  as  are  considerable 
among  them,  as  their  chiefs  and  others,  which  is  also  practiced 
among  the  Accanceas.  but  they  differ  in  this  respect,  that  the  Accan- 
ceas  weep  and  make  their  complaints  for  some  days,  whereas  the 
Shawnees  and  other  people  of  the  Illinois  nation  do  just  the  con- 
trary, for  when  any  of  them  die  they  wrap  them  up  in  skins  and 
then  put  them  into  coffins  made  of  the  bark  of  trees,  then  sing  and 
dance  about  them  for  twenty-four  hours.  Those  dancers  take  care 
to  tie  calabashes,  or  gourds,  about  their  bodies,  with  some  Indian 
corn  in  them,  to  rattle  and  make  a  noise,  and  some  of  them  have  a 
drum,  made  of  a  great  earthen  pot.  on  which  they  extend  a  wild 
goat's  skin,  and  beat  thereon  with  one  stick,  like  our  tabors.  During 
that  rejoicing  they  threw  their  presents  on  the  coffin,  as  bracelets, 

*  Charlevoix'  Narrative  Journal,  vol.  2,  pp.  132,  133. 

t  For  a  full  account  of  their  lack  of  neatness  in  the  culinary  department,  vide  Hen- 
nepin, vol.  2,  p.  120. 
\  The  Kickapoos. 

§  Narrative  of  William  Biggs,  p.  9. 
I  Long's  Expedition  to  the  sources  of  the  St.  Peters,  vol.  1,  pp.  103-106. 


BURIAL    CEREMONIES.  1*)1 

pendants  or  pieces  of  earthenware.  When  the  ceremony  was  over 
they  buried  the  body,  with  a  part  of  the  presents,  making  choice  of 
such  as  may  be  most  proper  for  it.  They  also  bury  with  it  some 
store  of  Indian  wheat,  with  a  poi  to  boil  it  in,  for  fear  the  dead  per- 
son should  be  hungry  on  his  long  journey,  and  they  repeat  the  cere- 
mony at  the  year's  end.  A  good  number  of  presents  still  remaining, 
they  divide  them  into  several  lots  and  play  at  a  game  called  the  stick 
to  give  them  to  the  winner. "* 

The  Indian  graves  were  made  of  a  large  size,  and  the  whole  of 
the  inside  lined  with  bark.      On  the  bark  was  laid  the  corpse,  accom- 
.  panied  with  axes,  snow-shoes,  kettle,  common  shoes,  and.  if  a  wo- 
man, carrying-belts  and  paddles. 

This  was  covered  with  bark,  and  at  about  two  feet  nearer  the 
surface,  logs  were  laid  across,  and  these  again  covered  with  bark,  so 
that  the  earth  might  by  no  means  fall  upon  the  corpse. f  If  the 
deceased,  before  his  death,  had  so  expressed  his  wish,  a  tree  was 
hollowed  out  and  the  corpse  deposited  within.  After  the  body  had 
become  entirely  decomposed,  the  bones  were  often  collected  and 
buried  in  the  earth.  Many  of  these  wooden  sepulchres  were  dis- 
covered by  the  early  settlers  in  Iroquois  county,  Illinois.  Doubt- 
less they  were  the  remains  of  Pottawatomies,  who  at  that  time  re- 
sided there. 

After  a  death  they  took  care  to  visit  every  place  near  their  cabins, 
striking  incessantly  with  rods  and  raising  the  most  hideous  cries,  in 
order  to  drive  the  souls  to  a  distance,  and  to  keep  them  from  lurk- 
ing about  their  cabins.^: 

The  Indians  believed  that  every  animal  contained  a  Manitou  or 
God,  and  that  these  spirits  could  exert  over  them  a  beneficial  <>r 
prejudicial  influence.  The  rattlesnake  was  especially  venerated  by 
them.  Henry  relates  an  instance  of  this  veneration.  He  saw  a 
snake,  and  procured  his  gun,  with  the  intention  of  dispatching  it. 
The  Indians  begged  him  to  desist,  and,  "with  their  pipes  and  to- 
bacco-pouches in  their  hands,  approached  the  snake.  They  sur- 
rounded it,  all  addressing  it  by  turns  and  calling  it  their  grand- 
father, but  yet  kept  at  some  distance.  During  this  part  of  the  cer- 
emony, they  filled  their  pipes,  and  each  blew  the  smoke  toward  the 
snake,  which,  as  it  appeared  to  me,  really  received  it  with  pleasure. 
In  a  word,  after  remaining  coiled  and  receiving  incense  for  the  space 
of  half  an  hour,  it  stretched  itself  along  the  ground   in  visible  good 

*.Toutel's  Journal:  Historical  Collections  of  Louisiana,  vol.  1.  pp.  187,  188. 

t  Extract  from  Henry's  Travels,  p.  150. 

X  Charlevoix'  Narrative  Journal,  vol.  2,  p.  154. 


192  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON    THE    NORTHWEST. 

humor.  The  Indians  followed  it,  and,  still  addressing  it  by  the 
title  of  grandfather,  beseeehed  it  to  take  care  of  their  families  dur- 
ing their  absence,  and  also  to  open  the  hearts  of  the  English,  that 
that  they  might  till  their  (the  Indians')  canoes  with  rum.*  This 
reverence  of  the  Indians  for  the  rattlesnake  will  account  for  the  vast 
number  of  these,  reptiles  met  with  by  early  settlers  in  localities  fa- 
vorable for  their  increase  and  security.  The  clefts  in  the  rocky 
cliffs  below  Niagara  Falls  were  so  infested  with  rattlesnakes  that 
the  Indians  removed  their  village  to  a  place  of  greater  security. 

The  Indians  had  several  games,  some  of  which  have  been  already 
noticed.  McCoy  mentions  a  singular  occurrence  of  this  nature  :  "A 
Miami  Indian  had  been  stabbed  with  a  knife,  who  lingered,  and  of 
whose  recovery  there  was  doubt.  On  the  12th  of  May  a  party  re- 
solved to  decide  by  a  game  of  moccasin,  whether  the  man  should  live 
or  die.  In  this  game  the  party  seat  themselves  upon  the  earth 
opposite  to  each  other,  while  one  holds  a  moccasin  on  the  ground 
with  one  hand,  and  holds  in  the  other  a  small  ball ;  the  ball  he 
affects  to  conceal  in  the  moccasin,  and  does  either  insert  it  or  not,  as 
he  shall  choose,  and  then  leaves  the  opposite  party  to  guess  where 
the  ball  is.  In  order  to  deceive  his  antagonist,  he  incessantly  utters 
a  kind  of  a  sing-song,  which  is  repeated  about  thrice  in  a  minute, 
and  moving  his  hands  in  unison  with  the  notes,  brings  one  of  them, 
at  every  repetition,  to  the  mouth  of  the  moccasin,  as  though  he  had 
that  moment  inserted  the  ball.  One  party  played  for  the  wounded 
man's  recovery  and  the  other  for  his  death  Two  games  were 
played,  in  both  of  which  the  side  for  recovery  was  triumphant,  and 
so  they  concluded  the  man  would  not  die  of  his  wounds,  "f 

The  Indians  had  a  most  excellent  knowledge  of  the  topography 
of  their  country,  and  they  drew  the  most  exact  maps  of  the  coun- 
tries they  were  acquainted  with.  They  set  down  the  true  north 
according  to  the  polar  star ;  the  ports,  harbors,  rivers,  creeks,  and 
coasts  of  the  lakes  ;  roads,  mountains,  woods,  marshes  and  meadows. 
They  counted  the  distances  by  journeys  and  half-journeys,  allowing 
to  every  journey  five  leagues.  These  maps  were  drawn  upon  birch 
bark.:};  "Previous  to  General  Brock's  crossing  over  to  Detroit,  he 
asked  Tecumseh  what  sort  of  a  country  he  should  have  to  pass 
through  in  case  of  his  preceding  farther.  Tecumseh,  took  a  roll  of 
elm  bark,  and  extending  it  on  the  ground,  by  means  of  four  stones, 
drew  forth  his  scalping  knife,  and,  with  the  point,  etched  upon  the 

*  Alexander  Henry's  Travels,  p.  17G. 
t  Baptist  Missions,  p.  98. 
^LaHontan,  vol.  2,  p.  13. 


MARRIAGE    AND    RELIGION.  193 

bark  a  plan  of  the  country,  its  hills,  woods,  rivers,  morasses,  a  plan 
which,  if  not  as  neat,  was  fully  as  accurate  as  if  it  had  been  made 
by  a  professional  map-maker.'* 

In  marriage,  they  had  no  ceremony  worth  mentioning,  the  man 
and  the  woman  agreeing  that  for  so  many  bucks,  beaver  hides,  or, 
in  short,  any  valuables,  she  should  be  his  wife.  Of  all  the  passions, 
the  Indians  were  least  influenced  by  love.  Some  authors  claim  that 
it  had  no  existence,  excepting,  of  course,  mere  lust,  which  is  pos- 
sessed by  all  animals.  "By  women,  beauty  was  commonly  no  mo- 
tive to  marriage,  the  only  inducement  being  the  reward  which  she 
received.  It  was  said  that  the  women  were  purchased  by  the  night, 
week,  month  or  winter,  so  that  they  depended  on  fornication  for  a 
living;  nor  was  it  thought  either  a  crime  or  shame,  none  being 
esteemed  as  prostitutes  but  such  as  were  licentious  without  a  re- 
ward.1'! Polygamy  was  common,  but  was  seldom  practiced  except 
by  the  chiefs.  On  the  smallest  offense  husband  and  wife  parted, 
she  taking  the  domestic  utensils  and  the  children  of  her  sex.  Chil- 
dren formed  the  only  bond  of  affection  between  the  two  sexes ;  and 
of  them,  to  the  credit  of  the  Indian  be  it  said,  they  were  very  fond. 
They  never  chastised  them,  the  only  punishment  being  to  dash,  by 
the  hand,  water  into  the  face  of  the  refractory  child.  Joutel  noticed 
this  method  of  correction  among  the  Illinois,  and  nearly  a  hundred 
years  later  Jones  mentions  the  same  custom  as  existing  among  the 
Shawnees.  ^ 

The  Algonquin  tribes,  differing  in  this  respect  from  the  southern 
Indians,  had  no  especial  religion.  They  believed  in  good  and  bad 
spirits,  and  thought  it  was  only  necessary  to  appease  the  wicked 
spirits,  for  the  good  ones  "were  all  right  anyway."  These  bad 
spirits  were  thought  to  occupy  the,  bodies  of  animals,  fishes  and  rep- 
tiles, to  dwell  in  high  mountains,  gloomy  caverns,  dangerous  whirl- 
pools, and  all  large  bodies  of  water.  This  will  account  for  the 
offerings  of  tobacco  and  other  valuables  which  they  made  when 
passing  such  places.  No  ideas  of  morals  or  metaphysics  ever  en- 
tered the  head  of  the  Indians ;  they  believed  what  was  told  them 
upon  those  subjects,  without  having  more  than  a  vague  impression 
of  their  meaning.  Some  of  the  Canadian  Indians,  in  all  sincerity, 
compared  the  Holy  Trinity  to  a  piece  of  pork.  There  they  found 
the  lean  meat,  the  fat  and  the  rind,  three  distinct  parts  that  form 

*  James1  Military  Occurrences  in  the  Late  War  Between  Great  Britain  and  the 
United  States,  vol.  1,  pp.  291,  292. 

*  Journal  of  Two  Visits  made  to  Some  Nations  West  of  the  Ohio,  by  the  Rev. 
David  Jones:  Sabin's  reprint,  p.  75. 

t  Idem. 

13 


194  HISTORIC    NOTES    OX   THE    NORTHWEST. 

the  same  piece."  Their  ideas  of  heaven  was  a  place  full  of  sen- 
sual enjoyments,  and  free  from  physical  pains.  Indeed,  it  is  doubt- 
ful if,  before  their  mythology  was  changed  by  the  partial  adoption 
of  some  of  the  doctrines  of  Christianity,  they  had  any  idea  of  spir- 
itual reward  or  punishment. 

Wampum,  prior  to  and  many  years  subsequent  to  the  advent  of 
the  Europeans,  was  the  circulating  medium  among  the  North  Ameri- 
can Indians.  It  is  made  out  of  a  marine  shell,  or  periwinkle,  some 
of  which  are  white,  others  violet,  verging  toward  black.  They  are 
perforated  in  the  direction  of  the  greater  diameter,  and  are  worked 
into  two  forms,  strings  and  belts.  The  strings  consist  of  cylinders 
strung  without  any  order,  one  after  another,  on  to  a  thread.  The 
"belts  are  wide  sashes  in  which  the  white  and  purple  beads  are 
arranged  in  rows  and  tied  by  little  leathern  strings,  making  a  very 
pretty  tissue.  Wampum  belts  are  used  in  state  affairs,  and  their 
length,  width  and  color  are  in  proportion  to  the  importance  of  the 
affair  being  negotiated.  They  are  wrought,  sometimes,  into  figures 
of  considerable  beauty. 

These  belts  and  strings  of  wampum  are  the  universal  agent  with 
the  Indians,  not  only  as  money,  jewelry  or  ornaments,  but  as  annals 
and  for  registers  to  perpetuate  treaties  and  compacts  between  indi- 
viduals and  nations.  They  are  the  inviolable  and  sacred  pledges 
which  guarantee  messages,  promises  and  treaties.  As  writing  is 
not  in  use  among  them,  they  make  a  local  memoir  by  means  of 
these  belts,  each  of  which  signify  a  particular  affair  or  a  circum- 
stance relating  to  it.  The  village  chiefs  are  the  custodians,  and  com- 
municate the  affairs  they  perpetuate  to  the  young  people,  who  thus 
learn  the  history,  treaties  and  engagements  of  their  nation.  +  Belts 
are  classified  as  message,  road,  peace  or  war  belts.  White  signilif- 
peaee,  as  black  does  war.  The  color  therefore  at  once  indicates  the 
intention  of  the  person  or  tribe  who  sends  or  accepts  a  belt.  So 
general  was  the  importance  of  the  belt,  that  the  French  and  English, 
and  the  Americans,  even  down  as  late  as  the  treaty  of  Greenville, 
in  1795,  used  it  in  treating  with  the  Indians.;}: 

*  Pouchot's  Memoir,  vol.  2,  p.  223. 

t  The  account  given  above  is  taken  from  a  note  of  the  editor  of  the  documents 
relative  to  the  Colonial  History  of  New  York,  etc.,  vol.  9.  Paris  Documents,  p.  556. 

|  The  explanation  here  given  will  assist  the  reader  to  an  understanding  of  the 
grave  significance  attached  to  the  giving  or  receiving  of  belts  so  frequently  referred  to 
in  the  course  of  this  work. 


CHAPTER   XIX. 


STONE   IMPLEMENTS. 

The  stone  implements  illustrated  in  this  chapter  are  introduced 
as  specimens  of  workmanship  of  the  comparatively  modern  Indians, 
who  lived  and  hunted  in  the  localities  where  the  specimens  were 
found.  The  author  is  aware  that  similar  implements  have  been 
illustrated  and  described  in  works  which  relate  to  an  exclusively 
prehistoric  race.  Without  entering  into  a  discussion  concerning  the 
so-called  "Mound  Builders,"  that  being  a  subject  foreign  to  the 
scope  of  this  work,  it  may  be  stated  that  some  theorists  have  placed 
the  epoch  of  the  "prehistoric  race"  quite  too  far  within  the  bounda- 
ries of  well-established  historical  mention,  and  have  assigned  to  the 
"Mound  Builders  "  remains  and  relics  which  were  undoubtedly  the 
handiwork  of  the  modern  American  Indians.* 

Indeed  many  of  the  stone  implements,  also  much  of  the  pottery, 
and  many  of  the  so-called  ancient  mounds  and  excavations  as  well, 
found  throughout  the  west,  may  be  accounted  for  without  going 
beyond  the  era  of  the  Xorth  American  Indian  in  quest  of  an  explana- 
tion. It  is  not  at  all  intended  here  to  question  the  fact  of  the  exist- 
ence of  the  prehistoric  race,  or  to  deny  that  they  have  left  more  or 
less  of  their  remains,  but  the  line  of  demarkation  between  that  race 

*  Mr.  H.  N.  Rust,  of  Chicago,  in  his  extensive  collection,  has  many  implements 
similar  to  those  attributed  to  prehistoric  man,  which  he  obtained  from  the  Sioux  Indi- 
ans of  northwestern  Dakota,  with  whom  they  were  in  daily  use.  Among  his  samples 
are  large  stone  hammers  with  a  groove  around  the  head,  and  the  handles  nicely  at- 
tached. The  round  stone,  with  flattened  sides,  generally  regarded  as  a  relic  of  a  lost 
race,  he  found  at  the  door  of  the  lodges  of  the  Sioux,  with  the  little  stone  hammer, 
hooded  with  rawhide,  to  which  the  handle  was  fastened,  with  which  bones,  nuts  and 
other  hard  substances  were  broken  by  the  squaws  or  children  as  occasion  required. 
The  appearance  of  the  larger  disc,  and  the  well-worn  face  of  the  hammer,  indicate 
their  long  and  constant  use  by  this  people.  The  round,  egg-shaped  stone,  illustrated 
by  Fig.  9,  supposed  to  belong  to  the  prehistoric  age,  Mr.  Rust  found  in  common  use 
among  this  tribe.  The  manner  of  fastening  the  handle  is  illustrated  in  the  cuts,  Figs. 
9  and  36.  The  writer  is  indebted  to  Mr.  Rust  for  favors  conferred  in  the  loan  of  imple- 
ments credited  to  his  collection,  as  well,  also,  for  his  valuable  aid  in  preparing  the 
illustrated  portion  of  this  chapter.  The  other  implements  illustrated  were  selected 
from  W.  C.  Beckwith's  collection.  The  Indians  informed  Mr.  Rust  that  these  clubs 
(Figs.  8  and  9)  were  used  to  kill  buffalo,  or  other  animals  that  had  been  wounded;  as 
implements  of  offense  and  defense  in  personal  encounters  ;  as  a  walking-stick  (the 
stone  being  used  as  a  handle)  by  the  dandies  of  the  tribe;  and  they  were  carried  as  a 
mace  or  badge  of  authority  in  the  rites  and  ceremonies  of  the  societies  established 
among  these  Indians,  which  were  similar  in  some  respects  to  our  fraternities. 

195 


196  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

and  the  modern  Indian  cannot  be  traced  with  satisfaction  until  after 
large  collections  of  the  remains  of  both  races  shall  have  been  secured 
and  critically  compared  under  all  the  light  which  a  careful  examina- 
tion of  historical  records  will  shed  upon  this  new  and  interesting 
field  of  inquiry. 

Stone  implements  are  by  no  means  peculiar  to  North  America; 
they  have  been  found  all  over  the  inhabitable  world.  Europe  is 
especially  prolific  in  such  remains.  While  the  material  of  which  they 
are  made  varies  according  to  the  geological  resources  of  the  several 
countries  in  which  they  are  found,  there  is  a  striking  similarity  in 
the  shape,  size  and  form  of  them  all.  At  the  present  time  like 
implements  are  in  use  among  some  of  the  South  Sea  Islanders,  and 
by  a  few  tribes  of  North  American  Indians  living  in  remote  sections, 
and  enjoying  but  a  limited  intercourse  with  the  enlightened  world. 

The  stone  age  marks  an  important  epoch  in  the  progress  of  races 
of  men  from  the  early  stages  of  their  existence  toward  a  higher  civ- 
ilization. After  they  had  passed  the  stone  age,  and  learned  how  to 
manipulate  iron  and  other  metals,  their  advance,  as  a  general  rule, 
has  been  more  rapid. 

The  implements  here  illustrated  are  specimens  of  some  of  the 
more  prominent  types  of  the  vast  number  which  have  been  found 
throughout  the  valleys  of  the  Maumee,  Wabash  and  Illinois  Rivers, 
and  the  sections  of  country  drained  by  their  tributaries.  They  are 
picked  up  about  the  sites  of  old  Indian  villages,  in  localities  where 
game  was  pursued,  on  the  hillsides  and  in  the  ravines  where  they 
have  become  exposed  by  the  rains,  and  in  the  furrows  turned  up  by 
the  plowshare.  They  are  the  remains  of  the  early  occupants  of  the 
territory  we  have  described, —  testimonials  alike  of  their  necessities 
and  their  ingenuity,  and  were  used  by  them  until  an  acquaintance 
with  the  Europeans  supplied  them  with  weapons  and  utensils  formed 
out  of  metals.* 

It  will  be  observed  from  extracts  found  in  the  preceding  chapter 
that  our  Indians  made  and  used  implements  of  copper  and  stone, 
manufactured  pottery,  some  of  which  was  glazed,  wove  cloth  of  fiber 
and  also  of  wool,  erected  fortifications  of  wooden  palisades,  or  of 
palisades  and  earth  combined,  to  protect  their  villages  from  their 
enemies,  excavated  holes  in  the  ground,  which  were  used  for  defen- 

*  It  may  be  well  to  state  in  this  connection  that  the  implements  illustrated  in  tins 
work,  except  the  handled  club,  Figs.  9  and  36,  were  not  found  in  mounds  or  in  their 
vicinity,  but  werejgathered  upon  or  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  places  known  to 
the  early  settlers  as  the  sites  of  Piankeshaw,  Miami,  Pottawatomie  and  Kickapoo  vil- 
lages, and  in  the  same  localities  where  have  been  found  red-stone  pipes  of  Indian  make, 
knives,  hatchets,  gun-barrels,  buckles,  flints  for  old-fashioned  fusees,  brooches,  wrist- 
bands, kettles,  and  other  articles  of  European  manufacture. 


STONE    IMPLEMENTS. 


197 


sive  purposes,  and  erected  mounds  of  earth,  some  of  which  were 
used  for  religious  rites,  and  others  as  depositories  for  their  dead. 
All  these  facts  are  well  attested  by  early  Spanish,  French  and  Amer- 
ican authors,  who  have  recorded  their  observations  while  passing 
through  the  country.  We  have  also  seen  in  previous  chapters  that 
our  "red  men"  cultivated  corn  and  other  products  of  the  soil,  and 
were  as  much  an  agricultural  people  as  is  claimed  for  the  "Mound 
Builders." 

The  specimens  marked  Figs.  1,  2  and  3  are  samples  of  a  lot  of 
one  hundred  and  sixteen  pieces,  found  in  1878  in  a  "pocket"  on 
Win.  Pogue's  farm,  a  few  miles  southeast  of  Rossville,  Vermilion 


Fig.  1=3^. 


Fig.  2=U. 


Fig.  3=%. 


Vermilion  county,  111. 


Vermilion  county.  111. 


Vermilion  county.  111. 


county,  Illinois.  Mr.  Pogue  had  cleared  off  apiece  of  ground  for- 
merly prairie,  on  which  a  growth  of  jack  oak  trees  and  underbrush 
had  encroached  since  the  early  settlement  of  the  county.  This  land 
had  never  been  cultivated,  and  as  it  was  being  broken  up,  the  plow- 
share ran  into  the  ••nest."  and  turned  the  implements  to  view. 
They  were  closely  packed  together,  and  buried  about  eight  inches 
below  the  natural  surface  of  the  ground,  which  was  level  with  the 
other  parts  of  the  field,  and  had  no  appearance  of  a  mound,  excava- 
tion, or  any  other  artificial  disturbance.  Two  of  the  implements, 
judging  from  their  eroded  fractures,  were  broken  at  the  time  they 


198  HISTORIC    NOTES   ON    THE    NORTHWEST. 

were  deposited,  and  one  other  was  broken  in  two  by  the  plow.  The 
material  of  which  they  are  composed  is  white  chert.  The  samples 
illustrated  are  taken  as  an  average,  in  size  and  shape,  of  the  whole 
lot,  the  largest  of  which  is  3J  inches  wide  by  7  inches  long,  and  the 
smallest  2  inches  wide  by  nearly  4  inches  in  length.  Some  of  them 
are  nearly  oval,  others  long  and  pointed  at  both  ends,  in  others  the. 
"shoulders"  are  well  defined,  while,  for  the  most  part,  they  are 
broadly  rounded  at  one  end  and  pointed  at  the  other.  They  are  all 
in  the  rough,  and  no  finished  implement  was  found  with  or  near  them. 
Indeed  the  whole  lot  are  apparently  in  an  unfinished  condition. 
With  very  little  dressing  they  could  be  fashioned  into  perfect  im- 
plements, such  as  the  "  fleshers,"  "scrapers,"  "  knives,"  "spear" 
and  "arrow""  heads  described  farther  on.  There  are  no  quarries  or 
deposits  of  flint  of  the  kind  known  to  exist  within  many  miles  of 
the  locality  where  these  implements  were  found.  We  can  only  con- 
jecture the  uses  for  which  they  were  designed.  We  can  imagine  the 
owner  to  have  been  a  merchant  or  trader,  who  had  dressed  them 
down  or  procured  them  at  the  quarries  in  this  condition,  so  they 
would  be  lighter  to  carry  to  the  tribes  on  the  prairies,  where  they 
could  be  perfected  to  suit  the  taste  of  the  purchaser.  We  might 
further  imagine  that  the  implement  merchant,  threatened  with  some 
approaching  danger,  hid  them  where  they  were  afterward  found,  and 
never  returned.  The  eroded  appearance  of  many  of  the  "find" 
bear  witness  that  the  lot  were  buried  a  great  many  years  aero.* 

Fig.  4  is  an  axe  and  hammer  combined.  ^      4— v 

The  material  is  a  fine-grained  granite.  The 
handle  is  attached  with  thongs  of  rawhide 
passed  around  the  groove,  or  with  a  split  stick 
or  forked  branch  wythed  around,  and  either 
kind  of  fastening  could  be  tightened  by  driv- 
ing a  wedge  between  the  attachment  and  the 
surface  of  the  implement,  which  on  the  back 
is  slightly  concaved  to  hold  the  wedge  in 
place. 

Figs.   5.   6  and  7  are  also  axes:  material.  \  £J 

dark   granite.       Heretofore   it   has   been    the  "~ 

popular    opinion    that    these    instruments   are        Vermilion  county.  111. 

"fleshers,'"  and  were  used  in  skinning  animals,  cutting  up  the  flesh, 

*Tke  writer  has  divided  the  "'lot,"  sending  samples  to  the  Historical  Societies  of 
Wisconsin  and  Chicago,  and  placed  others  in  the  collections  of  H.  1ST.  Rust,  of  Chicago; 
Prof.  John  Collett,  of  Indianapolis;  Prof.  A.  H.  Worthen.  Springfield,  Illinois:  Jose- 
phus  Collett,  of  Terre  Haute,  while  the  others  remain  in  the  collection  of  W.  C.  Beck- 
with.  at  Danville,  Illinois. 


STONE    IMPLEMENTS. 


199 


and  for  scraping  hides  when  preparing  them  for  tanning.  The  re- 
cent discoveries  of  remains  of  the  ancient  "Lake  Dwellers," '  of 
Switzerland,  have  resulted  in  finding  similar  implements  attached  to 
handles,  making  them  a  very  formidable  battle-axe. 


Fig.  5=14. 


Fig.  6=U 


Vermilion  county,  111. 


Vermilion  co.,  111.  (H.  N.  Rust's  Collection.) 


From  the  implements  obtained  by  Mr.  Rust  of  the  Sioux  it  can 
readily  be  seen  how  implements  like  Fig.  6,  although  tapering 
from  the  bit  to  the  top,  could  be  attached  to  handles  by  means  of  a 
rawhide  band.  Before  fastening  on  the  handle  the  rawhide  would 
be  soaked  in  water,  and  on  drying  would  tighten  to  the  roughened 
surface  Of  the  stone  with  a  secure  grip.  A  blow  given  with  the  cut- 
ting edge  of  this  implement  would  tend  to  wedge  it  the  more  firmly 
into  the  handle.* 


*  In  the  Fifth  Annual  Report  of  the  Regents  of  the  University  of  New  York 
(Albany.  1852.  page  105),  Mr.  L.  H.  Morgan  illustrates  the  ga-ne-a-ya-o-dus-ha,  or  war 
cluli,  used  by  "  the  Iroquois  at  the  period  of  their  discovery."  The  helve  is  a  crooked 
piece  of  wood,  with  a  chisel-shaped  bit  formed  out  of  deer's  horn  —  shaped  like  Fig. 
No.  7,  on  the  next  page  —  inserted  at  the  elbow,  near  the  larger  end;  and  in  many 
respects  it  resembles  the  clubs  illustrated  in  Plate  X,  vol.  2,  of  Dr.  Keller's  work  on 
the  "  Lake  Dwellings  of  Switzerland  and  other  parts  of  Europe."  Mr.  Morgan  remarks 
that  "  in  later  times  a  piece  of  steel  was  substituted  for  the  deer  horn,  thus  making 
it  a  more  deadly  weapon  than  formerly."  There  is  little  doubt  that  the  Indians 
used  such  implements  as  Figs.  5,  6  and  7  for  splitting  wood  and  various  other  pur- 
poses. The  fact  of  their  being  used  for  splitting  wood  was  mentioned  by  Father 
Charlevoix  over  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  as  appears  from  extracts  on  page  181  of 
this  book,  quoted  from  his  Narrative  Journal. 


200 


HISTORIC    NOTES    OX    THE    NORTHWEST. 


I 


Fig.  7  is  another  style  of  axe.     The  mate-  Fig.  7=%. 

rial  ont  of  which  it  is  composed  is  greenstone, 
admitting  of  a  fine  polish.  There  would  be  no 
difficulty  at  all  in  shrinking  a  rawhide  band  t- 1 
its  surface,  and  the  somewhat  polished  condi- 
tion of  its  sides  above  the  "bit"  would  indi- 
cate a  long  application  of  this  kind  of  a  fasten- 
ing. It  could  also  be  used  as  a  chisel  in  exca- 
vating the  charred  surface  of  wood  that  was 
being  fashioned  into  canoes,  mortars  for  crack- 
ing corn,  or  in  the  construction  of  other  domes- 
tic utensil.-. 

Fie.  8  is  a  club  or  hammer,  or  both.  It- 
material  is  dark  quartz.  Some  varieties  of  this 
implement  have  a  groove  cut  around  the  cen- 
ter, like  Fig.  9.  The  manner  of  handling  it  in- 
volves the  use  of  rawhide,  and.  with  some,  is 
performed  substantially  in  the  same  manner  as 
in  Figs.  .">.  »l  ami  7.  except  that  the  band  of  rawhide  is  broader, 
and   extends   some   distance  on  either  side  of  the   lesser  diameter 


Vermilion  county, 111. 


Fig.  8=M- 


Fig.  36. 


•A 


". 


■y 


Vermilion  county.  Til. 
II.  N.  Rust's  Collection.) 


Dakota. 
(H.  X.  Rust's  Collection.) 


of  the  stone.  In  other  instances  they  are  secured  in  a  hood  of 
rawhide  that  envelops  nearly  the  whole  implement,  leaving  the 
point  or  one  end  of  the  stone  slightly  exposed,  as  in  Fig.  36.* 

*Mr.  Rust  has  in  his  collection  a  number  of  such  implements,  some  of  them 
weighing  several  pounds,  which,  along  with  the  ones  illustrated,  were  obtained  by  him 
from  the  Sioux  of  northwest  Dakota,  and  which  are  "hooded"  in  the  manner  here 
described.  Mr.  Wm.  Gurley.  of  Danville.  Illinois,  while  in  southwestern  Colorado  in 
B76,  saw  many  such  clubs  in  use  by  the  Ute  Indians.  They  were  entirely  encased 
in  rawhide,  having  short  handles.  The  handles  were  encased  in  the  rawhide  that 
extended  continuously,  enveloping  both  the  handle  and  the  stone.  The  Utes  used  these 
implements  as  hammers  in  crushing  corn,  etc..  the  rawhide  covering  of  some  being 
worn  through  from  long  use,  and  exposing  the  stone. 


IMPLEMENTS    FOE    DESTRUCTIVE    PURPOSES. 


201 


Fig.  9  was  obtained  from  the  Sioux  by  Mr.  Rust.  The  stone  is 
composed  of  semi-transparent  quartz.  Its  uses  have  already  been 
described. 


Fio.  9. 


Northwest  Dakota  (H.  N.  Rust's  Collection). 


Fig.  10=^. 


Fig.  n=y2. 


Figs.  10  and  11  were  probably  used  as  sj)ear-heads,  they  are 
certainly  too  large  for  arrow-heads,  and  too  thick  and  roundish 
to  answer  the  purpose  of  knives.  The 
material  is  white  chert.  The  edges  of 
both  these  implements  are  spiral,  the 
"wind'  of  the  opposite  edges  being 
quite  uniform.  Whether  this  was  owing 
to  the  design  of  the  maker  or  the  twist 
in  the  grain  of  the  chert,  from  which 
they  are  made,  is  a  conjecture  at  best. 

Fig.  12=i^. 


Vermilion  county, 
111. 


Vermilion  county,  111. 

Fig.  12  was  probably  a  spear  or  knife. 

The  material  is  dark  flint.      A  piece  of 

•     •  i    •      i.i  l     Ti.»     t?      Vermilion 

quartz  is  impacted  in  the  upper  halt  of     county,  111. 

the  blade,  the  chipping  through  of  which 

displays  the  skill  of  the  person  who  made 

it.     The  shoulders  of  the  implement  are  unequal,  and  the  angle  of 

its  edges  are  not   uniform.      It  is  flatter  upon  one   side  than  upon 

the  other.     These  irregularities  would  throw  it  out  of  balance,  and 

seemingly  preclude  its  use  as  an  arrow,  while  its  strong  shank  and 

deej»  yokes    above  the    shoulder  would    admit    of  its   being  firmly 

secured  to  a  handle. 

Fig.  13  was  probably  intended   for  an  arrow-head,  and   thrown 

aside  because  of  a  flaw  on  the  surface  opposite  that  shown  in  the  cut. 


202 


HISTORIC    NOTES    ON"   THE    NORTHWEST. 


It  is  introduced  to  illustrate  the  manner  in  which  the  work  Fig.  13=%, 
progresses  in  making  such  implements.  From  an  exam- 
ination it  would  appear  that  the  outline  of  the  implement 
is  first  made.  After  this,  one  side  is  reduced  to  the  re- 
quired form.  Then  work  on  the  opposite  side  begins,  the 
point  and  edges  being  first  reduced.  The  flakes  are 
chipped  off  from  the  edges  upward  toward  the  center  of 
and  against  the  part  of  the  stone  to  be  cut  away.  In  this 
maimer  the  delicate  point  and  completed  edges  are  pre- 
served wdiile  the  implement  is  being  perfected,  leaving  the  shoulders, 
neck  and  shank  the  last  to  be  finished. 

Fig.  14  is  formed  out  of  dark-colored,  hard,  fine-grained  flint.    Its 
edges  are  a  uniform  spiral,  making  nearly  a  half-turn  from  shoulder 


Vermilion 
CO.,  111. 


Fig. 14=%. 


Fig. 15=%. 


Fig. 16=%. 


Vermilion  county,  11 


Vermilion  county,  111. 
(H.  N.  Rust's  Collection.) 


Vermilion  county,  111. 


to  point.  It  is  neatly  balanced,  and  if  used  as  an  arrow-head  its  wind 
or  twist  would,  without  doubt,  give  a  rotary  motion  to  the  shaft  in 
its  flight.  It  is  very  ingeniously  made,  and  its  delicately  chipped 
surface  shows  that  the  man  who  made  the  implement  intentionally 
gave  it  the  peculiar  shape  it  possesses. 

Fig.  15  is  made  out  of  fine-grained  blue  flint.  It  is  unusually  long 
in  proportion  to  its  breadth.  Its  edges  are  neatly  beveled  from  a 
line  along  its  center,  and  are  quite  sharp.  Its  well  defined  shoulders 
and  head,  with  the  yoke  deeply  cut  between  to  hold  the  thong,  would 
indicate  its  use  as  an  arrow-point. 


ARROW    HEADS. 


203 


Fig.  16  is  a  perfect  implement,  and  its  surfaces  are  smoother  than 
the  observer  might  infer  from  the  illustration.  Its  edges  are  very 
sharp  and  smooth  and  parallel  to  the  axis  of  the  implement.  Its 
head,  unlike  that  of  the  other  implements  illustrated,  is  round  and 
pointed,  with  cutting  edges  as  carefully  formed  as  any  part  of  the 
blade.  It  has  no  yoked  neck  in  which  to  bury  a  thong  or  thread, 
and  there  seems  to  be  no  way  of  fastening  it  into  a  shaft  or  handle. 
It  may  be  a  perfect  instrument  without  the  addition  of  either.  It  is 
made  out  of  blue  flint. 

ARROW    HEADS. 

Several  different  forms  of  implements  (commonly  recognized  as 
arrow  heads)  are  illustrated,  to  show  some  of  the  more  common  of 
the  many  varieties  found  everywhere  over  the  country.  Fig.  IT 
has  uniformly  slanting  edges,  sharp  barbs  and  a  strong  shank.  The 
material  from  which  it  is  made  is  white  chert.  For  shooting  fish  or 
in  pursuing  game  or  an  enemy,  where  it  was  intended  that  the  im- 
plement could  not  be  easily  withdrawn  from  the  flesh  in  which  it 
might  be  driven,  the  prominent  barbs  would  secure  a  firm  hold. 

Fig.  18  is  composed  of  blue  flint ;  its  outline  is  more  rounded 
than  the  preceding  specimen,  while  a  spiral  form  is  given  to  its  deli- 
cate and  sharp  point. 

Fig.  18=3^. 


Fig.  17  =  ^ 


Fig.  20=i 


Vermilion  county, 
111. 


Fig.  19=^. 


Vermilion 
county,  111. 


Vermilion  county. 
111. 


Vermilion 
county,  111. 


Fig.  19  is  composed  of  white  chert.  Its  surface  is  much  smoother 
than  the  shadings  in  the  cut  would  imply.  Its  shape  is  very  much 
like  a  shield.  Its  barbs  are  prominent,  and  the  instrument  would 
make  a  wide  incision  in  the.  body  of  an  animal  into  which  it  might 
be  forced. 

Fig.  20.  like  Fig.  17,  has  sharp  and  elongated  barbs.  It  is  fash- 
ioned out  of  white  chert,  and  is  a  neat,  smooth  and  well-balanced 
implement. 


204 


HISTORIC    NOTES    ON    THE    NORTHWEST. 


Fig.  21=*4 


Fig.  21  is  made  from  yellowish-brown  quartz,  semi-transparent 
and  inclined  to  be  impure.  The  surfaces  are  oval  from  edge  to 
edge,  while  the  edges  themselves  are  beautifully  serrated  or  notched, 
as  is  shown  in  the  cut.  It  is,  perhaps,  a  sample  of  the  finest  work- 
manship illustrated  in  this  chapter.  Indeed,  among 
the  many  collections  which  the  writer  has  had  oppor- 
tunities to  examine,  he  has  never  seen  a  specimen  that 
was  more  skillfully  made. 

Fig.  22  may  be  an  arrow-point  or  a  reamer.  The 
material  is  white  chert.  Between  the  stem  and  the 
notches  the  implement  is  quite  thick,  tapering  gradu- 
ally back  to  the  head,  giving  great  support  to  this  part 
of  the  implement. 

Fig.  23  is  an  arrow-point,  or  would  be  so  regarded. 
Its  stem  is  roundish,  and  has  a  greater  diameter  than 
the  cut  would  indicate  to  the  eye.  The  material  from 
which  it  is  formed  is  white  chert. 


Vermilion 
county,  111. 


Fig.  22=i£. 


Fig.  23=%. 


Fig.  24=  U 


Fig.  25=U 


"Vermilion  co.,  111.         Vermilion  co.,  111.         Vermilion  co.,  111. 


Vermilion  co.,  111. 


Figs.  24  and  25  are  specimens  of  the  smaller  variety  of  "points'1 
with  which  arrows  are  tipped  that  are  used  in  killing  small  game. 
Fig.  24  is  made  out  of  black  "trap-rock,"  and  Fig.  25  out  of  flesh- 
colored  flint. 

Fig.  26  is  displayed  on  account  of  its  peculiar  form ;  the  under 
surface  is  nearly  flat,  and  the  other  side  has  quite  a  ridge  or  spine 
running  the  entire  length  from  head  to  point.     Besides  this  the  head 


Fig.  26=i£. 


Vermilion  county,  111. 
are  offered  as  to  its  probable  uses 


and  point  turn  upward,  giving  a  uniform 
curve  to  the  implement.  If  used  as  an 
arrow-point,  the  shaft,  in  consequence  of 
the  shape  of  the  stone,  would  describe  a 
curved  line  when  shot  from  the  bow.  It 
is  made  of  white  flint.     No  suggestions 


VARIETIES   OF    IMPLEMENTS    FOR    DOMESTIC    USES. 


205 


IMPLEMENTS    FOR    DOMESTIC    USES. 


Fig.  27  is  a  pestle  or  pounder.     It  is  made  out  of  common  gran- 
ite.    There  are  many  different  styles  of  this 
implement,  some  varieties  are  more  conical, 
while  others  are  more  bell-shaped  than  the 
one  illustrated.     They  are  used  for  crushing 
corn  and  other  like  purposes.    The  one  illus- 
trated has  a  concave  place  near  the  center  of 
the  base ;  this  would  the  better  adapt  it  to 
cracking   nuts,   as    the    hollow   space  would 
protect  the  kernel  from  being  too  severely 
crushed.     In  connection  with  this  stone,  the 
Indians  sometimes  used  mortars,  made  either 
of  wood  or  stone,    into   which  the  articles 
to  be  pulverized    could   be    placed ;    or  the 
corn  or  beans  could  be  done  up  in  the  folds  Vermilion  county,  Illinois, 
of  a  skin,  or  inclosed  in  a  leathern  bag,  and     (H-  N-  Rust's  collection.) 
then  crushed  by  blows  struck  with  either  the  head  or  rim  of  the 
pestle.     The  stone  mortars  were  usually  flat  discs,  slightly  hollowed 
out  from  the  edges  toward  the  center. 

Fig.  2S  may  be  designated  as  a  flesher  or  scraper.    The  specimen 

illustrated  is  made  of  white  flint.  It  is  very 
thin,  considering  the  breadth  and  length  of  the 
implement,  and  has  sharp  cutting  edges  all  the 
way  around.  It  might  be  used  as  a  knife,  as 
well  as  for  a  variety  of  other  purposes.  It  is 
an  unusually  smooth  and  highly  finished  tool. 
It  and  its  mate,  which  is  considerably  broader, 


Fig.  2$=%. 


Fig.  2d=%. 


and   proportioned    more  like 

Fig.   29,  were  found  sticking 

perpendicular  in  the  ground, 

with    their  points   barely  ex- 
posed above   the  surface,   on 

the  farm   of   "Win.   Foster,   a 

few  miles    east  of   Danville. 

Illinois.     Both   of  them  will 

make  as  clean  a  cut  through 

several  folds  of  paper  as  the 
blade  of  a  good  pocket-knife. 

Fig.  29  is  composed  of  an  impure  purplish  flint.     It  is  very  much 
like  Fig.  28,  and  was  probably  used  for  similar  purposes. 


Vermilion  county,  111. 


Vermilion  co 


206 


HISTORIC    NOTES    ON"   THE    NORTHWEST. 


Vermilion  county,  111. 


Fio.  30= H.  Fig.  30,  as  the  illustration  shows,  is  rougher- 

edged  than  the  two  preceding  ones.     The  side 
opposite  the  one  shown  has  a  more  uneven  sur- 
face than  the  other.     A  smooth,   well-defined 
groove  runs  across  the  implement  (as  shown  by 
the  dark  shading)  as  though  it  were  intended  to 
be  fastened  to   a  helve,   although   the  groove 
would  afford  good  support  for  the  thumb,   if 
the  implement  were  used  only  with  the  hand. 
The  material  is  a  coarse,  impure,  gravish  flint. 
Fig.  31  might  be  said  to  combine  the  qualities  of  a  p_    M_v 
knife,  gimlet  and  bodkin.     Its  cutting  edges  extend  all 
Fig.  31=^.      around,  and  along  the  stem  the  edges  are 
quite  abrupt.     The  implement  was  origi- 
nally much  longer,  but  it  appears  to  have 
lost  about  an  inch  in  length,  its  point  hav- 
ing been  broken  oft'.     The  blade  will  cut 
cloth  or  paper  very  readily.     The  mate- 
rial is  white  flint. 

Fig.  32  may  be  classed  with  Fig.  31. 
The  material  is  dark  fine-grained  flint,  and 
the  implement  perfect.  There  is  a  per- 
ceptible wind  to  the  edges  of  the  stem, 
while  the  edges  of  the  head  are  parallel 
with  the  plane  of  the  implement,  and  so 
sharp  that  they  will  cut  cloth,  leather  or 
paper.  It  was  probably  used  to  bore  holes 
and  cut  out  skins  that  were  being  manu- 
factured into  clothing  and  other  articles. 

Fig.  33  may  have  been  made  for  the  same  uses  as 
Figs.  31  and  32.  The  blade  is  shaped  like  a  spade, 
the  stem  representing  the  handle.  It  tapers  from 
the  bit  of  the  blade  where  the  stem  joins  the 
shoulder,  which  is  the  thickest  part  of  the  imple- 
ment, and  from  the  shoulder  it  tapers  to  both  ends. 
The  bit  is  shaped  like  a  gouge,  and  makes  a  circular 
incision.     It  is  a  smooth  piece  of  workmanshiD,  made 

Vermilion  .  r  A ' 

county,  111.      out  of  white  flmt. 


Vermilion 
county,  111. 


Fig.33 


Vermilion 
county,  111. 


STONE    IMPLEMENTS. 


207 


Fig. 


34 


has   been    designated  as  a  "rimmer." 


The  Fig.  34=J^. 
The 


Vermilion 
county,  111. 


Fig.  35=^ 


material  of  which  it  is  made  is  flesh-colored  flint, 
stem  is  nearly  round,  and  the  implement  could  be  used 
for  piercing  holes  in  leather  or  wood.  Another  use  at- 
tributed to  it  is  for  drilling  holes  in  pipes,  gorgets,  discs 
and  other  implements  formed  out  of  stone  where  the 
material  was  soft  enough  to  admit  of  being  perforated  in 
this  way. 

Fig.  35.       By   common    consent    this    implement   lias 
received  the  name  of  k'discoidal  stone.''     The  one  illus- 
trated is  composed  of  fine  dark-gray 
granite.     Several  theories  have  been 
offered  as  to  the  uses  of  this  imple- 
ment,—  one  that  they  are  quoits  used 
by   the    Indians    in   playing   a   game 
similar  to   that  of    "-pitching  horse- 
shoes";   that  they  were  employed  in 
another  game  resembling  "ten-pins," 
in  which  the  stone  would  be  grasped 
on  its  concave  side  by  the  thumb  and 
Termilion  county,  111.  (H.  N.  Rust's    second    finger,   while    the   fore-finger 
Collection.)  rested  on  the  outer  edge,  or  rim,  and 

that  by  a  peculiar  motion  of  the  arm  in  hurling  the  stone  it  would 
describe  a  convolute  figure  as  it  rolled  along  upon  the  ground.  We 
may  suggest  that  implements  like  this  might  be  used  as  paint  cups,  as 
their  convex  surface  would  enable  the  warrior  to  grind  his  pigments 
and  reduce  them  to  powder,  preparatory  to  decorating  his  person. 

The  implements  illustrated  were,  no  doubt,  put  to  many  other 
uses  besides  those  suggested.  As  the  pioneer  would  make  his  house, 
furniture,  plow,  ox  yokes,  and  clear  his  land  with  his  axe,  so  the 
Indians,  in  the  poverty  of  their  supply,  we  may  assume,  were  com- 
pelled to  make  a  single  tool  serve  as  many  purposes  as  their  ingenu- 
ity could  devise. 


CHAPTER  XX. 


THE  WAR  FOR  THE  FUR  TRADE. 


Fokmeely  the  great  Northwest  abounded  in  game  and  water- fowl. 
The  small  lakes  and  lesser  water-courses  were  full  of  beaver,  otter 
and  muskrats.  In  the  forests  were  found  the  marten,  the  raccoon, 
and  other  fur-bearing  animals.  The  plains,  partially  submerged, 
and  the  rivers,  whose  current  had  a  sluggish  flow,  the  shallow  lakes, 
producing  annual  crops  of  wild  rice,  of  nature's  own  sowing,  teemed 
with  wild  geese,  duck  and  other  aquatic  fowl  bursting  in  their  very 
fatness.* 

The  turkey,  in  his  glossy  feathers,  strutted  the  forests,  some  of 
them  being  of  prodigious  size,  weighing  thirty-six  pounds,  f 

The  shy  deer  and  the  lordly  elk,  crowned  with  outspreading  horns, 
grazed  upon  the  plain  and  in  the  open  woods,  while  the  solitary  moose 
browsed  upon  the  buds  in  the  thick  copsewood  that  gave  him  food 
and  a  hiding  place  as  well.  The  fleet-footed  antelope  nibbled  at  the 
tender  grasses  on  the  prairies,  or  bounded  away  over  the  ridges  to 
hide  in  the  valleys  beyond,  from  the  approach  of  the  stealthy  wolf 
or   wily    Indian.       The    belts    of   timber   along   the   water-courses 

*"The  plains  and  prairies  (referring  to  the  country  on  either  side  of  the  Illinois 
River)  are  all  covered  with  buffaloes,  roebucks,  hinds,  stags,  and  different  kind  of  fallow 
deer.  The  feathered  game  is  also  here  in  the  greatest  abundance.  We  find,  particu- 
larly, quantities  of  swan,  geese  and  ducks.  The  wild  oats,  which  grow  naturally  on 
the  plains,  fatten  them  to  such  a  degree  that  they  often  die  from  being  smothered  in 
their  own  grease." — Father  Marest's  letter,  written  in  1712.  We  have  already  seen, 
from  a  description  given  on  page  103,  that  water-fowl  were  equally  abundant  upon  the 
Maumee. 

t  In  a  letter  of  Father  Rasles,  dated  October  12,  1723,  there  is  a  fine  description  of 
the  game  found  in  the  Illinois  country.  It  reads:  "  Of  all  the  nations  of  Canada,  there 
are  none  who  live  in  so  great  abundance  of  everything  as  the  Illinois.  Their  rivers 
are  covered  with  swans,  bustards,  clucks  and  teals.  One  can  scarcely  travel  a  league 
without  finding  a  prodigious  multitude  of  turkeys,  who  keep  together  in  flocks,  often 
to  the  number  of  two  hundred.  They  are  much  larger  than  those  we  see  in  France. 
I  had  the  curiosity  to  weigh  one,  which  I  found  to  be  thirty-six  pounds.  They  have 
hanging  from  the  neck  a  kind  of  tuft  of  hair  half  a  foot  in  length. 

"Bears  and  stags  are  found  there  in  very  great  numbers,  and  buffaloes  and  i-oebucks 
are  also  seen  in  vast  herds.  Not  a  year  passes  but  they  (the  Indians)  kill  more  than  a 
thousand  roebucks  and  more  than  two  thousand  buffaloes.  From  four  to  five  thousand  of 
the  latter  can  often  be  seen  at  one  view  grazing  on  the  prairies.  They  have  a  hump  on 
the  back  and  an  exceedingly  large  head.  The  hair,  except  that  on  the  head,  is  curled 
and  soft  as  wool.  The  flesh  has  naturally  a  salt  taste,  and  is  so  light  that,  although 
eaten  entirely  raw,  it  does  not  cause  the  least  indigestion.  When  they  have  killed  a 
buffalo,  which  appears  to  them  too  lean,  they  content  themselves  with  taking  the 
tongue,  and  going  in  search  of  one  which  is  fatter."  Vide  Kip's  Jesuit  Missions,  pp. 
38,  39. 

208 


THE    HUNTER'S    PARADISE. 


209 


afforded  lodgment  for  the  bear,  and  were  the  trellises  that  supported! 
the  tangled  wild  grapevines,  the  fruit  of  which,  to  this  animal,  was; 
an  article  of  food.-  The  bear  had  for  his  neighbor  the  panther,  the 
wild  cat  and  the  lynx,  whose  carnivorous  appetites  were  appeased  im 
the  destruction  of  other  animals. 

Immense  herds  of  buffalo  roamed  over 
the  extensive  area  bounded  on  the  cast  bjr 
the  Alleghanies  and  on  the  north  by  the- 
lakes,  embracing  the  states  of  Ohio,  Indi- 
ana, Illinois,  Wisconsin  and  the  southern 
half  of  Michigan.     Their  trails  checkered 
the   prairies  of  Indiana    and    Illinois    in 
every  direction,  the  marks  of  which,  deep 
worn  in  the  turf,  remained  for  many  years 
after  the   disappearance  of  the   animals  that  made  them.-     Their 
numbers  when    the    country  was  first    known  to   Europeans  were 
immense,  and  beyond  computation.     In  their  migrations  southwan 
in  the  fall,  and  on  their  return  from  the  blue-grass  regions  of  Ken- 
tucky in  the  spring,  the  Ohio  River  was  obstructed  for  miles  during- 
the  time  occupied  by  the  vast  herds  in  crossing  it,      Indeed,  the     ♦ 
French  called  the  buffalo  the    ''Illinois  ox,"   on  account  of  their 
numbers  found  in  "the  country  of  the  Illinois,"  using  that  expres- 
sion in  its  wider  sense,  as  explained  on  a  preceding  page.     So  great 
importance  was  attached  to  the  supposed  commercial  value  of  the 
buffalo  for  its  wool  that  when  Mons.  Iberville,  in  1698,  was  engage 
to  undertake  the  colonization  of  Louisiana,  the  king  instructed  him 
to  look  after  the  buffalo  wool  as  one  of  the  most  important  of  his 
duties;    and    Father    Charlevoix,    while    traveling    through    'kTlic 
Illinois,"  observed  that  he  was  surprised  that  the  buffalo  had  been 
so   long   neglected. f      Among  the   favorite   haunts  of   the   buftal. 
were  the  marshes  of  the  Upper  Kankakee,  the  low  lands  about  the 
lakes  of  northern   Indiana,  where  the  oozy  soil  furnished  early  as 
well  as  late  pasturage,  the  briny  earth  upon  the  Au  Glaize,  and  the 
Salt  Licks  upon  the  Wabash  and  Illinois  rivers  were  tempting  places 
of  resort.     From  the  summit  of  the  high  hill  at  Ouiatanon,  over- 
looking the  Wea  plains  to  the  east  and  the  Grand  Prairie  to  the  west, 

*  "  Nothing, "  says  Father  Charlevoix,  writing  of  the  country  about  the  confluence  of" 
the  Fox  with  the  Illinois  River,  "  is  to  be  seen  in  this  course  but  immense  prairies,  inter- 
spersed with  small  groves  which  seem  to  have  been  planted  by  the  hands  of  men.  The 
grass  is  so  very  high  that  a  man  would  be  almost  lost  in  it,  and  through  which  paths- 
are  to  be  found  everywhere,  as  well  trodden  as  they  could  have  been  in  the  most  popu- 
lated countries,  although  nothing  passes  over  them  but  buffaloes,  and  from  time  to. 
time  a  herd  of  deer  or  a  few  roebuck  ":  Charlevoix'  Narrative  Journal,  vol.  2,  p.  200. 

t  Brackenridge's  Views  of  Louisiana. 
14 


210  HISTORIC    NOTES   ON"   THE    NORTHWEST. 

as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach  in  either  direction,  the  plains  were  seen 
covered  with  groups,  grazing  together,  or,  in  long  files,  stretching 
away  in  the  distance,  their  dark  forms,  contrasting  with  the  green- 
sward upon  which  they  fed  or  strolled,  and  inspiring  the  enthusiasm 
of  the  Frenchman,  who  gave  the  description  quoted  on  page  104. 
Still  later,  when  passing  through  the  prairies  of  Illinois,  on  his  way 
from  Yincennes  to  Ouiatanon, —  more  a  prisoner  than  an  ambassa- 
dor,— George  Croghan  makes  the  following  entry  in  his  daily  jour- 
nal:  "18th  and  19th  of  June,  1765. — We  traveled  through  a  pro- 
digious large  meadow,  called  the  Pyankeshaws'  hunting  ground. 
Here  is  no  wood  to  be  seen,  and  the  country  appears  like  an  ocean. 
The  ground  is  exceedingly  rich  and  partially  overgrown  with  wild 
hemp."-  The  land  is  well  watered  and  full  of  buffalo,  deer,  bears, 
and  all  kinds  of  wild  game.  20th  and  21st. — "We  passed  through 
some  very  large  meadows,  part  of  which  belonged  to  the  Pyanke- 
shaws on  the  Vermilion  River.  The  country  and  soil  were  much  the 
same  as  that  we  traveled  over  for  these  three  days  past.  Wild  hemp 
grows  here  in  abundance.  The  game  is  very  plenty.  At  any  time 
in  a  half  hour  we  could  kill  as  much  as  we  wanted,  "f 

Gen.  Clark,  in  the  postscript  of  his  letter  dated  November,  1779, 
narrating  his  campaign  in  the  Illinois  country,  says,  concerning  the 
prairies  between  Kaskaskia  and  Yincennes,  that  "there  are  large 
meadows  extending  beyond  the  reach  of  the  eye,  variegated  with 
groves  of  trees  appearing  like  islands  in  the  seas,  covered  with 
buffaloes  and  other  game.  In  many  places,  with  a  good  glass,  you 
may  see  all  that  are  upon  their  feet  in  a  half  million  acres.  "J  It  is 
not  known  at  what  time  the  buffalo  was  last  seen  east  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi. The  Indians  had  a  tradition  that  the  cold  winter  of  17 — , 
— called  by  them  "the  great  cold"  on  account  of  its  severity, — 
destroyed  them.  "  The  snow  was  so  deep,  and  lay  upon  the  ground 
for  such  a  length  of  time,  that  the  buffalo  became  poor  and  too 
weak  to  resist  the  inclemency  of  the  weather;"  great  numbers  of 
them  perished,  singly  and  in  groups,  and  their  bones,  either  as  iso- 
lated skeletons  or  in  bleaching  piles,  remained  and  were  found  over 
the  country  for  many  years  afterwards.  § 

*  Further  on  in  his  Journal  Col.  Croghan  again  refers  to  "  wild  hemp,  growing  in 
the  prairies,  ten  or  twelve  feet  high,  which  if  properly  cultivated  would  prove  as  good 
and  answer  all  the  purposes  of  the  hemp  we  cultivate."  Other  writers  also  mention 
the  wild  hemp  upon  the  prairies,  and  it  seems  to  have  been  supplanted  by  other  grasses 
that  have  followed  in  the  changes  of  vegetable  growth. 

t  Croghan's  Journal. 

X  Clark's  Campaign  in  the  Illinois,  p.  92. 

§  On  the  4th  of  October,  1786,  one  day's  march  on  the  road  from  Vincennes  to  the 
Ohio  Falls,  Captains  Zigler's  and  Strong's  companies  of  regulars  came  across  five  buffalo. 
The  animals  tried  to  force  a  passage  through  the  column,  when  the  commanding  officer 


THE    DESTRUCTION    OF   THE    GAME.  211 

Before  the  coming  of  the  Europeans  the  Indians  hunted  the  game 
for  the  purpose  of  supplying  themselves  with  the  necessary  food  and 
clothing.  The  scattered  tribes  (whose  numbers  early  writers  greatly 
exaggerated")  were  few,  when  compared  with  the  area  of  the  coun- 
try they  occupied,  and  the  wild  animals  were  so  abundant  that  enough 
to  supply  their  wants  could  be  captured  near  at  hand  with  such  rude 
weapons  as  their  ingenuity  fashioned  out  of  wood  and  stone.  With 
the  Europeans  came  a  change.  The  fur  of  many  of  the  animals 
possessed  a  commercial  value  in  the  marts  of  Europe,  where  they 
were  bought  and  used  as  ornaments  and  dress  by  the  aristocracy, 
whose  wealth  and  taste  fashioned  them  into  garments  of  extraordi- 
narv  richness.  Canada  was  originally  settled  with  a  view  to  the  fur 
trade,  and  this  trade  was,  to  her  people,  of  the  first  importance  —  the 
chief  motor  of  her  growth  and  prosperity.  The  Indians  were  sup- 
plied with  guns,  knives  and  hatchets  by  the  Europeans,  in  place  of 
their  former  inferior  weapons.  Thus  encouraged  and  equipped,  and 
accomjmnied  by  the  coureur  des  hois,  the  remotest  regions  were  pen- 
etrated, and  the  fur  trade  extended  to  the  most  distant  tribes.  Stim- 
ulated with  a  desire  for  blankets,  cotton  goods  and  trinkets,  the  In- 
dians now  began  a  war  upon  the  wild  animals  in  earnest;  and  their 
wanton  destruction  for  their  skins  and  furs  alone  from  that  period 
forward  was  so  enormous  that  within  the  next  two  or  three  genera- 
tions the  improvident  Indians  in  many  localities  could  scarcely  find 
enough  game  for  their  own  subsistence. 

The  coureur  des  hois  were  a  class  that  had  much  to  do  with  the 
development  of  trade  and  with  giving  a  knowledge  of  the  geogra- 
phy of  the  country.  They  became  extremely  useful  to  the  mer- 
chants engaged  in  the  fur  trade,  and  were  often  a  source  of  great 
annoyance  to  the  colonial  authorities.  Three  or  four  of  these  peo- 
ple, having  obtained  goods  upon  credit,  would  join  their  stock,  put 
their  property  into  a  birch  bark  canoe,  which  they  worked  them- 
selves, and  accompany  the  Indians  in  their  excursions  or  go  directly 

ordered  the  men  to  fire  upon  them.  The  discharge  killed  three  and  wounded  the 
others:  Joseph  Buell's  Narrative  Journal,  published  in  S.  P.  Hildreth's  Pioneer  History. 
Thirteen  years  later,  in  December,  1799,  Gov.  St.  Clair  and  Judge  Jacob  Burnett,  on  their 
way  overland  from  Cincinnati  to  Vincennes,  camped  out  over  night,  at  the  close  of  one 
of  their  days'  journeys,  not  a  great  ways  east  of  where  the  old  road  from  Louisville  to 
Vincennes  crosses  White  River.  The  next  day  they  encountered  a  severe  snow-storm, 
during  which  they  surprised  eight  or  ten  buffalo,  sheltering  themselves  from  the  storm 
behind  a  beech-tree  full  of  dead  leaves  which  had  fallen  beside  of  the  trace  and  hid 
the  travelers  from  their  view.  The  tree  and  the  noise  of  the  wind  among  its  leaves 
prevented  the  buffalo  from  discovering  the  parties  until  the  latter  had  approached 
"within  two  rods  of  the  place  where  they  stood.  They  then  took  to  their  heels  and 
were  soon  out  of  sight.  One  of  the  company  drew  a  pistol  and  fired,  but  without 
effect:  Burnett's  Notes  on  the  Northwest  Territory,  p.  72. 


212  HISTORIC    NOTES   ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

into  the  country  where  they  knew  they  were  to  hunt.*  These 
voyages  were  extended  twelve  or  fifteen  months  (sometimes  longer) 
before  the  traders  would  return  laden  with  rich  cargoes  of  fur.  and 
often  followed  by  great  numbers  of  the  natives.  During  the  short 
time  required  to  settle  their  accounts  with  the  merchants  and  pro- 
cure credit  for  a  new  stock,  the  traders  would  contrive  to  squander 
their  gains  before  they  returned  to  their  favorite  mode  of  life  among 
the  savages,  their  labor  being  rewarded  by  indulging  themselves  in 
one  month's  dissipation  for  fifteen  of  exposure  and  hardship.  "We 
may  not  be  able  to  explain  the  cause,  but  experience  proves  that  it 
requires  much  less  time  for  a  civilized  people  to  degenerate  into  the 
ways  of  savage  life  than  is  required  for  the  savage  to  rise  into  a  state 
of  civilization.  The  indifference  about  amassing  property,  and  the 
pleasure  of  living  free  from  all  restraint,  soon  introduced  a  licen- 
tiousness among  the  coureur  des  hois  that  did  not  escape  the  eye  of 
the  missionaries,  who  complained,  with  good  reason,  that  they  were 
a  disgrace  to  the  Christian  religion.  "f 

"The  food  of  the  coureur  des  hois  when  on  their  long  expeditions 
was  Indian  corn,  prepared  for  use  by  boiling  it  in  strong  lye  to  re- 
move the  hull,  after  which  it  was  mashed  and  dried.  In  this  state 
it  is  soft  and  friable  like  rice.  The  allowance  for  each  man  on  the 
voyage,  was  one  quart  per  day ;  and  a  bushel,  with  two  pounds  of 
prepared  fat,  is  reckoned  a  month's  subsistence.  No  other  allow- 
ance is  made  of  any  kind,  not  even  of  salt,  and  bread  is  never 
thought  of;  nevertheless  the  men  are  healthy  on  this  diet,  and  ca- 
pable of  performing  great  labor.  This  mode  of  victualing  was  es- 
sential to  the  trade,  which  was  extended  to  great  distances,  and  in 
canoes  so  small  as  not  to  admit  of  the  use  of  any  other  food.  If 
the  men  were  supplied  with  bread  and  pork,  the  canoes  would  not 
carry  six  months'  rations,  while  the  ordinary  duration  of  the  voyage 
was  not  less  than  fourteen.  Xo  other  men  would  be  reconciled  to 
such  fare  except  the  Canadians,  and  this  fact  enabled  their  employ- 
ers to  secure  a  monopoly  of  the  fur  trade.  "^ 

"The  old  voyageurs  derisively  called  new  hands  at  the  business 
mangeurs  de  lard  (pork  eaters),  as,  on  leaving  Montreal,  and  while 
en  route  to  Mackinaw,  their  rations  were  pork,  hard  bread  and  pea 

*The  merchandise  was  neatly  tied  into  bundles  weighing:  sixty  or  seventy  pounds; 
the  furs  received  in  exchange  were  compressed  into  packets  of  about  the  same  weight, 
so  that  they  could  be  conveniently  carried,  strapped  upon  the  back  of  the  voyageur, 
around  the  portages  and  other  places  where  the  loaded  canoes  could  effect  no  passage. 

fSir  Alexander  Mackenzie's  Voyages,  etc.,  and  An  Account  of  the  Fur  Trade,  etc. 

X  Henry's  Travels,  p.  52. 


THE    COUREUR,    DES    BOIS.  213 

soup,  while  the  old  voyageurs  in  the  Indian  country  ate  corn  soup 
and  such  other  food  as  could  be  conveniently  procured."* 

"The  coureur  des  hois  were  men  of  easy  virtue.  They  would 
eat,  riot,  drink  and  play  as  long  as  their  furs  held  out,11  says  La 
Hontan,  "and  when  these  were  gone  they  would  sell  their  embroi- 
dery, their  laces  and  their  clothes.  The  proceeds  of  these  exhausted, 
they  were  forced  to  go  upon  new  voyages  for  subsistence.1'! 

They  did  not  scruple  to  intermarry  with  the  Indians,  among 
whom  they  spent  the  greater  part  of  their  lives.  They  made  excel- 
lent soldiers,  and  in  bush  lighting  and  border  warfare  they  were 
more  than  a  match  for  the  British  regulars.  "Their  merits  were 
hardihood  and  skill  in  woodcraft;  their  chief  faults  were  insubor- 
dination and  lawlessness.1'! 

Such  were  the  characteristics  of  the  French  traders  or  coureur  des 
hois.  They  penetrated  the  remotest  parts,  voyaged  upon  all  of  our 
western  rivers,  and  traveled  many  of  the  insignificant  streams  that 
afforded  hardly  water  enough  to  float  a  canoe.  Their  influence  over 
the  Indians  (to  whose  mode  of  life  they  readily  adapted  themselves) 
was  almost  supreme.  They  were,  efficient  in  the  service  of  their 
king,  and  materially  assisted  in  staying  the  downfall  of  French  rule 
in  America. 

There  is  no  data  from  which  to  ascertain  the  value  of  the  fur 
trade,  as  there  were  no  regular  accounts«kept.  The  value  of  the 
trade  to  the  French,  in  17«>o,  was  estimated  at  two  millions  of  livres, 
and  this  could  have  been  from  only  a  partial  return,  as  a  large  per 
cent  of  the  trade  was  carried  on  clandestinely  through  Albany  and 
New  York,  of  which  the  French  authorities  in  Canada  could  have 
no  knowledge.  With  the  loss  of  Canada,  and  the  west  to  France, 
and  owing  to  the  dislike  of  the  Indians  toward  the  English,  and  the 
want  of  experience  by  the  latter,  the  fur  trade,  controlled  at  Montreal, 
fell  into  decay,  and  the  Hudson  Bay  Company  secured  the  advan- 
tages of  its  downfall.      During  the  winter  of  1783— I  some  merchants 

*Vol.  2  Wisconsin  Historical  Collection,  p.  110.  Judge  Lockwood  gives  a  very- 
fine  sketch  of  the  coureur  des  hois  and  the  manner  of  their  employment,  in  the  paper 
from  which  we  have  quoted. 

fLa  Hontan,  vol.  1,  pp.  20  and  21. 

\  Parkman's  Count  Frontenac  and  New  Finance,  p.  209.  Judge  Lockwood,  in  the 
paper  referred  to,  speaking  of  the  coureur  des  bois  as  their  relations  existed  to  the  fur 
trade  in  1817,  thus  describes  them:  "  These  men  engaged  in  Canada,  generally  for  five 
years,  for  Mackinaw  and  its  dependencies,  transferable  like  cattle,  to  any  one  who 
wanted  them,  at  generally  about  500  livres  a  year,  or,  in  our  currency,  about  $83.33, 
furnished  with  a  yearly  equipment  or  outfit  of  two  cotton  shirts,  one  three-point  or 
triangular  blanket,  a  portage  collar  and  one  pair  of  shoes.  They  were  obliged  to  pur- 
chase their  moccasins,  tobacco  and  pipes  at  any  price  the  trader  saw  fit  to  charge  for 
them.  At  the  end  of  five  years  the  voyageurs  were  in  debt  from  $50  to  $150,  and 
could  not  leave  the  country  until  they  paid  their  indebtedness." 


214  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

of  Canada  united  their  trade  under  the  name  of  the  "  Northwest 
Company";  they  did  not  get  successfully  to  work  until  1787.  Dur- 
ing that  year  the  venture  did  not  exceed  forty  thousand  pounds,  but 
by  exertion  and  the  enterprise  of  the  proprietors  it  was  brought,  in 
eleven  years,  to  more  than  triple  that  amount  (equal  to  six  hundred 
thousand  dollars),  yielding  proportionate  profits,  and  surpassing  any- 
thing then  known  in  America.* 

The  fur  trade  was  conducted  by  the  English,  and  subsecpiently 
by  the  Americans,  substantially  upon  the  system  originally  estab- 
lished by  the  French,  with  this  distinction,  that  the  monopoly  was 
controlled  by  French  officers  and  favorites,  to  whom  the  trade  for 
particular  districts  was  assigned,  while  the  English  and  Americans 
controlled  it  through  companies  operating  either  under  charters  or 
permits  from  the  government. 

Goods  for  Indian  trade  were  guns,  ammunition,  steel  for  striking 
fire,  gun-flints,  and  other  supplies  to  repair  fire-arms;  knives,  hatchets, 
kettles,  beads,  men's  shirts,  blue  and  red  cloths  for  blankets  and 
petticoats  ;  vermilion,  red,  yellow,  green  and  blue  ribbons,  gener- 
ally of  English  manufacture ;  needles,  thread  and  awls  ;  looking- 
glasses,  children's  toys,  woolen  blankets,  razors  for  shaving  the 
head,  paints  of  all  colors,  tobacco,  and,  more  than  all,  spirituous 
liquors.  For  these  articles  the  Indians  gave  in  exchange  the  skins 
of  deer,  bear,  otter,  squirrel,  marten,  lynx,  fox,  wolf,  buffalo, 
moose,  and  particularly  the  beaver,  the  highest  prized  of  them  all. 
Such  was  the  value  attached  to  the  skins  and  fur  of  the  last  that 
it  became  the  standard  of  value.  All  other  values  were  measured 
by  the  beaver,  the  same  as  we  now  use  gold,  in  adjusting  com- 
mercial transactions.  All  differences  in  exchanges  of  property  or 
in  payment  for  labor  were  first  reduced  in  value  to  the  beaver  skin. 
Money  was  rarely  received  or  paid  at  any  of  the  trading-posts,  the 
only  circulating  medium  were  furs  and  peltries.  In  this  exchange  a 
pound  of  beaver  skin  was  reckoned  at  thirty  sous,  an  otter  skin  at 
six  Uvres,  and  marten  skins  at  thirty  sous  each.  This  was  only  about 
half  of  the  real  value  of  the  furs,  and  it  was  therefore  always  agreed 
to  pay  either  in  furs  at  their  equivalent  cash  value  at  the  fort  or 
double  the  amount  reckoned  at  current  fur  value,  f 

When  the  French  controlled  the  fur  trade,  the  posts  in  the  interior 
of  the  country  were  assigned  to  officers  who  were  in  favor  at  head- 
quarters.  As  they  had  no  money,  the  merchants  of  Quebec  and 
Montreal  supplied  them  on  credit  with  the  necessary  goods,  which 

*  Mackenzie's  Voyages,  Fur  Trade,  etc. 
t  Henry's  Travels  and  Pouchot's  Memoirs. 


THE    FUR   TRADE.  215 

were  to  be  paid  for  in  peltries  at  a  price  agreed  upon,  thus  being 
required  to  earn  profits  for  themselves  and  the  merchant.  These 
officers  were  often  employed  to  negotiate  for  the  king  with  the  tribes 
near  their  trading-posts  and  give  them  goods  as  presents,  the  price 
for  the  latter  being  paid  by  the  intendant  upon  the  approval  of  the 
governor.  This  occasioned  many  hypothecated  accounts,  which  were 
turned  to  the  profit  of  the  commandants,  particularly  in  time  of 
war.  The  commandants  as  well  as  private  traders  were  obliged  to 
take  out  a  license  from  the  governor  at  a  cost  of  four  or  five  hundred 
livres,  in  order  to  carry  their  goods  to  the  posts,  and  to  charge  some 
effects  to  the  king's  account.  The  most  distant  posts  in  the  north- 
west were  prized  the  greatest,  because  of  the  abundance  and  low 
price  of  peltries  and  the  high  price  of  goods  at  these  remote  estab- 
lishments. 

Another  kind  of  trade  was  carried  on  by  the  coureurs  des  bois, 
who,  sharing  the  license  with  the  officer  at  the  post,  with  their  canoes 
laden  with  goods,  went  to  the  villages  of  the  Indians,  and  followed 
them  on  their  hunting  expeditions,  to  return  after  a  season's  trading 
with  their  canoes  well  loaded.  If  the  <->>irreurs  des  hois  were  in  a 
condition  to  purchase  their  goods  of  first  hands  a  quick  fortune  was 
assured  them,  although  to  obtain  it  they  had  to  lead  a  most  danger- 
ous and  fatiguing  life.  Some  of  these  traders  would  return  to  France 
after  a  few  years'  venture  with  wealth  amounting  to  two  million  five 
hundred  thousand  livres.* 

The  French  were  not  permitted  to  exclusively  enjoy  the  enormous 
profits  of  the  fur  trade.  We  have  seen,  in  treating  of  the  Miami 
Indians,  that  at  an  early  day  the  English  and  the  American  colonists 
were  determined  to  share  it,  and  had  become  sharp  competitors.  We 
have  seen  (page  112)  that  to  extend  their  trade  the  English  had  set 
their  allies,  the  Iroquois,  upon  the  Illinois.  So  formidable  were  the 
inroads  niade  by  the  English  upon  the  fur  trade  of  the  French,  by 
means  of  the  conquests  to  which  they  had  incited  the  Iroquois  to 
gain  over  other  tribes  that  were  friendly  to  the  French,  that  the 
latter  became  "of  the  opinion  that  if  the  Iroquois  were  allowed  to 
proceed  they  would  not  only  subdue  the  Illinois,  but  become  masters 
of  all  the  Ottawa  tribes, \  and  divert  the  trade  to  the  English,  so  that 
it  was  absolutely  necessary  that  the  French  should  either  make  the 
Iroquois  1  heir  friends  or  destroy  ihem.%     You  perceive,   my  Lord, 

*  Pouchot's  Memoirs. 

t  Whose  territories  embraced  all  the  country  west  of  Lake  Huron  and  north  of 
Illinois, —  one  of  the  most  prolific  beaver  grounds  in  the  country. 

%  Memoir  of  M.  Du  Chesneau,  the  Intendant,  to  the  King1,  September  9, 1681,  before 
quoted. 


216  HISTORIC    XOTES    OX    THE    NORTHWEST. 

that  the  subject  which  we  have  discussed  [referring  to  the  efforts  of 
the  English  of  New  York  and  Albany  tu  gain  the  beaver  trade]  is  to 
determine  who  will  be  master  of  the  heaver  trade  of  the  south  and 
southwest."* 

In  the  struggle  to  determine  who  should  be  masters  of  the  fur 

trade,  the  French  cared  as  little,  —  perhaps  less, —  for  their  Indian 

i-illies  than  the  British  and  Americans  did  for  theirs.    The  blood  that 

was  shed  in  the  English  and  French  colonics  north  of  the  Ohio 

River,  for  a  period  of  over  three-quarters  of  a  century  prior  to  1763, 

night  well  be  said  to  have  been  spilled  in  a  war  for  the  fur  trade.  + 

In  the  strife  between  the  rivals.  —  the  French  endeavoring  to  hold 
their  former  possessions,  and  the  English   to  extend  theirs,— the 
.strait  of  Detroit  was  an  object  of  concern  to  both.     Its  strategical 
position  was  such  that  it  would  give  the  party  possessing  it  a  decided 
advantage.      M.   Du  Lute,  or   L'Hut.  under   orders   from   Gov.  De 
Xonville,   left  Mackinaw  with   some  fifty  odd  coureurs   des  hois  in 
L688,  sailed  down  Lake  Huron  and  threw  up  a  small  stockade  fort 
>!i  the  west  bank  of  the  lake,  where  it  discharges  into  the  River  St. 
Clair.     The  following  year  Capt.  McGregory, — Major  Patrick  Ma- 
gregore,  as  his  name  is  spelled   in  the  commission  he  had  in  his 
pocket  over  the  signature  of  Gov.  Dongan, — with  sixty  Englishmen 
-mid    some    Indians,   with    their    merchandise    loaded    in    thirty-two 
canoes,  went  up  Lake  Erie  on  a  trading  expedition  among  the  In- 
dians at  Detroit  and  Mackinaw.     They  were  encountered  and  cap- 
tured by  a  body  of  troops  under  Tonty,  La  Forest  and  other  officers, 
who,   with   coureur  de  hois    and   Indians   from   the   upper   country, 
re  on  their  way  to  join  the  French  forces  of  Canada  in  a  campaign. 
gainst  the  Iroquois  villages   in  New  York.;}:     The  prisoners  were 
sent  to  Quebec,  and  the  plunder  distributed  among  the  captors.     Du 
Bute's  stockade  was  called  Fort  St.  Joseph.     In  1688  the  fort  was 
jplaced  in  command  of  Baron  La  Hontan.§ 

Fort  St.  Joseph  served  the  purposes  for  which  it  was  constructed. 
and  a  few  years  later,  in  1701,  Mons.  Cadillac  established  Fort  Pont- 
-•hartrain  on  the  present  site  of  the  city  of  Detroit,  for  no  other  pur- 

'  M.  De  La  Barre  to  the  Minister  of  the  Marine,  November  4,  1683:  Paris  Docu- 
ments, vol.  9.  p.  210, 

t  War  was  not  formally  declared  between  France  and  England,  on  account  of 
colonial  difficulties,  until  May,  1756,  but  the  discursory  broils  between  their  colonies  in 
America  had  been  going  on  from  the  time  of  their  establishment. 

X  Tonty's  Memoir,  and  Paris  Documents,  vol.  9.  pp.  363  and  866. 

|  nt  Du  Luth.  or  St.  Joseph,  as  it  was  afterward  called,  was  ordered  to  be  erected 
Im  1686.  '•  in  order  to  fortify  the  pass  leading  to  Mackinaw  against  the  English."  Du 
luth,  who  erected  it.  was  in  command  of  fifty  men.  Several  parties  of  English  were 
either  captured  or  sent  back  from  this  post  within  a  year  or  two  from  its  establishment. 
W.ide  Paris  Documents,  vol.  9,  pp.  300.  302.  306.  383. 


ENGLISH    AND    AMERICAN   TRADERS.  217 

pose  than  to  check  the  English  in  the  prosecution  of  the  fur  trade  in 
that  country.* 

The  French  interests  were  soon  threatened  from  another  direc- 
tion. Traders  from  Pennsylvania  found  their  way  westward  over  the 
mountains,  where  they  engaged  in  traffic  with  the  Indians  in  tin- 
valleys  of  eastern  Ohio,  and  they  soon  established  commercial  rela- 
tions with  the  AT  abash  tribes,  t  It  appears  from  a  previous  chapter 
that  the  Miamis  were  trading  at  Albany  in  170S.  To  avert  this 
danger  the  French  were  compelled  at  last  to  erect  military  posts  at 
Fort  Wayne,  on  the  Maumee  (called  Fort  Miamis),  at  Ouiatanon  and 
Vincennes,  upon  the  Wabash.^;  Prior  to  1750  Sieur  de  Ligneris 
was  commanding  at  Fort  Ouiatanon,  and  St.  xVnge  was  in  charge  at 
Vincennes. 

As  soon  as  the  English  settlements  reached  the  eastern  slope  of 
the  Alleghanies,  their  traders  passed  over  the  ridge,  and  they  found 
it  exceedingly  profitable  to  trade  with  the  western  Indians.  They 
could  sell  the  same  quality  of  goods  for  a  third  or  a  half  of  what  the 
French  usually  charged,  and  still  make  a  handsome  profit.  This 
new  and  rich  field  was  soon  overrun  by  eager  adventurers.  In  the 
meantime  a  number  of  gentlemen,  mostly  from  Virginia,  procured 
an  act  of  parliament  constituting  "The  Ohio  Company,"  and  grant- 
ing them  six  hundred  thousand  acres  of  land  on  or  near  the  Ohio 
Piver.  The  objects  of  this  company  were  to  till  the  soil  and  to  open 
up  a  trade  with  the  Indians  west  of  the  Alleghanies  and  south  of  the 
Ohio. 

The  French,  being  well  aware  that  the  English  could  offer  their 
goods  to  the  Indians  at  greatly  reduced  rates,  feared  that-'they  would 
lose  the  entire  Indian  trade.  At  first  they  protested  w>  against  this 
invasion  of  the  rights  of  His  Most  Christian  Majesty"  to  the  gov- 
ernor of  the  English  colonies.  This  did  not  produce  the  desired 
effect.  Their  demands  were  met  with  equivocations  and  delays. 
At  last  the  French  determined  on  summary  measures.     An  order 

*  Statement  of  Mons.  Cadillac  of  his  reasons  for  establishing  a  fort  on  the  Detroit 
River,  copied  in  Sheldon's  Early  History  of  Michigan,  pp.  85-90. 

t  An  Englishman  by  the  name  of  Crawford  had  been  trading  on  the  Wabash  prior 
to  1749.     Vide  Irving's  Life  of  Washington,  vol.  1,  p.  48. 

X  The  date  of  the  establishment  of  these  forts  is  a  matter  of  conjecture,  owing  to 
the  absence  of  reliable  data.  A  "  Miamis  "  is  referred  to  in  1719,  and  in  the  same  year 
Sieur  Duboisson  was  selected  as  a  suitable  person  to  take  command  at  Ouiatanon,  and 
in  1735  M.  de  Vincenne  is  alluded  to,  in  a  letter  written  from  Kaskaskia,  as  com- 
mandant of  the  Post  on  the  Wabash.  However,  owing  to  the  successive  migrations  of 
the  Miami  Indians,  the  "Miamis  "  mentioned  in  such  documents,  in  1719,  may  have 
referred  to  the  Miami  and  Wea  villages  upon  the  Kalamazoo  and  St.  Joseph  rivers,  in 
the  state  of  Michigan.  The  post  at  Vincennes,  it  may  be  safely  assumed,  was  garri- 
soned as  early  as  1735,  and  Ouiatanon,  below  La  Fayette,  and  Miamis,  at  Fort  Wayne, 
some  years  before,  in  the  order  of  time. 


218  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON    THE    NORTHWEST. 

was  issued  to  the  commandants  of  their  various  posts  on  Lake  Erie, 
the  Ohio  and  the  Wabash,  to  seize  all  English  traders  found  west  of 
the  Alleghanies.  In  pursuance  of  this  order,  in  1751,  four  English 
traders  were  captured  on  the  Vermilion  of  the  Wabash  and  sent  to 
Canada.'-  Other  traders,  dealing  with  the  Indians  in  other  locali- 
ties, were  captured  and  taken  to  Presque  Isle,f  and  from  thence  to 
Canada, 

The  contest  between  the  rival  colonies  still  went  on,  increasing 
in  the  extent  of  its  line  of  operations  and  intensifying  in  the  ani- 
mosity of  the  feeling  with  which  it  was  conducted.     We  quote  from 
a  memoir  prepared  early  in  1752,  by  M.  de  Longueuil,  commandant 
at  Detroit,   showing  the  state  of  affairs  at  a  previous  date  in  the 
Wabash  country.     It  appears,  from  the  letters  of  the  commandants 
at  the  several  posts  named,  from  which  the  memoir  is  compiled, 
that  the  Indian  tribes  upon  the  Maumee  and  Wabash,  through  the 
successful  eiforts  of  the  English,  had  become  very  much  disaffected 
toward  their  old  friends  and  masters.     M.  de  Ligneris,  commandant 
at  the  Ouyatanons,  says  the  memoir,  believes  that  great  reliance  is 
not  to  be  placed  on  the  Maskoutins,  and  that  their  remaining  neutral 
is  all  that  is*  to  be  expected  from  them  and  the  Ivickapous.     He  even 
adds  that  "we  are  not  to  reckon  on  the  nations  which  appear  in  our 
interests ;  no  Wea  chief  has  appeared  at  this  post  for  a  long  time. 
M.  de  Villiers,  commandant  at  the  Miamis, — Ft.  Wayne, — has  been 
disappointed  in  his  expectation  of  bringing  the  Miamis  back  from  the 
White  River, —  part  of  whom  had  been  to  see  him, —  the  small-pox 
having  put  the  whole  of  them  to  rout.      Coldfoot  and  his  son  have 
died  of  it,  as  well  as  a  large  portion  of  our  most  trusty  Indians. 
Le  Gris,  chief  of  the  Tcjncons,'^  and  his  mother  are  likewise  dead; 
they  are  a  loss,  because  they  were  well  disposed  toward  the  French.11 
The  memoir  continues:  "The  nations  of  the  River  St.  Joseph, 
who  were  to  join  those  of  Detroit,  have  said  they  would  be  ready  to 
perform  their  promise  as  soon  as  Ononontio%  would  have  sent  the 
necessary  number  of   Frenchmen.      The  commandant  of   this  post 
writes,  on  the  15th  of  January,  that  all  the  nations  appear  to  take 

*  Paris  Documents,  vol.  10,  p.  248. 

t  Near  Erie,  Pennsylvania. 

jThis  is  the  first  reference  we  have  to  Tippecanoe.  Antoine  Gamelin,  the  French 
merchant  atVincennes, — whom  Major  Hamtramck  sent,  in  1790,  to  the  Wabash  towns 
with  peace  messages, — calls  the  village,  then  upon  this  river,  Qui-te-pi-coii-nae.  The 
name  of  the  Tippecanoe  is  derived  from  the  Algonquin  word  Ke-non-ge,  or  Ke-no-zha 
—  from  Kenose,  long,  the  name  of  the  long-billed  pike,  a  fish  very  abundant  in  this 
stream,  vide  Mackenzie's  and  James'  Vocabularies.  Timothy  Flint,  in  his  Geography 
and  History  of  the  Western  States,  first  edition,  published  at  Cincinnati,  1828,  vol.  2, 
p.  125,  says:  "  The  Tippecanoe  received  its  name  from  a  kind  of  pike  called  Pic-ca-nau 
by  the  savages."     The  termination  is  evidently  Frenchified. 

§  The  name  by  which  the  Indians  called  the  governor  of  Canada. 


FRENCH   TRADERS    KILLED.  219 

sides  against  us ;  that  he  would  not  be  responsible  for  the  good 
dispositions  these  Indians  seem  to  entertain,  inasmuch  as  the 
Miamis  are  their  near  relatives.  On  the  one  hand,  Mr.  de  Jon- 
caire*  repeats  that  the  Indians  of  the  beautiful  riverf  are  all  English, 
for  whom  alone  they  work;  that  all  are  resolved  to  sustain  each 
other;  and  that  not  a  party  of  Indians  go  to  the  beautiful  river  but 
leave  some  [of  their  numbers]  there  to  increase  the  rebel  forces. 
On  the  other  hand,  "Mr.  de  St.  A/tge,  commandant  of  the  post  of 
Vincennes,  writes  to  M.  des  Ligneris  [at  Ouiatanon]  to  use  all 
means  to  protect  himself  from  the  storm  which  is  ready  to  burst  on 
the  French  ;  that  he  is  busy  securing  himself  against  the  fury  of  our 
enemies." 

"The  Pianguichias,  who  are  at  war  with  the  Chaouanons,  ac- 
cording to  the  report  rendered  by  Mr.  St.  Clin,  have  declared  entirely 
against  us.  They  killed  on  Christmas  Jive  Frenchmen  at  the  Ver- 
milion. Mr.  des  Ligneris,  who  was  aware  of  this  attack,  sent  off  a 
detachment  to  secure  the  effects  of  the  Frenchmen  from  being  plun- 
dered ;  but  when  this  detachment  arrived  at  the  Vermilion,  the 
Piankashaws  had  decamped.  The  bodies  of  the  Frenchmen  were 
found  on  the  ice.^: 

"M.  des  Ligneris  was  assured  that  the  Piankashaws  had  commit- 
ted this  act  because  four  men  of  their  nation  had  been  killed  by  the 
French  at  the  Illinois,  and  four  others  had  been  taken  and  put  in 
irons.  It  is  said  that  these  eight  men  were  going  to  fight  the  Chick- 
asaws,  and  had,  without  distrusting  anything,  entered  the  quarters 
of  the  French,  who  killed  them.  It  is  also  reported  that  the  French- 
men had  recourse  to  this  extreme  measure  because  a  Frenchman  and 

*  A  French  half-breed  having  great  influence  over  the  Indians,  and  whom  the 
French  authorities  had  sent  into  Ohio  to  conciliate  the  Indians. 

t  The  Ohio. 

jCol.  Croghan's  Journal,  before  quoted,  gives  the  key  to  the  aboriginal  name  of 
this  stream.  On  the  22d  of  June,  1765,  he  makes  the  following  entry:  "We  passed 
through  a  part  of  the  same  meadow  mentioned  yesterday;  then  came  to  a  high  wood- 
land and  arrived  at  Vermilion  River,  so  called  from  a  fine  red  earth  found  there  by  the 
Indians,  with  which  they  paint  themselves.  About  a  half  a  mile  from  where  we  crossed 
this  river  there  is  a  village  of  Piankashaws,  distinguished  by  the  addition  of  the  name 
of  the  river"  (that  is,  the  Piankashaws  of  the  Vermilion,  or  the  Vermilions,  as  they 
were  sometimes  called).  The  red  earth  or  red  chalk,  known  under  the  provincial  name 
of  red  keel,  is  abundant  everywhere  along  the  bluffs  of  the  Vermilion,  in  the  shales 
that  overlay  the  outcropping  coal.  The  annual  fires  frequently  ignited  the  coal  thus 
exposed,  and  would  burn  the  shale  above,  turn  it  red  and  render  it  friable.  Carpen- 
ters used  it  to  chalk  their  lines,  and  the  successive  generation  of  boys  have  gathered  it 
by  the  pocketful.  Those  acquainted  with  the  passion  of  the  Indian  for  paint,  particu- 
larly red,  will  understand  the  importance  which  the  Indians  would  attach  to  it.  Hence, 
as  noted  by  Croghan,  they  called  the  river  after  the  name  of  this  red  earth.  Vermilion 
is  the  French  word  conveying  the  same  idea,  and  it  is  a  coincidence  merely  that  Ver- 
milion in  French  has  the  same  meaning  as  this  word  in  English  On  the  map  in 
"  Volney's  View  of  the  Soil  and  Climate  of  the  United  States,"  Phila.  ed.  1804,  it  is 
called  Red  River.  The  Miami  Indian  name  of  the  Vermilion  was  Piankashaw,  as  ap- 
pears from  Gen.  Putnam's  manuscript  Journal  of  the  treaty  at  Vincennes  in  1792. 


220  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

two  slaves  had  been  killed  a  few  days  before  by  another  party  of 
Piankashaws,  and  that  the  Indians  in  question  had  no  knowledge  of 
that  circumstance.  The  capture  of  four  English  traders  by  M.  de 
Celoron's  order  last  year  has  not  prevented  other  Englishmen  going 
to  trade  at  the  Yermilion  River,  where  the  Rev.  Father  la  Richardie 
wintered."- 

The  memoir  continues:  "On  the  19th  of  October  the  Pianka- 
shaws had  killed  two  more  Frenchmen,  who  were  constructing 
pirogues  lower  down  than  the  Post  of  Vincenne.  Two  days  after- 
ward the  Piankashaws  killed  two  slaves  in  sight  of  Fort  Vincenne. 
The  murder  of  these  nine  Frenchmen  and  these  two  slaves  is  but 
too  certain.  A  squaw,  the  widow  of  one  of  the  Frenchmen  who  had 
been  killed  at  the  Yermilion,  has  reported  that  the  Pianguichias, 

Illinois  and  Osages  were  to  assemble  at  the  prairies  of ,  the 

place  where  Messrs.  de  Villiers  and  de  Noyelle  attacked  the  Foxes 
about  twenty  years  ago,  and  when  they  had  built  a  fort  to  secure 
their  families,  they  were  to  make  a  general  attack  on  all  the  French. 

"The  Miamis  of  Rock  Riverf  have  scalped  two  soldiers  belong- 
ing to  Mr.  Villiers'  fort.:};  This  blow  was  struck  last  fall.  Finally, 
the  English  have  paid  the  Miamis  for  the  scalps  of  the  two  soldiers 
belonging  to  Mr.  de  Villiers'  garrison.  To  add  to  the  misfortunes, 
M.  des  Ligneris  has  learned  that  the  commandant  of  the  Illinois  at 
Fort  Charters  would  not  permit  Sieurs  Delisle  and  Fonblanche, 
who  had  contracted  with  the  king  to  supply  the  Miamis,  Ouyaton- 
ons,  and  even  Detroit  with  provisions  from  the  Illinois,  to  purchase 
any  provisions  for  the  subsistence  of  the  garrisons  of  those  posts,  on 
the  ground  that  an  increased  arrival  of  troops  and  families  would 
consume  the  stock  at  the  Illinois.  Famine  is  not  the  sole  scourge 
we  experience  :  the  smallpox  commits  ravages ;  it  begins  to  reach 
Detroit.  It  were  desirable  that  it  should  break  out  and  spread  gen- 
erally throughout  the  localities  inhabited  by  our  rebels.  It  would 
be  fully  as  good  as  an  army." 

The  Piankashaws,  now  completely  estranged  from  the  French, 
withdrew,  almost  in  a  body,  from  the  Wabash,  and  retired  to  the 
Big  Miami,  whither  a  number  of  Miamis  and  other  Indians  had, 

*  Father  Justinian  de  la  Richardie  came  to  Canada  (according  to  the  Liste  Crono- 
logique,  No.  429)  in  1716.  He  served  many  years  in  the  Huron  country,  and  also  in 
the  Illinois,  and  died  in  February,  1758.  Biographical  note  of  the  editor  of  Paris 
Documents  :  Col.  Hist,  of  New  York,  vol.  9.  p.  88.  The  time  when  and  the  place  at 
which  this  missionary  was  stationed  on  the  Vermilion  River  is  not  given.  The  date 
was  before  1750,  as  is  evident  from  the  text.  The  place  was  probably  at  the  large 
Piankashaw  town  where  the  traders  were  killed. 

fThe  Big  Miami  River  of  Ohio,  on  which  stream,  near  the  mouth  of  Loramies 
Creek,  the  Miamis  had  an  extensive  village,  hereafter  referred  to. 

t  Ft.  Wayne,  where  Mr.  Villiers  was  then  stationed  in  charge  of  Fort  Miamis. 


PICKAWILLANY.  221 

some  years  previous,  established  a  village,  to  be  nearer  the  English 
traders.  The  village  was  called  Pickawillany,  or  Picktown.  To 
the  English  and  Iroquois  it  was  known  as  the  Tawixtwi  Town,  or 
Miainitown.  It  was  located  at  the  mouth  of  what  has  since  been 
called  Loramie's  creek.  The  stream  derived  this  name  from  the  fact 
that  a  Frenchman  of  that  name,  subsequent  to  the  events  here  nar- 
rated, had  a  trading-house  at  this  place.  The  town  was  visited  in 
1751  by  Christopher  Gist,  who  gives  the  following  description  of  it:* 
"The  Twightee  town  is  situated  on  the  northwest  side  of  the  Big 
Min  e  ami  River,  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  its  mouth. 
It  consists  of  four  hundred  families,  and  is  daily  increasing.  It  is 
accounted  one  of  the  strongest  Indian  towns  in  this  part  of  the  con- 
tinent. The  Twightees  are  a  very  numerous  people,  consisting  of 
many  different  tribes  under  the  same  form  of  government.  Each 
tribe  has  a  particular  chief,  or  king,  one  of  which  is  chosen  indiffer- 
ently out  of  any  tribe  to  rule  the  whole  nation,  and  is  vested  with 
greater  authority  than  any  of  the  others.  They  have  but  lately 
traded  with  the  English.  They  formerly  lived  on  the  farther  side  of 
the  Wabash,  and  were  in  the  French  interests,  who  supplied  them 
with  some  few  trifles  at  a  most  exorbitant  price.  They  have  now 
revolted  from  them  and  left  their  former  habitations  for  the  sake  of 
trading  with  the  English,  and  notwithstanding  all  the  artifices  the 
French  have  used,  they  have  not  been  able  to  recall  them."  George 
Croghan  and  Mr.  Montour,  agents  in  the  English  interests,  were  in 
the  town  at  the  time  of  Gist's  visit,  doing  what  they  could  to  inten- 
sify the  animosity  of  the  inhabitants  against  the  French.  Speeches 
were  made  and  presents  exchanged  to  cement  the  friendship  with 
the  English.  While  these  conferences  were  going  on,  a  deputation 
of  Indians  in  the  French  interests  arrived,  with  soft  words  and  valu- 
able presents,  marching  into  the  village  under  French  colors.  The 
deputation  was  admitted  to  the  council-house,  that  they  might  make 
the  object  of  their  visit  known.  The  Piankashaw  chief,  or  king, 
"Old  Britton,"  as  he  was  called,  on  account  of  his  attachment 
for  the  English,  had  both  the  British  and  French  flags  hoisted  from 
the  council-house.  The  old  chief  refused  the  brandy,  tobacco  and 
other  presents  sent  to  him  from  the  French  king.  In  reply  to  the 
speeches  of  the  French  ambassadors  he  said  that  the  road  to  the 
French  had  been  made  foul  and  bloody  by  them ;  that  he  had 
cleared  a  road  to  our  brothers,  the  English,  and  that  the  French  had 
made  that  bad.   The  French  flag  was  taken  down,  and  the  emissaries 

*  Christopher  Gist's  Journal. 


222  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON    THE    NORTHWEST. 

of  that  people,  with  their  presents,  returned  to  the  French  post  from 
whence  they  came. 

When  negotiations  failed  to  win  the  Miamis  back  to  French 
authority,  force  was  resorted  to.  On  the  21st  of  June,  1752,  a  party 
of  two  hundred  and  forty  French  and  Indians  appeared  before  Pick- 
awillany,  surprised  the  Indians  in  their  corn-fields,  approaching  so 
suddenly  that  the  white  men  who  were  in  their  houses  had  great 
difficulty  in  reaching  the  fort.  They  killed  one  Englishman  and 
fourteen  Miamis,  captured  the  stockade  fort,  killed  the  old  Pianka- 
shaw  king,  and  put  his  body  in  a  kettle,  boiled  it  and  ate  it  up  in 
retaliation  for  his  people  having  killed  the  French  traders  on  the 
Vermilion  River  and  at  Vincennes.*  "Thus,"  says  the  eloquent 
historian,  George  Bancroft,  "on  the  alluvial  lands  of  western  Ohio 
began  the  contest  that  was  to  scatter  death  broadcast  through  the 
world,  "f 

*  The  account  of  the  affair  at  Pickawillany  is  summarized  from  the  Journal  of  Capt. 
Win.  Trent  and  other  papers  contained  in  a  valuable  book  edited  by  A.  T.  Goodman, 
secretary  of  the  Western  Reserve  Historical  Society,  and  published  by  Robert  Clarke 
&  Co.,  1871,  entitled  "Journal  of  Captain  Trent." 

f  Old  Britton's  successor  was  his  son,  a  young  man,  whose  name  was  Mu-she- 
gu-a-nock-que,  or  "The  Turtle."  The  English,  and  Indians  in  their  interests,  had  a 
very  high  esteem  for  the  young  Piankashaw  king.  It  is  said  by  some  writers,  and 
there  is  much  probability  of  the  correctness  of  their  opinion,  that  the  great  Miami 
chief,  Little  Turtle,  was  none  other  than  the  person  here  referred  to.  His  age  would 
correspond  very  well  with  that  of  the  Piankashaw,  and  members  of  one  band  of  the 
Miami  nation  frequently  took  up  their  abode  with  other  bands  or  families  of  their  kin- 
dred. 


CHAPTER  XXL 


THE  WAR  FOR  THE  EMPIRE.     ITS  LOSS  TO  THE  FRENCH. 

The  English  not  only  disputed  the  right  of  the  French  to  the 
fur  trade,  but  denied  their  title  to  the  valley  of  the  Mississippi, 
which  lay  west  of  their  American  colonies  on  the  Atlantic  coast. 
The  grants  from  the  British  crown  conveyed  to  the  chartered  pro- 
prietors all  of  the  country  lying  between  certain  parallels  of  latitude, 
according  to  the  location  of  the  several  grants,  and  extending  west- 
ward to  the  South  Sea,  as  the  Pacific  was  then  called.  Seeing  the 
weakness  of  such  a  claim  to  vast  tracts  of  country,  upon  which  no 
Englishman  had  ever  set  his  foot,  they  obtained  deeds  of  cession 
from  the  Iroquois  Indians, —  the  dominant  tribe  east  of  the  Mississip- 
pi,—  who  claimed  all  of  the  country  between  the  Alleghanies  and  the 
Mississippi  by  conquest  from  the  several  Algonquin  tribes,  who  occu- 
pied it,  On  the  13th  of  July,  1701,  the  sachems  of  the  Five  Nations 
conveyed  to  William  III,  King  of  Great  Britain,  ''their  beaver- 
hunting  grounds  northwest  and  west  from  Albany,"  including  a 
broad  strip  on  the  south  side  of  Lake  Erie,  all  of  the  present  states 
of  Michigan,  Ohio  and  Indiana,  and  Illinois  as  far  west  as  the  Illi- 
nois River,  claiming  "  that  their  ancestors  did,  more  than  fourscore 
years  before,  totally  conquer,  subdue  and  drive  the  former  occupants 
out  of  that  country,  and  had  peaceable  and  quiet  possession  of  the 
same,  to  hunt  beavers  in,  it  being  the  only  chief  place  for  hunting 
in  that  part  of  the  world,"  etc.*  The  Iroquois,  for  themselves  and 
heirs,  granted  the  English  crown  "the  whole  soil,  the  lakes,  the 

*  The  deed  is  found  in  London  Documents,  vol.  4,  p.  908.  The  boundaries  of  the 
grant  are  indefinite  in  many  respects.  Its  westward  limit,  says  the  deed,  "  abutts 
upon  the  Twichtwichs  [Miamis],  and  is  bounded  on  the  right  hand  by  a  place  called 
Quadoge."  On  Eman  Bowen's  map,  which  is  certainly  the  most  authentic  from  the 
British  standpoint,  is  a  "  pecked  line  "  extending  from  the  mouth  of  the  Illinois  river, 
up  that  stream,  to  the  Desplaines,  thence  across  the  prairies  to  Lake  Michigan  at 
Quadoge  or  Quadaghe,  which  is  located  on  the  map  some  distance  southeast  of  Chicago, 
which  is  also  shown  in  its  correct  place,  and  at  or  near  the  mouth  of  the  stream  that 
forms  the  harbor  at  Michigan  City,  formerly  known  by  the  French  as  Riviere  du  Che- 
min,  or  "  Trail  River,"  because  the  great  trail  from  Chicago  to  Detroit  and  Ft.  Wayne 
left  the  lake  shore  at  this  place.  The  "pecked  line," — as  Mr.  Bowen  calls  the  dotted 
line  which  he  traces  as  the  boundary  of  the  Iroquois  deed  of  cession, —  extends  from 
Michigan  City  northward  through  the  entire  length  of  Lake  Michigan,  the  Straits  of 
Mackinaw  and  between  the  Manitou-lin  islands  and  the  main  shore  in  Lake  Huron; 
thence  into  Canada  around  the  north  shore  of  Lake  Nipissing;  and  thence  down  the 
Ottawa  River  to  its  confluence  with  the  St.  Lawrence. 

223 


224  HISTORIC    NOTES   ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

rivers,  and  all  things  pertaining  to  said  tract  of  land,  with  power 
to  erect  forts  and  castles  there,''  only  reserving  to  the  grantors  and 
"their  descendants  forever  the  right  of  hunting  upon  the  same,"  in 
which  privilege  the  grantee  "was  expected  to  protect  them."  The 
grant  of  the  Iroquois  was  confirmed  to  the  British  crown  by  deeds 
of  renewal  in  1726  and  1744.  The  reader  will  have  observed,  from 
what  has  been  said  in  the  preceding  chapters  upon  the  Illinois  and 
Miamis  and  Pottawatomies  relative  to  the  pretended  conquests  ot 
the  Iroquois,  how  little  merit  there  was  in  the  claim  they  set  up  to 
the  territory  in  question.  Their  war  parties  only  raided  upon  the 
country.  —  they  never  occupied  it:  their  war  parties,  after  doing  as 
much  mischief  as  thev  could,  returned  to  their  own  country  as 
rapidly  as  they  came.  Still  their  several  deeds  to  the  English  crown 
were  a  "color  of  title"  on  which  the  latter  laid  great  stress,  and 
paraded  at  every  treaty  with  other  powers,  where  questions  involv- 
ing the  right  to  this  territory  were  a  subject  of  discussion.* 

The  war  for  the  fur  trade  expanded  into  a  struggle  for  empire 
that  convulsed  both  continents  of  America  and  Europe.  The  limit 
assigned  this  work  forbids  a  notice  of  the  principal  occurrences  in 
the  progress  of  the  French-Colonial  War,  as  most  of  the  military 
movements  in  that  contest  were  outside  of  the  territory  we  are  con- 
sidering. There  were,  however,  two  campaigns  conducted  by  troops 
recruited  in  the  northwest,  and  these  engagements  will  be  noticed. 
We  believe  they  have  not  heretofore  been  compiled  as  fully  as  their 
importance  would  seem  to  demand. 

In  1T5S  Gen.  Forbes,  with  about  six  thousand  troops,  advanced 
against  Fort  Du  Quesne.  +  In  mid-September  the  British  troops  had 
only  reached  Loyal-hannon, J  where  they  raised  a  fort.  "Intelli- 
gence had  been  received  that  Fort  Du  Quesne  was  defended  by  but 
eight  hundred  men.  of  whom  three  hundred  were  Indians, "§  and 
Major  Grant,  commanding  eight  hundred  Highlanders  and  a  com- 
pany of  Virginians,  was  sent  toward  the  French  fort.      On  the  third 

*  The  Iroquois  themselves, —  as  appears  from  an  English  memoir  on  the  Indian 
trade,  and  contained  among  the  London  Documents,  vol.  7,  p.  18, — never  supposed 
they  had  actually  conveyed  their  right  of  dominion  to  these  lands.  Indeed,  it  appears 
that  the  Indians  generally  could  not  comprehend  the  purport  of  a  deed  or  grant  in  the 
sense  that  the  Europeans  attach  to  these  formidable  instruments.  The  idea  of  an 
absolute,  fee-simple  right  of  an  individual,  or  of  a  body  of  persons,  to  exclusively  own 
real  estate  against  the  right  of  others  even  to  enter  upon  it,  to  hunt  or  cut  a  shrub, 
was  beyond  the  power  of  an  Indian  to  comprehend.  From  long  habit  and  the  owner- 
ship (not  only  of  land  but  many  articles  of  domestic  use)  by  the  tribe  or  village  of 
property  in  common,  they  could  not  understand  how  it  could  be  held  otherwise. 

t  At  the  present  site  of  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 

X  Loyal-hannon,  afterward  Fort  Ligonier.  was  situated  on  the  east  side  of  Loyal- 
hannon  Creek,  "Westmoreland  county,  Pa.,  and  was  about  forty-five  miles  from  Fort 
Du  Quesne;  vide  Pennsylvania  Archives,  XII,  389. 

§  Bancroft,  vol.  iv,  p.  311. 


DEFEAT    OF   THE    ENGLISH.  225 

day's  march  Grant  had  arrived  within  two  miles  of  Fort  Du  Quesne. 
Leaving  his  baggage  there,  he  took  position  on  a  hill,  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  from  the  fort,  and  encamped."- 

Grant,  who  was  not  aware  that  the  garrison  had  been  reinforced 
by  the  arrival  of  Mons.  Aubry,  commandant  at  Fort  Chartes,  with 
four  hundred  men  from  the  Illinois  country,  determined  on  an  am- 
buscade.  At  break  of  day  Major  Lewis  was  sent,  with  four  hundred 
men,  to  lie  in  ambush  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  main  body,  on  the 
path  on  which  they  left  their  baggage,  imagining  the  French  would 
send  a  force  to  attack  the  baggage  guard  and  seize  it.  Four  hundred 
men  were  po.-ted  along  the  hill  facing  the  fort  to  cover  the  retreat  of 
Mac'Donald's  company,  which  marched  with  drums  beating  toward 
the  fort,  in  order  to  draw  a  party  out  of  it,  as  Major  Grant  had  rea- 
son to  believe  there  were,  including  Indians,  only  two  hundred  men 
within  it.  "f* 

M.  de  Ligneris,  commandant  at  Fort  Du  Quesne,  at  once  assem- 
bled seven  or  eight  hundred  men,  and  gave  the  command  to  M. 
Aubry.^:  The  French  sallied  out  of  the  fort,  and  the  Indians,  who 
had  crossed  the  river  to  keep  out  of  the  way  of  the  British,  returned 
and  made  a  flank  movement.  Aubry,  by  a  rapid  movement,  attacked 
the  different  divisions  of  the  English,  and  completely  routed  and 
dispersed  them.  The  force  under  Major  Lewis  was  compelled  to> 
give  way.  Being  flanked,  a  number  were  driven  into  the  river, 
most  of  whom  were  drowned.  The  English  lost  two  hundred  and 
seventy  killed,  forty-two  wounded,  and  several  prisoners  ;  among  the 
latter  was  Grant. 

On  the  22d  of  September  M.  Aubry  left  Fort  Du  Quesne,  with  a 
force  of  six  hundred  French  and  Indians,  intending  to  reconnoitre 
the  position  of  the  English  at  Loyal-hannon. 

"He  found  a  little  camp  in  front  of  some  intrenchments  which 
would  cover  a  body  of  two  thousand  men.  The  advance  guard  of 
the  French  detachment  having  been  discovered,  the  English  sent  a. 
captain  and  fifty  men  to  reconnoitre,  who  fell  in  with  the  detach- 
ment and  were  entirely  defeated.  In  following  the  fugitives  the 
French  fell  upon  this  camp,  and  surprised  and  dispersed  it. 

"The  fugitives  scarcely  gained  the  principal  intrenchment,  which 
M.  Aubry  held  in  blockade  two  days.  He  killed  two  hundred  horses 
and  cattle."  The  French  returned  to  Fort  Du  Quesne  mounted. £ 
"The  English  lost  in  the  engagement  one  hundred  and  fifty  men, 

*The  hill  has  ever  since  borne  Grant's  name. 

t  Craig's  History  of  Pittsburgh,  p.  74. 

JGarneau's  History  of  Canada,  Bell's  translation,  vol.  2,  p.  214. 

§  Pouchot's  Memoir,  p.  130. 

15 


226  HISTORIC    NOTES    OX    THE    NORTHWEST. 

killed,  wounded  and  missing.     The  French  loss  was  two  killed  and 
seven  wounded." 

The  Louisiana  detachment,  which  took  the  principal  part  in  both 
of  these  battles,  was  recruited  from  the  French  posts  in  ''The  Illi- 
nois." and  consisted  of  soldiers  taken  from  the  garrison  in  that  terri- 
tory, and  the  court  urs  des  hoi*,  traders  and  settlers  in  their  respective 
neighborhoods.  It  was  the  first  battalion  ever  raised  within  the 
limits  of  the  present  states  of  Illinois,  Indiana  and  Michigan.  After 
the  action  of  Loval-hannon.  "the  Louisiana  detachment,  as  well  as 
those  from  Detroit,  returned  home."* 

Soon  after  their  departure,  and  on  the  24th  of  November,  the 
French  abandoned  Fort  Du  Quesne.  'Pouchot  says:  "It  came  to 
pass  that  by  blundering  at  Fort  Du  Quesne  the  French  were  obliged 
to  abandon  it  for  want  of  provisions."  This  may  have  been  the 
true  reason  for  the  abandonment,  but  doubtless  the  near  approach  of 
a  large  English  army,  commanded  by  Gen.  Forbes,  had  no  small 
influence  in  accelerating  their  movements.  The  fort  was  a  mere 
stockade,  of  small  dimensions,  and  not  suited  to  resist  the  attacks  of 
artillery.4 

Having  burnt  the  stockade  and  storehouses,  the  garrison  sepa- 
rated. ( me  hundred  retired  to  Presque  Isle,  by  land.  Two  hundred, 
by  way  of  the  Alleghany,  went  to  Yenango.  The  remaining  hun- 
dred descended  the  Ohio.  About  forty  miles  above  its  confluence 
with  the  Mississippi,  and  on  a  beautiful  eminence  on  the  north  bank 
of  the  river,  they  erected  a  fort  and  named  it  Fort  Massac,  in  honor 
of  the  commander,  M.  Massac,  who  superintended  its  construction. 
This  was  the  last  fort  erected  by  the  French  on  the  Ohio,  and  it  was 
occupied  by  a  garrison  of  French  troops  until  the  evacuation  of  the 
country  under  the  stipulations  of  the  treaty  of  Paris.  Such  was  the 
origin  of  Fort  Massac,  divested  of  the  romance  which  fable  has 
thrown  around  its  name.":}: 

*  Letter  of  Marquis  Montcalm:  Paris  Documents,  vol.  10.  p.  901. 

t  Hildreth's  Pioneer  History,  p.  42. 

X  Monette's  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  vol.  1.  p.  317.  Gov.  Reynolds,  who  visited 
the  i-emains  of  Fort  Massac  in  1855,  thus  describes  its  remains:  "  The  outside  walls 
were  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  feet  square,  and  at  each  angle  strong  bastions  were 
erected.  The  walls  were  palisades,  with  earth  between  the  wood.  A  large  well  was 
sunk  in  the  fortress,  and  the  whole  appeared  to  have  been  strong  and  substantial  in  its 
day.  Three  or  four  acres  of  gravel  walks  were  made  on  the  north  of  the  fort,  on  which 
the  soldiers  paraded.  The  walks  were  made  in  exact  angles,  and  beautifully  graveled 
with  pebbles  from  the  river.  The  site  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  on  La  Belle  Rivere, 
and  commands  a  view  of  the  Ohio  that  is  charming  and  lovely.  French  genius  for  the 
selection  of  sites  for  forts  is  eminently  sustained  in  their  choice  of  Fort  Massacre."  The 
Governor  states  that  the  fort  was  first  established  in  1711,  and  "was  enlarged  and 
made  a  respectable  fortress  in  1756."  Vide  Reynolds'  Life  and  Times,  pp.  28,  29.  This 
is,  probably,  a  mistake.  There  are  no  records  in  the  French  official  documents  of  any 
military  post  in  that  vicinity  until  the  so-called  French  and  Indian  war. 


CHANGE    OF    WAR-PLAN.  227 

On  the  day  following  the  evacuation,  the  English  took  peaceable 
possession  of  the  smoking  ruins  of  Fort  Du  Quesne.  They  erected 
a  temporary  fortification,  named  it  Fort  Pitt,  in  honor  of  the  great 
English  statesman  of  that  name,  and  leaving  two  hundred  men  as  a 
garrison,  retired  over  the  mountains. 

On  the  5th  of  December,  1758,  Thomas  Pownall,  governor  of 
Massachusetts  Bay  Province,  addressed  a  memorial  to  the  British 
Ministry,  suggesting  that  there  should  be  an  entire  change  in  the 
method  of  carrying  on  the  war.  Pownall  stated  that  the  French 
were  superior  in  battles  fought  in  the  wilderness ;  that  Canada  never 
could  be  conquered  by  land  campaigns;  that  the  proper  way  to 
succeed  in  the  reduction  of  Canada  would  be  to  make  an  attack  on 
Quebec  by  sea,  and  thus,  by  cutting  off  supplies  from  the  home  gov- 
ernment, Canada  would  be  starved  out.* 

Pitt,  if  he  did  not  act  on  the  recommendations  of  Gov.  Pownall. 
at  least  had  similar  views,  and  the  next  year  (175!)),  in  accordance 
with  this  plan,  Gen.  Wolfe  made  a  successful  assault  on  Quebec,  and 
from  that  time,  the  supplies  and  reinforcements  from  the  home  gov- 
ernment being  cut  off.  the  cause  of  the  French  in  Canada  became 
almost  hopeless. 

During  this  year  the  French  made  every  effort  to  stir  up  the 
Indians  north  of  the  Ohio  to  take  the  tomahawk  and  scalping-knife 
in  hand,  and  make  one  more  attempt  to  preserve  the  northwest 
for  the  joint  occupancy  of  the  Gallic  and  American  races.  Emissa- 
ries were  sent  to  Lake  Erie,  Detroit,  Mackinaw,  Ouiatanon,Vincennes, 
Kaskaskia  and  Fort  Chartes,  loaded  with  presents  and  ammunition, 
for  the  purpose  of  collecting  all  those  stragglers  who  had  not  enter- 
prise enough  to  go  voluntarily  to  the  seat  of  war.  Canada  was  hard 
pressed  for  soldiers  ;   the  English  navy  cut  off  most  of  the  rein- 

*  Pownall's  Administration  of  the  Colonies,  Appendix,  p.  57.  Thomas  Pownall, 
born  in  England  in  1720,  came  to  America  in  1753;  was  governor  of  Massachusetts 
Bay,  and  subsequently  was  appointed  governor  of  South  Carolina.  He  was  highly  edu- 
cated, and  possessed  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  geography,  history  and  policy  of 
both  the  French  and  English  colonies  in  America.  His  work  on  the  "Administration 
of  the  American  Colonies  "  passed  through  many  editions.  In  1756  he  addressed  a 
memorial  to  His  Highness  the  Duke  of  Cumberland,  on  the  conduct  of  the  colonial  war, 
in  which  he  recommended  a  plan  for  its  further  prosecution.  The  paper  is  a  very 
able  one.  Much  of  it  compiled  from  the  official  letters  of  Marquis  Vaudreuil,  Governor- 
General  of  Canada,  written  between  the  years  1743  and  1752,  showing  the  policy  of  the 
French,  and  giving  a  minute  description  of  their  settlements,  military  establishments 
in  the  west,  their  manner  of  dealing  with  the  Indians,  and  a  description  of  the  river 
communications  of  the  French  between  their  possessions  in  Canada  and  Louisiana.  In 
1776  he  revised  Evans'  celebrated  map  of  the  "  Middle  British  Provinces  in  America." 
After  his  return  to  England  he  devoted  himself  to  scientific  pursuits.  He  was  a  warm 
friend  of  the  American  colonists  in  the  contest  with  the  mother  country,  and  de- 
nounced the  measures  of  parliament  concerning  the  colonies  as  harsh  and  wholly 
unwarranted,  and  predicted  the  result  that  followed.     He  died  in  1805. 


228  HISTORIC    NOTES   ON    THE    NORTHWEST. 

forcements  from  France,  while  the  English,  on  the  contrary,  were 
constantly  receiving  troops  from  the  mother  country. 

Mons.  de  Aubry,  commandant  at  Fort  Chartes,  persuaded  four 
hundred  men  from  the  "  Illinois  country  "  to  follow  him  eastward. 
Taking  with  him  two  hundred  thousand  pounds  of  flour,  he  em- 
barked his  heterogeneous  force  in  bateaux  and  canoes.  The  route 
by  way  of  the  Ohio  was  closed ;  the  English  were  in  possession  of 
its  headwaters.  He  went  down  the  Mississippi,  thence  up  the  Ohio 
to  the  mouth  of  the  Wabash.  Having  ascended  the  latter  stream 
to  the  Miami  villages,  near  the  present  site  of  Fort  Wayne,  his  fol- 
lowers made  the  portage,  passed  down  the  Maumee,  and  entered 
Lake  Erie. 

During  the  whole  course  of  their  journey  they  were  being  con- 
stantly reinforced  by  bands  of  different  tribes  of  Indians,  and  by 
Canadian  militia  as  they  passed  the  several  posts,  until  the  army 
was  augmented  to  sixteen  hundred  men,  of  whom  there  were  six 
hundred  French  and  one  thousand  Indians.  An  eye-witness,  in 
speaking  of  the  appearance  of  the  force,  said:  "  When  they  passed 
the  little  rapid  at  the  outlet  of  Lake  Erie  (at  Buffalo)  the  flotilla  ap- 
peared like  a  floating  island,  as  the  river  was  covered  with  their 
bateaux  and  canoes."* 

Aubry  was  compelled  to  leave  his  flour  and  provisions  at  the 
Miami  portage.  He  afterward  requested  M.  de  Port-neuf,  com- 
mandant at  Presque  Isle,  to  take  charge  of  the  portage,  and  to  send 
it  constantly  in  his  bateaux. f 

Before  Aubry  reached  Presque  Isle  he  was  joined  by  other  bodies 
of  Indians  and  Canadians  from  the  region  of  the  upper  lakes.  They 
were  under  the  command  of  French  traders  and  commandants  of 
interior  posts.  At  Fort  Machault/j:  he  was  joined  by  M.  de  Lignery  ; 
the  latter  had  assembled  the  Ohio  Indians  at  Presque  Isle.^  It  was 
the  original  intention  of  Aubry  to  recapture  Fort  Du  Quesne  from 
the  English.  On  the  12th  of  July  a  grand  council  was  held  at  Fort 
Machault,  in  which  the  commandant  thanked  the  Indians  for  their 
attendance,  threw  down  the  war  belt,  and  told  them  he  would  set 
out  the  next  day  for  Fort  Du  Quesne.  Soon  after  messengers  arrived 
with  a  packet  of  letters  for  the  officers.  After  reading  them  Aubry 
told  the  Indians:  "Children,  I  have  received  bad  news;  the  Eng- 
lish are  gone  against  Niagara.  We  must  give  over  thoughts  of  going 
down  the  river  to  Fort  Du  Quesne  till  we  have  cleared  that  place  of" 

*Pouchot's  Memoirs,  vol.  1,  pp.  186,  187 

f  Idem,  p.  152. 

|  Located  at  the  mouth  of  French  Creek,  Pennsylvania.    • 

§  Idem,  187. 


aubry's  campaign.  229 

the  enemy.  If  it  should  be  taken,  our  road  to  you  is  stopped,  and 
you  must  become  poor."  Orders  were  immediately  given  to  pro- 
ceed with  the  artillery,  provisions,  etc.,  up  French  Creek,  and  the 
Indians  prepared  to  follow.* 

These  letters  were  from  M.  Poncho t,  commandant  at  Niagara, f 
and  stated  that  he  was  besieged  by  a  much  superior  force  of  English 
and  Indians,  who  were  under  the  command  of  Gen.  Predeaux  and 
Sir  William  Johnson.  Aubry  answered  these  letters  on  the  next  day, 
and  said  he  thought  they  might  light  the  enemy  successfully,  and 
compel  them  to  raise  the  siege.  The  Indians  who  brought  these  mes- 
sages to  Pouchot  informed  him  that  they,  on  the  part  of  the  Indians 
with  Aubry  and  Lignery,  had  offered  the  Iroquois  and  other  Indian 
allies  of  the  English  five  war  belts  if  they  would  retire.  These  prom- 
ised that  they  would  not  mingle  in  the  quarrel.  "We  will  here  recall 
the  fact  that  Pouchot,  by  his  letter  of  the  10th,  had  notified  Lignery 
and  Aubry  that  the  enemy  might  be  four  or  five  thousand  strong 
without  the  Indians,  and  if  they  could  put  themselves  in  condition 
to  attack  so  large  a  force,  he  should  pass  Ohenondac  to  come  to 
Niagara  by  the  other  side  of  the  river,  where  he  would  be  in  con- 
dition to  drive  the  English,  who  were  only  two  hundred  strong  on 
that  side,  and  could  not  easily  be  reinforced.  This  done,  they  could 
easily  come  to  him,  because  after  the  defeat  of  this  body  thev  could 
send  bateaux  to  bring  them  to  the  fort." 

M.  Pouchot  now  recalled  his  previous  request,  and  informed 
Aubry  that  the  enemy  were  in  three  positions,  in  one  of  which 
there  were  three  thousand  nine  hundred  Indians.  He  added,  could 
Aubry  succeed  in  driving  the  enemy  from  any  of  these  positions, 
he  had  no  doubt  thev  would  be  forced  to  raise  the  siesre.i 

Aubry's  route  was  up  French  Creek  to  its  head-waters,  thence 
making  the  portage  to  Presque  Isle  and  sailing  along  the  shores  of 
Lake  Erie  until  he  reached  Niagara.  Arriving  at  the  foot  of  Lake 
Erie  he  left  one  hundred  and  fifty  men  in  charge  of  his  canoes,  and 
with  the  remainder  advanced  toward  Niagara.  Sir  William  John- 
son was  informed,  on  the  evening  of  the  23d,  of  this  advance  of  the 
French,  and  ordered  his  light  infantry  and  pickets  to  take  post  on 
the  left,  on  the  road  between  Niagara  Falls  and  the  fort;  and  these, 
after  reinforcing  them  with  grenadiers  and  parts  of  the46th  and  44th 
regiments,  were  so  arranged  as  to  effectually  support  the  guard  left 

*  Extract  from  a  letter  dated  July  17,  1759,  of  Col.  Mercer,  commandant  at.  Fort 
Pitt,  published  in  Craig's  Olden  Time,  vol.  1,  p.  194. 

t  Fort  Niagara  was  one  of  the  earliest  French  military  posts,  and  situated  on  the 
right,  or  American  shore  of  Lake  Ontario,  at  the  mouth  of  Niagara  River.  It  has 
figured  conspicuously  in  all  of  the  wars  on  the  lake  frontier. 

X  Pouchot's  Memoirs,  vol.  1,  pp.  186,  187,  188. 


230  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

in    the  trenches.     Most  of  his    men  were  concealed  either  in  the 
trenches  or  by  trees. 

On  the  morning  of  the  24th  the  French  made  their  appearance. 
They  were  marching  along  a  path  about  eight  feet  wide,  and  "were 
in  readiness  to  light  in  close  order  and  without  ranks  or  files."  On 
their  right  were  thirty  Indians,  who  formed  a  front  on  the  enemy's 
left.  The  Indians  of  the  English  army  advanced  to  speak  to  those 
of  the  French.  Seeing  the  Iroquois  in  the  latter's  company,  the 
French  Indians  refused  to  advance,  under  pretext  that  they  were  at 
peace  with  the  first  named.  Though  thus  abandoned  by  their  chief 
force,  Aubry  and  Lignery  still  proceeded  on  their  way,  thinking 
that  the  few  savages  they  saw  were  isolated  men,  till  they  reached 
a  narrow  pathway,  when  they  discovered  great  numbers  beyond. 
The  English  Indians  then  gave  the  war-whoop  and  the  action  com- 
menced. The  English  regulars  attacked  the  French  in  front,  while 
the  Indians  poured  in  on  their  flank.  Thus  surprised  by  an  am- 
buscade, and  deserted  by  their  savage  allies,  the  French  proved  easy 
victims  to  the  prowess  of  far  superior  numbers.  They  were  assailed 
in  front  and  rear  by  two  thousand  men.  The  rear  of  the  column, 
unable  to  resist,  gave  way,  and  left  the  head  exposed  to  the  enemy's 
fire,  which  crushed  it  entirely.  An  Indian  massacre  followed,  and 
the  pursuit  of  the  victors  continued  until  they  were  compelled  to 
desist  by  sheer  fatigue.  Almost  all  the  French  officers  were  killed, 
wounded  or  taken  prisoners.  Among  the  latter  was  Aubry.  Those 
who  escaped  joined  M.>  Rocheblave,  and  with  his  detachment  re- 
treated to  Detroit  and  other  western  lake  posts." 

This  defeat  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Erie  was  very  severe  on  the 
struggling  western  settlements.  Most  all  of  the  able-bodied  men 
had  gone  with  Aubry,  many  never  to  return.  In  1760  M.  de  Mac- 
Carty,  commandant  at  Fort  Chartes,  in  a  letter  to  Marquis  Yaudreuil, 
stated  that  "'the  garrison  was  weaker  than  ever  before,  the  check  at 
Niagara  having  cost  him  the  elite  of  his  men."f 

It  is  apparent,  from  the  desertion  of  Aubry  by  his  savage  allies, 
that  they  perceived  that  the  English  were  certain  to  conquer  in  the 
end.  They  felt  no  particular  desire  to  prop  a  falling  cause,  and 
thus  deserted  Mons.  Aubry  at  the  crisis  when  their  assistance  was 
most  needed.  Thus  was  defeated  the  greatest  French-Indian  force 
ever  collected  in  the  northwest.:}: 

*  The  account  of  this  action  has  been  compiled  from  Mante,  p.  226;  Pouchot,  vol.  1. 
p.  192;  and  Garneau's  History  of  Canada,  vol.  2,  pp.  250,  251,  Bell's  translation. 

t  Paris  Documents,  vol.  10,  p.  1093. 

%  Aubry  returned  to  Louisiana  and  remained  there  until  after  the  peace  of  1763. 
In  1765  he  was  appointed  governor  of  Louisiana,  and  surrendered  the  colony,  in  March, 


THE    DOWNFALL   OF    FRENCH    RULE.  231 

The  next  day  after  Aubrv's  defeat,  near  Fort  Niagara,  the  fortress 
surrendered. 

After  the  surrender  of  Niagara  and  Fort  Du  Quesne,  the  Indian 
allies  of  France  retired  to  the  deep  recesses  of  the  western  forests, 
and  the  English  frontiers  suffered  no  more  from  their  depredations. 
Settlements  were  gradually  formed  on  the  western  side  of  the  Alle- 
ghanies,  and  they  remained  secure  from  Indian  invasions. 

In  the  meantime  many  Canadians,  becoming  satisfied  that  the 
conquest  of  Canada  was  only  a  mere  question  of  time,  determined, 
before  that  event  took  place,  to  remove  to  the  French  settlements 
on  the  lower  Mississippi.  "Many  of  them  accordingly  departed 
from  Canada  by  way  of  the  lakes,  and  thence  through  the  Illinois 
and  Wabash  Rivers  to  the  Mississippi."* 

After  the  surrender  of  Quebec,  in  1759,  Montreal  became  the 
headquarters  of  the  French  in  Canada,  and  in  the  spring  of  1760 
Mons.  Levi,  the  French  commander-in-chief,  besieged  Quebec.  The 
arrival  of  an  English  fleet  compelled  him  to  relinquish  his  designs. 
Amherst  and  Johnson  formed  a  junction,  and  advanced  against 
Montreal.  The  French  governor  of  Canada,  Marquis  Vaudreil, 
believing  that  further  resistance  was  impossible,  surrendered  all 
Canada  to  the  English.  This  included  the  western  posts  of  Detroit. 
Mackinaw,  Fort  Miami,  Ouiatanon,  Vineennes,  Fort  St.  Joseph, 
etc. 

After  this  war  ceased  to  be  waged  in  America,  though  the  treaty 
of  Paris  was  not  concluded  until  February,  1763,  the  most  essential 
parts  of  which  are  contained  in  the  following  extracts : 

"In  order  to  establish  peace  on  solid  and  durable  foundations, 
and  to  remove  forever  all  subjects  of  dispute  with  regard  to  the 
limits  of  the  British  and  French  territories  on  the  continent  of 
America,  it  is  agreed  that  for  the  future  the  confines  between  the 
dominions  of  his  Britannic  Majesty  and  those  of  His  Most  Christian 
Majesty  in  that  part  of  the  world,  shall  be  fixed  irrevocably  by  a 
line  drawn  along  the  middle  of  the  River  Mississippi  from  its  source 
to  the  River  Iberville,  and  from  thence  by  a  line  drawn  along  the 
middle  of  this  river  and  the  lakes  Maurepas  and  Pontchartrain,  to 
the  sea ;  and  for  this  purpose  the  most  Christian  King  cedes,  in  full 
right,  and  guarantees  to  his  Britannic  Majesty,  the  river  and  port  of 
Mobile,  and  everything  which  he  possesses,  or  ought  to  possess,  on 
the  left  side  of  the  Mississippi,  with  the  exception  of  the  town  of 

1766,  to  the  Spanish  governor,  Ulloa.     After  the   expulsion  of  Ulloa,  he  held  the 
government  until  relieved  by  O'Reilly,  in  July,  1769.     He  soon  afterward  sailed  for 
France.     The  vessel  was  lost,  and  Aubry  perished  in  the  depths  of  the  sea. 
*  Monette's  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  vol.  1,  p.  305. 


232  HISTORIC    NOTES    OX    THE    NORTHWEST. 

New  Orleans  and  of  the  island  on  which  it  is  situated;  it  being  well 
understood  that  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  shall  be  equally 
free,  as  well  to  the  subjects  of  Great  Britain  as  to  those  of  France, 
In  its  whole  length  and  breadth,  from  its  source  to  the  sea."* 

Thus  Gallic  rule  came  to  an  end  in  North  America.  Its  downfall 
■was  the  result  of  natural  causes,  and  was  owing  largely  to  the  differ- 
ence between  the  Frenchmen  and  the  Englishmen.  The  former,  as 
:i  rule,  gave  no  attention  to  agriculture,  but  found  occupation  in 
hunting  and  trading  with  the  Indians,  acquiring  nomadic  habits  that 
unfitted  them  for  the  cultivation  of  the  soil ;  their  families  dwelt  in 
villages  separated  by  wide  stretches  of  wilderness.  While  the  able 
men  were  hunting  and  trading,  the  old  men,  women  and  children 
produced  scanty  crops  sown  in  "  common  fields,"  or  inclosures  of  a 
piece  of  ground  which  were  portioned  off  among  the  families  of  the 
village.  The  Englishman,  on  the  other  hand,  loved  to  own  land, 
and  pushed  his  improvements  from  the  coast  line  up  through  all  the 
valleys  extending  westward.  Reaching  the  summit  of  the  Allegha- 
jiies,  the  tide  of  emigration  flowed  into  the  valleys  beyond.  Every 
cabin  was  a  fort,  every  advancing  farm  a  new  line  of  intrenchment. 
The  distinguishing  characteristic  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  is  consistencv 
and  firmness  in  his  designs,  and,  more  than  all,  his  love  for  a  home. 
Jn  the  trials  and  hardships  necessarily  connected  with  the  opening 
up  of  the  wilderness  these  traits  come  prominently  into  play.  The 
result  was,  that  the  English  colonies  prospered  in  a  degree  hitherto 
unknown  in  the  annals  of  the  world's  progress.  And  by  way  of  con- 
trast, how  little  did  the  French  have  to  show  in  the  way  of  lasting 
improvements  in  the  northwest  after  it  had  been  in  their  possession 
for  nearly  a  century  ! 

However,  the  very  traits  that  disqualified  the  Gaul  as  a  successful 
colonist  gave  him  a  preeminent  advantage  over  the  Anglo-Saxon  in 
the  influence  he  exerted  upon  the  Indian.     He  did  not  want  their 

*  "On  the  3d  day  of  the  previous  November,  France,  by  a  secret  treaty  ceded 
to  Spain  all  her  possessions  west  of  the  Mississippi.  His  Most  Christian  Majesty 
made  known  to  the  inhabitants  of  Louisiana  the  fact  of  the  cession  by  a  letter,  dated 
April  21,  1764.  Don  Ulloa,  the  New  Spanish  governor,  arrived  at  New  Orleans 
in  1766.  The  French  inhabitants  objected  to  the  transfer  of  Louisiana  to  Spain,  and, 
resorting^  to  arms,  compelled  Ulloa  to  return  to  Havana.  In  1769,  O'Reilly,  with  a 
Spanish  force,  arrived  and  took  possession.  He  killed  six  of  the  ringleaders  and  sent 
■  ilhers  to  Cuba.  Spain  remained  in  possession  of  Louisiana  until  March,  1801,  when 
iiOuisiana  was  retroceded  to  the  French  republic.  The  French  made  preparations  to 
♦occupy  Lonsiana,  and  an  army  of  twenty-five  thousand  men  was  designed  for  that 
territory,  but  the  fleet  and  army  were  suddenly  blockaded  in  one  of  the  ports  of  Hol- 
land by  an  Fnglish  squadron.  This  occurrence,  together  with  the  gloomy  aspect  of 
affairs  in  Europe,  induced  Napoleon,  who  was  then  at  the  head  of  the  French  republic, 
io  cede  Louisiana  to  the  United  States.  The  tiseaty  was  dated  April  30,  1803.  The 
actual  transfer  occurred  in  December  of  the  same  year."  Vide  Stoddard's  Sketches  of 
Louisiana,  pp.  71.  102. 


FRENCH    WAYS    WITH    THE    INDIANS.  l!:',:} 

lands;  he  fraternized  with  them,  adopted  their  ways,  and  nattered 
and  pleased  them.  The  Anglo-Saxon  wanted  their  lands.  From 
the  start  he  was  clamorous  for  deeds  and  cessions  of  territory,  and 
at  once  began  crowding  the  Indian  out  of  the  country.  "The  Iro- 
quois told  Sir  Wm.  Johnson  that  they  believed  soon  they  should  not 
be  able  to  hunt  a  bear  into  a  hole  in  a  tree  but  some  Englishman 
would  claim  a  right  to  the  property  of  it,  as  being  found  in  his 
tree.    - 

The  happiness  which  the  Indians  enjoyed  from  their  intercourse 
with  the  French  was  their  perpetual  theme  ;  it  was  their  golden  age. 
"Those  who  are  old  enough  to  remember  it  speak  of  it  with  rap- 
ture, and  teach  their  children  to  venerate  it,  as  the  ancients  did  the 
reign  of  Saturn.  "You  call  us  your  children,'  said  an  aged  chief  to 
Gen.  Harrison,  '  why  do  you  not  make  us  happy,  as  our  fathers  the 
French  did?  They  never  took  from  us  our  lands,  which,  indeed, 
were  in  common  between  us.  They  planted  where  they  pleased, 
and  cut  wood  where  they  pleased,  and  so  did  we  ;  but  now.  if  a  poor 
Indian  attempts  to  take  a  little  bark  from  a  tree  to  cover  him  from 
the  rain,  up  comes  a  white  man  and  threatens  to  shoot  him,  claim- 
ing the  tree  as  his  own.'1  "r 

*PownaH's  Administration  of  the  Colonies, 
t  Memoirs  of  Gen.  Harrison,  p.  134. 


CHAPTER   XXII. 


PONTIAC'S  WAR  TO  RECOVER  THE  NORTHWEST  FROM  THE  ENGLISH. 

After  the  surrender  of  Canada  to  the  English  by  the  Marquis 
Vaudreuil,  Sir  Jeffery  Amherst,  commander-in-chief  of  His  Majesty's 
forces  in  North  America,  ordered  Major  Robert  Rogers  to  ascend 
the  lakes  and  take  possession  of  the  western  forts.  On  the  13th  of 
September  Rogers,  with  two  hundred  of  his  rangers,  left  Montreal. 
After  weeks  of  weary  traveling,  they  reached  the  mouth  of  Cuyahoga 
River,  the  present  site  of  Cleveland,  on  the  7th  of  November.  Here 
they  were  met  by  Pontiac.  a  celebrated  Ottawa  chieftain,  who  asked 
Rogers  what  his  intentions  were,  and  how  he  dared  enter  that  coun- 
try without  his  permission.  Rogers  replied  that  the  French  had 
been  defeated ;  that  Canada  was  surrendered  into  the  hands  of  the 
British ;  and  that  he  was  on  his  way  to  take  possession  of  Detroit, 
Mackinaw,  Miamis  and  Ouitanon.  He  also  proposed  to  restore  a 
general  peace  to  white  men  and  Indians  alike.  u  Pontiac  listened 
with  attention,  but  only  replied  that  he  should  stand  in  the  path  of 
the  English  until  morning.''  In  the  morning  he  returned,  and 
allowed  the  English  to  advance.  He  said  there  would  be  no  trouble 
so  long  as  they  treated  him  with  deference  and  respect. 

Embarking  on  the  12th  of  November,  they  arrived  in  a  few  days 
at  Maumee  Bay,  at  the  western  end  of  Lake  Erie.  The  western 
Indians,  to  the  number  of  four  hundred,  had  collected  at  the  mouth 
of  Detroit  River.  They  were  determined  to  massacre  the  entire  party 
under  Rogers.  It  afterward  appeared  that  they  were  acting  under 
the  influence  of  the  French  commandant  at  Detroit.  Rogers  pre- 
vailed upon  Pontiac  to  use  his  influence  to  induce  the  warlike 
Indians  to  disband.  After  some  parleying,  Pontiac  succeeded,  and 
the  road  was  open  to  Detroit. 

Before  his  arrival  at  Detroit  Rogers  had  sent  in  advance  Lieuten- 
ant Brehm  with  a  letter  to  Captain  Beletre.  the  commandant,  inform- 
ing the  latter  that  his  garrison  was  included  in  the  surrender  of 
Canada.  Beletre  wholly  disregarded  the  letter.  He  declared  he 
thought  it  was  a  trick  of  the  English,  and  that  thev  intended  to 
obtain  possession  of  his  fortress  by  treachery.  He  made  use  of 
everv  endeavor  to   excite  the   Indians  against   the  English.      "He 

234 


DETROIT   SURRENDERED.  235 

displayed  upon  a  pole,  before  the  veiling  multitude,  the  effigy  of  a 
crow  pecking  a  man's  head,  the  crow  representing  himself,  and  the 
head,  observes  Rogers,  'being  meant  for  my  own.' 

Rogers  then  sent  forward  Captain  Campbell  "with  a  copy  of  the 
capitulation  and  a  letter  from  the  Marquis  Yaudreuil,  directing  that 
the  place  should  be  given  up  in  accordance  with  the  articles  agreed 
upon  between  him  and  General  Amherst."  The  French  command- 
ant could  hold  out  no  longer,  and,  much  against  his  will,  was  com- 
pelled to  deliver  the  fortress  to  the  English.  The  lilies  of  France 
were  lowered  from  the  flagstaff,  and  their  place  was  taken  by  the 
cross  of  St.  George.  Seven  hundred  Indian  warriors  and  their 
families,  all  of  whom  had  aided  the  French  by  murdering  innocent 
women  and  children  on  the  frontiers  of  Pennsylvania  and  New  York, 
greeted  the  change  with  demoniacal  yells  of  apparent  pleasure  ;  but 
concealed  in  their  breasts  was  a  natural  dislike  for  the  English. 
Dissembling  for  the  present,  they  kept  their  hatred  to  themselves, 
for  the  late  successes  of  British  arms  had  awed  them  into  silence. 

It  was  on  the  29th  of  November,  1760,  that  Detroit  was  given 
over  to  the  English.  The  garrison,  as  prisoners  of  war.  were  taken 
to  Philadelphia. 

Rogers  sent  an  officer  up  the  Maumee,  and  from  thence  down  the 
Wabash,  to  take  possession  of  the  posts  at  the  portage  and  at  Oui- 
atanon.      Both  of  these  objects  were  attained  without  any  difficulty. 

On  account  of  the  lateness  of  the  season  the  detachment  which 
had  started  for  Mackinaw  returned  to  Detroit,  and  all  efforts  against 
the  posts  on  the  upper  lakes  were  laid  aside  until  the  following  sea- 
son. In  that  year  the  English  took  possession  of  Mackinaw,  Green 
Bay  and  St.  Joseph.  The  French  still  retained  possession  of  Yin- 
cennes  and  Fort  Chartes.f 

It  always  was  the  characteristic  policy  of  the  French  to  render 
the  savages  dependent  upon  them,  and  with  that  design  in  view  they 
had  earnestly  endeavored  to  cultivate  among  the  Indians  a  desire  for 
European  goods.  By  prevailing  upon  the  Indians  to  throw  aside 
hides  and  skins  of  wild  beasts  for  clothing  of  European  manufacture, 
to  discontinue  the  use  of  their  pottery  for  cooking  utensils  of  iron, 
to  exchange  the  bow  and  arrow  and  stone  weapons  for  the  gun,  the 
knife  and  hatchet  of  French  manufacture,  it  was  thought  that  in  the 
course  of  one  or  two  generations  they  would  become  dependent  upon 
their  French  neighbors  for  the  common   necessaries  of  life.      When 

*  Parkman's  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac,  p.  150. 

tThis  account  of  the  delivery  of  the  western  forts  to  Rogers  has  been  collated  from 
his  Journal  and  from  Parkman's  Conspiracy  of  Pontiac. 


236  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON    THE    NORTHWEST. 

this  change  in  their  customs  had  taken  place,  by  simply  withholding 
the  supply  of  ammunition  they  could  coerce  the  savages  to  adopt  any 
measures  that  the  French  government  saw  fit  to  propose.  The  pol- 
icy of  the  French  was  not  to  force,  but  to  lead,  the  savages  into  sub- 
jection. They  told  the  barbarians  that  they  were  the  children  of  the 
great  king,  who  had  sent  his  people  among  them  to  preserve  them 
from  their  implacable  enemies,  the  English.  Flattering  them,  asking 
their  advice,  bestowing  upon  them  presents,  and,  above  all,  showing 
them  respect  and  deference,  the  French  gained  the  good  will  of  the 
savages  in  a  degree  that  no  other  European  nation  ever  equaled. 
After  the  surrender  of  the  western  posts  all  this  was  changed.  The 
accustomed  presents  formerly  bestowed  upon  them  were  withheld. 
English  traders  robbed,  bullied  and  cheated  them.  English  officers 
treated  them  with  rudeness  and  contempt.  But,  most  of  all,  the 
steady  advance  of  the  English  colonists  over  the  mountains,  occupy- 
ing their  lands,  driving  away  their  game,  and  forcing  them  to  retire 
farther  west,  alarmed  and  exasperated  the  aborigines  to  the  limit  of 
endurance.  "The  wrongs  and  neglect  the  Indians  felt  were  inflamed 
by  the  French  cotireurs  de  hois  and  traders.  They  had  every  motive 
to  excite  the  tribes  against  the  English,  such  as  their  national  rancor, 
their  religious  antipathies,  and  most  especially  the  fear  of  losing  the 
profitable  'Indian  trade."  Every  effort  was  made  to  excite  and  in- 
flame the  slumbering  passions  of  the  tribes  of  the  Northwest.  Secret 
councils  were  held,  and  different  plans  for  obtaining  possession  of 
the  western  fortresses  were  discussed.  The  year  after  Rogers  ob- 
tained Detroit  there  was,  in  the  summer,  an  outbreak,  but  it  was 
easilv  quelled,  being  only  local.  The  next  year,  also,  there  was 
another  disturbance,  but  it,  like  the  former,  did  not  spread, 

During  these  two  years  one  Indian  alone, — Pontiac, —  compre- 
hended the  situation.  He  read  correctly  the  signs  and  portents  of 
the  times.  He  well  knew  that  English  supremacy  on  the  North 
American  continent  meant  the  destruction  of  his  race.  He  saw  the 
great  difference  between  the  English  and  the  French.  The  former 
were  settlers,  the  latter  traders.  The  French  came  to  the  far  west 
for  their  beaver  skins  and  peltries,  while  the  English  would  only  be 
satisfied  with  their  lands.  Pontiac  soon  arrived  at  the  conclusion 
that  unless  the  ceaseless  flow  of  English  immigration  was  stopped, 
it  would  not  be  many  decades  before  the  Indian  race  would  be 
driven  from  the  face  of  the  earth.  Well  has  time  justified  this  opin- 
ion of  the  able  Indian  chieftain ! 

To  accomplish  his  designs,  Pontiac  was  well  aware  that  he  must 
induce  all   the  tribes  of  the  northwest  to  join  him.      Even  then  he 


PONTIAC's    WAR.  1-u 

had  doubts  of  final  success.  To  encourage  him,  tbe  French  traders 
informed  bim  "  that  the  English  had  stolen  Canada  while  their  com- 
mon father  was  asleep  at  Versailles  ;  that  he  would  soon  awaken  and 
again  wrrest  his  domains  from  the  intruders ;  that  even  now  large 
French  armies  were  on  their  way  up  the  St.  Lawrence  and  Missis- 
sippi rivers."  Pontiac  believed  these  tales,  for  let  it  be  borne  in 
mind  that  this  was  previous  to  the  treaty  of  Paris,  and  late  in  the 
autumn  of  1762  he  sent  emissaries  with  black  wampum  and  the  red 
tomahawk  to  the  villages  of  the  Ottawas,  Pottawatomies,  Sacs, 
Foxes,  Menominees,  Illinois,  Miamis,  Shawnees,  Delawares,  Wyan- 
dots,  Kickapoos  and  Senecas.  These  emissaries  were  instructed  to 
inform  the  various  tribes  that  the  English  had  determined  to  exter- 
minate  the  northwestern  Indians ;  to  accomplish  this  they  intended 
to  erect  numerous  fortifications  in  the  territory  named ;  and  also 
that  the  English  had  induced  the  southern  Indians  to  aid  them.*  To 
avert  these  inimical  designs  of  the  English,  the  messengers  of  Pon- 
tiac proposed  that  on  a  certain  day  all  the  tribes,  by  concerted  action, 
should  seize  all  the  English  posts  and  then  attack  the  whole  English 
border. 

Pontiac' s  plan  was  contrived  and  developed  with  wonderful 
secrecy,  and  all  of  a  sudden  the  conspiracy  burst  its  fury  simultane- 
ously over  all  the  forts  held  by  the  British  west  of  the  Alleghanies. 
By  stratagem  or  forcible  assault  every  garrison  west  of  Pittsburgh, 
excepting  Detroit,  was  captured. 

Fort  St.  Joseph,  on  the  river  of  that  name,  in  the  present  state  of 
Michigan,  was  captured  by  the  Pottawatomies.  These  emissaries  of 
Pontiac  collected  about  the  fort  on  the  23d  of  May,  1763,  and  under 
the  guise  of  friendship  effected  an  entrance  within  the  palisades, 
when  they  suddenly  turned  upon  and  massacred  the  whole  garrison, 
except  the  commandant,  Ensign  Slussee  and  three  soldiers,  whom 
they  made  prisoners  and  sent  to  Detroit. 

The  Ojibbeways  effected  an  entry  within  the  defenses  of  Fort 
Mackinaw,  the  gate  being  left  open  while  the  Indians  were  amusing 
the  officer  and  soldiers  with  a  game  of  ball.  In  the  play  the  ball 
was  knocked  over  within  the  palisade.  The  players,  hurrying 
through  the  gates,  seemingly  intent  on  regaining  the  ball,  seized 
their  knives  and  guns  from  beneath  the  blankets  of  their  squaws, 
where  they  had  been  purposely  concealed,  and  commenced  an  indis- 
criminate massacre,  f 

*  The  Chickasaws  and  Cherokees  were  at  that  time,  though  on  their  own  responsi- 
bility, waging  war  aginst  some  of  the  tribes  of  the  northwest. 

fA  detailed  account  of  this  most  horrible  massacre  is  given  by  the  fur-trader  Alex- 


238  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

Ensign  Holmes,  who  was  in  command  at  Fort  Miami/'  learned 
that  to  the  Miamis  in  the  vicinity  of  his  post  was  allotted  the  de- 
struction of  his  garrison.  Holmes  collected  the  Indians  in  an 
assembly,  and  charged  them  with  forming  a  conspiracy  against  his 
post.  They  confessed  ;  said  that  they  were  influenced  by  hostile 
Indians,  and  promised  to  relinquish  their  designs.  The  village  of 
Pontiac  was  within  a  short  distance  of  the  post,  and  some  of  his  im- 
mediate followers  doubtless  attended  the  assembly.  Holmes  sup- 
posed he  had  partially  allayed  their  irritation,  as  appears  from  a 
letter  written  ftom  him  to  Major  Gladwyn.f 

On  the  27th  of  May  a  young  Indian  squaw,  who  was  the  mistress 
of  Holmes,  requested  him  to  visit  a  sick  Indian  woman  who  lived  in 
a  wigwam  near  at  hand.  "Having  confidence  in  the  girl,  Holmes 
followed  her  out  of  the  fort."  Two  Indians,  who  were  concealed 
behind  the  hut,  as  he  approached  it.  fired  and  "stretched  him  life- 
less on  the  ground."  The  sergeant  rushed  outside  of  the  palisade 
to  learn  the  cause  of  the  firing.  He  was  immediately  seized  by  the 
Indians.  The  garrison,  who  by  this  time  had  become  thoroughly 
alarmed,  and  had  climbed  upon  the  palisades,  was  ordered  to  surren- 
der by  one  Godefroy,  a  Canadian.  They  were  informed,  if  they 
submitted  their  lives  would  be  spared,  otherwise  they  all  would  be 
massacred.  Having  lost  their  officers  and  being  in  great  terror,  they 
threw  open  the  gate  and  gave  themselves  up  as  prisoners.  Accord- 
ing to  tradition,  the  garrison  was  afterward  massacred.:}: 

Fort  Ouiatanon  was  under  the  command  of  Lieut.  Jenkins,  who 
had  no  suspicion  of  any  Indian  troubles,  and  on  the  1st  of  June, 
when  he  was  requested  by  some  of  the  Indians  to  visit  them  in  their 
cabins  near  by,  he  unhesitatingly  complied  with  the  request.  Upon 
his  entering  the  hut  lie  was  immediately  seized  by  the  Indian  war- 
riors. Through  various  other  stratagems  of  a  similar  nature  several 
of  the  soldiers  were  also  taken.  Jenkins  was  then  told  to  have  the 
soldiers  in  the  fort  surrender.  "For,"  said  the  Indians,  "should 
your  men  kill  one  of  our  braves,  we  shall  put  you  all  to  death." 

ander  Henry,  an  eye-witness  and  one  of  the  few  survivors,  in  his  interesting  Book  of 
Travels  and  Adventures,  p.  85. 

*  Now  Fort  Wayne. 

Fort  Miamis,  March  30th,  1763. 

t  Since  my  Last  Letter  to  You,  wherein  I  Acquainted  You  of  the  Bloody  Belt  being 
in  this  Village,  I  have  made  all  the  search  I  could  about  it,  and  have  found  it  not  to  be 
True;  Whereon  I  Assembled  all  the  chiefs  of  this  Nation,  &  after  a  long  and  trouble- 
some Spell  with  them,  I  Obtained  the  Belt,  with  a  Speech,  as  You  will  Receive  En- 
closed; This  affair  is  very  timely  Stopt,  and  I  hope  the  News  of  a  Peace  will  put  a 
Stop  to  any  further  Troubles  with  these  Indians,  who  are  the  Principal  Ones  of  Setting 
Mischief  on  Foot.  I  send  you  the  Belt,  with  this  Packet,  which  I  hope  You  will  For- 
ward to  the  General. 

\  Brice's  History  of  Fort  Wayne. 


PONTIAO'S    FAILURE.  239 

Jenkins  thinking  that  resistance  would  be  useless,  ordered  the  re- 
maining soldiers  to  deliver  the  fort  to  the  Indians.  During  the 
night  the  Indians  resolved  to  break  their  plighted  word,  and  mas- 
sacre all  their  prisoners.  Two  of  the  French  residents,  M.  M.  Mai- 
gonville  and  Lorain,  gave  the  Indians  valuable  presents,  including 
wampum,  brandy,  etc.,  and  thus  preserved  the  lives  of  the  English 
captives.  Jenkins,  in  his  letter  to  Major  Gladwyn.  commandant  at 
Detroit,  states  that  the  Weas  were  not  favorably  inclined  toward 
Pontiac's  designs  ;  but  being  coerced  by  the  surrounding  tribes,  they 
undertook  to  carry  out  their  part  of  the  programme.  Well  did  they 
succeed.  Lieut.  Jenkins,  with  the  other  prisoners,  were,  within  a 
few  days  afterward,  sent  across  the  prairies  of  Illinois  to  Fort  Char- 
tres. 

Detroit  held  out,  though  regularly  besieged  by  Pontiac  in  person, 
for  more  than  fifteen  months,  when,  at  last,  the  suffering  garrison 
was  relieved  by  the  approach  of  troops  under  Gen.  Bradstreet.  In 
the  meantime  Pontiac  confederates,  wearied  and  disheartened  by  the 
protracted  struggle,  longed  for  peace.  Several  tribes  abandoned  the 
declining  fortune  of  Pontiac ;  and  finally  the  latter  gave  up  the  con- 
test, and  retired  to  the  neighborhood  of  Fort  Miamis.  Here  he 
remained  for  several  months,  when  he  went  westward,  down  the 
Wabash  and  across  the  prairies  to  Fort  Chartres.  The  latter  fort 
remained  in  possession  of  a  French  officer,  not  having  been  as  yet 
surrendered  to  the  English,  the  hostility  of  the  Indians  preventing 
its  delivery ;  and  by  agreements  of  the  two  governments,  France 
and  England,  it  was  left  in  charge  of  the  veteran  St.  Ange. 

The  English  having  acquired  the  territory  herein  considered,  by 
conquest  and  treaty,  from  France,  renewed  their  efforts  to  reclaim 
authority  over  it  from  its  aboriginal  inhabitants.  To  effect  this 
object,  they  now  resort  to  conciliation  and  diplomacy.  They  sent 
westward  George  Croghan.'" 

After  closing  a  treaty  with  the  Indians  at  Fort  Pitt,  Croghan 
started  on  his  mission  on  the  15th  of  May  1765,  going  down  the 
Ohio  in  two  bateaux.     His  movements  were  known  to  the  hostile 

*  Croghan  was  an  old  trader  who  had  spent  his  life  among  the  Indians,  and  was 
versed  in  their  language,  ways  and  habits  of  thought,  and  who  well  knew  how  to  flat- 
ter and  cajole  them.  Besides  this,  Croghan  enjoyed  the  advantage  of  a  personal  ac- 
quaintance with  many  of  the  chiefs  and  principal  men  of  the  Wabash  tribes,  who  had 
met  him  while  trading  at  Pickawillany  and  other  places  where  he  had  trading  estab- 
lishments. Among  the  Miami,  Wea  and  PianUashaw  bands  Croghan  had  many  Indian 
friends  whose  attachments  toward  him  were  very  warm.  He  was  a  veteran,  up  to  all 
the  arts  of  the  Indian  council  house,  and  had  in  years  gone  by  conducted  many  impor- 
tant treaties  between  the  authorities  of  New  York  and  Pennsylvania  with  the  Iroquois, 
Delawares  and  Shawnees.  In  the  war  for  the  fur  trade  Croghan  suffered  severely;  the 
French  captured  his  traders,  confiscated  his  goods,  and  bankrupted  his  fortune. 


240  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

tribes.  A  war  party  of  eighty  Kickapoos  and  Mascoutins,  "  spirited 
up  "  to  the  act  by  the  French  traders  at  Ouiatanon,  as  Croghan  says 
in  his  Journal,  left  the  latter  place,  and  captured  Croghan  and  his 
party  at  daybreak  on  the  8th  of  June,  in  the  manner  narrated  in  a 
previous  chapter.*  He  was  carried  to  Vincennes,  his  captors  con- 
ducting him  a  devious  course  through  marshes,  tangled  forests  and 
small  prairie,  to  the  latter  place. f 

After  Croghan  had  procured  wearing  apparel  this  captors  had 
stripped  him  well-nigh  naked)  and  purchased  some  horses  he 
crossed  the  Wabash,  and  soon  entered  the  great  prairie  which  he 
describes  in  extracts  we  have  already  taken  from  his  journal.  His 
route  was  up  through  Crawford,  Edgar  and  Vermilion  counties,  fol- 
lowing the  old  traveled  trail  running  along  the  divide  between  the 
Embarrass  and  the  Wabash,  and  which  was  a  part  of  the  great  high- 
way leading  from  Detroit  to  Kaskaskia ;  £  crossed  the  Vermilion 
River  near  Danville,  thence  along  the  trail  through  Warren  county, 
Indiana.  Croghan,  still  a  prisoner  in  charge  of  his  captors,  reached 
Ouiatonon  on  the  afternoon  of  the  23d  of  June.§     Here  the  Weas, 

*P.  161. 

t  Croghan,  in  his  Journal,  says:  "  I  found  Vincennes  a  village  of  eighty  or  ninety 
French  families,  settled  on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  being  one  of  the  finest  situations 
that  can  be  found.  The  French  inhabitants  hereabouts  are  an  idle,  lazy  people,  a 
parcel  of  renegadoes  from  Canada,  and  are  much  worse  than  the  Indians.  They  took 
secret  pleasure  at  our  misfortune,  and  the  moment  we  arrived  they  came  to  the  Indians, 
exchanging  trifles  for  their  valuable  plunder.  Here  is  likewise  an  Indian  village  of 
Piankashaws,  who  were  much  displeased  with  the  party  that  took  me,  telling  them 
that  'our  and  your  chiefs  are  gone  to  make  peace,  and  you  have  begun  war,  for  which 
our  women  and  children  will  have  reason  to  cry.'  Port  Vincent  is  a  place  of  great 
consequence  for  trade,  being  a  fine  hunting  country  all  along  the  Wabash." 

X  That  part  of  the  route  from  Kaskaskia  east,  from  the  earliest  settlement  of  Illi- 
nois and  Indiana,  was  called  "the  old  Vincennes  trace."  "This  trace,"  says  Gov. 
Reynolds,  in  his  Pioneer  History  of  Illinois,  p.  79,  "was  celebrated  in  Illinois.  The 
Indians  laid  it  out  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago.  It  commenced  at 
Detroit,  thence  to  Ouiatonon,  on  the  Wabash,  thence  to  Vincennes  and  thence  to  Kas- 
kaskia. It  was  the  Appian  way  of  Illinois  in  ancient  times.  It  is  yet  (in  1852)  visible 
in  many  places  between  Kaskaskia  and  Vincennes."  It  was  also  visible  for  years  after 
the  white  settlements  began,  between  the  last  place,  the  Vermilion  and  Ouiatonon,  on 
the  route  described. — [Authok. 

§  Croghan  says  of  Ouiatonon  that  there  were  "  about  fourteen  French  families  liv- 
ing in  the  fort,  which  stands  on  the  north  side  of  the  river;  that  the  Kickapoos  and 
Mascoutins,  whose  warriors  had  taken  us,  live  nigh  the  fort,  on  the  same  side  of  the 
river,  where  they  have  two  villages,  and  the  Ouicatonons  or  Wawcottonans  [as  Croghan 
variously  spells  the  name  of  the  WeasJ  have  a  village  on  the  south  side  of  the  river." 
"On  the  south  side  of  the  Wabash  runs  a  high  bank,  in  which  are  several  very  fine 
coal  mines,  and  behind  this  bank  is  a  very  large  meadow,  clear  for  several  miles."  The 
printer  made  a  mistake  in  setting  up  Croghan's  manuscript,  or  else  Croghan  himself 
committed  an  unintentional  error  in  his  diary  in  substituting  the  word  south  for  north 
in  describing  the  side  of  the  river  on  which  the  appearances  of  coal  banks  are  found.  The 
only  locality  on  the  banks  of  the  Wabash,  above  the  Vermilion,  where  the  carbonifer- 
ous shales  resembling  coal  are  exposed  is  on  the  west,  or  north  bank,  of  the  river,  about 
four  miles  above  Independence,  at  a  place  known  as  "Block  Rock,''1  which,  says  Prof. 
Collett,  in  his  report  on  the  geology  of  Warren  county,  Indiana,  published  in  the  Geolog- 
ical Survey  of  Indiana  for  1873,  pp.  224-5,  "  is  a  notable  and  romantic  feature  in  the  river 
scenery."     "A  precipitous  or  overhanging  cliff  exhibits  an  almost  sheer  descent  of  a 


SUCCESS  OF  croghan's   MISSION.  241 

from  the  opposite  side  of  the  river,  took  great  interest  in  Mr. 
Croghan,  and  were  deeply  "•concerned  at  what  had  happened. 
They  charged  the  Kickapoos  and  Mascoutins  to  take  the  greatest 
care  of  him,  and  the  Indians  and  white  men  captured  with  him,  until 
their  chiefs  should  arrive  from  Fort  Chartres,  whither  they  had  gone, 
some  time  before,  to  meet  him,  and  who  were  necessarily  ignorant  of 
his  being  captured  on  his  way  to  the  same  place."  From  the  4th  to 
the  8th  of  July  Croghan  held  conferences  with  the  Weas,  Pianke- 
shaws,  Kickapoos  and  Mascoutins,  in  which,  he  says,  "I  was  lucky 
enough  to  reconcile  those  nations  to  His  Majesty's  interests,  and  ob- 
tained their  consent  to  take  possession  of  the  posts  in  their  country 
which  the  French  formerly  possessed,  and  they  offered  their  services 
should  any  nation  oppose  our  taking  such  possession,  all  of  which  they 
confirmed  by  four  large  pipes. "*  On  the  11th  a  messenger  arrived^ 
from  Fort  Chartres  requesting  the  Indians  to  take  Croghan  and  his 
party  thither ;  and  as  Fort  Chartres  was  the  place  to  which  he  had 
originally  designed  going,  he  desired  the  chiefs  to  get  ready  to  set 
out  with  him  for  that  place  as  soon  as  possible.  On  the  loth  the 
chiefs  from  "the  Miamis"  came  in  and  renewed  their  "ancient 
friendship  with  His  Majesty."  On  the  18th  Croghan,  with  his  party 
and  the  chiefs  of  the  Miami  and  other  tribes  we  have  mentioned, 
forming  an  imposing  procession,  started  off  across  the  country 
toward  Fort  Chartres.  On  the  way  (neither  Croghan1  s  official  report 
or  his  private  journal  show  the  place)  they  met  the  great  "Pontiac 
himself,  together  with  the  deputies  of  the  Iroquois,  Delawares  and 
Shawnees,f  who  had  gone  on  around  to  Fort  Chartres  with  Capt. 

hundred  and  forty  feet  to  the  Wabash,  at  its  foot.  The  top  is  composed  of  yellow,  red, 
brown  or  black  conglomerate  sandrock,  highly  ferruginous,  and  in  part  pebbly.  At  the 
base  of  the  sandrock,  where  it  ioins  upon  the  underlying  carbonaceous  and  pyritous 
shales  are  'pot'  or  'rock-houses,'  which  so  constantly  accompany  this  formation  in 
southern  Indiana.  Some  of  these,  of  no  great  height,  have  been  tunneled  back  under 
the  cliff  to  a  distance  of  thirty  or  forty  feet  by  force  of  the  ancient  river  once  flowing 
at  this  level."  The  position,  in  many  respects,  is  like  Starved  Rock,  on  the  Illinois, 
where  La  Salle  built  Fort  St.  Louis,  and  commands  a  fine  view  of  the  Wea  plains, 
across  the  river  eastward,  and,  before  the  recent  growth  of  timber,  of  an  arm  of  the 
Grand  Prairie  to  the  westward.  The  stockade  fort  and  trading-post  of  Ouiatonon  has 
often  been  confounded  with  the  Wea  villages,  which  were  strung  for  several  miles  along 
the  margin  of  the  prairie,  near  the  river,  between  Attica  and  La  Fayette,  on  the  south 
or  east  side  of  the  river;  and  some  writers  have  mistaken  it  for  the  village  of  Keth- 
tip-e-ca-nak,  situated  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Wabash  River,  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Tippecanoe.  The  fort  was  abandoned  as  a  military  post  after  its  capture  from  the 
British  by  the  Indians.  It  was  always  a  place  of  considerable  trade  to  the  English,  as 
well  as  the  French.  Thomas  Hutchins,  in  his  Historical  and  Topographical  Atlas,  pub- 
lished in  1778,  estimates  "  the  annual  amount  of  skins  and  furs  obtained  at  Ouiatonon 
at  forty  thousand  dollars." 

*  Croghan's  official  report  to  Sir  Wm.  Johnson:  London  Documents,  vol.  7,  p.  780. 

t  These  last-named  Indian  deputies,  with  Mr.  Frazer,  had  gone  down  the  Ohio  with 
Croghan,  and  thence  on  to  Fort  Chartres.     Not  hearing  anything  from  Croghan,  or 
knowing  what  had  become  of  him,  Pontiac  and  these  Indian  deputies,  on  learning  that 
Croghan  was  at  Ouiatanon,  set  out  for  that  place  to  meet  him. 
16 


242  HISTORIC    NOTES    OX   THE    NORTHWEST. 

Frazer.  The  whole  party,  with  deputies  from  the  Illinois  Indians, 
now  returned  to  Ouiatanon,  and  there  held  another  conference,  in 
which  were  settled  all  matters  with  the  Illinois  Indians.  "Pontiac 
and  the  Illinois  deputies  agreed  to  everything  which  the  other  tribes 
had  conceded  in  the  previous  conferences  at  Ouiatanon,  all  of  which 
was  ratified  with  a  solemn  formality  of  pipes  and  belts."* 

Here.  then,  upon  the  banks  of  the  Wabash  at  Ouiatonon,  did  the 
Indian  tribes,  with  the  sanction  of  Pontiac  solemnly  surrender  pos- 
session of  the  northwest  territory  to  the  accredited  agent  of  Great 
Britain. f  Croghan  and  his  party,  now  swollen  to  a  large  body  by 
the  accession  of  the  principal  chiefs  of  the  several  nations,  set  out 
"for  the  Miamis,  and  traveled  the  whole  way  through  a  fine  rich 
bottom,  alongside  the  Ouabache,  arriving  at  Eel  River  on  the  27th. 
About  six  miles  up  this  river  they  found  a  small  village  of  the 
Twightwee,  situated  on  a  very  delightful  spot  of  ground  on  the  bank 
of  the  river.'' '^  Croghan's  private  journal  continues:  "July  28th, 
29th,  30th  and  31st  we  traveled  still  alongside  the  Eel  River,  passing 
through  fine  clear  woods  and  some  good  meadows,  though  not  so 
large  as  those  we  passed  some  days  before.  The  country  is  more 
overgrown  with  woods,  the  soil  is  sufficiently  rich,  and  well  watered 
with  springs." 

On  the  1st  of  August  they  "arrived  at  the  carrying  place  be- 
tween the  River  Miamis  and  the  Ouabache,  which  is  about  nine  miles 
long  in  dry  seasons,  but  not  above  half  that  length  in  freshets." 
"Within  a  mile  of  the  Twightwee  village."  says  Croghan,  "I  was 
met  bv  the  chiefs  of  that  nation,  who  received  us  verv  kindly.    Most 

%J  V  V 

part  of  these  Indians  knew  me,  and  conducted  me  to  their  village, 
where  they  immediately  hoisted  an  English  flag  that  /  had  formerly 
given  them  at  Fort  Pitt.  The  next  day  tiiey  held  a  council,  after 
which  they  gave  me  up  all  the  English  prisoners  they  had,  and  ex- 
pressed the  pleasure  it  gave  them  to  see  [that]  the  unhappy  differ- 
ences which  had  embroiled  the  several  nations  in  a  war  with  their 
brethren,  the  English,  were  now  so  near  a  happy  conclusion,  and 
that  peace  was  established  in  their  country. "§ 

*  Croghan's  official  report,  already  quoted. 

t  It  is  true  that  Pontiac,  with  deputies  of  all  the  westward  tribes,  followed  Croghan 
to  Detroit,  where  another  conference  took  place;  but  this  was  only  a  more  formal  rati- 
fication of  the  surrender  which  the  Indians  declared  they  had  already  made  of  the 
■country  at  Ouiatonon. 

J  The  Miami  Indian  name  of  this  village  was  Ke-na-pa-com-a-qua.  Its  French 
name  was  A  l'Anguille,  or  Eel  River  town.  The  Miami  name  of  Eel  River  was  Kin- 
na-peei-kuoh  Sepe,  or  Water  Snake  (the  Indians  call  the  eel  a  water-snake  fish)  River. 
The  village  was  situated  on  the  north  bank  of  Eel  River,  about  six  miles  from  Logans- 
port.     It  was  scattered  along  the  river  for  some  three  miles. 

,  §The  following  is  Mr.  Croghan's  description  of  the  "Miamis,"  as  it  appeared  in 


PONTIAC's   TRAGIC    DEATH.  243 

From   the  Miamis  the  party   proceeded    down   the   Maumee   in 

canoes.  "About  ninety  miles,  continues  the  journal,  from  the  Miamis 
or  Twightwee  we  came  to  where  a  large  river,  that  heads  in  a  large 
Hick,'  falls  into  the  Miami  River;  this  they  call  'The  Forks.' 
The  Ottawas  claim  this  country  and  hunt  here.*  This  nation  for- 
merly lived  at  Detroit,  but  are  now  settled  here  on  account  of  the 
richness  of  the  country,  where  game  is  always  to  be  found  in  plenty." 

From  Defiance  Croghan's  party  were  obliged  to  drag  their  canoes 
several  miles,  "on  account  of  the  riffs  which  interrupt  the  naviga- 
tion," at  the  end  of  which  they  came  to  a  village  of  Wyandottes,  who 
received  them  kindly.  From  thence  they  proceeded  in  their  canoes 
t<>  the  mouth  of  the  Maumee.  Passing  several  large  bays  and  a 
number  of  rivers,  they  reached  the  Detroit  River  on  the  10th  of 
August,  and  Detroit  on  the  following  morning. f 

As  for  Pontiac,  his  fate  was  tragical.  lie  was  fond  of  the  French, 
and  often  visited  the  Spanish  post  at  St.  Louis,  whither  many  of  his 
old  friends  had  gone  from  the  Illinois  side  of  the  river.  One  day  in 
1767,  as  is  supposed,  he  came  to  Mr.  St.  Ange  (this  veteran  soldier 
of  France  still  remained  in  the  country),  and  said  he  was  going  over 
to  Cahokia  to  visit  the  Kaskaskia  Indians.  .  St.  Ange  endeavored  to 
dissuade  him  from  it,  reminding  him  of  the  little  friendship  existing 
between  him  and  the  British.  Pontiac' s  answer  was :  "Captain,  I 
am  a  man.  I  know  how  to  fight.  I  have  always  fought  openly. 
They  will  not  murder  me,  and  if  any  one  attacks  me  as  a  brave  man, 

1765:  "The  Twightwee  village  is  situated  on  both  sides  of  a  river  called  St.  Joseph's. 
This  river,  where  it  falls  into  the  Miami  River,  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  this 
place,  is  one  hundred  yards  wide,  on  the  east  side  of  which  stands  a  stockade  fort  some- 
what ruinous.'1''  The  Indian  village  consists  of  about  forty  or  fifty  cabins,  besides  nine 
or  ten  French  houses,  a  runaway  colony  from  Detroit  during  the  late  Indian  war;  they 
were  concerned  in  it,  and  being  afraid  of  punishment  came  to  this  post,  where  they 
have  ever  since  spirited  up  the  Indians  against  the  English.  All  the  French  residing 
here  are  a  lazy,  indolent  people,  fond  of  breeding  mischief,  and  they  should  not  be 
-suffered  to  remain.     The  country  is  pleasant,  the  soil  rich  and  well  watered." 

*The  place  referred  to  is  the  mouth  of  the  Auglaize,  often  designated  as  "The 
Forks  "  in  many  of  the  early  accounts  of  the  country.  It  may  be  noted  that  Croghan, 
like  nearly  all  other  early  travelers,  overestimates  distances. 

f  Croghan  describes  Detroit  as  a  large  stockade  "inclosing  about  eighty  houses.  It 
stands  on  the  north  side  of  the  river  on  a  high  bank,  and  commands  a  very  pleasant 
prospect  for  nine  miles  above  and  below  the  fort.  The  country  is  thick  settled  with 
French.  Their  plantations  are  generally  laid  out  about  three  or  four  acres  in  breadth 
on  the  river,  and  eighty  acres  in  depth;  the  soil  is  good,  producing  plenty  of  grain. 
All  the  people  here  are  generally  poor  wretches,  and  consist  of  three  or  four  hundred 
French  families,  a  lazy,  idle  people,  depending  chiefly  on  the  savages  for  their  subsist- 
ence. Though  the  land,  with  little  labor,  produces  plenty  of  grain,  they  scarcely  raise  as 
much  as  will  supply  their  wants,  in  imitation  of  Indians,  whose  manners  and  customs 
they  have  entirely  adopted,  and  cannot  subsist  without  them.  The  men,  women  and 
children  speak  the  Indian  tongue  perfectly  well."  At  the  conclusion  of  the  lengthy 
conferences  with  the  Indians,  in  which  all  matters  were  "settled  to  their  satisfaction," 
Croghan  set  out  from  Detroit  for  Niagara,  coasting  along  the  north  shore  of  Lake  Erie 
in  a  birch  canoe,  arriving  at  the  latter  place  on  the  8th  of  October. 


1244  HISTORIC    NOTES   OX   THE    NORTHWEST. 

I  am  his  match."  Pontiac  went  over  the  river,  was  feasted,  got 
drunk,  and  retired  to  the'  woods  to  sing  medicine  songs.  In  the 
meanwhile,  an  English  merchant  named  Williamson  bribed  a  Kas- 
kaskia  Indian  with  a  barrel  of  ruin  and  promises  of  a  greater  reward 
if  he  would  take  Pontiac's  life.  Pontiac  was  struck  with  a  jxi-ka- 
ma-gon  —  tomahawk,  and  his  skull  fractured,  causing  death.  This 
murder  aroused  the  vengeance  of  all  the  Indian  tribes  friendly  to 
Pontiac,  and  brought  about  the  war  resulting  in  the  almost  total  ex- 
termination  of  the  Illinois  nation.  He  was  a  remarkably  tine-looking 
man,  neat  in  his  person,  and  tasty  in  dress  and  in  the  arrangement 
of  his  ornaments.  His  complexion  is  said  to  have  approached  that 
of  the  whites."  St.  Ange,  hearing  of  Pontiac' s  death,  kindly  took 
charge  of  the  body,  and  gave  it  a  decent  burial  near  the  fort,  the 
site  of  which  is  now  covered  by  the  city  of  St.  Louis.  '"Xeither 
mound  nor  tablet,"  says  Francis  Parkman.  "marked  the  burial- 
place  of  Pontiac.  For  a  mausoleum  a  city  has  arisen  above  the  for- 
est hue,  and  the  race  whom  he  hated  with  such  burning  rancor  tram- 
ple with  unceasing  footsteps  over  his  forgotten  grave." 

*I.  N.  Nicollet's  Report,  etc.,  p.  81.  Mr.  Nicollet  received  his  information  con- 
cerning Pontiac  from  Col.  Pierre  Chouteau,  of  St.  Louis,  and  Col.  Pierre  Menard,  of 
Kaskaskia,  who  were  personally  acquainted  with  the  facts. 


CHAPTER   XXm. 


GEN.  CLARK'S  CONQUEST  OF  "THE  ILLINOIS." 

After  the  Indians  had  submitted  to  English  rule  the  west  en- 
joyed a  period  of  quiet.  When  the  American  colonists,  long  com- 
plaining against  the  oppressive  acts  of  the  mother  country,  broke 
-out  into  open  revolt,  and  the  war  of  the  revolution  fairly  began, 
the  English,  from  the  westward  posts  of  Detroit,  Vincennes  and 
Kaskaskia,  incited  the  Indians 
against  the  frontier  settlements, 
and  from  these  depots  supplied 
their  war  parties  with  guns  and 
ammunition.  The  depredations 
of  the  Indians  in  Kentucky  were 
so  severe  that  in  the  fall  of  1777 
George  Rogers  Clark  conceived, 
and  next  year  executed,  an  expe- 
dition against  the  French  settle- 
ments of  Kaskaskia  and  Vin- 
cennes, which  not  only  relieved 
Kentucky  from  the  incursions 
of  the  savages,  but  at  the  same 
time  resulted  in  consequences 
which  are  without  parallel  in  the 
annals  of  the  Northwest." 


GEN.  CLARK. 


*Gen.  Clark  was  born  in  Albemarle  county,  Virginia,  on  the  19th  of  November, 
1752.  and  died  and  was  buried  at  Locust  Grove,  near  Louisville,  Kentucky,  in  February, 
1818.  He  came  to  Kentucky  in  the  spring  of  1775,  and  became  early  identified  as  a 
conspicuous  leader  in  the  border  wars  of  that  country.  The  border  settlers  of  Kentucky 
could  not  successfully  contend  against  the  numerous  and  active  war  parties  from  the 
Wabash  who  were  continually  lurking  in  their  neighborhoods,  coming,  as  Indians  do, 
stealthily,  striking  a  blow  where  least  expected,  and  escaping  before  assistance  could 
relieve  the  localities  which  they  devastated,  killing  women  and  children,  destroying 
live  stock  and  burning  the  pioneers'  cabins.  Clark  conceived  the  idea  of  capturing 
Vincennes  and  Kaskaskia.  Keeping  his  plans  to  himself,  he  proceeded  to  Williams- 
burg and  laid  them  before  Patrick  Henry,  then  governor  of  Virginia,  who  promptly 
aided  in  their  execution.  From  Gov.  Henry  Clark  received  two  sets  of  instructions, 
one,  to  enlist  seven  companies  of  men,  ostensibly  for  the  protection  of  the  people  of 
Kentucky,  which  at  that  time  was  a  county  of  Virginia,  the  other,  a  secret  order,  to 
attack  the  British  post  of  Kaskaskia!  The  result  of  his  achievements  was  overshad- 
owed by  the  stirring  events  of  the  revolution  eastward  of  the  Alleghanies,  where  other 
heroes  were  winning  a  glory  that  dazzled  while  it  drew  public  attention  exclusively  to 

245 


Jin  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON    THE    NORTHWEST. 

The  account  here  given  of  Clark's  campaign  in  ••The  Illinois"  is 
taken  from  a  manuscript  memoir  composed  by  (lark  himself,  at  the 
joint  request  of  Presidents  Jefferson  and  Madison.-  We  prefer 
giving  the  account  in  Gen.  Clark's  own  words,  as  far  as  practicable. 

The  memoir  of  Gen.  Clark  proceeds:  "On  the  (24th)  of  June, 
1778,  we  left  our  little  island, f  and  run  about  a  mile  up  the  river  in 
order  to  gain  the  main  channel,  and  shot  the  falls  at  the  very  mo- 
ment of  the  sun  being  in  a  great  eclipse,  which  caused  various  con- 
jectures among  the  superstitious.  As  I  knew  that  spies  were  kept 
"ii  the  river  below  the  towns  of  the  Illinois.  I  had  resolved  to  march 
part  of  the  way  by  land,  and  of  course  left  the  whole  of  our  bag- 
gage, except  as  much  as  would  equip  us  in  the  Indian  mode.  The 
whole  of  our  force,  after  leaving  such  as  was  judged  not  competent 
to  [endure]  the  expected  fatigue,  consisted  only  of  four  companies, 
commanded  by  Captains  John  Montgomery,  Joseph  Bowman, 
Leonard  Helms  and  William  Harrod.  My  force  being  so  small  to 
what  I  expected,  owing  to  the  various  circumstances  already  men- 
tioned, I  found  it  necessary  to  alter  my  plans  of  operation. 

''I  had  fully  acquainted  myself  that  the  French  inhabitants  in 
those  western  settlements  had  great  influence  among  the  Indians  in 
general,  and  were  more  beloved  by  them  than  any  other  Europeans  ; 
that  their  commercial  intercourse  was  universal  throughout  the  west- 
ern  and  northwestern  countries,  and  that  the  governing  interest  on 
the  lakes  was  mostlv  in  the  hands  of  the  English,  who  were  not 
much  beloved  by  them.  These,  ami  many  other  ideas  similar 
thereto,  caused  me  to  resolve,  if  possible,  to  strengthen  myself  by 
such  train  of  conduct  as  might  probably  attach  the  Frencji  inhabit- 
ants to  our  interest,  and  give  us  influence  in  the  country  we  were 
aiming  for.  These  were  the  principles  that  influenced  my  future 
conduct,    and,    fortunately,    I   had  just   received  a  letter  from  Col. 

them.  The  west  was  a  wilderness, — excepting  the  isolated  French  settlements  about 
Kaskaskia,  and  at  Vincennes  and  Detroit. —  and  occupied  only  by  savages  and  wild 
animals.  It  was  not  until  after  the  great  Northwest  began  to  be  settled,  and  its  capa- 
bilities to  sustain  the  empire, —  since  seated  in  its  lap. —  was  realized,  that  the  magni- 
tude of  the  conquest  forced  itself  into  notice.  The  several  states  of  Ohio,  Indiana, 
Illinois,  .Michigan,  and  Wisconsin,  carved  out  of  the  territory  which  he  so  gloriously 
won, —  nay,  the  whole  nation, —  owe  to  the  memory  of  George  Rogers  Clark  a  debt  of 
gratitude  that  cannot  be  repaid  in  a  mere  expression  of  words.  An  account  of  his  life 
and  eminent  services,  worthy  of  the  man,  yet  remains  to  be  written. 

*  Judge  John  B.  Dillon,  when  preparing  his  first  history  of  Indiana,  in  1843.  had 
access  to  Clark's  original  manuscript  memoir,  and  copied  copious  extracts  in  the  vol- 
ume named,  and  it  is  from  this  source  that  the  extracts  appealing  in  this  work  were 
taken.  This  book  of  Judge  Dillon  is  not  to  be  confounded  with  a  History  of  Indiana, 
prepared  and  published  by  him  in  1859.  His  first  book,  although  somewhat  crude,  is 
exceedingly  valuable  for  the  historical  matter  it  contains  relating  to  the  whole  North- 
west, while  the  latter  is  a  better  digested  history  of  the  state  of  which  he  was  an  emi- 
nent citizen. 

t  At  Louisville. 


CLARK'S    CAMPAIGN.  247 

Campbell,  dated  Pittsburgh,  informing  me  of  the  contents  of  the 
treaties*  between  France  and  America.  As  I  intended  to  leave  the 
Ohio  at  Fort  Massac,  three  leagues  below  the  Tennessee,  I  landed 
on  a  small  island  in  the  mouth  of  that  river,  in  order  to  prepare  for 
the  march.  In  a  few  hours  after,  one  John  Duff  and  a  party  of 
hunters  coming  down  the  river  were  brought  to  by  our  boats.  They 
were  men  formerly  from  the  states,  and  assured  us  of  their  happiness 
in  the  adventure.  .  .  .  They  had  been  but  lately  from  Kaskaskia, 
and  were  able  to  give  us  all  the  intelligence  wre  wished.  They  said 
that  Gov.  Abbot  had  lately  left  Port  Vincennes,  and  gone  to  Detroit 
on  business  of  importance  ;  that  Mr.  Pochblave  commanded  at  Kas- 
kaskia, etc.;  that  the  militia  was  kept  in  good  order,  and  spies  on 
the  Mississippi,  and  that  all  hunters,  both  Indians  and  others,  were 
ordered  to  keep  a  good  look-out  for  the  rebels  ;  that  the  fort  was  kept 
in  good  order  as  an  asylum,  etc.,  but  they  believed  the  whole  to 
proceed  more  from  the  fondness  for  parade  than  the  expectation  of 
a  visit;  that  if  they  received  timely  notice  of  us.  they  would  collect 
and  give  us  a  warm  reception,  as  they  were  taught  to  harbor  a  most 
horrid  idea  of  the  rebels,  especially  the  Virginians;  but  that  if  we 
could  surprise  the  place,  which  they  were  in  hopes  we  might,  they 
made  no  doubt  of  our  being  able  to  do  as  we  pleased;  that  they 
hoped  to  be  received  as  partakers  in  the  enterprise,  and  wished  us 
to  put  full  confidence  in  them,  and  they  Would  assist  the  guides  in 
conducting  the  party.  This  was  agreed  to,  and  they  proved  valua- 
ble men. 

"'The  acquisition  to  us  was  great,  as  I  had  no  intelligence  from 
those  posts  since  the  spies  I  sent  twelve  months  past.  But  no  part 
of  their  information  pleased  me  more  than  that  of  the  inhabitants 
viewing  us  as  more  savage  than  their  neighbors,  the  Indians.  I  was 
determined  to  improve  upon  this  if  I  was  fortunate  enough  to  get 
them  into  my  possession,  as  I  conceived  the  greater  the  shock  I 
could  give  them  at  first  the  more  sensibly  would  they  feel  my  lenity, 
and  become  more  valuable  friends.  This  I  conceived  to  be  agree- 
able to  human  nature,  as  I  had  observed  it  in  many  instances. 
Having  everything  prepared,  we  moved  down  to  a  little  gully  a 
small  distance  above  Massac,  in  which  we  concealed  our  boats,  and 
set  out  a  northwest  course.  The  weather  was  favorable.  In  some 
parts  water  was  scarce,  as  well  as  game.  Of  course  we  suffered 
drought  and   hunger,   but  not    to   excess.      On   the  third   day  John 

*The  timely  information  received  of  the  alliance  between  the  United  States  and 
France  was  made  use  of  by  Gen.  Clark  with  his  usual  tact  and  with  great  success,  as 
will  be  seen  farther  on. 


248  HISTORIC    N.OTKS    ON'    THE    NORTHWEST. 

Saunders,  our  principal  guide,  appeared  confused,  and  we  soon  dis- 
covered that  he  was  totally  lost,  without  there  was  some  other  cause 
of  his  present  conduct. 

"  I  asked  him  various  questions,  and  from  his  answers  I  could 
scarcely  determine  what  to  think  of  him, —  whether  or  not  that  he 
was  lost,  or  that  he  wished  to  deceive  us.  .  .  .  The  cry  of  the  whole 
detachment  was  that  he  was  a  traitor.  He  begged  that  he  might  be 
suifered  to  go  some  distance  into  a  plain  that  was  in  full  view,  to  try 
to  make  some  discoverv  whether  or  not  he  was  right.  I  told  him  he 
might  go,  but  that  I  was  suspicious  of  him,  from  his  conduct ;  that 
from  the  first  day  of  his  being  employed  he  always  said  he  knew  the 
way  well ;  that  there  was  now  a  different  appearance ;  that  I  saw  the 
nature  of  the  country  was  such  that  a  person  once  acquainted  with 
it  could  not  in  a  short  time  forget  it ;  that  a  few  men  should  go  with 
him  to  prevent  his  escape,  and  that  if  he  did  not  discover  and  take 
us  into  the  hunter's  road  that  led  from  the  east  into  Kaskaskia, 
which  he  had  frequently  described.  I  would  have  him  immediately 
put  to  death,  which  I  was  determined  to  have  done.  But  after  a 
search  of  an  hour  or  two  he  came  to  a  place  that  he  knew  perfectly, 
and  we  discovered  that  the  poor  fellow  had  been,  as  they  call  it, 
bewildered. 

"  On  the  fourth  of  July,  in  the  evening,  we  got  within  a  few  miles 
of  the  town,  where  we  lay  until  near  dark,  keeping  spies  ahead,  after 
which  we  commenced  our  march,  and  took  possession  of  a  house 
wherein  a  large  family  lived,  on  the  bank  of  the  Kaskaskia  River, 
about  three-quarters  of  a  mile  above  the  town.  Here  we  were  in- 
formed that  the  people  a  few  days  before  were  under  arms,  but  had 
concluded  that  the  cause  of  the  alarm  was  without  foundation,  and 
that  at  that  time  there  was  a  great  number  of  men  in  town,  but  that 
the  Indians  had  generally  left  it,  and  at  present  all  was  quiet.  We 
soon  procured  a  sufficiency  of  vessels,  the  more  in  ease  to  convey  us 
across  the  river. 

'*AVitli  one  of  the  divisions  I  marched  to  the  fort,  and  ordered  the 
other  two  into  different  quarters  of  the  town.  If  I  met  with  no  resist- 
ance, at  a  certain  signal  a  general  shout  was  to  be  given  and  certain 
parts  were  to  be  immediately  possessed,  and  men  of  each  detach- 
ment, who  could  speak  the  French  language,  were  to  run  through 
every  street  ami  proclaim  what  had  happened,  and  inform  the  inhab- 
itants that  every  person  that  appeared  in  the  streets  would  be  shot 
down.  This  disposition  had  its  desired  effect.  In  a  very  little  time 
we  had  complete  possession,  and  every  avenue  was  guarded  to  prevent 
any  escape  to  give  the  alarm  to  the  other  villages  in  case  of  opposi- 


clark's  conquest.  249 

lion.  Various  orders  had  been  issued  not  worth  mentioning.  I  don't 
suppose  greater  silence  ever  reigned  among  the  inhabitants  of  a 
place  than  did  at  this  at  present ;  not  a  person  to  be  seen,  not  a  word 
to  be  heard  by  them,  for  some  time,  but,  designedly,  the  greatest 
noise  kept  up  by  our  troops  through  every  quarter  of  the  town,  and 
patrols  continually  the  whole  night  around  it,  as  intercepting  any 
information  was  a  capital  object,  and  in  about  two  hours  the  whole 
of  the  inhabitants  were  disarmed,  and  informed  that  if  one  was  taken 
attempting  to  make  his  escape  he  should  be  immediately  put  to 
death."    . 

When  Col.  Clark,  by  the  use  of  various  bloodless  means,  had 
raised  the  terror  of  the  French  inhabitants  to  a  painful  height,  he 
surprised  them,  and  won  their  confidence  and  friendship,  by  perform- 
ing, unexpectedly,  several  acts  of  justice  and  generosity.  On  the 
morning  of  the  5th  of  July  a  few  of  the  principal  men  were  arrested 
and  put  in  irons.  Soon  afterward  M.  Gibault,  the  priest  of  the  vil- 
lage, accompanied  by  five  or  six  aged  citizens,  waited  on  Col.  Clark, 
and  said  that  the  inhabitants  expected  to  be  separated,  perhaps  never 
to  meet  again,  and  they  begged  to  be  permitted  to  assemble  in  their 
church,  and  there  to  take  leave  of  each  other.  Col.  Clark  mildly 
told  the  priest  that  he  had  nothing  to  say  against  his  religion;  that 
it  was  a  matter  which  Americans  left  for  every  man  to  settle  with  his 
God  ;■  that  the  people  might  assemble  in  their  church,  if  they  would, 
but  that  they  must  not  venture  out  of  town. 

Nearly  the  whole  French  population  assembled  at  the  church. 
The  houses  were  deserted  by  all  who  could  leave  them,  and  Col. 
Clark  gave  orders  to  prevent  any  soldiers  from  entering  the  vacant 
buildings.  After  the  close  of  the  meeting  at  the  church  a  deputation, 
consisting  of  M.  Guibault  and  several  other  persons,  waited  on  Col. 
Clark,  and  said  "that  their  present  situation  was  the  fate  of  war,  and 
that  they  could  submit  to  the  loss  of  their  property,  but  they  solic- 
ited that  they  might  not  be  separated  from  their  wives  and  children, 
and  that  some  clothes  and  provisions  might  be  allowed  for  their 
support."  Clark  feigned  surprise  at  this  ropiest,  and  abruptly 
exclaimed,  "Do  you  mistake  us  for  savages?  I  am  almost  cer- 
tain you  do  from  your  language!  Do  you  think  that  Americans 
intend  to  strip  women  and  children,  or  take  the  bread  out  of  their 
mouths?  My  countrymen, "  said  Clark,  "disdain  to  make  war 
upon  helpless  innocence.  It  was  to  prevent  the  horrors  of  Indian 
butchery  upon  our  own  wives  and  children  that  we  have  taken  arms 
and  penetrated  into  this  remote  stronghold  of  British  and  Indian 
barbarity,  and  not  the  despicable  prospect  of  plunder;  that  now  the 


250  HISTORIC    NOTES    OX    THE    NORTHWEST. 

king  of  France  had  united  his  powerful  arms  with  those  of  America, 
the  war  would  not,  in  all  probability,  continue  long,  but  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Kaskaskia  were  at  liberty  to  take  which  side  they  pleased, 
without  the  least  danger  to  either  their  property  or  families.  ~S<>r 
would  their  religion  be  any  source  of  disagreement,  as  all  religions 
were  regarded  with  equal  respect  in  the  eye  of  the  American  law, 
and  that  any  insult  offered  to  it  would  be  immediately  punished. " 

"And  now,"  Clark  continues,  "to  prove  my  sincerity,  you  will 
please  inform  your  fellow-citizens  that  they  are  quite  at  liberty  to 
conduct  themselves  as  usual,  without  the  least  apprehension.  I  am 
now  convinced,  from  what  I  have  learned  since  my  arrival  among 
you,  that  you  have  been  misinformed  and  prejudiced  against  us  by 
British  officers,  and  your  friends  who  are  in  confinement  shall  imme- 
diately be  released."*  In  a  few  minutes  after  the  delivery  of  this 
speech  the  gloom  that  rested  on  the  minds  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Kaskaskia  had  passed  away.  The  news  of  the  treaty  of  alliance 
between  France  and  the  United  States,  and  the  influence  of  the  mag- 
nanimous conduct  of  Clark,  induced  the  French  villagers  to  take  the 
oath  of  allegiance  to  the  state  of  Virginia.  Their  arms  were  restored 
to  them,  and  a  volunteer  company  of  French  militia  joined  a  detach- 
ment under  Capt,  Bowman,  when  that  officer  was  dispatched  to  take 
possession  of  Cahokia.  The  inhabitants  of  this  small  village,  on 
hearing  what  had  taken  place  at  Kaskaskia,  readily  took  the  oath  of 
allegiance  to  Virginia. 

The  memoir  of  Clark  proceeds:  "  Post  Vincennes  never  being 
out  of  my  mind,  and  from  some  things  that  I  had  learned  I  suspected 
that  Mr.  Gibault,  the  priest,  was  inclined  to  the  American  •interest 
previous  to  our  arrival  in  the  country.  He  had  great  influence  over 
the  people  at  this  period,  and  Post  Vincennes  was  under  his  juris- 
diction. I  made  no  doubt  of  his  integrity  to  us.  I  sent  for  him, 
and  had  a  long  conference  with  him  on  the  subject  of  Post  Vincennes. 
In  answer  to  all  my  queries  he  informed  me  that  he  did  not  think  it 
worth  my  while  to  cause  any  military  preparation  to  be  made  at  the 
Falls  of  the  Ohio  for  the  attack  of  Post  Vincennes.  although  the  place 
was  strong  and  a  great  number  of  Indians  in  its  neighborhood,  who, 
to  his  knowledge,  were  generally  at  war ;  that  the  governor  had,  a 
few  weeks  before,  left  the  place  on  some  business  to  Detroit ;  that 
he  expected  that  when  the  inhabitants  were  fully  acquainted  with 
what  had  passed  at  the  Illinois,  and  the  present  happiness  of  their 
friends,  and  made  fully  acquainted  with  the  nature  of  the  war,  their 
sentiments  would  greatly  change;  that  he  knew  that  his  appearance 

*  Clark's  Memoir. 


SECURES    VINCENNES.  251 

there  would  have  great  weight,  even  among  the  savages ;  that  if 
it  was  agreeable  to  me  he  would  take  this  business  on  himself,  and 
had  no  doubt  of  his  being  able  to  bring  that  place  over  to  the  Amer- 
ican interest  without  my  being  at  the  trouble  of  marching  against  it ; 
that  the  business  being  altogether  spiritual,  he  wished  that  another 
person  might  be  charged  with  the  temporal  part  of  the  embassy,  but 
that  he  would  privately  direct  the  whole,  and  he  named  Dr.  Lafont 
as  his  associate. 

"This  was  perfectly  agreeable  to  what  I  had  been  secretly  aim- 
ing at  for  some  days.  The  plan  was  immediately  settled,  and  the 
two  doctors,  with  their  intended  retinue,  among  whom  I  had  a  spy, 
set  about  preparing  for  their  journey,  and  set  out  on  the  14th  of  July, 
with  an  address  to  the  inhabitants  of  Post  Vincennes,  authorizing 
them  to  garrison  their  own  town  themselves,  which  would  convince 
them  of  the  great  confidence  we  put  in  them,  etc.  All  this  had  its 
desired  effect.  Mr.  Gibault  and  his  party  arrived  safe,  and  after 
their  spending  a  day  or  two  in  explaining  matters  to  the  people, 
they  universally  acceded  to  the  proposal  (except  a  few  emissaries 
left  by  Mr.  Abbot,  who  immediately  left  the  country),  and  went  in  a 
body  to  the  church,  where  the  oath  of  allegiance  was  administered 
to  them  in  a  most  solemn  manner.  An  officer  was  elected,  the  fort 
immediately  [garrisoned],  and  the  American  flag  displayed  to  the 
astonishment  of  the  Indians,  and  everything  settled  far  beyond  our 
most  sanguine  hopes.  The  people  here  immediately  began  to  put 
on  a  new  face,  and  to  talk  in  a  different  style,  and  to  act  as  perfect 
freemen.  With  a  garrison  of  their  own,  with  the  United  States  at 
their  elbow,  their  language  to  the  Indians  was  immediately  altered. 
They  began  as  citizens  of  the  United  States,  and  informed  the 
Indians  that  their  old  father,  the  king  of  France,  was  come  to  life 
again,  and  was  mad  at  them  for  fighting  for  the  English  ;  that  they 
would  advise  them  to  make  peace  with  the  Americans  as  soon  as 
they  could,  otherwise  they  might  expect  the  land  to  be  very  bloody, 
etc.  The  Indians  began  to  think  seriously;  throughout  the  country 
this  was  the  kind  of  language  they  generally  got  from  their  ancient 
friends  of  the  Wabash  and  Illinois.  Through  the  means  of  their 
correspondence  spreading  among  the  nations,  our  batteries  began 
now  to  play  in  a  proper  channel.  Mr.  Gibault  and  party,  accom- 
panied by  several  gentlemen  of  Post  Vincennes,  returned  to  Kas- 
kaskia  about  the  1st  of  August  with  the  joyful  news.  During  his 
absence  on  this  business,  which  caused  great  anxiety  to  me  (for 
without  the  possession  of  this  post  all  our  views  would  have  been 
blasted),  I  was  exceedingly  engaged  in  regulating  things  in  the  Illi- 


252  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

nois.  The  reduction  of  these  posts  was  the  period  of  the  enlistment 
of  our  troops.  I  was  at  a  great  loss  at  the  time  to  determine  how 
to  act,  and  how  far  I  might  venture  to  strain  my  authority.  My 
instructions  were  silent  on  many  important  points,  as  it  was  impos- 
sible to  foresee  the  events  that  would  take  place.  To  abandon  the 
country,  and  all  the  prospects  that  opened  to  our  view  in  the  Indian 
department  at  this  time,  for  the  want  of  instruction  in  certain  cases, 
I  thought  would  amount  to  a  reflection  on  government,  as  having  no 
confidence  in  me.  I  resolved  to  usurp  all  the  authority  necessary  to 
carry  my  points.  I  had  the  greater  part  of  our  [troops]  reenlisted 
on  a  different  establishment,  commissioned  French  officers  in  the 
country  to  command  a  company  of  the  young  inhabitants,  estab- 
lished a  garrison  at  Cahokia,  commanded  by  Capt.  Bowman,  and 
another  at  Kaskaskia,  commanded  by  Capt.  Williams.  Post  Vin- 
cennes  remained  in  the  situation  as  mentioned.  Col.  William  Linn, 
who  had  accompanied  us  as  a  volunteer,  took  charge  of  a  party 
that  was  to  be  discharged  upon  their  arrival  at  the  Falls,  and 
orders  were  sent  for  the  removal  of  that  post  to  the  mainland. 
Capt.  John  Montgomery  was  dispatched  to  government  with  letters. 
...  I  again  turned  my  attention  to  Post  Vincennes.  I  plainly  saw 
that  it  would  be  highly  necessary  to  have  an  American  officer  at  that 
post.  Capt.  Leonard  Helm  appeared  calculated  to  answer  my  pur- 
pose;  he  was  past  the  meridian  of  life,  and  a  good  deal  acquainted 
with  the  Indian  [disposition].  I  sent  him  to  command  at  that  post, 
and  also  appointed  him  agent  for  Indian  affairs  in  the  department  of 
the  Wabash.  .  .  .  About  the  middle  of  August  he  set  out  to  take 
possession  of  his  new  command.*     Thus,"  says  Clark,  referring  to 

*  "An  Indian  chief  called  the  Tobacco's  Son,  a  Piankeshaw,  at  this  time  resided  in 
a  village  adjoining  Post  Vincennes.  This  man  was  called  by  the  Indians  '  The  Grand 
Door  to  the  Wabash ' ;  and  as  nothing  of  consequence  was  to  be  undertaken  by  the 
league  on  the  Wabash  without  his  assent,  I  discovered  that  to  win  him  was  an  object 
of  signal  importance.  I  sent  him  a  spirited  compliment  by  Mr.  Gibault;  he  returned 
it.  I  now,  by  Capt.  Helm,  touched  him  on  the  same  spring  that  I  had  done  the  inhab- 
itants, and  sent  a  speech,  with  a  belt  of  wampum,  directing  Capt.  Helm  how  to  man- 
age if  the  chief  was  pacifically  inclined  or  otherwise.  The  captain  arrived  safe  at  Post 
Vincennes,  and  was  received  with  acclamations  by  the  people.  After  the  usual  cere- 
mony was  over  he  sent  for  the  Grand  Door,  and  delivered  my  letter  to  him.  After 
having  read  it,  he  informed  the  captain  that  he  was  happy  to  see  him,  one  of  the  Big 
Knife  chiefs,  in  this  town;  it  was  here  he  had  joined  the  English  against  him;  but  he 
confessed  that  he  always  thought  they  looked  gloomy;  that  as  the  contents  of  the  let- 
ter were  of  great  moment,  he  could  not  give  an  answer  for  some  time;  that  he  must 
collect  his  counsellors  on  the  subject,  and  was  in  hopes  the  captain  would  be  patient. 
In  short,  he  put  on  all  the  courtly  dignity  that  he  was  master  of,  and  Capt.  Helm  fol- 
lowing his  example,  it  was  several  days  before  this  business  was  finished,  as  the  whole 
proceeding  was  very  ceremonious.  At  length  the  captain  was  invited  to  the  Indian 
council,  and  informed  by  Tobacco  that  they  had  maturely  considered  the  case  in  hand, 
and  had  got  the  nature  of  the  war  between  the  English  and  us  explained  to  their  sat- 
isfaction; that  as  we  spoke  the  same  language  and  appeared  to  be  the  same  people,  he 
always  thought  that  he  was  in  the  dark  as  to  the  truth  of  it,  but  now  the  sky  was 


CLARK'S    INFLUENCE    OVER   THE    INDIANS.  253 

Helm's  success,  "ended  this  valuable  negotiation,  and  the  saving  of 
much  blood.  ...  In  a  short  time  almost  the  whole  of  the  various 
tribes  of  the  different  nations  on  the  Wabash,  as  high  as  the  Ouia- 
tanon,  came  to  Post  Vincennes,  and  followed  the  example  of  the 
Grand  Door  Chief;  and  as  expresses  were  continually  passing  be- 
tween Capt.  Helm  and  myself  the  whole  time  of  these  treaties,  the 
business  was  settled  perfectly  to  my  satisfaction,  and  greatly  to  the 
advantage  of  the  public.  The  British  interest  daily  lost  ground  in 
this  quarter,  and  in  a  short  time  our  influence  reached  the  Indians 
on  the  River  St.  Joseph  and  the  border  of  Lake  Michigan.  The 
French  gentlemen  at  the  different  posts  we  now  had  possession  of 
engaged  warmly  in  our  interest.  They  appeared  to  vie  with  each 
other  in  promoting  the  business,  and  through  the  means  of  their 
correspondence,  trading  among  the  Indians,  and  otherwise,  in  a 
short  time  the  Indians  of  various  tribes  inhabiting  the  region  of 
Illinois  came  in  great  numbers  to  Cahokia,  in  order  to  make  treaties 
of  peace  with  us.  From  the  information  they  generally  got  from 
the  French  gentlemen  (whom  they  implicitly  believed)  respecting  us, 
they  were  truly  alarmed,  and,  consequently,  we  were  visited  by  the 
greater  part  of  them,  without  any  invitation  from  us.  Of  course  we 
had  greatly  the  advantage  in  making  use  of  such  language  as  suited 
our  [interest].  Those  treaties,  which  commenced  about  the  last  of 
August  and  continued  between  three  and  four  weeks,  were  probably 
conducted  in  a  way  different  from  any  other  known  in  America  at 
that  time.  I  had  been  always  convinced  that  our  general  conduct 
with  the  Indians  was  wrong ;  that  inviting  them  to  treaties  was  con- 
sidered by  them  in  a  different  manner  from  what  we  expected,  and 
imputed  by  them  to  fear,  and  that  giving  them  great  presents  con- 
firmed it.  I  resolved  to  guard  against  this,  and  I  took  good  pains 
to  make  myself  acquainted  fully  with  the  French  and  Spanish 
methods  of  treating  Indians,  and  with  the  manners,  genius  and  dis- 
position of  the  Indians  in  general.  As  in  this  quarter  they  had  not 
yet  been  spoiled  by  us,  I  was  resolved  that  they  should  not  be.  I 
began  the  business  fully  prepared,  having  copies  of  the  British  trea- 
ties." 

At  the  first  great  council,  which  was  opened  at  Cahokia,  an  Indian 
chief,  with  a  belt  of  peace  in  his  hand,  advanced  to  the  table  at  which 

cleaied  up;  that  he  found  that  the  '  Big  Knife'  was  in  the  right;  that  perhaps  if  the 
English  conquered,  they  would  serve  them  in  the  same  manner  that  they  intended  to 
serve  us;  that  his  ideas  were  quite  changed,  and  that  he  would  tell  all  the  red  people 
on  the  Wabash  to  bloody  the  land  no  more  for  the  English.  He  jumped  up,  struck 
his  breast,  called  himself  a  man  and  a  warrior,  said  that  he  was  now  a  Big  Knife,  and 
took  Capt.  Helm  by  the  hand.  His  example  was  followed  by  all  present,  and  the 
evening  was  spent  in  merriment." 


_!V1  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON    THE    NORTHWEST. 

Col. (Mark  was  sitting;  another  chief,  bearing  the  sacred  pipe  of  the 
tribe,  went  forward  to  the  table,  and  a  third  chief  then  advanced 
with  fire  to  kindle  the  pipe.  When  the  pipe  was  lighted  it  was  fig- 
uratively presented  t<>  the  heavens,  then  to  the  earth,  then  to  all  the 
good  spirits,  to  witness  what  was  about  to  be  done.  After  the  ob- 
servance of  these  forms  the  pipe  was  presented  to  Clark,  and  after- 
ward to  every  person  present.  An  Indian  speaker  then  addressed 
the  Indians  as  follows:  "Warriors, — You  ought  to  be  thankful  that 
the  Great  Spirit  has  taken  pity  on  you.  and  cleared  the  sky  and 
opened  your  ears  and  hearts,  so  that  you  may  hear  the  truth.  We 
have  been  deceived  by  bad  birds  flying  through  the  land.  But  we 
will  take  up  the  bloody  hatchet  no  more  against  the  Big  Knife,"  and 
we  hope,  as  the  Great  Spirit  has  brought  us  together  for  good,  as  he 
is  good,  that  we  may  be  received  as  friends,  and  that  the  belt  of 
peace  may  take  the  place  of  the  bloody  belt." 

"I  informed  them,"  says  Clark,  "-that  I  had  paid  attention  to 
what  thev  had  said,  and  that  on  the  next  day  I  would  give  them  an 
answer,  when  I  hoped  the  ears  and  hearts  of  ail  people  would  be 
opened  to  receive  the  truth,  which  should  be  spoken  without  decep- 
tion. I  advised  them  to  keep  prepared  for  the  result  of  this  day,  on 
which,  perhaps,  their  very  existence  as  a  nation  depended,  etc.,  and 
dismissed  them,  not  suffering  any  of  our  people  to  shake  hands  with 
them,  as  peace  was  not  yet  concluded,  telling  them  it  was  time  enough 
to  give  the  hand  when  the  heart  could  be  given  also.  They  replied 
.that  '  such  sentiments  were  like  men  who  had  but  one  heart,  and  did 
not  speak  with  a  double  tongue. '  The  next  day  I  delivered  them  the 
following  speech  : 

'Men  and  Warriors, — Pav  attention  to  my  words:  You  informed 
me  yesterday  that  the  Great  Spirit  had  brought  us  together,  and  that 
you  hoped,  as  he  was  good,  that  it  would  be  for  good.  I  have  also 
the  same  hope,  and  expect  that  each  party  will  strictly  adhere  to 
whatever  may  be  agreed  upon,  whether  it  be  peace  or  war,  and  hence- 
forward prove  ourselves  worthy  of  the  attention  of  the  Great  Spirit. 
I  am  a  man  and  a  warrior, —  not  a  counsellor.     I  carry  war  in  my 

*  The  early  border  men  of  Virginia  and  her  county  of  Kentucky  usually  carried 
very  large  knives.  From  this  circumstance  the  Virginians  were  called,  in  the  Illinois 
(Miami)  dialect,  She-mol-sea,  meaning  the  "Big  Knife."  At  a  later  day  the  same 
appellation,  under  the  Chippewayan  word  Che-mo-ko-man,  was  extended,  by  the 
Indians,  to  the  white  people  generally, —  always  excepting  the  Englishman  proper, 
whom  they  called  the  Say-e-nash,  and  the  Yankees  to  whom  they  gave  the  epithet  of 
Bos-to-ne-ly,  i.e.,  the  Bostonians.  The  term  is  derived  from  the  Miami  word  mal-she, 
or  mol-sea,  a  knife,  or  the  Ojibbeway  mo-ko-man,  which  means  the  same  thing.  The 
prefix  che  or  she  emphasizes  the  kind  or  size  of  the  instrument,  as  a  huge,  long  or  big 
knife.  Such  is  the  origin  of  the  expression  "long  knives,"  frequently  found  in  books 
where  Indian  characters  occur. 


CLARK'S    SPEECH    TO   THE   INDIANS.  255 

4 

right  hand,  and  in  niv  left,  peace.  I  am  sent  by  the  great  council  of 
the  Big  Knife,  and  their  friends,  to  take  possession  of  all  the  towns 
possessed  by  the  English  in  this  country,  and  to  watch  the  motions 
of  the  red  people;  to  bloody  the  paths  of  those  who  attempt  to  stop 
the  course  of  the  river,  but  to  clear  the  roads  from  us  to  those  who 
desire  to  be  in  peace,  that  the  women  and  children  may  walk  in  them 
without  meeting  anything  to  strike  their  feet  against.  I  am  ordered 
to  call  upon  the  Great  Fire  for  warriors  enough  to  darken  the  land, 
and  that  the  red  people  may  hear  no  sound  but  of  birds  who  live  on 
blood.  I  know  there  is  a  mist  before  your  eyes.  I  will  dispel  the 
clouds,  that  you  may  clearly  see  the  cause  of  the  war  between  the 
Big  Knife  and  the  English,  then  you  may  judge  for  yourselves  which 
party  is  in  the  right,  and  if  you  are  warriors,  as  you  profess  to  be, 
prove  it  by  adhering  faithfully  to  the  party  which  you  shall  believe 
•  to  be  entitled  to  your  friendship,  and  do  not  show  yourselves  to  be 
squaws. 

'  The  Big  Knives  are  very  much  like  the  red  people.  They  don't 
know  how  to  make  blankets  and  powder  and  cloth.  They  buy  these 
things  from  the  English,  from  whom  they  are  sprung.  They  live  by 
making  corn,  hunting  and  trade,  as  you  and  your  neighbors,  the 
French,  do.  But  the  Big  Knives,  daily  getting  more  numerous,  like 
the  trees  in  the  woods,  the  land  became  poor  and  hunting  scarce, 
and  having  but  little  to  trade  with,  the  women  began  to  cry  at  seeing 
their  children  naked,  and  tried  to  learn  how  to  make  clothes  for 
themselves.  The}'  soon  made  blankets  for  their  husbands  and  chil- 
dren, and  the  men  learned  to  make  guns  and  powder.  In  this  way 
we  did  not  want  to  buy  so  much  from  the  English.  They  then  got 
mad  with  us,  and  sent  strong  garrisons  through  our  country,  as  you 
see  they  have  done  among  you  on  the  lakes,  and  among  the  French. 
They  would  not  let  our  women  spin,  nor  our  men  make  powder,  nor 
let  us  trade  with  anybody  else.  The  English  said  we  should  buy 
everything  of  them,  and  since  we  had  got  saucy  we  should  give  two 
bucks  for  a  blanket,  which  we  used  to  get  for  one  ;  we  should  do  as 
they  pleased ;  and  they  killed  some  of  our  people,  to  make  the  rest 
fear  them.  This  is  the  truth,  and  the  real  cause  of  the  war  between 
the  English  and  us,  which  did  not  take  place  until  some  time  after 
this  treatment. 

'  But  our  women  became  cold  and  hungry  and  continued  to  cry. 
Our  young  men  got  lost  for  want  of  counsel  to  put  them  in  the  right 
path.  The  whole  land  was  dark.  The  old  men  held  down  their 
heads  for  shame,  because  they  could  not  see  the  sun  ;  and  thus  there 
was  mourning  for  many  years  over  the  land.     At  last  the  Great 


256  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON    THE    NORTHWEST. 

Spirit  took  pity  on  us,  and  kindled  a  great  council  fire,  that  never 
goes  out,  at  a  place  called  Philadelphia.  He  then  stuck  down 
a  post,  and  put  a  war  tomahawk  by  it,  and  went  away.  The  sun 
immediately  broke  out,  the  sky  was  blue  again,  and  the  old  men 
held  up  their  heads  and  assembled  at  the  fire.  They  took  up  the 
hatchet,  sharpened  it,  and  put  it  into  the  hands  of  our  young  men, 
ordering  them  to  strike  the  English  as  long  as  they  could  find  one 
on  this  side  of  the  great  waters.  The  young  men  immediately  struck 
the  war  post  and  blood  was  shed.  In  this  way  the  war  began,  and 
the  English  were  driven  from  one  place  to  another  until  they  got 
weak,  and  then  they  hired  you  red  people  to  fight  for  them.  The 
Great  Spirit  got  angry  at  this,  and  caused  your  old  father,  the 
French  king,  and  other  great  nations,  to  join  the  Big  Knives,  and 
fight  with  them  against  all  their  enemies.  So  the  English  have  be- 
come like  deer  in  the  woods,  and  you  may  see  that  it  is  the  Great 
Spirit  that  has  caused  your  waters  to  be  troubled,  because  you  have 
fought  for  the  people  he  was  mad  with.  If  your  women  and  chil- 
dren should  now  cry,  you  must  blame  yourselves  for  it,  and  not  the 
Big  Knives. 

'  You  can  now  judge  who  is  in  the  right.  I  have  already  told 
you  who  I  am.  Here  is  a  bloody  belt  and  a  white  one,  take  which 
you  please.  Behave  like  men,  and  don't  let  your  being  surrounded 
by  the  Big  Knives  cause  you  to  take  up  the  one  belt  with  your  hands 
while  your  hearts  take  up  the  other.  If  you  take  the  bloody  path, 
you  shall  leave  the  town  in  safety,  and  may  go  and  join  your  friends, 
the  English.  We  will  then  try,  like  warriors,  who  can  put  the  most 
stumbling-blocks  in  each  other's  way,  and  keep  our  clothes  longest 
stained  with  blood.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  you  should  take  the  path 
of  peace,  and  be  received  as  brothers  to  the  Big  Knives,  with  their 
friends,  the  French ;  should  you  then  listen  to  bad  birds  that  may 
be  flying  through  the  land,  you  will  no  longer  deserve  to  be  counted 
as  men,  but  as  creatures  with  two  tongues,  that  ought  to  be  destroyed 
without  listening  to  anything  you  might  sa}'.  As  I  am  convinced 
you  never  heard  the  truth  before,  I  do  not  wish  you  to  answer  be- 
fore you  have  taken  time  to  counsel.  We  will,  therefore,  part  this 
evening,  and  when  the  Great  Spirit  shall  bring  us  together  again,  let 
us  speak  and  think  like  men,  with  but  one  heart  and  one  tongue.' 

"The  next  day  after  this  speech  a  new  fire  was  kindled  with 
more  than  usual  ceremony ;  an  Indian  speaker  came  forward  and 
said :  They  ought  to  be  thankful  that  the  Great  Spirit  had  taken 
pity  on  them,  and  opened  their  ears  and  their  hearts  to  receive  the 
truth.     He  had  paid  great  attention  to  what  the  Great  Spirit  had 


CLARK   TREATS    WITH    THE    INDIANS.  257 

put  into  my  heart  to  say  to  them.  They  believed  the  whole  to  be 
the  truth,  as  the  Big  Knives  did  not  speak  like  an}-  other  people 
they  had  ever  heard.  They  now  saw  they  had  been  deceived,  and 
that  the  English  had  told  them  lies,  and  that  I  had  told  them  the 
truth,  just  as  some  of  their  old  men  had  always  told  them.  They 
now  believed  that  we  were  in  the  right;  and  as  the  English  had 
forts  in  their  country,  they  might,  if  they  got  strong  enough,  want 
to  serve  the  red  people  as  they  had  treated  the  Big  Knives.  The 
red  people  ought,  therefore,  to  help  us,  and  they  had,  with  a  cheer- 
ful heart,  taken  up  the  belt  of  peace,  and  spurned  that  of  war.  They 
were  determined  to  hold  the  former  fast,  and  would  have  no  doubt 
of  our  friendship,  from  the  manner  of  our  speaking,  so  different 
from  that  of  the  English.  They  would  now  call  in  their  warriors, 
and  throw  the  tomahawk  into  the  river,  where  it  could  never  be 
found.  They  would  suffer  no  more  bad  birds  to  ny  through  the 
land,  disquieting  the  women  and  children.  They  would  be  careful 
to  smooth  the  roads  for  their  brothers,  the  Big  Knives,  whenever 
they  might  wish  to  come  and  see  them.  Their  friends  should  hear 
of  the  good  talk  I  had  given  them ;  and  they  hoped  I  would  send 
chiefs  among  them,  with  my  eyes,  to  see  myself  that  they  were  men, 
and  strictly  adhered  to  all  they  had  said  at  this  great  lire,  which  the 
Great  Spirit  had  kindled  at  Cahokia  for  the  good  of  all  people  who 
would  attend  it." 

The  sacred  pipe  was  again  kindled,  and  presented,  figuratively, 
to  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  and  to  allJthe  good  spirits,  as  witness 
of  what  had  been  done.  The  Indians  and  the  white  men  then  closed 
the  council  by  smoking  the  pipe  and  shaking  hands.  With  no  ma- 
terial variation,  either  of  the  forms  that  were  observed,  or  with  the 
speeches  that  were  made  at  this  council,  Col.  Clark  and  his  officers 
concluded  treaties  of  peace  with  the  Piankeshaws,  Ouiatenons,  Kick- 
a,poos,  Illinois,  Kaskaskias,  Peorias,  and  branches  of  some  other 
tribes  that  inhabited  the  country  between  Lake  Michigan  and  the 
Mississippi. 

Gov.  Henry  soon  received  intelligence  of  the  successful  progress 
-of  the  expedition  under  the  command  of  Clark.     The  French  inhab- 
itants of  the  villages  of  Kaskaskia,   Cahokia  and  Post  Vincennes 
took  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  State  of  Virginia. 

In  October,  1778,  the  General  Assembly  of  the  State  of  Virginia 
passed  an  act  which  contained  the  following  provisions,  viz  :  All  the 
citizens  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Virginia  "who  are  already  settled 
or  shall  hereafter  settle  on  the  western  side  of  the  Ohio,  shall  be  in- 
cluded   in  a  distinct  county,  which   shall  be  called  Illinois  county / 


258  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

and  the  governor  of  this  commonwealth,  with  the  advice  of  the 
council,  may  appoint  a  county  lieutenant,  or  commandant-iivchief, 
in  that  county,  during  pleasure,  who  shall  appoint  and  commission 
so  many  deputy  commandants,  militia  officers  and  commissaries  as 
he  shall  think  proper  in  the  different  districts,  during  pleasure ;  all 
of  whom,  before  they  enter  into  office,  shall  take  the  oath  of  fidelity 
to  this  commonwealth  and  the  oath  of  office,  according  to  the  form 
of  their  own  religion.  And  all  civil  officers  to  which  the  inhabit- 
ants have  been  accustomed,  necessary  for  the  preservation  of  the 
peace  and  the  administration  of  justice,  shall  be  chosen  by  a  major- 
ity of  the  citizens  in  their  respective  districts,  to  be  convened  for 
that  purpose  by  the  county  lieutenant,  or  commandant,  or  his  deputy, 
and  shall  be  commissioned  by  the  said  county  lieutenant  or  com- 
mandant-in-chief. 

Before  the  provisions  of  the  law  were  carried  into  effect,  Henry 
Hamilton,  the  British  lieutenant-governor  of  Detroit,  collected  an 
army,  consisting  of  about  thirty  regulars,  fifty  French  volunteers, 
and  four  hundred  Indians.  With  this  force  he  passed  down  the 
River  Wabash,  and  took  possession  of  Post  Yincennes  on  the  loth 
of  December,  1778.  No  attempt  was  made  by  the  population  to 
defend  the  town.  Capt.  Helm  was  taken  and  detained  as  a  prisoner, 
and  a  number  of  the  French  inhabitants  disarmed. 

Clark  was  aware  that  Gov.  Hamilton,  now  that  he  had  regained 
possession  of  Yincennes,  would  undertake  the  capture  of  his  forces, 
and  realizing  his  danger,  he  determined  to  forestall  Hamilton  and 
capture  the  latter.  His  .'plans  were  at  once  formed.  He  sent  a  por- 
tion of  his  available  force  by  boat,  called  The  Willing,  with  instruc- 
tions to  Capt.  Rogers,  the  commander,  to  proceed  down  the  Missis- 
sippi and  up  the  Ohio  and  Wabash,  and  secrete  himself  a  few  miles 
below  Yincennes,  and  prohibit  any  persons  from  passing  either  up  or 
down.  With  another  part  of  his  force  he  marched  across  the  country, 
through  prairies,  swamps  and  marshes,  crossing  swollen  streams  — 
for  it  was  in  the  month  of  February,  and  the  whole  country  was 
flooded  from  continuous  rains  —  and  arriving  at  the  banks  of  the 
Wabash  near  St.  Francisville,  he  pushed  across  the  river  and  brought 
his  forces  in  the  rear  of  Yincennes  before  daybreak.  So  secret  and 
rapid  were  his  movements  that  Gov.  Hamilton  had  no  notice  that 
Clark  had  left  Kaskaskia.  Clark  issued  a  notice  requiring  the 
people  of  the  town  to  keep  within  their  houses,  and  declaring  that 
all  persons  found  elsewhere  would  be  treated  as  enemies.  Tobacco's 
Son  tendered  one  hundred  of  his  Piankashaw  braves,  himself  at 
their  head.     Clark  declined  their  services  with  thanks,  saying  his 


SURRENDER   OF    HAMILTON.  259 

own  force  was  sufficient.  Gov.  Hamilton  had  just  completed  the 
fort,  consisting  of  strong  block-houses  at  each  angle,  with  the  cannon 
placed  on  the  upper  floors,  at  an  elevation  of  eleven  feet  from  the 
surface.  The  works  were  at  once  closely  invested.  The  ports  were 
so  badly  cut,  the  men  on  the  inside  could  not  stand  to  their  cannon 
for  the  bullets  that  would  whiz  from  the  rifles  of  Clark's  sharp- 
shooters through  the  embrasures  whenever  they  were  suffered  for 
an  instant  to  remain  open. 

The  town  immediately  surrendered  with  joy,  and  assisted  at  the 
siege.  After  the  first  offer  to  surrender  upon  terms  was  declined, 
Hamilton  and  Clark,  with  attendants,  met  in  a  conference  at  the 
Catholic  church,  situated  some  eighty  rods  from  the  fort,  and  in  the 
afternoon  of  the  same  day,  the  24th  of  February,  1779,  the  fort  and 
garrison,  consisting  of  seventy-five  men,  surrendered  at  discretion.* 
The  result  was  that  Hamilton  and  his  whole  force  were  made  prison- 
ers of  war.f  Clark  held  military  possession  of  the  northwest  until 
the  close  of  the  war,  and  in  that  way  it  was  secured  to  our  country. 
At  the  treaty  of  peace,  held  at  Paris  at  the  close  of  the  revolutionary 
war,  the  British  insisted  that  the  Ohio  River  should  be  the  northern 
boundary  of  the  United  States.  The  correspondence  relative  to  that 
treaty  shows  that  the  only  ground  on  which  "  the  American  commis- 
sioners relied  to  sustain  their  claim  that  the  lakes  should  be  the 
boundary  was  the  fact  that  Gen.  Clark  ha(l  conquered  the  country, 
and  was  in  the  undisputed  military  possession  of  it  at  the  time  of 
the  negotiation.  This  fact  was  affirmed  and  admitted,  and  was  the 
chief  ground  on  which  British  commissioners  reluctantly  abandoned 
their  claim.,,:{: 

*  Two  days  after  the  Willing  arrived,  its  crew  much  mortified  because  they  did  not 
share  in  the  victory,  although  Clark  commended  them  for  their  diligence.  Two  days 
before  Capt.  Rogers'  arrival  with  the  Willing,  Clark  had  dispatched  three  armed 
boats,  under  charge  of  Capt.  Helm  and  Majors  Bosseron  and  Le  Grass,  up  the  Wabash, 
to  intercept  a  fleet  which  Clark  was  advised  was  on  its  way  from  Detroit,  laden  with 
supplies  for  Gov.  Hamilton  at  Vincennes.  About  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  up 
the  river  the  British  boats,  seven  in  number,  having  aboard  military  supplies  of 
the  value  of  ten  thousand  pounds  sterling  money  and  forty  men,  among  whom  was 
Philip  De  Jean,  a  magistrate  of  Detroit,  were  captured  by  Capt.  Helm.  The  writer 
has  before  him  the  statement  of  John  McFall,  born  near  Vincennes  in  1798.  He  lived 
near  and  in  Vincennes  until  1817.  His  grandfather,  Ralph  Mattison,  was  one  of 
Clark's  soldiers  who  accompanied  Helm's  expedition  up  the  Wabash,  and  he  often  told 
McFall,  his  grandson,  that*  the  British  were  lying  by  in  the  Vermilion  River,  near  its 
mouth,  where  they  were  surprised  in  the  night-time  and  captured  by  Helm  without 
firing  a  shot. 

fThis  march,  from  its  daring  conception,  and  the  obstacles  encountered  and  over- 
come, is  one  of  the  most  thrilling  events  in  our  history,  and  it  is  to  be  regretted  that 
the  limited  space  assigned  to  other  topics  precludes  its  insertion. 

X  Burnett's  Notes  on  the  Northwest  Territory,  p.  77. 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 


THE  NORTHWEST  TERRITORY  — THE  ORDINANCE  OF  1787  — BILL  OF 
RIGHTS  — FREE  SCHOOL  SYSTEM  — PROVISIONS  FOR  STATES  — OLD 
BOUNDARIES  BETWEEN  CANADA  AND  LOUISIANA— INDIAN  WARS  — 
THE   INDIAN   COUNTRY  RAVAGED. 

Col.  Clark  having  captured  Gov.  Hamilton's  forces  at  Vin- 
cennes,  and  reestablished  the  authority  of  Virginia  over  the  north- 
west territory,  Col  John  Todd,  commissioned  as  lieutenant  for  the 
county  of  Illinois,  in  the  spring  ol  1779  proceeded  to  Kaskaskia  and 
Vincennes,  and  organized  a  government  under  the  act  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  of  Virginia  of  October,  177S,  for  the  establishing  of 
KiIUi7iois  County?''  Col.  Todd  formed  courts  of  justice,  and  pro- 
vided other  machinery  to  secure  peace  and  good  order  among  the 
inhabitants.  The  court  was  comprised  of  several  magistrates,  who 
•dispensed  justice,  in  the  absence  of  statutes  specifically  defining 
their  powers,  pretty  much  according  to  their  own  unrestrained  no- 
tions of  equity,  applied  according  to  the  emergency  of  each  particu- 
lar case,  as  it  would  come  before  them,  much  after  the  manner  of 
the  early  French  commandants.* 

The  northwest  territory  soon  became  a  source  of  trouble  to  the 
continental  congress.  Besides  the  claims  of  Virginia,  Xew  York, 
Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  asserted  title  to  portions  of  it  by 
virtue  of  their  ancient  charters.  +  These  conflicting  claims  were  the 
subjects  of  much  discussion  and  legislative  action  in  the  states 
named,  and  by  congress  as  well.  Congress,  on  the  6th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1780,  recmested  the  several  states  "having  claims  to  waste  and 
unappropriated   lands   in    the  western   country    to   cede  a    portion 

*"The  court"  was  one  of  high  authority,  and  among  the  powers  it  arrogated  to 
itself  was  the  right  of  disposing  of  the  public  lands.  After  having  granted  some 
twenty-two  thousand  acres  to  private  individuals,  by  orders  entered  from  time  to  time 
upon  their  records,  "the  court"  partitioned  large  tracts  ain/mg  themselves;  the  recip- 
ient member  would,  out  of  modesty,  absent  himself  from  "court"  on  the  day  the 
entry  was  made  on  the  journal  by  his  associates  in  his  favor,  "so  that  it  might  appear 
to  be  the  act  of  his  fellows  only."  Official  letter  of  Gen.  Harrison,  January  19,  1802. 
The  evil  grew  to  such  proportions  that  Gen.  Harner,  in  1787,  issued  a  military  order 
suppressing  it. 

t  Connecticut,  claiming  through  her  charter  granted  on  the  23d  of  April,  1662,  by 
King  Charles  the  Second,  passed  a  resolution  in  1783.  to  the  effect  "That  all  the  land 
lying  west  of  the  western  limits  of  Pennsylvania  and  east  of  the  Mississippi,  and  be- 
tween the  forty-first  and  forty-second  parallels  of  latitude,"  was  hers. 

260 


CESSION    OF    THE    NORTHWEST   TERRITORY.  261 

thereof  to  the  United  States.*  Virginia,  on  the  2d  of  January,  1781, 
released  her  claim  to  the  northwest  territory,  reserving  one  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  acres  near  the  falls  of  the  Ohio,  which  she  had 
promised  to  Gen.  Clark,  and  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  his  regiment 
who  marched  with  him,  and  preserving  to  the  French  and  Canadian 
inhabitants  of  Kaskaskia,  Vincennes  and  neighboring  villages  their 
titles  to  the  lands  claimed  by  theni.f  However,  owing  to  conditions 
imposed  by  the  terms  of  cession,  further  legislation  intervened,  and 
the  Virginia  delegates  did  not  execute  the  deed  of  release  until  the 
1st  of  March,  1781.  New  York  followed  Virginia,  and  ceded  her 
claim  on  the  1st  of  March,  1781 ;  then  Massachusetts,  on  the  18th 
of  April,  1785,  executed  her  release,  and  oh  the  11th  of  September, 
1786,  the  Connecticut  delegates  delivered  a  deed  of  cession  from 
that  state,  reserving  a  strip  of  territory  west  of  Pennsylvania,  and 
bordering  on  the  lakes,  since  known  as  the  Western  Reserve.^ 

Before  these  disputes  were  settled  it  was  proposed  in  congress  to 
divide  the  territory  into  states  by  parallel  lines  of  latitude  and  merid- 
ians of  longtitude.§  It  seems  that  the  States  of  Virginia  and  Mas- 
sachusetts had  made  their  grants  with  reference  to  a  previous  reso- 
lution of  congress,  limiting  the  area  of  the  states,  to  be  formed  out 
of  the  territory  named,  to  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles  square,  and 
therefore  further  legislation  by  these  states  became  necessary.  In 
July,  1786,  congress  passed  another  resolution,  looking  to  a  division 
of  the  territory  into  not  less  than  three  nor  more  tYL&wjive  states,  and 
Massachusetts  and  Virginia  gave  their  assent  to  this  modification. 
All  differences  and  conflicts  of  title  being  now  settled,  congress,  on 
the  13th  day  of  July,  1787,  adopted  unanimously,  "An  ordinance  for 
the  government  of  the  territory  of  the  United  States  northwest  of  the 
Ohio."  The  act,  when  considered  with  respect  to  the  times  in  which 
it  was  adopted,  was  a  most  radical  document.  It  made  sweeping 
changes  in  the  whole  theory  of  social  laws  as  practiced  in  Europe, 
and  contravened  the  prevailing  opinions  of  many  of  our  own  people, 
emerging,  as  they  then  were,  from  the  accumulated  prejudices  of  the 
old  world  into  the  daydawn  of  a  new  and  experimental  government. 
u  For  the  purpose  of  extending  the  fundamental  principles  of  civil 

*  Old  Laws  of  the  U.  S. 

tXI  Hen.  Statutes  of  Virginia,  p.  326. 

J  Vol.  16,  Am.  S.  Papers,  p.  94. 

§  Old  Congressional  Journals,  vol.  4,  pp.  379  and  380;  Land  Laws,  p.  34.  The 
prospective  states  were  to  be  named  as  follows':  Washington,  Illinoia,  Michigania, 
Sylvania,  Saratoga,  Pelisipia,  Mesopotamia,  Polypotamia,  Chersonisus  and  Assenispia. 
The  act  for  such  division  of  the  territory,  and  naming  of  the  states  to  be  formed  out  of 
it.  was  passed  unanimously,  with  the  exception  of  the  vote  of  South  Carolina,  on  the 
23d  of  March,  1784. 


262  HISTOKIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

and  religious  liberty  forever,  and  to  fix  and  establish  those  principles 
as  a  basis  of  all  laws,  constitutions  and  governments  which  should 
thereafter  be  formed  within  the  territory,"  the  ordinance  impressed 
conditions  upon  every  acre  of  the  soil,  prohibited  certain  arbitrary 
practices  of  power,  and  enjoined  beneficial  acts  to  be  performed, 
which  have  resulted  in  the  largest  measure  of  happiness  and  pros- 
perity. The  act  was  a  "  compact  between  the  original  states  and 
the  people  and  states  within  the  territory,  to  remain  unalterable  un- 
less changed  by  common  consent."  It  is,  therefore,  in  the  nature 
of  a  bill  of  rights — a  Magna  Charta — to  every  inhabitant  of  the  five 
several  states  since  formed  out  of  the  territory  to  which  the  ordi- 
nance was  applied.*  The  act  forever  prohibited  slavery  or  involun- 
tary servitude,  thus  ennobling  honest  labor,  and  endowing  it  with  a 
dignity  it  could  not  have  attained  in  competition  with  the  unrequited 
toil  of  human  chattels. 

Heretofore  the  plan  of  governments  was  one  of  force,  in  which 
the  intelligent  few  dominated  over  the  ignorant  many.  The  Ameri- 
can Declaration  of  Independence  announced  the  new  theory  that 
all  men  should  be  free,  and  that  the  people  should  govern  them- 
selves. This  they  could  not  be,  or  do  unless  they  possessed  an 
enlarged  intelligence,  a  requirement  that  rendered  a  system  for  the 
general  education  of  the  masses  necessary.  Happily,  congress  real- 
ized the  force  of  this,  and  nobly  provided  the  means.  Subsequent 
to  the  cession  by  Virginia  of  the  northwest  territory  to  the  United 
States,  and  at  the  time  congress  passed  the  act  of  May  20,  1785, 
relative  to  the  disposition  and  sale  of  the  public  lands  northwest  of 
the  Ohio,  one  thirty-sixth  part  of  the  whole  of  this  vast  domain  was 
reserved  and  set  apart  for  the  maintenance  of  public  schools ;  and 
so  determined  was  congress  that  the  educational  system  to  be  inau- 
gurated in  the  northwest  territory  should  not  be  balked  by  any  unwise 
legislation  of  the  future  states  to  be  formed  therein,  that  the  great 
plan  was  carried  into  the  ordinance  of  1787,  where  it  was  further 
declared  that  "religion,  morality  and  knowledge  being  necessary  to 
good  government  and  happiness  of  mankind,  schools  and  the  means 

*The  act,  among  other  things,  fixes  the  law  of  descent  upon  the  just  and  equitable 
terms  of  equality  in  the  division  of  real  estate  among  the  heirs  of  the  ancestor,  thus 
catting  up  by  the  roots  the  European  doctrine  of  primogeniture ;  it  provides  for  perfect 
liberty  of  conscience,  and  declares  that  no  person  demeaning  himself  in  a  peaceable 
and  orderly  manner  should  ever  be  molested  on  account  of  his  mode  of  worship  or 
religious  sentiment;  it  secures  to  every  one  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  and  the  right  of 
trial  by  jury;  it  makes  all  offenses  bailable  except  capital  crimes,  and  while  it  provides 
that  all  fines  shall  be  moderate,  it  prohibits  the  infliction  of  cruel  or  unusual  punish- 
ments; it  declares  that  no  person  shall  be  deprived  of  his  liberty  or  property  but  by 
the  judgment  of  his  peers  or  the  law  of  the  land,  and  prevents  the  body  politic  from 
taking  his  property  or  demanding  his  services  without  making  full  compensation,  etc. 


SUBDIVISION    OF   THE    NORTHWEST   TERRITORY.  263 

of  education  shall  forever  he  encouraged?"**  The  act  of  May  20, 
1785,  is  the  quarry  from  whence  was  procured  the  "corner-stone' 
laid  by  our  forefathers  deep  in  the  ordinance  of  1787,  upon  which 
the  states,  since  formed  out  of  the  old  northwest  territory,  have, 
with  most  generous  hand,  established  a  system  of  public  schools 
which  is  a  guarantee  of  our  national  life  and  the  citadel  of  our  lib- 
erties. 

The  provision  —  the  ordinance  of  1787  —  contains  relative  to  a 
subdivision  of  the  territory  is,  ' '  that  there  shall  be  formed  in  said 
territory  no  less  than  three  nor  more  than  five  states ;  the  western 
state  to  be  bounded  by  the  Mississippi,  the  Ohio  and  the  Wabash 
Rivers ;  a  direct  line  drawn  from  the  Wabash  and  Post  St.  Vincent 
due  north  to  the  territorial  line  between  the  United  States  and 
Canada,  and  [west]  by  said  territorial  line  to  the  Lake  of  the 
Woods  and  Mississippi,  f  The  middle  state  shall  be  bounded  by 
the  said  direct  line,  the  Wabash  from  Post  St.  Vincent  to  the 
Ohio ;  by  the  Ohio,  and  by  a  direct  line  drawn  due  north  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Great  Miami  to  said  territorial  line.:};  The 
eastern  state  shall  be  bounded  by  the  last-mentioned  direct  line, 
the  Ohio,  Pennsylvania  and  the  said  territorial  line."§  The  act 
provided  "that  the  boundaries  of  these  three  states  should  be 
subject  to  alteration  if  congress  should  find  it  expedient,"  with 
"authority  to  form  one  or  two  states  in  that  part  of  the  territory 
lying  north  of  an  east  and  west  line  drawn  through  the  southerly 
hend  or  extreme  of  Lake  Michigan."  The  wording  of  the  pro- 
viso, and  a  want  of  means  for  a  correct  geographical  knowledge 
of  the  lake  region,  led  to  a  sharp  controversy  in  adjusting  the 
boundaries  of  the  two  additional  states.  When  the  ordinance  was 
passed,  the  current  maps  of  the  day  represented  the  "southern 
bend v  of  Lake  Michigan  as  being  quite  far  north  of  its  true 
position.  While  the  convention  was  in  session  at  Chillicothe,  in 
1802,  a  hunter,  well  acquainted  with  the  country,  told  some  of  the 
members  that  Lake  Michigan  extended  much  farther  south  than  was 
generally  supposed.  This  caused  the  convention  to  alter  the  bound- 
ary prescribed  by  congress,  so  that  the  line  between  the  then  terri- 

*  One  section  in  every  township,  section  16,  being  selected  on  account  of  its  central 
position,  and  known  as  the  school  section,  was  set  apart  in  the  act  of  May  20,  1785,  for 
public  schools.  The  proceeds  arising  from  the  sales  thereof  called  the  school  fund,  is 
a  sacred  fund,  the  yearly  accruing  interest  from  which  is  expended  in  the  maintenance 
of  "free  schools  "  within  the  township. 

fThis  is  the  embryo  of  the  present  state  of  Illinois. 

i  Here  is  foreshadowed  the  future  state  of  Indiana. 

§  Out  of  this  last  the  state  of  Ohio  was  formed. 

||  It  was  under  this  discretionary  clause  that  the  states  of  Michigan  and  Wisconsin 
were  subsequently  formed. 


264  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

tory  of  Michigan  and  the  incipient  state  of  Ohio,  should  be  direct 
from  the  most  northern  cape  of  the  Maumee  Bay.* 

In  1818,  when  Illinois  was  about  to  become  a  state,  her  delegate 
in  congress,  Nathanial  Pope,  procured  an  amendment  of  the  act  for 
its  admission,  so  as  to  extend  its  northern  boundary  to  the  parallel 
of  42°  30'  north  latitude. f  By  a  literal  construction  of  the  ordi- 
nance of  ITS",  two  tiers  of  counties  in  northern  Illinois  would  have 
been  within  the  limits  of  Wisconsin.  These  changes,  made  through 
a  wise  forethought,  have  secured  the  harbor  of  Toledo  to  Ohio, 
Michigan  City  to  Indiana  and  Chicago  to  Illinois. 

Soon  after  the  passage  of  the  ordinance,  a  party  of  New  Engend- 
ers, under  the  name  of  The  Ohio  Company,  bought  five  millions  of 
acres  of  land  lying  along  the  Ohio,  between  the  Muskingum  and 
Sciota  rivers.  Gen.  Rufus  Putnam,  the  agent  of  the  company,  with 
a  colony  from  Massachusetts,  landed  at  the  mouth  of  the  Muskingum 
on  the  7th  of  April,  1788,  and  proceeded  to  lay  out  a  town,  to  which 
the  name  of  Marietta  was  given. ^  Another  sale  was  made  to  John 
C.  Simms,  embracing  a  tract  of  two  millions  of  acres,  fronting  upon 
the  Ohio,  between  the  Great  and  Little  Miami  rivers.  This  was 
known  as  '*The  Simms  Purchase,11  and  its  beauty  and  fertility  soon 
attracted  immigration.  In  this  way  the  settlements  westward  of  the 
Alleghanies  and  north  of  the  Ohio  were  fairly  begun. 

Maj.-Gen.  Arthur  St.  Clair  was  chosen  by  congress,  on  the  5th  of 
October,  1787.  as  the  first  governor  of  the  Northwest  Territory. 

The  subdivisions  of  New  France,  when  owned  by  the  French,  for 
political  purposes,  seems  not  to  have  been  clearly  defined  or  well 
understood.  Originally,  La  Salle,  under  his  grant,  claimed  all  of  the 
territory  between  the  Mississippi  and  the  Wabash, —  as  appears  from 
a  letter  of  his  lately  published  in  the  rare  collections  of  P.  Margry, 
—  and  also  a  strip  ten  leagues  wide,  on  the  west  side  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, to  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio.  He  gave  the  name  of  "Louisiana 
to  all  the  country  watered  by  the  Mississippi  below  the  mouth  of 
the  Ohio,'1  a  name,  says  Father  Charlevoix,  writing  in  1743,  which  it 
still  retains.  Shortly  after  this  the  line  was  changed,  and,  says 
the  great  geographer,  Thomas  Pownall,  quoting  from  maps  and 
authorities  accessible  in  1756,  the  time  at  which  he  wrote,  "the  line 
which  now  divides  Canada  and  Louisiana  in  the  Illinois  country 
begins  from  the  Wabash  at  the  mouth  of  Vermilion  River,  thence  to 
the  post  called  Le  Rocher  [Starved  Rock]  on  the  River  Paeorias  [the 

*  Burnett's  Notes  on  the  Northwest  Territory,  p.  360. 
t  Ford's  History  of  Illinois,  p.  19. 
i  Pioneer  History,  p.  205. 


POSTS    RETAINED    BY    GREAT    BRITAIN.  265 

Illinois],  and  from  thence  to  the  peninsula  formed  at  the  confluence 
of  Rocky  [Rock]  River  and  the  Mississippi.''''"  While  the  English 
owned  the  northwest,  it  was  governed  from  Quebec,  through  officers 
or  commandants  stationed  at  Detroit,  Fort  Chartres  and  other  mili- 
tary posts  in  the  territory.  Having  thus  briefly  noted  some  of  the 
subdivisions  of  the  northwest  by  France  and  Great  Britain  for  ad- 
ministrative purposes,  those  of  our  own  government  will  be  noticed. 

By  the  terms  of  the  definite  treaty  of  peace,  concluded  at  Paris 
on  the  3d  of  September,  1783,  between  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain,  the  boundary  between  the  possessions  of  the  two  powers 
was  established  along  the  lakes  substantially  as  it  now  remains. 
Among  other  stipulations,  Great  Britain  was,  without  delay,  to  sur- 
render the  several  military  posts  within  the  acknowledged  territory 
of  the  United  States.  She  declined  to  perform  this  part  of  the 
treaty,  and  on  the  8th  of  December,  1785,  the  American  minister, 
John  Adams,  addressed  a  letter  to  Lord  Carmarthen,  the  English 
secretary  of. state,  protesting  "that  although  a  period  of  three  years 
had  elapsed  since  the  signing  of  the  preliminary  treaty,  and  more 
than  two  years  since  that  of  the  definite  treaty,  the  posts  of  Niagara, 
Presque  Isle,  Sandusky,  Detroit,  Michilimackinack,  with  others,  and 
a  considerable  territory  around  each  of  them,  all  within  the  incon- 
testible  limits  of  the  United  States,  are  still  held  by  British  garrisons, 
to  the  loss  and  injury  of  the  United  States,"  etc.,f  and  demanding 
"that  all  of  His  Majesty's  armies  and  garrisons  be  forthwith  with- 
drawn,'1 etc.  To  which,  on  the  28th  of  February,  1786,  the  British 
secretary  replied,  admitting  that  while  Mr.  Adams  was  correct  in  his 
construction  of  the  seventh  article  of  the  treaty,  the  fourth  article  of 
the  same,  stipulating  "that  creditors  on  either  side  should  meet  with 
no  lawful  impediment  to  the  recovery  of  all  bona  fide  debts,  hereto- 
fore contracted,  had  not  been  fulfilled  on  the  part  of  the  people  of 
the  United  States.";}: 

The  reasons  put  forward  by  Lord  Carmarthen  were  a  mere  pre- 
text. The  true  cause  for  the  action  of  Great  Britain  in  retaining 
possession  of  these  military  posts  was  to  prolong  her  enjoyment  of 
the  fur  trade  and  continue  her  influence  over  the  several  Indian 
tribes.    With  her  it  was  the  old  desire  to  continue  "master  of  the  fur 

*  Appendix  to  The  Administration  of  the  Colonies,  p.  16.  This  line,  it  would 
appear,  placed  all  of  the  country  north  of  it  and  east  of  the  Wabash  in  the  jurisdiction 
or  Canada,  and  the  territory  to  the  south  of  the  line  and  west  of  the  Wabash  within 
the  confines  of  Louisiana. 

t  Secret  Journals  of  Congress,  vol.  4,  p.  186. 

%  Secret  Journals  of  Congress,  vol.  4,  p.  187.  Massachusetts  and  Virginia,  for  good 
reasons,  refused  to  comply  with  the  article  of  the  treaty  concerning  the  collection  of 
debts. 


266  HISTORIC    NOTES   ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

trade"  Her  traders,  in  conjunction  with  the  Canadians  and  ooureurs 
de  bois,  had.  since  the  submission  of  the  westward  Indians  to  her 
authority,  in  1765,  extended  and  perfected  the  "fur  trade"  over  the 
entire  northwest,  and  were  reaping  such  profits  as  they  never  before 
realized,  while  the  supply  of  goods  required  by  the  Indians  absorbed 
a  vast  quantity  of  British  manufactures. 

Unfortunately,  the  revolutionary  war  was  concluded  without  Great 
Britain's  having  made  any  provisions  for  her  Indian  allies,  who  con- 
tinued their  hostilities.  No  treaties  had  ever  been  made  between  the 
United  States  and  the  Wabash  tribes,  and  the  latter  continued  their 
hostilities  upon  the  people  of  Kentucky,  in  which  the  injuries  and 
murders  seemed  to  have  been  reciprocal.* 

The  government  tried  peaceable  means  to  put  an  end  to  these 
depredations.  Failing  in  this,  expeditions  were  sent  out,  the  first 
under  command  of  Gen.  Harmar,  wTho,  in  the  fall  of  1790,  destroyed 
the  villages  about  Fort  Wayne,  as. noticed  on  page  173.  The  next, 
by  Gen.  Charles  Scott,  in  June,  1791,  who  burnt  several  villages 
above  and  below  La  Fayette,  and  carried  a  number  of  women  and 
children  captives  to  Fort  Washington,  where  they  were  held  as  pris- 
oners. A  third,  under  Gen.  Wilkinson,  who,  in  the  summer  of  the 
same  year,  burned  the  Wea  village  above  Logansport  and  destroyed 
some  Kickapoo  villages  on  the  west  side  of  the  river,  taking  away 
with  him  a  number  of  women  and  children,  as  Scott  had  done  before 
him.  Old  scores  with  long  accumulating  interest  were  paid  back. 
From  Yincennes  to  Fort  Defiance  the  heart  of  the  Indian  country 
had  been  ravaged.  The  principal  villages  along  the  Wabash  and 
Maumee  were  destroyed.  The  fields  were  devastated,  and  the  In- 
dians, suffering  for  food  and  shelter,  were  made  to  feel  the  retribu- 
tive hand  of  the  Americans,  whom  traders  within  our  borders,  and 
other  subjects  of  Great  Britain  in  Canada,  had  heretofore  taught 
them  to  despise. 

While  the  expeditions  of  Scott  and  Wilkinson  were  being  exe- 
cuted, Gov.  St.  Clair  was  organizing  a  force  with  which,  under 
instructions  from  the  war  department,  he  was  to  proceed  to  the 
forks  of  the  Maumee  and  there  establish  a  permanent  military  post, 
from  which  forces  could  be  sent  as  occasion  required,  to  punish  such 
tribes  as  might  dare  to  further  molest  the  border  settlements.  On 
the  way  to  the  Maumee  his  army,  consisting  of  about  1,100  men, 
was,  on  the  4th  of  November,  1791,  attacked  by  the  confederated 

*  American  State  Papers,  vol.  4,  p.  13.  It  was  estimated  that  between  the  years 
1783  and  1790  no  less  than  fifteen  hundred  persons  were  killed  and  captured  in  that 
state  and  adjacent  territory,  and  upward  of  twenty  thousand  horses  and  other  property, 
estimated  at  $75,000,  were  taken  or  destroyed  by  the  Indians:  Idem,  p.  88. 


TREATY    AT   VINCENNES.  267 

Indians,  and  almost  totally  destroyed.  The  calamity  was  one  of 
the  most  severe  ever  sustained  by  the  United  States  at  the  hands  of 
the  Indians  until  the  time  of  the  recent  defeat  of  Custer.  The  bat- 
tle ground  is  in  Mercer  county,  Ohio,  and  since  known  as  Fort 
Recovery. 

The  government,  too  feeble  and  greatly  embarrassed,  financially, 
from  its  struggle  with  Great  Britain,  could  not  speedily  retrieve  its 
loss.  St.  Clair  resigned  his  commission  in  disgrace  and  Gen.  Wayne 
—  Mad  Anthony,  of  revolutionary  fame  —  was  appointed  military 
commander  of  the  northwest  in  his  stead.  While  the  new  general 
was  recruiting  his  forces  and  subjecting  them  to  a  discipline  that 
rendered  their  subsequent  movements  invincible,  the  government 
again  tried  to  bring  the  Wabash  tribes  to  a  treaty  of  peace.  The 
latter,  now  arrogant  beyond  measure  from  their  victory,  declined 
all  overtures,  and  basely  murdered  Messrs.  Hardin,  Freeman  and 
Trueman,  who  were  sent  with  messages  of  peace  to  them.  Gen. 
Putnam,  the  agent  of  the  Ohio  company,  at  Marietta,  offered  his 
services,  and  at  the  hazard  of  his  life  undertook  to  visit  the  hostile 
tribes  and  induce  them  to  come  to  Philadelphia  or  Fort  Washington 
and  enter  into  negotiations.  He  was  soon  satisfied  that  the  Indians 
would  neither  go  to  Philadelphia  nor  Fort  Washington.  Persisting 
in  his  efforts,  however,  several  of  the  Wabash  tribes  agreed  to  meet 
him  at  Vincennes.  Thither  he  went,  starting  from  Fort  Washington 
on  the  26th  of  August,  in  company  with  the  Moravian  missionary, 
John  Heckwelder,  and  the  surviving  prisoners  —  consisting  mostly 
of  women  and  little  children  —  captured  at  the  Wea  towns  by  Scott 
and  Wilkinson  the  previous  year.  The  party,  numbering  in  all  one 
hundred  and  forty  persons,  were  put  in  boats  and  taken  down  the 
Ohio  and  up  the  Wabash,  ascending  which  they  reached  Vincennes 
on  the  afternoon  of  the  12th.  The  Indians,  already  notified  of  its 
coming,  "were  assembled  upon  the  banks  of  the  river,  and  when 
they  saw  their  friends  approaching,"  says  Heckwelder,  "they  dis- 
charged their  guns  in  token  of  joy,  and  sang  the  praises  of  their 
friends  in  tunes  peculiar  to  themselves."  The  prisoners  were 
immediately  delivered  to  their  friends  with  a  happy  speech  by 
Gen.  Putnam.  From  the  13th  to  the  23d  the  Indians  were  daily 
coming  in  to  participate  in  the  treaty. 

Delegates  representing  the  Eel  Creek,  Wea,  Pottawatomie,  Mas- 
coutin,  Kickapoo,  Piankeshaw,  Kaskaskia  and  Peoria  tribes  being 
present,  a  conference  was  opened  in  the  council  house  on  the  morn- 
ing of  the  24th.  Here  Gen.  Putnam  assured  the  assembled  chiefs 
that  the  United  States  desired  peace ;  that  ample  time  and  opportu- 


268  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

nity  would  be  given  to  them  all  to  talk  with  the  United  States  about 
all  that  had  happened ;  to  settle  all  old  scores  and  to  begin  anew. 
An  answer  was  deferred  until  the  next  day,  when  the  council  was 
again  convened,  at  which  the  speakers  chosen  to  reply  on  behalf  of 
their  respective  tribes  rose  up  in  succession,  and  spoke  upon  strings 
—  i.  e.,  giving  presents  —  of  wampum.  The  drift  of  their  speeches 
was  that  the  whites  should  not  take  their  land,  but  remain  on  the  east 
and  south  side  of  the  Ohio,  letting  that  river  be  the  mutual  bound- 
dary.  Their  speeches  were  not  clear,  and  Gen.  Putnam  requested 
a  more  definite  answer,  with  which  they  gratified  him  in  the  after- 
noon. Among  other  things,  the  Indian  speakers  stated  "that  they 
did  not  wish  to  live  too  near  the  white  people,  as  there  were  bad 
persons  on  both  sides ;  that  they  wished  to  trade  with  us,  and  con- 
cluded with  a  request  that  the  French  dwelling  in  the  vicinity  of 
Yincennes  might  not  be  deprived  of  the  lands  which  had  been 
given  them  by  the  forefathers  of  the  speakers  in  times  past."* 

Definite  articles  of  peace  were  concluded  and  signed  on  the  27th 
of  September,  1792,  and  this  was  the  first  treaty  ever  entered  into 
between  the  United  States  and  the  several  Wabash  tribes.  As  here- 
tofore intimated,  it  was  a  treaty  of  peace  and  friendship  only. 

Gen.  Putnam,  as  appears  from  his  receipt,  dated  May  22,  1792,  to 
the  war  department,  had  taken  with  him,  besides  a  quantity  of  goods 
for  presents,  "the  following  silver  ornaments:  twenty  medals,  thirty 
pairs  of  arm  and  wristbands,  twelve  dozen  of  brooches,  thirty  pairs 
of  nose  jewels,  thirty  pairs  of  ear  jewels,  and  two  large  white  wam- 
pum belts  of  peace,  with  a  silver  medal  suspended  to  each,  bearing  the 
arms  of  the  United  States. "\ 

The  chiefs  of  the  several  tribes  having  "  signed  the  articles  of 
treaty,"  says  the  Journal  of  Gen.  Putnam,  "the  latter  arose  and 
delivered  the  following  speech  to  them  : 

"Brothers,  listen  to  what  I  say:  We  have  been  for  some  days 
past  industriously  engaged^  in  a  good  work,  namely,  in  establishing 
&  peace,  and  we  have  happily  succeeded,  through  the  influence  of  the 
Great  Spirit. 

"Brothers,  we  have  wiped  off  the  blood,  —  we  have  buried  the 
hatchet  on  both  sides;  and  all  that  is  past  shall  be  forgotten.  (Takes 
up  the  belts.) 

"Brothers,  this  is  the  belt  of  peace,  which  I  now  present  you  in 
the  name  of  the  United  States.  This  belt  shall  be  the  evidence  of, 
and  the  pledge  for,  the  performance  of  the  articles  of  the  treaty  of 

*  Vide  Heckwelder's  journal  in  the  book  before  quoted,  pp.  116,  117. 
t  Putnam's  Manuscript  Journal  of  the  Treaty  of  Vincennes. 


THE  GREAT  PEACE  BELT.  269 

peace  which  we  have  concluded  between  the  United  States  and  your 
tribes  this  day. 

•'Brothers,  whenever  you  look  on  this,  remember  that  there  is  a 
perpetual  peace  and  friendship  between  you  and  us,  and  that  you  are 
now  under  the  protection  of  the  United  States. 

"Brothers,  we  both  hold  this  belt  in  our  hands,  —  here,  at  this 
end,  the  United  States  hold  it,  and  you  hold  it  by  the  other  end. 
The  road,  you  see,  is  broad,  level  and  clear.  We  may  now  pass  to 
one  another  easy  and  without  difficulty.  Brothers,  the  faster  we  hold 
this  belt  the  happier  we  shall  be.  Our  women  and  children  will 
have  no  occasion  to  be  afraid  any  more.  Our  young  men  will  observe 
that  their  wise  men  performed  a  good  work. 

tk  Brothers,  be  all  strong  in  that  which  is  good.  Abide  all  in  this 
path,  young  and  old,  and  you  will  enjoy  the  sweetness  of  peace." 
(Delivers  the  belts.) 

The  connection  which  the  relic  here  illustrated  sustains  with  the 
treaty  at  Vincennes  will  now  be  shown.  We  leave  the  treaty  for  a 
moment  while  we  narrate  the  circumstances  under  which  this  medal, 
together  with  the  other  one  illustrated  farther  on,  was  found.  For 
the  purposes  of  description,  the  first  may  be  designated  as  the 
kk  Washington  medal,"  although  it  is  an  engraving,  and  the  latter  as 
the  k'  British  medal."  The  former  is  believed  to  be  none  other  than 
the  silver  medal  "suspended  to  the  white  wampum  belt  of  peace'1''  pre- 
sented by  Gen.  Putnam,  and  referred  to  in  his  speech. 

The  two  medals,  the  illustrations  of  which  are  the  exact  size  of 
the  originals,  and  fine  representations  of  the  sides  of  the  medals 
they  display,  were  found  in  April,  1855,  at  the  old,  so-called,  Kicka- 
poo  Indian  burying-ground,  near  the  mouth  of  the  Middle  Fork  of 
the  Vermilion  River,  four  miles  west  of  Danville,  Illinois,  in  a  grave 
which  had  become  exposed  by  the  giving  way  of  the  high  bluff,  on 
the  brink  of  which  this  grave,  with  many  others,  is  situated.* 

*  The  old  burial-place  bears  the  appearance  of  having  been  used  by  the  Indians 
for  many  years  prior  to  the  time  of  the  cession  of  the  territory  along  the  Vermilion 
by  the  Pottaw atomies  and  Kickapoos.  It  is  a  level  plateau  of  several  acres,  at  an 
elevation  that  commands  a  fine  view  of  both  streams,  overlooking  the  bluffs  beyond, 
and  taking  in  a  wide  scope  of  the  prairies,  before  the  timber  and  undergrowth  had 
intercepted  the  view.  The  plateau  is  terminated  at  the  westward  by  a  precipitous  bluff, 
the  foot  of  which,  nearly  a  hundred  feet  below,  is  washed  by  the  Middle  Fork.  Of  late 
years  the  stream  has  encroached  upon  the  bluff  at  the  water-line,  causing  the  earth  to 
slide  down  from  above.  Two  young  men,  John  Ecard  and  Hiram  Chester,  then  living 
upon  the  farm  of  Samuel  Chester,  near  by,  were  passing  along  the  water's  edge,  in  the 
month  of  April,  1855,  and  found  a  skull  and  some  other  parts  of  a  human  skeleton  that 
had  fallen  out  of  a  grave  above  and  rolled  down  the  hill.  The  skull  was  well  preserved, 
and  had  clinging  to  it  the  remains  of  a  rotted  band,  filled  with  plain  brooches,  about  a 
half  an  inch  in  diameter,  made  of  silver,  which,  owing  to  their  delicate  structure  and 
the  length  of  time  they  had  been  buried,  crumbled  to  pieces  on  exposure  to  the  air. 
The  young  men,  following  an  accessible  path  that  led  up  the  hill,  proceeded  to  the 


270 


HISTORIC    NOTES    ON    THE    NORTHWEST. 


The  Washington  medal  consists  of  a  thin  plate  of  silver  let  into 
a  rim  of  the  same  metal.     It  was  made  and  engraved  by  hand.     On 


the  side  not  illustrated  is  engraved  "the  coat  of  arms  of  the  United 
States  —  the  American  eagle,  with  wings  outspread,  the  shield  npon 

grave  out  of  which  the  remains  had  fallen,  and  found  a  part  of  the  grave  still  intact. 
Ecard  took  a  stick,  and  digging  around  in  that  portion  of  the  grave  that  yet  remained, 
quickly  unearthed  both  of  the  medals,  which  were  highly  discolored.  He  sold  them  to 
Samuel  Chester,  and  the  latter  disposed  of  them  to  the  present  owner,  Josephus  Collett, 
of  Terre  Haute,  to  whom  the  writer  is  indebted  for  permission  to  illustrate  them.  The 
writer  has  the  affidavit  of  Samuel  Chester  as  to  the  time,  place  and  manner  of  their 
finding.  Mr.  Chester  was  informed  of  the  facts  within  a  few  moments  after  their  dis- 
covery, and  immediately  went  over  to  the  spot  in  company  with  the  young  men,  of 
whom  he  then  and  there  received  the  particulars  substantially  as  given. 


DESCKIPTIOJST    OF   THE   MEDAL.  271 

its  breast;  a  bundle  of  arrows  in  one  foot  and  an  olive  branch  in  the 
other ;  and  the  stars,  representing  the  several  states,  about  the  head 
of  the  bird,  from  which  lines  radiate,  representing  the  sun's  rays. 
The  'eye,'  by  which  the  medal  is  suspended,  shows  no  signs  of 
having  been  used ;  the  delicate  tracings  of  the  engraver  appear  as 
perfect  as  when  first  made.  These  facts  would  seem  to  preclude 
the  idea  that  it  was  worn  about  the  person  as  an  ornament. 

Among  the  manuscript  papers  of  Gen.  Putnam  relating  to  the 
treaty  of  Yincennes  is  a  speech,  in  his  own  handwriting,  in  which 
he  particularly  describes  one  side  of  this  medal.* 

We  quote  extracts  from  Gen.  Putnam's  speech: 

"Brothers,  the  engravings  on  this  medal  distinguish  the  United 
States  from  all  other  nations ;  it  is  called  their  arms,  and  no  other 
nation  has  the  like.  The  principal  figure  is  a  broad  eagle.  This 
bird  is  a  native  of  this  island,  and  is  to  be  found  in  no  other  part  of 
the  world ;  and  both  you  and  the  Americans  being  also  born  on  this 
island,  and  having  grown  up  together  with  the  eagle,  they  have 
placed  him  in  their  arms,  and  have  engraved  him  on  this  medal,  by 
which  the  great  chief,  Gen.  Washington,  and  all  the  people  of  the 
United  States  hold  this  belt  fast.  The  wings  of  the  eagle  are  ex- 
tended to  give  protection  to  all  our  friends,  and  to  assure  you  of  our 
protection  so  long  as  you  hold  fast  this  belt.  In  his  right  foot  the 
eagle  holds  the  branch  of  a  tree,  which  with  us  is  an  emblem  of 
peace,  and  it  means  that  we  love  peace,  and  wish  to  live  in  peace 
with  all  our  neighbors,  and  is  to  assure  you  that  while  you  hold  this 
belt  fast  you  shall  always  be  in  peace  and  security,  whether  you  are 
pursuing  the  chase,  or  reposing  yourselves  under  the  shadow  of  the 
bough.  In  the  left  foot  of  this  bird  is  placed  a  bundle  of  arrows  ; 
by  this  is  meant  that  the  United  States  have  the  means  of  war,  and 
that  when  peace  cannot  be  obtained  or  maintained  with  their  neigh- 
bors on  just  terms,  and  that  if,  notwithstanding  all  their  endeavors 
for  peace,  war  is  made  upon  them,  they  are  prepared  for  it."f 

*  "  Whether  this  explanation,  or  the  substance  of  it,  was  delivered  at  Vincennes, 
we  cannot  say.  It  does  not  appear  in  the  journal  of  the  proceedings."  Letter  of 
Dr.  Andrews,  custodian  of  the  Putnam  papers  at  Marietta  College,  Ohio,  to  the  writer. 
However,  while  the  journal  may  be  silent  on  this  point,  it  was  doubtless  delivered,  as 
appears  from  the  remarks  of  an  Indian  chief  two  years  later,  at  Greenville,  noticed 
farther  on. 

f  It  will  be  borne  in  mind  that  prior  to  this  treaty  the  tribes  represented  at  Vin- 
cennes had  never  held  official  or  diplomatic  relations  with  the  United  States,  and  it 
was  highly  proper  that  our  coat  of  arms,  and  the  signification  of  its  several  parts, 
should  be  explained  to  them.  The  bill  of  account  of  Gen.  Putnam  against  the  United 
States  shows  that  at  this  treaty  he  delivered  one  of  the  peace  belts,  six  of  the  medals, 
and  a  quantity  of  other  jewelry  itemized  in  the  account,  and  that  he  retained  the  other 
peace  belt,  medals,  etc.,  in  his  custody.  Extract  from  the  Putnam  papers,  supplied  to 
the  writer  by  Dr.  Andrews. 


272  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON    THE    NORTHWEST. 

The  obverse  side  of  the  medal,  illustrated,  required  no  explana- 
tion from  Gen.  Putnam ;  it  interpreted  its  own  story  to  the  Indian 
clearer  than  any  words  could  do.  The  Indian  has  thrown  his  toma- 
hawk, the  emblem  of  war.  at  the  foot  of  the  tree,  under  whose  roots 
it  was  to  be  typically  buried.  The  extendeol  pipe  is  the  universal 
token  of  peace,  which  Washington,  representing  the  United  States, 
with  outstretched  hands  was  about  to  receive  and  smoke,  as  the 
Indian  had  already  done.  These  friendlv  acts  assured  protection  to 
the  pioneer  plowman  and  his  cabin  in  the  background.  All  this  is 
plain  to  the  merest  novice  in  picture  reading. 

Turning  to  the  minutes  of  the  great  treaty  held  at  Greenville,  in 
1795,  we  take  the  following  extracts  from  two  speeches  of  Kesis,  or 
the  Sun,  a  prominent  Pottawatomie  chief,  who  took  an  active  part 
in  both  of  the  treaties  at  Yincennes  and  Greenville. 

"'Elder  Brother:-  If  my  old  chiefs  were  living,  I  should  not  pre- 
sume to  speak  in  this  assembly  ;  but  as  they  are  dead,  I  now  address 
you  in  the  name  of  the  Pottawatomies,  as  Massas  has  spoken  in  the 
name  of  the  three  fires,  of  which  we  are  one.+  I  have  to  express 
my  concurrence  in  sentiment  with  him.  It  is  two  years  since  I 
assisted  at  the  treaty  of  Yincennes.  My  voice  there  represented 
the  three  fires.  I  then  said  it  will  take  three  years  to  accomplish 
a  general  peace." 

In  another  speech  (made  in  order  of  time  before  the  one  quoted), 
Kesis  says  :  "  Brother,,  the  Master  of  Life  had  pity  on  me  when  he 
permitted  me  to  come  and  take  you  \  first  by  the  hand.  With  the 
same  hand  and  heart  I  then  possessed  I  now  salute  you.  When  I 
gave  you  my  hand  you  said  I  thank  you,  and  am  glad  to  take  your 
hand,  Pottawatomie ;  and  you  thanked  the  other  Indians,  also,  and 
told  them  you  had  opened  a  road  for  them  to  come  and  see  you."§ 

'Referring  to  Gen.  Wayne. 

fMassass  was  a  Chippewa,  and  the  expression,  of  the  three  fires  being  one,  is 
intended  by  Kesis  to  refer  to  the  fact  that  the  Ottawas,  Chippeways  and  Pottawato- 
mies were  one  nation. 

J  Meaning  the  United  States. 

§  "  Opening  a  road  "  has  the  peculiar  signification  that  the  parties  who  have  given 
and  received  a  "road  belt"  are  at  liberty  to  go  to  and  from,  and  visit  each  other 
freely,  as  friends,  without  danger  of  molestation.  It  seems  that  Kesis  was  the  custo- 
dian of  several  of  these  belts  or  records,  for  at  Greenville  he  displayed  a  road  belt 
which  he  said  he  had  received  from  the  United  States,  to  which  the  eagle  was  sus- 
pended holding  an  olive  branch  which,  he  said,  had  been  explained  as  "  a  leaf  of  that 
great  tree  under  whose  shade  we  and  all  our  posperity  should  repose  in  prosperity  and 
happiness."  He  also  displayed  a  war  belt  which,  he  said,  "was  presented  to  us  by 
the  British,  and  has  involved  us  for  four  years  past  in  misery  and  misfortune."  This 
war  belt  he  gave  to  Gen.  Wayne,  saying:  "  You  may  burn  it  if  you  please,  or  trans- 
form it  into  a  necklace  for  some  handsome  squaw,  and  thus  change  its  original  design 
and  appearance,  and  prevent  forever  its  future  recognition.  It  has  caused  us  much 
misery,  and  I  am  happy  in  parting  with  it."  Kesis,  as  stated  in  another  speech  made 
by  him  at  the  same  treaty,  and  quoted  in  foot-note  on  page  147.  said  his  village  was  a 


ENGLISH    MEDAL. 


273 


The  British  medal  was  struck  with  a  die.  It  is  of  pure  silver,  or 
silver  containing  very  little  alloy,  nearly  a  quarter  of  an  inch  thick, 
and  weighing  nearly  four  ounces,  troy  weight.  On  the  reverse  side 
(not  illustrated)  is  the  coat-of-arins  of  Great  Britain.  The  hole 
through  which  the  string  was  passed,  unlike  the  Washington  medal, 
is  badly  worn,  while  the  finer  lines  of  the  bust  of  the  British  king  are 
also  worn  away,  showing  that  that  side  of  the  medal  had  been  worn 
against  the  breast  or  clothing  of  its  owner.  All  the  delicate  lines 
on  the  eoat-of-arms  side  are  as  perfect  as  when  the  medal  was  struck. 


It  is  without  date.  A  correspondence  with  the  custodian  of  medals 
in  the  British  Museum  in  London,  England,  has  resulted  in  disclos- 
ing that  a  duplicate  is  among  the  collections  of  that  institution,  and 
that  the  die  with  which  they  were  struck  was  made  either  in  the 
year  1786  or  1787,  and  that  many  like  them  had  been  presented  to 
the  Indians.* 

day's  walk  below  Ouiatanon,  referring1,  as  is  believed,  to  the  mixed  Kickapoo  and  Pot- 
tawatomie village  at  the  mouth  of  the  Vermilion  River.  Now,  the  same  people  occu- 
pied a  village  called  the  Old  Kickapoo  Town,  within  a  short  distance  of  the  old  bury- 
ing ground  we  have  described,  and  this  last  was  not  abandoned  as  a  permanent  village 
until  the  year  1819,  as  the  writer  is  informed  by  early  settlers  who  were  cognizant  of 
the  fact.  It  is  probable  that  Kesis  was  buried  there,  and  the  medals  with  him,  where 
they  were  afterward  found  in  the  manner  narrated. 

*  This  circumstance  makes  the  medal  illustrated  another  witness  of  the  fact  that 
subsequent  to  the  treaty  of  peace  in  1783  British  subjects  continued  distributing 
18 


274  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

Resuming  the  notice  of  the  treaty  at  Vincennes,  peace  being  now 
proclaimed,  Gen.  Putnam  informed  the  Indians  that  he  should  have 
a  piece  of  artillery  fired  on  the  occasion  ;  that  he  would  fire  the  first 
gun,  and  that  each  of  those  chiefs  who  had  received  belts  should 
follow  the  example. 

After  the  conclusion  of  this  ceremony,  all  of  the  Indians — we 
here  quote  from  Heckwelder's  journal,  which  states  that  eight  can- 
non were  fired,  the  first  by  Gen.  Putnam  himself,  the  rest  by  the 
chiefs  who  had  received  the  belts — "all  the  Indians  performed  a 
dance  in  the  council  house,  to  express  their  rejoicings  at  the  peace. 
Each  nation  was  painted  in  a  different  style,  and  all  took  the  utmost 
pains  to  make  themselves  appear  as  fierce  and  terrific  as  possible. 
They  commenced  by  proceeding,  with  drums  and  singing,  through 
all  the  streets  of  the  town  ;  they  then  adjourned  to  the  council 
house,  where  they  sung  and  related  their  warlike  deeds.  The  figures 
and  grimaces  which  they  made  during  this  dance,  the  disfigured  and 
ferocious  countenances,  the  instruments  of  war  they  whirled  about, 
with  which  they  dealt  blows  upon  the  posts  and  benches,  the  rattling 
of  deer's  claws  about  their  legs,  the  green  garlands  about  their  necks 
and  waists,  and  their  naked  bodies,  presented  a  scene  which  I  am 
unable  to  describe.  All,  however,  passed  off  in  an  orderly  manner, 
.at  least  in  their  way." 

The  distribution  of  presents  began  on  the  3d  of  September,  and 
continued  several  days,  and  on  the  5th  of  October  Father  Heck- 
welder,  with  sixteen  of  the  chiefs  and  one  Indian  woman,  in  charge 
of  Lieut.  Prior,  two  pilots  and  two  soldiers,  started  overland  on 
pack-horses  for  Philadelphia,  by  way  of  the  falls  at  Louisville.  At 
the  latter  place  they  continued  the  voyage  in  three  canoes,  passing 
up  the  Ohio  by  Fort  Washington,  Gallipolis,"  Marietta,  Wheeling 
and  Pittsburgh,  at  all  of  which  places  they  were  received  with  pub- 
lic demonstrations.  From  Pittsburgh  they  went,  by  way  of  Bethle- 
hem, to  Philadelphia.  The  treaty  concluded  by  Gen.  Putnam  was 
laid  before  the  United  States  Senate  in  February,  1793,  where  it  lin- 
gered until  January,  1794,  the  senate  refusing  to  ratify  it  because  the 
fourth  article  recognized  the  right  of  the  Indians  "to  their  lands,  as 
being  theirs  and  theirs  only/'f 

"Most  of  the  principal  chiefs  of  the  Wabash  Indians,"  says  the 

medals  bearing  the  coat-of-arms  and  bust  of  their  king  among  the  Indians  within  the 
ceded  territory,  thus  keeping  up  the  old  relation  of  the  latter  as  children  of  their 
"British  father." 

*Life  of  Heckwelder.  by  Rondthaler,  p.  117. 

ffien.  Putnam  had  only  carried  out  his  orders,  and  the  objectionable  clause  was 
almost  literally  in  the  words  of  his  instructions  from  the  Secretary  of  War. 


BRITISH    INVASION    ON   THE    MAUMEE.  275 

Secretary  of  War  to  the  President,  in  a  letter  of  the  2d  of  January, 
1794,  "who  visited  Philadelphia,  having  died  of  the  smallpox,  it 
would  have  been  improper  to  attempt  with  the  remainder  any  ex- 
planation of  the  fourth  article  of  the  treaty,"  and  therefore  the  sen- 
ate refused,  by  a  vote  of  twenty-one  to  four,  to  give  it  effect.  While 
the  senate  was  engaged  in  deliberating  over  that,  which  at  best 
might  be  called  a  technicality  when  compared  with  the  benefit  that 
would  have  resulted  from  a  ratification  of  the  treaty  of  Vineennes, 
the  Indians  were  increasing  in  their  feelings  of  hostility,  and  gather- 
ing in  numbers,  and  concentrating  their  forces  against  the  govern- 
ment. Still  the  latter  renewed  its  efforts  to  secure  a  peace.  In 
March,  1793,  the  President  appointed  Messrs.  Randolph,  of  Vir- 
ginia, Lincoln,  of  Massachusetts,  and  Pickering,  of  Pennsylvania, 
to  treat  with  the  northwestern  tribes,  who  proceeded  to  the  Niagara 
River,  intending  to  go  from  there  to  Sandusky.  On  their  way  they 
met  Red  Jacket  and  some  other  chiefs  of  the  Seneca  nation,  who 
advised  them  that  the  western  Indians,  to  whom  the  President  had 
sent  a  speech,  inviting  them  to  a  treaty,  would  not  attend  because 
the  British  had  not  been  invited  to  be  present,  ''and  that  it  was 
necessary  they  should  attend,  because  they  originally  called  the 
Indians  to  war  against  the  United  States.*  Lieutenant-Governor 
Simcoe,  "commanding  the  king's  forces  in  Upper  Canada,  antici- 
pating the  coming  of  the  commissioners,  had  in  April  "come  from 
Niagara  through  the  woods  to  Detroit,  and  had  gone  from  thence  to 
the  foot  of  the  Rapids,  and  three  companies  of  Col.  England's 
regiment  had  followed  him.  to  assist  in  building  a  fort  there." f 
Having  thus  invaded  the  territory  of  the  United  States,  Gov.  Simcoe 
now  intimated  that  he  would  be  pleased  to  assist  in  attempting  a 
reconciliation  between  the  United  States  and  the  Indians.  The  com- 
missioners, unhappily,  were  not  in  a  position  to  decline  his  friendly 
aid,  and  accordingly  the  preliminary  courtesies  between  the  Gov- 
ernor of  Canada  and  the  commissioners  were  opened  at  Navy  Hall, 
the  house  of  the  former,  opposite  Fort  Niagara,  on  the  17th  of  May. 
Here  the  latter  were  detained  by  delays  they  could  not  foresee  or 
prevent.  In  the  meantime  large  delegations  of  the  several  westward 
tribes  already  named,  together  with  representatives  of  the  Five 
Nations  and  Cherokees,  were  assembled  in  a  grand  council  about 
Gov.  Simcoe' s  rising  fort  at  the  Rapids  of  the  Mauinee,  and  were 
engaged  in  settling  their  minor  differences,  and  agreeing  upon  a 
united  plan  of  action  preliminary  to,  and  to  be  insisted  upon,  at  the 

*  A.  S.  Papers  on  Indian  Affairs,  p.  342. 

t  Letter  from  Detroit,  dated  April  17,  1794,  idem  p.  480. 


276  HISTORIC    NOTES   ON    THE    NORTHWEST. 

treaty  proposed  to  be  held  with  the  United  States  commissioners  at 
Sandusky.  Several  messages,  as  a  basis  of-  peace,  passed  between 
the  two  parties,  the  views  of  each  being  widely  apart.  In  August 
the  commissioners  went  up  the  lake  to  the  mouth  of  the  Detroit 
River,  so  that  less  time  would  be  consumed  by  the  bearers  of  dis- 
patches between  themselves  and  the  Indian  council  at  the  Rapids. 
The  Indians  would  not  recede  from  their  sine  qua  -non,  which  was 
no  less  than  the  Ohio  River  as  the  boundary  between  themselves 
and  the  United  States.  This  could  not  be  conceded,  for  the  reason 
that  by  the  treaties  of  Fort  Mcintosh  and  Fort  Harmar  the  govern- 
ment had  acquired  a  large  tract  on  the  north  and  west  side  of  that 
stream,  portions  of  which  had  been  purchased  by  citizens  of  the 
United  States,  who  were  then  actually  living  upon  the  same.  The 
commissioners  agreed  to  purchase  the  lands  over  again  from  any 
tribes  having  claims  to  any  part  thereof  who  had  not  been  present  or 
represented  at  the  treaties  by  which  the  United  States  had  acquired 
its  title.  Brothers,  replied  the  Indians,  money  to  us  is  of  ho  value, 
and  to  most  of  us  unknown,  and  as  no  consideration  whatever  can 
induce  us  to  sell  the  lands  on  which  we  get  sustenance  for  our  women 
and  children,  we  hope  we  may  be  allowed  to  point  out  a  mode  by 
which  your  settlers  may  be  recompensed  and  peace  thereby  obtained. 
We  know  these  settlers  are  poor,  or  they  never  would  have  ventured 
to  live  in  a  country  which  has  been  in  continual  trouble  ever  since 
they  crossed  the  Ohio.  Divide,  therefore,  this  large  sum  of  money 
which  you  have  offered  to  us  among  these  people ;  give  to  each, 
also,  a  portion  of  what  you  said  you  would  give  to  us  annually  over 
and  above  this  very  large  sum  of  money,  and  we  are  persuaded  they 
would  most  readily  accept  of  it  in  lieu  of  the  lands  you  sold  them. 
If  you  add  the  great  sums  you  must  expend  in  raising  and  paying 
armies,  with  a  view  to  force  us  to  yield  our  country,  you  will  cer- 
tainly have  more  than  sufficient  for  the  purpose  of  repaying  these 
settlers  for  all  their  labor  and  improvements.  You  have  talked  to 
us  about  concessions.  It  appears  strange  that  you  should  expect  any 
from  us,  who  have  only  been  defending  our  just  rights  against  your 
invasions.  We  want  peace ;  restore  us  our  country,  and  we  will  be 
enemies  no  longer.  .  .  .  We  shall  be  persuaded  that  you  mean  to 
do  us  justice  if  you  agree  that  the  Ohio  shall  remain  the  boundary 
line  between  us.  If  you  will  not  consent  thereto,  our  meeting  will 
be  altogether  unnecessary."* 

*  Extracts  from  the  joint  answer  of  the  Pottawatornies,  Chippeways,  Ottawas 
Miamis,  Shawnees,  Delawares,  Wyandots,  Muncies,  the  Seven  Nations  of  Canada,  the 
Senecas  of  the  Au  Glaize,  Mohegans  and  other  tribes,  dated  at  Miami  Rapids,  August 
13,1793. 


CLOSE    OF   THE    INDIAN    WAR.  277 

The  commissioners  could  make  no  such  concessions,  as  must  have 
been  foreseen  by  the  Indians  and  their  evil  advisers. 

Gen.  Wayne  moved  his  forces  from  Fort  Greenville,  where  he 
had  wintered,  and  on  the  —  day  of  August,  1/794,  obtained  a  deci- 
sive victory  over  the  Indians,  almost  under  the  guns  of  the  British 
fort.  After  destroying  villages  and  fields  the  whole  length  of  the 
Maumee  and  the  Au  Glaize,  his  army  returned  to  Greenville,  where 
he  passed  a  second  winter.  In  the  following  summer  delegates  from 
the  several  tribes  met  him,  and  after  a  conference  extending  over 
five  months,  a  treaty  was  signed,  leaving  the  Indians  with  the  dimen- 
sions of  their  territories  vastly  curtailed,  and  themselves  for  the  first 
time  recognized  as  the  children  of  a  new  father,  —  "The  Fifteen 
Fires,"  as  they  called  the  United  States. 

Gen.  Wayne's  success,  and  the  happy  negotiations  of  Chief- 
Justice  Jay,  terminated  the  differences,  for  the  present  at  least, 
between  our  government  on  the  one  side  and  the  Indians  and  Great 
Britain  on  the  other.  The  several  military  posts  held  by  the  English 
within  our  territory,  including  Fort  Miami,  erected  by  Gov.  Simcoe, 
were  surrendered  early  in  1796 ;  Gen.  Wayne,  authorized  by  the 
president  so  to  do,  receiving  possession  of  them  on  behalf  of  the 
United  States.  He  at  once  arranged  to  have  Detroit  and  the  other 
works  provisioned  and  garrisoned,  and  late  in  the  season  embarked 
by  way  of  the  lake  for  Erie.  On  the  way  he  was  attacked  with  gout 
of  the  stomach,  of  which  he  died  before  the  vessel  reached  the  port. 


CHAPTER   XXV. 


THE  NORTHWEST  TERRITORY  DIVIDED— WILLIAM  HENRY  HARRISON 
APPOINTED  GOVERNOR  OF  THE  INDIANA  TERRITORY— ITS  SUB- 
DIVISION INTO  COUNTIES  — BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH  OF  GOVERNOR 
HARRISON  — TECUMSEH  AND  HIS  BROTHER  THE  PROPHET'S  CON- 
FEDERACY—ORGANIZATION OF  ILLINOIS  TERRITORY— INDIAN  HOS- 
TILITIES—THE ADVANCE  OF  POPULATION  — CONCLUSION. 

Peace  being  secured,  emigration  poured  into  Ohio  so  rapidly, 
extending  itself  westward  to  the  Great  Miami,  that  at  the  beginning 
of  the  year  1800  the  population  was  nearly  sufficient  to  entitle  the 
territory  to  be  advanced  to  the  second  grade  of  government."  Ac- 
cordingly, on  the  7th  of  May  of  that  year,  congress  passed  an  act 
for  a  division  of  the  territory,  to  take  effect  on  the  4th  day  of  the 
following  July. 

By  this  act  all  that  part  of  the  Northwest  Territory  lying  "to  the 
westward  of  a  line  beginning  at  the  Ohio,  opposite  the  mouth  of 
Kentucky  River,  and  running  from  thence  to  Fort  Recovery,  and 
thence  north  until  it  shall  intersect  the  territorial  line  between  the 
United  States  and  Canada,  shall,  for  the  purposes  of  temporary  gov- 
ernment, constitute  a  separate  territory,  to  be  called  the  Indiana 
Territory. ' ' 

The  territory  eastward  of  this  line  retained  the  old  name  of  the 
"Territory  of  the  United  States  northwest  of  the  Ohio  River,"  and 
by  the  terms  of  the  act  Chillicothe  was  made  the  seat  of  government 
of  the  latter,  and  Vincennes  of  the  former,  territory,  f  Gen.  Win. 
H.  Harrison,  then  delegate  in  congress  for  the  old  Northwest  Terri- 
tory, was  appointed  governor,  and  John  Gibson,  secretary,  of  the 
new  Indiana  Territory.  The  governor  reached  Vincennes  early  in 
the  year  1801,  having  been  preceded  thither  by  the  secretary  the 

*  Under  the  Ordinance  of  1787  there  were  two  grades  of  territorial  government. 
The  first  was  composed  of  the  judges  and  governor:  the  second  grade  began  when  the 
inhabitants  numbered  sixty  thousand,  and  consisted  of  a  territorial  legislature,  com- 
prising a  house  of  representatives,  elected  by  the  people,  and  a  council,  appointed  by 
the  president  and  senate  of  the  United  States. 

fOld  Land  Laws,  p.  451.  The  name  given  to  the  western  subdivision  could  not 
have  been  more  appropriate,  as  it  contained  within  its  boundaries  the  most  numerous 
and  by  far  the  most  populous  Indian  tribes  east  of  the  Mississippi.  The  name  Indiana, 
however,  was  not  original,  having  been  formerly  applied  to  a  tract  of  country  on  the 
southeast  of  the  Ohio,  about  the  Great  Kanawha,  granted  to  Col.  George  Morgan, 
Indian  trader  and  agent,  prior  to  the  beginning  of  the  revolutionary  war. 

278 


TERRITORIAL    COUNTIES.  279 

previous  July.  Gov.  Harrison  called  the  judges  of  the  territory 
together  at  Vincennes  for  the  purpose  of  passing  the  necessary  laws 
and  setting  the  machinery  of  government  in  motion.  On  the  3d  of 
February  the  governor  issued  proclamations  altering  the  boundaries 
of  Knox,  Randolph  and  St.  Clair  counties,  previously  formed,  and 
creating  the  new  county  of  Clark.  By  the  terms  of  the  first  procla- 
mation the  county  of  Knox  was  extended  some  thirty  miles  into  Illi- 
nois, south  of  Vincennes,  and  extending  from  thence  north  by  a  little 
east  to  the  mouth  of  the  Calumet  River,  A  line  was  extended  from 
the  westward  boundary  of  Knox  through  the  '■'Sink-Hole  Spring"  — 
a  prominent  landmark  on  the  west  side  of  the  state,  nearly  on  the 
present  boundary  line  between  the  counties  of  Randolph  and  St. 
Clair  —  to  the  Mississippi.  The  territory  south  of  this  line  was  called 
Randolph  county,  Kaskaskia  being  the  county  seat.  All  of  Illinois 
west  of  Knox,  the  whole  of  Wisconsin,  and  all  that  part  of  Michigan 
lying  north  of  a  line  drawn  northeast  from  the  mouth  of  the  Calumet 
River  and  west  of  the  dividing  line  between  Ohio  and  Indiana,  ex- 
tended north  through  the  Straits  of  Mackinaw,  the  boundary  between 
the  United  States  and  Canada,  was  formed  into  the  county  of  St. 
Clair,  the  county  seat  of  which  was  established  at  Cahokia.  The 
county  of  Knox  began  at  the  "cave  in  the  rock,''''  on  the  Ohio,  thirty 
miles  below  the  mouth  of  the  Wabash,  thence  up  the  Ohio  to  the 
mouth  of  Blue  River,  and  up  this  stream  to  the  crossing  of  the 
old  road  from  Vincennes  to  Louisville ;  from  thence  to  the  nearest 
point  on  White  River,  and  up  the  same  to  the  branch  thereof  which 
runs  toward  Fort  Recovery,  and  from  the  head-springs  of  said  branch 
to  Fort  Recovery ;  thence  along  the  line  separating  Ohio  from  Indi- 
ana until  its  intersection  with  the  line  drawn  northeast  from  the 
mouth  of  the  Calumet  River,  and  thence  southward  along  the  eastern 
boundary  of  St.  Clair  and  Randolph  counties  to  the  Ohio  River  at 
the  cave  in  the  rock.  The  new  county  of  Clark  was  a  gore,  its  base 
being  on  the  Ohio,  between  the  mouths  of  the  Big  Blue  and  Ken- 
tucky rivers,  bounded  on  the  west  by  Knox  county,  and  on  the 
east  by  the  Indian  line  of  cession,  running  from  the  mouth  of  the 
Kentucky  river  north  by  east  to  Fort  Recovery.  Springfield,  near 
the  Ohio  River,  was  made  the  county  seat  of  Clark,  while  Vincennes 
remained  the  county  seat  of  Knox,  as  before. 

On  the  29th  of  November,  1802,  the  eastern  division  of  the 
northwest  territory  became  a  state,  and  was  admitted  into  the 
Union,  bearing  the  name  of  Ohio.  While  Ohio  had  remained  as 
the  northwest  territory,  the  peninsula  of  Michigan  was  attached  to 
it  for  judicial  purposes.     The  greater  portion  of  the  peninsula  had 


280  HISTORIC    NOTES   ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

been  organized  into  a  county  and  given  the  name  of  Wayne,  in 
1796,  by  Gov.  St.  Clair,  who  was  present  witli  Gen.  Wayne,  at 
Detroit,  when  that  post  was  surrendered  to  the  United  States  by 
the  English  commander.  By  the  act  of  congress  providing  for  the 
admission  of  Ohio  as  a  state,  Michigan  was  taken  from  Ohio  and 
attached  to  the  Indiana  territory.  The  people  of  Ohio  resented 
what  they  considered  as  an  illegal  interference  by  congress,  in  thus 
disposing  of  territory  which,  under  the  ordinance  of  1787,  would 
have  remained  as  a  part  of  and  tributary  to  Ohio,  until  such  time 
as  it  was  formed  into  a  state." 

Gov.  Harrison,  on  the  24th  of  January,  1803,  issued  a  proclama- 
tion establishing  the  county  of  Wayne,  the  boundaries  of  which 
embraced  the  whole  of  the  lower  peninsula,  except  a  strip  running 
the  length  of  Lake  Michigan  west  of  Branch  county,  and  a  small 
portion  of  Indiana  and  Ohio  lying  north  of  a  line  drawn  due  east 
from  the  southern  extremity  of  the  lake.-f 

On  the  11th  of  January,  1805,  congress  established  Michigan  as 
a  separate  territory,  and  Gen.  William  Hull  was  appointed  as  its 
governor,  Detroit  being  designated  the  capital.:}: 

Gov.  Harrison  brought  with  him  the  prestige  of  an  established 
reputation  as  a  military  officer  and  a  statesman.  As  ensign  he 
served  with  Gov.  St.  Clair,  and  as  aide-de-camp  of  Gen.  Wayne, 
he  bore  a  distinguished  part  in  the  successful  campaigns  of  the  lat- 
ter against  the  northwest  Indians.  He  was  secretary  of  the  north- 
west territory  and  a  delegate  in  congress  from  the  eastern  division. 
On  the  formation  of  the  Indiana  territory  he  was  not  only  made  its 
governor,  but  commissioned  as  superintendent  of  Indian  affairs  in 
the  northwest,  which  he  administered  with  a  skill  and  success  never 
equaled  by  any  other  person  through  whom  our  government  has 
had  dealings  with  the   Indians.      During  the  long  period  he  had 

*  By  a  literal  construction  of  the  ordinance  of  1787,  all  that  part  of  Michigan  lying 
east  from  a  line  drawn  from  the  mouth  of  the  Miami  north  to  the  middle  of  the  Straits 
of  Mackinaw  would  have  belonged  to  Ohio,  while  the  territory  lying  west  of  this  line 
would  have  remained  as  a  part  of  Indiana  until  it  was  formed  into  a  state. 

tThe  proclamation  defines  the  boundaries  as  follows:  "Beginning  at  a  point 
where  an  east  and  west  line  passing  through  the  southerly  extreme  of  Lake  Michigan 
would  intersect  a  north  and  south  line  passing  through  the  most  easterly  bend  of  said 
lake;  thence  north  along  the  last  mentioned  line  to  the  boundary  of  the  United  States; 
thence  along  the  said  boundary  line  to  a  point  where  a  due  east  and  west  line  passing 
through  the  southerly  extreme  of  Lake  Michigan  would  intersect  the  same;  thence 
west  to  the  place  of  beginning,  and  which  said  county  shall  be  designated  and  known 
as  the  county  of  Wayne,  and  that  the  inhabitants  of  said  county  shall  have  and  enjoy 
[from  the  date  hereof]  all  the  rights,  privileges  and  immunities  whatsoever  which  to  a 
county  and  the  inhabitants  thereof  in  any  wise  appertains."  Detroit  remained  as  the 
seat  of  government,  and  the  officers  who  held  commissions  in  the  old  county  of  Wayne 
were  continued  in  office.     Vide  Executive  Records  of  the  Indiana  territory. 

tThe  name  Michigan  is  derived  from  the  two  Chippewa  Mitchaw  (great)  and  Sagi- 
gan  (lake).    Vide  Blois'  Gazetteer  of  Michigan,  p.  177. 


GEN.    HARRISON. 


•281 


charge  of  the  Indian  affairs,  he  extinguished  the  title  of  the  Indians 
to  a  greater  part  of  the  territory  within  the  limits  of  Indiana  and 
Illinois,  and  in  all  his  dealings  with  this  unfortunate  race  his  con- 
duct was  marked  with  a  uniform  kindness  and  fair  dealing  that  won 
for  him  the  most  implicit  confidence  and  esteem  of  the  Indians 
themselves  and  the  applause  of  the  government.     His  private  and 

official  correspondence  abun- 
dantly illustrate  the  tender  re- 
gard he  had  for  the  Indians, 
and  the  care  with  which  he  al- 
ways sought  to  protect  their 
rights  against  the  designs  of 
the  unscrupulous,  while  at  the 
same  time  he  was  equally  so- 
licitous to  shield  the  white  peo- 
ple against  all  aggressions  from 
the  red.  It  is  said  that  Gov. 
Harrison  was  personally  ac- 
quainted with  almost  every 
prominent  chief  of  the  many 
tribes  within  his  jurisdiction, 
and  by  his  address,  tact  and  well- 
known  integrity,  he  attracted  to 
his  person  many  of  the  leading 
savages  in  bonds  of  closest  friendship.  These  prominent  traits  en- 
abled him  to  exert  an  influence  over  the  Indians  that  few  other  men 
could  have  commanded, and  by  the  exercise  of  which  he  often  restrained 
the  lawlessness  of  the  savage  and  protected  the  pioneer's  cabin. 

Beginning  with  the  time  of  his  appointment  as  governor,  and 
ending  with  the  close  of  the  war  of  1812,  his  vigilance  and  skill 
during  all  the  time  of  that  memorable  struggle  shielded  the  ex- 
tended lines  of  the  western  frontier  from  incursions  of  the  savages. 
The  early  settlers  of  western  Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois  and  Michigan 
might  well  have  hailed  him  as  the  "father  of  the  west.,, 

His  fame  as  a  soldier  and  commander  is  a  part  of  the  military  his- 
tory of  the  country.  He  was  born  in  Charles  City  county,  Virginia, 
February  9,  1773,  and  died  April  4,  1841,  at  Washington,  of  an  ill- 
ness supposed  to  have  been  induced  in  consequence  of  the  fatigue 
and  excitement  incident  to  his  inauguration  as  the  ninth  president 
of  the  United  States.* 

*  The  vignette  of  Gov.  Harrison  was  supplied  by  Harper  Bros.,  copyright  owners 
of  Lossing's  Field-Book  of  the  War  of  1812,  from  which  it  is  taken. 


GEN.     HARIUSOK. 


282 


HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 


Early  in  1806  Gov.  Harrison  was  advised  that  a  Shawnee  Indian 
had  set  himself  up  as  a  prophet.  This  man  avowed  that  he  had  been 
deputed  by  the  Great  Spirit  to  reform  the  manners  of  the  red  people ; 
to  revive  all  their  old  customs  which  had  been  laid  aside  since  their 
intercourse  with  the  white  people ;  that  all  the  manners  in  dress  and 
other  innovations  borrowed  by  the  Indians  from  the  whites  were  to 
be  abolished,  and  that  when  these  reforms  were  effected  the  comfort 
and  happiness  enjoyed  by  their  forefathers  would  be  restored,  on 
condition  of  their  obedience  to  the  will  and  orders  of  the  Prophet. 
The  latter  pretended  to  fore-  m3&^ 

tell  future  events,  declared 
that  he  was  invulnerable  to 
the  arms  or  shot  of  his  enemy, 
and  he  promised  the  same 
inviolability  to  those  of  his 
followers  wrho  would  devote 
themselves  entirely  to  his  ser- 
vice, and  assist  him  in  the 
cause  which  he  had  espoused.  * 
This  new  light  dawned  upon 
the  Indians  at  Greenville, 
Ohio,  in  the  person  of  "Lol- 
a-waw-chic-ka, "  or  the  Loud 
Voice,  brother  of  Tecumseh. + 
The  Projihet,  the  name  by 
which  he  was  generally  desig- 
nated, soon  gathered  about 
him  a  large  number  of  follow- 
ers, composed  of  a  few  Shaw- 
nee warriors  of  his  own  tribe  and  numerous  persons  from  other 
tribes,  many  of  whom  had  fled  for  their  crimes.;}; 

For  some  time  the  Prophet's  influence  in  his  own  neighborhood 
was  trifling  ;    his  fame,  however,  spread  among  the  more  distant 


THE   PROPHET. 


*  Memoirs  of  Gen.  Harrison,  p.  81. 

t  Judges  Hall  and  MeKenney,  in  their  History  of  the  Indian  Tribes  of  North 
America,  vol.  1,  p.  47,  following  Benjamin  Drake's  Manuscript  of  the  Life  of  Tecumseh 
and  the  Prophet,  before  its  publication  by  the  author,  give  the  name  as  Tens-kwau-ta- 
waw,  meaning  the  Open  Door.  Drake's  Life  of  Tecumseh,  p.  88.  The  name  of  the 
prophet  and  its  signification,  as  given  in  the  text,  is  taken  from  a  speech  sent  by  the 
prophet  to  Gen.  Harrison,  in  August,  1808,  found  in  full  in  the  Memoirs  of  General 
Harrison,  p.  108,  and  being  the  name,  with  its  meaning,  as  given  by  none  other  than 
the  prophet  himself,  may  be  regarded  as  the  more  correct. 

%  The  fine  illustration  of  the  prophet  here  given  was  first  used  in  Lossing's  Picto- 
rial Field  Book  of  the  War  of  1812,  p.  189,  published  by  Harper  Brothers,  who  kindly 
furnished  the  cut  for  insertion  in  this  work. 


ENGLISH    INFLUENCE.  283 

tribes,  and  miracles  without  number  were  attributed  to  him.  He 
gathered  about  him  a  horde  of  deluded  savages,  whose  numbers 
were  swollen  daily  by  accessions  of  the  disaffected  from  the  various 
tribes,  the  Winnebagoes,  and  particularly  the  Kickapoos,  furnishing 
large  numbers  of  enthusiastic  proselytes.  So  great  was  the  infatua- 
tion of  his  followers  that  while  listening  to  his  teachings  they  wholly 
neglected  to  provide  for  their  own  subsistence,  and  as  reports  pre- 
vailed abroad  that  they  were  supplied  with  every  luxury  through 
the  supernatural  power  of  the  Prophet,  they  were  actually  starving.* 
The  principal  Delaware  chiefs  being  opposed  to  the  schemes  of  the 
Prophet,  the  latter,  to  get  rid  of  them,  brought  charges  of  witchcraft 
against  three  of  the  old  Delaware  chiefs,  and  caused  them  to  be 
burned  at  the  stake. 

In  the  spring  of  1808  the  Prophet  and  his  adherents  moved  from 
Greenville  and  took  up  their  abode  on  the  Wabash,  near  the  mouth 
of  the  Tippecanoe,  on  a  tract  of  land  claimed  to  have  been  granted 
them  by  the  Pottawatomies  and  Kickapoos, f  without  the  consent  of 
the  Miamis,  who  were  the  rightful  owners. 

The  Prophet  was  merely  a  screen,  behind  which  his  brother, 
Tecumseh,  a  man  of  much  more  ability,  was  perfecting  a  confedera- 
tion of  all  the  tribes  in  a  grand  scheme  of  hostility  against  the  people 
of  the  United  States,  and  involving  no  less  than  a  bold  attempt  to 
check  the  westward  advance  of  white  emigration  and  the  recovery  of 
all  previously-ceded  lands  north  and  westward  of  the  Ohio.  In  this 
movement  was  but  too  plainly  visible  the  hands  of  English  traders 
and  the  baneful  influence  emanating  from  Quebec,  Montreal,  Sand- 
wich and  Maiden.  +  After  the  surrender  of  the  several  military  posts 
by  the  British  authorities,  medals  bearing  the  head  of  the  English 
king  on  the  obverse,  and  the  British  coat-of-arms  on  the  reverse, 
continued  persistently  to  be  distributed  among  the  principal  Indian 
chiefs,  the  same  as  they  had  been  bestowed  before,  and  the  Indians 
were  still  taught,  in  this  most  pernicious  and  effectual  manner,  to 
regard  the  English  sovereign  as  their  father.  § 

To  preserve  harmony,  as  far  as  practicable,  in  a  chronological 
order  of  treating  events,  Tecumseh's  movements  will  be  dropped, 
to  note  the  fact  of  a  subdivision  of  the  Indiana  territory.  On  the  3d 
of  February,  1809,  congress  passed  an  "Act,"  whereby  "all  that 
part  of  the  Indiana  territory  which  lies  west  of  the  Wabash  River, 

*  Memoirs  of  General  Harrison,  p.  81. 

fMcAffee,  p.  11.     Drake's  Tecumseh,  p.  105. 

X  Situated  a  few  miles  below  Detroit,  on  the  Canadian  side  of  the  river. 

S  Samuel  K.  Brown's  History  of  the  Second  War  for  Independence. 


284  HISTORIC    NOTES   ON"   THE    NORTHWEST. 

and  a  line  drawn  from  that  river  and  Post  Vincennes  due  north  to 
the  territorial  line  between  the  United  States  and  Canada,  should, 
for  the  purposes  of  a  territorial  government,  constitute  a  separate 
territory,  and  be  called  Illinois."*  Ninnian  Edwards,  then  chief 
justice  of  Kentucky,  was  appointed  governor,  and  Nathaniel  Pope, 
an  eminent  member  of  the  Kaskaskia  bar,  secretary  of  the  Illinois 
Territory,  which  was  thus  started  on  the  way  of  the  first  grade  of  its 
existence.  Kaskaskia,  with  the  romance  of  a  century  and  the  mists 
of  more  remote  tradition  clinging  about  its  venerable  precincts,  was 
selected  as  the  seat  of  government. 

Tecumseh  had  an  able  assistant  in  the  person  of  Blue  Jacket,  the 
great  Shawnee  warrior.  The  two  held  similar  views,  the  leading 
principles  of  which  were  to  combine  all  the  tribes  to  prevent  the 
sale  of  land  by  a  single  tribe,  to  join  the  British  in  the  event  of  war, 
with  the  hope  of  recovering  the  lands  previously  ceded.  They  held 
that  in  the  treaty  of  Greenville  the  United  States  had  admitted  the 
right  to  the  lands  to  be  jointly  in  all  the  tribes,  and,  therefore,  had 
no  right  to  purchase  territory  of  a  single  tribe  without  the  consent 
of  all  the  others,  -f 

'kThe  various  tribes  in  the  habit  of  visiting  Detroit  and  Sandwich 
were  annually  subsidized  by  the  British.  Where  the  American 
agent  at  Detroit  gave  one  dollar  by  way  of  an  annuity,  the  British 
agent  on  the  other  side  of  the  river  would  give  the  Indians  ten. 
This  course  of  iniquity  had  the  intended  effect ;  the  Indians  were 
impressed  with  a  great  aversion  for  the  Americans,  and  desired  to 
recover  the  lands  ceded  at  Greenville,  and  for  which  they  were 
yearly  receiving  the  stipulated  annuity.  They  wished  again  to  try 
their  strength  with  the  Big  Knife^  in  order  to  wipe  away  the  dis- 
grace of  their  defeat  by  Gen.  Wayne.  They  were  still  promised  aid 
by  the  British  in  the  advent  of  a  war  between  the  latter  and  the 
United  States.":}: 

The  teachings  of  the  Prophet  and  the  schemes  of  Tecumseh  could 
have  only  one  result.  Gen.  Harrison  saw  the  storm  that  was  too 
surely  approaching,  and  exerted  himself,  with  great  address,  to  pro- 
tect the  inhabitants  committed  to  his  care,  scattered,  as  they  were, 
at  great  distances  over  an  extensive  territory.  By  an  admirable  sys- 
tem he  had  spies,  in  the  guise  of  traders,  and  Indians,  whom  he  had 
by  his  winning  manners  drawn  about  him,  in  the  villages  of  all  of 
the  disaffected  tribes,  by  means  of  whom  he  was  kept  fully  informed 

*  Second  U.  S.  Statutes  at  Large,  p.  114. 
t  McAfee's  History  of  the  Late  War,  p.  9. 
X  McAfee,  p.  9. 


PLANS    OF   TECUMSEH.  285 

of  the  purposes  of  Tecumseh  and  his  brother,  the  Prophet.  While 
Tecumseh  was  traveling,  visiting  the  various  tribes  in  the  northwest, 
and  perfecting  his  schemes,  the  governor  was  preparing  for  what  he 
knew  would  surely  come  —  war. 

The  Prophet,  becoming  bolder  every  day,  at  last,  in  the  month 
of  April,  1809,  required  his  followers  "to  take  up  the  hatchet 
against  the  white  people,  to  destroy  the  inhabitants  of  Vincennes 
and  those  on  the  Ohio,  who  lived  as  low  down  as  its  mouth  and  as 
high  up  as  Cincinnati,  telling  them  that  the  Great  Spirit  had  ordered 
them  to  do  this,  and  that  their  refusal  would  result  in  their  own  de- 
struction.11 A  number  of  Chippeways,  Ottawas  and  Pottawatomies 
were  so  alarmed  at  this  bold  avowal  that  they  hurried  away  from 
the  Prophet.*  The  estimated  force  of  the  Prophet  at  this  time  was 
from  six  to  eight  hundred  men ;  and  if,  as  it  was  reported,  the 
defection  had  extended  to  all  the  tribes  between  the  Illinois  River 
and  Lake  Michigan,  that  number  might  be  doubled,  f 

The  governor  dispatched  another  one  of  his  interpreters,  Joseph 
Barron,  to  the  Prophets  town,  in  the  hope  that,  when  informed  of 
the  strength  and  resources  of  the  United  States,  the  Indians  would 
be  prevented  from  commencing  hostilities.  This  speech  was  deliv- 
ered to  the  Prophet  by  Barron,  in  the  presence  of  Tecumseh.  No 
answer  was  made,  but  one  was  promised  to  be  sent  back  by  the 
interpreter.  The  latter  lodged  for  the  night  with  Tecumseh,  when 
a  general  conversation  ensued,  in  which  Tecumseh  denied  "  an  in- 
tention to  make  war,  but  declared  that  it  was  not  possible  to  be 
friends  with  the  United  States,  unless  the  latter  would  abandon  the 
idea  of  extending  settlements  further  to  the  north  and  west,  and 
explicitly  acknowledge  the  principle  that  all  the  lands  in  the  west- 
ern country  were  the  common  property  of  all  the  tribes.  The 
Great  Spirit,'1  said  Tecumseh,  "gave  this  island  to  his  red  chil- 
dren. He  placed  the  whites  on  the  other  side  of  the  big  water. 
They  were  not  contented  with  their  own,  but  came  to  take  ours  from 
us.  They  have  driven  us  from  the  sea  to  the  lakes  —  we  can  go  no 
farther.  They  have  taken  upon  them  to  say  this  tract  is  the  Mi- 
ami's, this  is  the  Delaware's,  and  so  on;  but  the  Great  Spirit 
intended  it  as  the  common  property  of  all.  Our  father  tells  us 
that  we  have  no  business  upon  the  Wabash  —  that  the  land  belongs 

*  Memoirs  of  Gen.  Harrison,  pp.  126,  127. 

f  Idem,  138.  About  this  time  an  old  Piankashaw,  named  Grosble,  or  Big-Corn,  a 
particular  friend  to  Gen.  Harrison  and  the  United  States,  asked  the  former  for  permis- 
sion to  move  beyond  the  Mississippi,  alleging  that  he  heard  nothing  among  the  Indians 
but  news  of  war,  and  as  he  intended  to  take  no  part  in  it  he  wished  to  be  out  of 
danger. 


286  HISTORIC    NOTES   OX   THE    NORTHWEST. 

to  other  tribes.     The  Grreat  Spirit  ordered  us  to  come  here,  and  here 
we  will  stayP 

Tecumseh  told  the  interpreter  that  he  would  come  to  Vincennes 
and  visit  (Ten.  Harrison,  and  bring  with  him  about  thirty  of  the 
principal  men.  Accordingly,  on  the  12th  of  August,  1810,  Tecum- 
seh arrived  at  Yincennes,  where  a  council  was  held,  at  which  mu- 
tual explanations  were  made  in  the  presence  of  a  large  concourse 
of  Indians,  militia  and  the  citizens  of  the  town.  Tecumseh.  in  his 
speech,  took  the  grounds  of  a  common  ownership  by  all  the  Indians 
of  all  the  lands,  and  of  the  inability  of  one  tribe  to  dispose  of  any 
part  of  it  without  the  consent  of  all  the  Others.  He  grew  very  vio- 
lent as  the  interpreter  was  rendering  Gen.  Harrison's  reply.  The 
Indians  sprang  to  their  feet,  seizing  their  tomahawks  and  war  clubs, 
bending  their  eyes  fiercely  upon  the  governor.  The  militia  were 
quickly  marched  up  to  the  scene  of  the  difficulty,  and  order  was  re- 
stored. The  next  morning  Tecumseh,  greatly  mortified  at  his  dis- 
play of  anger  and  bad  manners,  met  the  governor  with  an  apology. 
The  latter  assured  him  that  he  would  submit  his  propositions  to  the 
president,  adding,  at  the  same  time,  that  there  was  little  probability 
of  their  being  acceded  to.  "Well,"  said  Tecumseh,  '"as  the  great 
chief  is  to  determine  the  matter,  I  hope  the  Great  Spirit  will  put 
sense  enough  into  his  head  to  induce  him  to  direct  you  to  give  up 
this  land.  It  is  true  he  is  so  far  off  that  he  will  not  be  injured  by 
the  war.  He  may  still  sit  in  his  town  and  drink  his  wine  whilst  you 
and  I  will  have  to  fight  it  out."*  And  fight  it  out  they  did.  as  we 
will  now  proceed  to  show. 

Events  transpiring  subsequent  to  the  conference  at  Yincennes 
clearly  demonstrated  that  there  was  no  other  alternative ;  either  the 
Prophet's  town  had  to  be  destroyed,  and  the  purposes  of  Tecumseh 
thwarted,  or  else  the  advancing  line  of  white  population  would  be 
driven  back  from  whence  it  came. 

The  boldness  and  insolence  of  the  assemblage  at  the  Prophet's 
town  increased  daily ;  hostile  parties  were  continually  leaving  that 
place  for  the  white  settlements,  where  they  killed  the  inhabitants 
and  stole  their  horses.  Finally,  Gov.  Harrison  received  orders  to 
proceed  to  the  Prophet's  town  with  a  military  force,  which  he  was 
only  to  use  after  all  efforts  to  effect  a  peaceable  dispersion  of  its 
occupants  had  failed.  The  governor  left  Yincennes  on  the  26th  of 
September,  1811,  with  a  force  of  nine  hundred  effective  men,  com- 
posed of  the  4th  Reg.  U.  S.  regulars,  with  a  body  of  militia,  and  a 

*  Memoirs  of  Gen.  Harrison,  p.  159. 


TIPPECANOE   CAMPAIGN.  1»S7 

hundred  and  thirty  volunteer  dragoons.  The  regulars  had  been 
organized  for  some  time,  and  were  well  drilled  and  ably  officered. 
James  Miller,  who  subsequently  immortalized  himself  at  Lundy's 
Lane  by  replying,  when  asked  if  he  could  take  the  English  battery 
on  the  hill,  "I  will  try,  sir,"  and  in  the  heroism  and  success  with 
which  he  made  the  effort,  being  the  lieutenant-colonel.  ~::"  The  mili- 
tia, who  were  all  volunteers,  had  been  well  trained  by  the  governor 
in  person  in  all  those  peculiar  evolutions  practiced  by  Gen.  Wayne's 
army,  and  which  had  been  found  so  efficient  in  operating  against  the 
Indians  in  a  covered  country.  On  the  3d  of  October  the  army, 
moving  up  on  the  east  side  of  the  Wabash,  reached  a  place  on  the 
bank  of  the  stream  some  two  miles  above  the  old  Wea  village  of 
We-au-ta-no,  "The  Risen  Sun,'"  called  by  many  the  "Old  Orchard 
Town,"  and  time  out  of  mind,  by  the  early  French  traders,  Terre 
Haute.  Here  the  governor  halted,  according  to  his  instructions, 
within  the  boundary  of  the  country  already  ceded  by  the  Indians, 
.and  occupied  his  time  in  erecting  a  fort,  while  waiting  the  return  of 
messengers  whom  he  had  dispatched  to  the  Prophet's  town,  demand- 
ing the  surrender  of  murderers,  and  the  return  of  stolen  horses 
sheltered  there,  and  requiring  that  the  Shawnees,  Winnebagoes, 
Pottawatomies  and  Kickapoos  collected  there  should  disperse  and 
return  to  their  own  tribes.  The  messengers  were  treated  with  great 
insolence  by  the  Prophet  and  his  council,  who,  to  put  an  end  to  all 
hopes  of  peace,  sent  out  a  small  war  party  to  precipitate  hostilities. 
This  war  party,  finding  no  stragglers  about  the  governor's  encamp- 
ment, shot  at  and  wounded  one  of  his  sentinels.  The  Delaware 
chiefs  who  went  with  the  messengers  to  the  Prophet's  town  advised 
the  governor,  on  their  return,  that  it  would  be  in  vain  to  expect  that 
anything  short  of  force  would  obtain  satisfaction  for  past  injuries  or 
security  for  the  future.  They  also  informed  him  that  the  strength 
of  the  Prophet  was  daily  increasing  by  accessions  of  ardent  and 
giddy  young  men  from  every  tribe,  and  particularly  from  those  along 
and  beyond  the  Illinois  River. 

The  new  fort  was  finished  on  the  28th  of  October,  and  by  the 
unanimous  request  of  all  the  officers  it  was  christened  "Fort  Har- 
rison. ' '  * 

*  This  intrepid  officer  was  so  extremely  ill  of  the  fever  when  the  regiment  marched 
that  he  could  scarcely  walk.  He  did  go,  however,  as  far  as  Ft.  Harrison,  and  on  the 
completion  of  this  work  he  could  go  no  farther,  and  the  fort,  with  a  garrison  con- 
sisting of  invalids  like  himself,  was  assigned  to  his  command. 

f  The  illustration  is  copied  from  a  lithograph  in  possession  of  M  M.  Redford,  Dan- 
ville, Illinois.  It  is  one  of  a  number  of  impressions  printed  by  Modesit  &  Hager  in 
1848.     It  was  drawn  from  descriptions  given  by  old  settlers  who  were  well  acquainted 


288 


HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 


Oil  the  29th  of  ( )ctober  Gov.  Harrison  moved  up  the  Wabash, 
crossing  Raccoon  Creek  at  Armysburg,  and  ferrying  his  army  over 
the  Wabash  at  the  mouth  of  the  former  stream  on  boats  sent  up  the 
river  for  that  purpose.  The  army  encamped  on  the  2d  of  November 
some  two  miles  below  the  mouth  of  the  Big  Vermilion,  and  about  a 
mile  below  the  encampment  a  block-house,  partly  jutting  over  the 
river,  twenty-five  feet  square,  was  erected  on  the  edge  of  a  small 
prairie  sloping  down  to  the  water's  edge.    The  block-house  was  gar- 


FORT   HARRISON   IN   1812. 

risoned  with  a  sergeant  and  eight  men,  in  whose  charge  were  left  the 
boats  which  up  to  this  time  had  been  used  for  the  transportation  of 
supplies.*  On  the  3d  the  army  left  the  block-house,  crossed  the  Ver- 
milion and  entered  the  prairies,  the  route  passing  just  east  of  State 

with  the  fort  and  surroundings  before  its  demolition,  and  was  pronounced  a  faithful 
and  good  representation. 

Samuel  R.  Brown,  in  his  Western  Gazetteer,  p.  69,  gives  an  account  he  received 
from  the  French  traders  at  Fort  Harrison,  in  1816,  of  the  traditional  great  battles  fought 
between  the  Indians,  many  years  ago,  on  the  ground  at  Fort  Harrison.  On  account  of 
the  rarity  of  the  volume  in  which  it  is  found,  the  veracity  of  its  author,  the  time  when 
and  persons  from  whom  he  received  it,  and  the  interest  attaching  to  the  tradition,  we 
insert  it  here : 

"  The  French  have  a  tradition  that  an  exterminating  battle  was  fought  in  the  begin- 
ning of  the  last  century,  on  the  ground  where  Fort  Harrison  now  stands,  between  the 
Indians  living  on  the  Mississippi  and  those  of  the  Wabash.  The  bone  of  contention 
was  the  lands  lying  between  those  rivers,  which  both  parties  claimed.  There  were 
about  a  thousand  warriors  on  each  side.  The  condition  of  the  fight  was  that  the  vic- 
tors should  possess  the  lands  in  dispute.  The  grandeur  of  the  prize  was  peculiarly 
calculated  to  inflame  the  ardor  of  savage  minds.  The  contest  commenced  about  sun- 
rise. Both  parties  fought  desperately.  The  Wabash  warriors  came  off  conquerors, 
having  seven  men  left  alive  at  sunset,  and  their  adversaries  hutjipe.  The  mounds  are 
still  to  be  seen  where  it  is  said  the  slain  were  buried." 

*  Memoirs  of  General  Harrison:  Dillon's  Indiana,  p.  463. 


Harrison's  march.  289 

Line  city;   from  thence  to  Crow's  Grove,  where  the  army  went  into 
camp  for  the  night. 

It  was  from  this  point  that  Capt.  Prince  was  sent  forward  to  find 
a  crossing  place  at  Pine  Creek.*  In  passing  through  this  prairie 
country,  the  army  was  frequently  made  to  practice  all  those  forma- 
tions which  it  was  probable  they  would  have  to  assume  in  action. 
On  the  4th  of  November  the  army  approached  the  very  difficult 
pass  of  Pine  Creek.  This  stream  presents  a  curious  spectacle  in 
that  country.  For  many  miles  before  it  discharges  itself  into  the 
Wabash  its  course  is  through  an  immense  mass  of  rock,  the  sides 
of  which  in  some  places  are  perpendicular.  Few  places  can  be 
found  where  the  stream  may  be  crossed  with  facility.  The  Indian 
path,  upon  which  the  army  was  then  marching,  led  to  a  defile  ex- 
tremely difficult  of  passage,  and  would  have  afforded  the  enemy  an 
opportunity  to  make  an  attack  very  unfavorable  to  the  troops,  f  In 
the  course  of  the  night  of  the  4th  of  November,  Gov.  Harrison  sent 
Capt.  Prince  with  a  small  force:}:  to  discover  a  passage  higher  up  the 
stream.  This  officer  returned  at  ten  o'clock  the  following  morning, 
with  a  report  that  "  a  few  miles  higher  up  he  had  found  a  good  cross- 
ing place,"  since  known  as  the  "army  ford"  where  the  prairies  on 
each  side  skirted  the  creek."  On  the  evening  of  the  5th  the  army 
encamped  within  nine  or  ten  miles  of  the  Prophet's  town.  The  6th 
was  consumed  by  the  governor  in  working  his  army  over  difficult 
ground  toward  the  Indian  town,  and  in  edeavoring  to  speak  with 
the  Indians  who,  in  great  numbers,  now  swarmed  about  his  front 
and  flanks,  declining  to  communicate  with  his  interpreters,  and 
"continued  to  insult  our  people  by  their  gestures."  Every  invi- 
tation to  a  parley  by  the  interpreters,  who  were  some  distance  in 
front  for  that  purpose,  "was  answered  by  menace  and  insult."  It 
was  evident  that  the  Indians  intended  to  fight,  and  the  troops,  in 
high  spirits,  wanted  to  be  led  to  the  attack  immediately.  This  the 
governor  would  not  permit  until  every  effort  for  a  peaceable  solu- 
tion of  the  difficulties  were  exhausted.  The  army  being  within  a 
short  distance  of  the  town,  the  governor  was  determined  not  to 
jeopardize  his  men  by  advancing  nearer  that  evening,  nor  until  he 

*  Tipton's  Journal.  The  track  of  Harrison's  army  remained  for  many  years.  The 
army  encamped  in  the  grove  upon  its  return. 

fThe  governor  knew  that  it  had  been  selected  for  an  ambuscade  by  the  Indians, 
once,  in  the  year  1786.  when  Gen.  George  R.  Clarke  commanded  an  expedition  against 
the  Indians  of  the  Wabash,  which  failed  from  a  mutiny  of  the  troops  eight  miles 
above  Vincennes,  and  a  second  time,  in  1790,  when  Col.  Hamtramck  marched  up  the 
Wabash  to  make  a  diversion  in  favor  of  Gen.  Harmar.  The  governor,  with  a  knowl- 
edge of  this  fact,  had  no  notion  of  leading  his  army  into  this  defile. 

X  Tipton's  scouts.     Vide  his  Narrative  Journal. 
19 


290  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

knew  precisely  the  situation  of  the  village  and  the  character  of 
the  intervening  ground.  Maj.  Davis,  who,  with  the  other  officers, 
desired,  like  the  men.  immediate  action,  replied  that  from  the 
right  of  the  position  of  the  dragoons,  in  front,  the  openings  made 
by  low  grounds  of  the  Wabash  could  be  seen ;  that  in  company 
with  his  adjutant,  D.  Floyd,  he  had  advanced  to  the  bank,  which 
descends  to  the  low  grounds,  and  had  a  fair  view  of  the  cultivated 
tields  and  the  houses  of  the  town,  to  which  the  open  woods  where 
the  army  then  was,  continued  without  interruption.  The  governor 
said  he  would  advance  if  he  could  get  a  suitable  person  to  proceed 
to  the  town  with  a  nag.  ("apt.  T.  Dubois,  of  Yincennes,  offered 
his  services,  and  proceeded,  with  an  interpreter,  to  the  Prophet, 
desiring  to  know  whether  he  would  now  comply  with  the  terms  that 
had  been  so  often  proposed  to  him.  The  army,  in  order  of  battle, 
moved  slowly  toward  the  town.  Directly  a  message  came  from 
("apt.  Dubois,  with  word  that  the  Indians,  who  were  near  him  in 
considerable  numbers,  would  return  no  answer  to  the  interpreter, 
although  sufficiently  near  to  hear  what  was  said  to  them,  and  that, 
upon  his  advancing,  the  Indians  endeavored  to  cut  him  off  from  the 
army.  The  governor  could  no  longer  hesitate  in  treating  the  In- 
dians as  enemies.  He  recalled  Capt.  Dubois,  and  moved  up  with  a 
determination  to  attack  them.  He  had  not  proceeded  far  before  he 
was  met  by  three  Indians,  one  of  them  a  principal  counsellor  of  the 
Prophet,  who  said  they  were  sent  to  know  why  the  army  was  ad- 
vancing ;  that  the  Prophet  wished  to  avoid  hostilities ;  that  pacific 
messages  had  been  returned  to  the  governor  by  his  messengers,  the 
Miami  and  Pottawatomie  chiefs,  who,  unfortunately,  had  proceeded 
back  on  the  south  side  of  the  Wabash,  thus  missing  the  governor, 
who  was  marching  up  on  the  other.  Hostilities  were  suspended 
accordingly,  and  a  meeting  was  agreed  upon  to  take  place  the  next 
day,  for  the  purpose  of  fixing  upon  terms  of  peace.  The  governor 
told  the  deputation  that  he  would  go  on  to  the  Wabash  and  encamp 
for  the  night. 

Marching  a  short  distance  farther,  he  came  in  view  of  the  town, 
which  was  seen  at  some  distance  up  the  river,  upon  a  commanding 
eminence.  Maj.  Davis  had  mistaken  some  scattering  houses  in  the 
fields  below  for  the  town  itself.  The  ground  below  the  town  being 
unfavorable  for  an  encampment,  the  army  continued  its  march  in 
the  direction  of  the  town,  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  a  better  sit- 
uation beyond.  The  dragoons  becoming  entangled  in  a  piece  of 
ground  covered  with  brush  and  the  tops  of  fallen  trees,  a  halt  was 
ordered,  and  the  position  of  the  cavalry  changed  to  some  open  fields 


TIPPECANOE    BATTLE-GROUND. 


291 


adjacent  to  the  river.  The  Indians,  seeing  this  manceuver  as  the 
army  approached  the  town,  supposed  they  intended  to  attack  it,  and 
immediately  prepared  for  its  defense.  The  governor  rode  forward 
and  requested  some  of  the  Indians  to  come  to  him,  assuring  them 
that  nothing  was  farther  from  his  thoughts  than  of  attacking  them  ; 
that  the  ground  below  the  town  was  not  fit  for  an  encampment  and 
that  his  movements  were  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  search  for  a 


better  one  above.  He  then  asked  if  there  was  any  other  water  con- 
venient besides  that  in  the  Wabash,  and  an  Indian  with  whom  the 
governor  was  well  acquainted  referred  him  to  the  creek  which  the 
army  had  crossed  two  miles  back,  and  that  ran  through  the  prairie  to 
the  north  of  the  village.  A  halt  was  ordered,  and  three  officers  sent 
out,  who,  returning  in  half  an  hour,  reported  that  they  had  found  on 
the  creek,  since  called  Burnett's  Creek,  an  elevated  spot  nearly  sur- 
rounded by  an  open  prairie  and  supplied  with  water  and  fuel.  To 
this  place  (since  famous  as  the  Tippecanoe  battle-ground,  about  eight 


292  HISTORIC    NOTES    OX   THE    NORTHWEST. 

miles  north  of  La  Fayette,  Indiana,  on  the  northwest  side  of  the 
Wabash)  the  army  repaired,  and  went  into  camp  for  the  night. "' 

The  illustration  will  assist  the  reader,  while  perusing  an  account 
of  the  engagement  contained  irr  the  following  extracts  taken  from 
Gov.  Harrison's  official  report. 

"  I  then  took  leave  of  the  chief,  and  a  mutual  promise  was  again 
made  for  a  suspension  of  hostilities  until  we  could  have  an  interview 
on  the  following  day.  I  found  the  ground  destined  for  the  encamp- 
ment not  altogether  such  as  I  could  wish  it.  It  was,  indeed,  admira- 
bly calculated  for  the  encampment  of  regular  troops  that  were 
opposed  to  regulars,  but  it  afforded  great  facility  for  the  approach  of 
savages.  It  was  a  piece  of  dry  oak  land,  rising  about  ten  feet  above 
the  level  of  a  marshy  prairie  in  front  (toward  the  Indian  town),  and 
nearly  twice  that  height  above  a  similar  prairie  in  the  rear,  through 
which,  and  near  to  this  bank,  ran  a  small  stream  clothed  with  willows 
and  brushwood.  Toward  the  left  flank  this  bench  of  high  land 
widened  considerably,  but  became  gradually  narrow  in  the  opposite 
direction,  at  the  distance  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  from  the 
right  flank  terminated  in  an  abrupt  point.  The  two  columns  of 
infantry  occupied  the  front  and  rear  of  this  ground,  at  the  distance 
of  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  from  each  other,  on  the  left, 
and  something  more  than  half  that  distance  on  the  right  flank. 
These  flanks  were  filled  up.  the  first  by  two  companies  of  mounted 
riflemen,  amounting  to  one  hundred  and  twenty  men,  under  the 
command  of  Maj.-Gen.  Wells,  of  the  Kentucky  militia,  who  served 
as  major,  the  other  by  Spencers  company  of  mounted  riflemen, 
which  amounted  to  eighty  men.  The  front  line  was  composed  of  one 
battalion  of  United  States  infantry,  under  the  command  of  Major 
Floyd,  flanked  on  the  right  by  two  companies  of  militia,  and  on  the 
left  by  one  company.  The  rear  line  was  composed  of  a  battalion  of 
United  States  troops  under  command  of  Capt.  Bean,  acting  as  major, 
and  four  companies  of  militia  infantry  under  Lieut. -Col.  Decker.  The 
regular  troops  of  this  line  joined  the  mounted  riflemen  under  Gen. 
Wells  on  the  left  flank,  and  Col.  Decker's  battalion  formed  an  angle 
with  Spencer's  company  on  the  left. 

"Two  troops  of  dragoons,  amounting  to.  in  the  aggregate,  about 
sixty  men,  were  encamped^  in  the  rear  of  the  left  flank,  and  Capt. 
Parkers  troop,  which  was  larger  than  the  other  two,  in  the  rear  of 
the  front  line.      Our  order  of  encampment  varied  little  from  that 

*The  illustration  of  the  battle-ground  was  drawn  by  the  historical  writer,  B.  J. 
Lossing,  who  visited  the  locality  in  1860,  and  appears  in  his  Field  Book  of  the  War  of 
1812:  and  the  positions  of  the  several  corps  are  located  on  the  plan  in  conformity  with 
the  official  account  of  the  battle. 


BATTLE    OF   TIPPECANOE.  293 

above  described,  excepting  when  some  peculiarity  of  the  ground 
made  it  necessary.  For  a  night  attack  the  order  of  encampment  was 
the  order  of  battle,  and  each  man  slept  immediately  opposite  to  his 
post  in  the  line.  In  the  formation  of  my  troops  I  used  a  single  rank, 
or  what  is  called  Indian  file,  because  in  Indian  warfare,  where  there 
is  no  shock  to  resist,  one  rank  is  nearly  as  good  as  two,  and  in  that 
kind  of  warfare  the  extension  of  line  is  of  .the  first  importance.  Kaw 
troops  also  manoeuver  with  much  more  facility  in  single  than  in  double 
ranks.  It  was  my  constant  custom  to  assemble  all  the  field  officers  at 
my  tent  every  evening  by  signal,  to  give  them  the  watchword  and 
the  instructions  for  the  night ;  those  given  for  the  night  of  the  6th 
were  that  each  troop  which  formed  a  part  of  the  exterior  line  of  the 
encampment  should  hold  its  own  ground  until  relieved.  The  dragoons 
were  ordered  to  parade,  in  case  of  a  night  attack,  with  their  pistols  in 
their  belts,  and  to  act  as  a  corps  of  reserve.  The  camp  was  defended 
by  two  captains1  guards,  consisting  each  of  four  non-commissioned 
officers  and  forty-two  privates,  and  two  subalterns1  guards  of  twenty 
non-commissioned  officers  and  privates,  the  whole  under  the  com- 
mand of  a  field  officer  of  the  day.  The  troops  were  regularly  called 
up  an  hour  before  day,  and  made  to  continue  under  arms  until  it  was 
quite  light. 

"On  the  morning  of  the  7th  I  had  risen  at  a  quarter  after  four 
o'clock,  and  the  signal  for  calling  out  the  men  would  have  been 
given  in  two  minutes  when  the  attack  commenced.  It  began  on  our 
left  flank ;  but  a  signal  gun  was  fired  by  the  sentinels,  or  by  the 
guard,  in  that  direction,  which  made  not  the  least  resistance,  but 
abandoned  their  officer  and  fled  into  camp,  and  the  first  notice  which 
the  troops  of  that  flank  had  of  the  danger  was  from  the  yells  of  the 
savages  within  a  short  distance  of  the  line ;  but  even  under  those 
circumstances  the  men  were  not  wanting  to  themselves  or  the  occa- 
sion. Such  of  them  as  were  awake,  or  were  easily  awakened,  seized 
their  arms  and  took  their  stations ;  others,  which  were  more  tardy, 
had  to  contend  with  the  enemy  in  the  doors  of  their  tents.  The 
storm  first  fell  upon  Capt.  Barton's  company  of  the  -1th  IT.  S.  Reg., 
and  Capt.  Geiger's  company  of  mounted  riflemen,  which  formed  the 
left  angle  of  the  rear  line.  The  fire  upon  these  was  exceedingly 
severe,  and  they  suffered  considerably  before  relief  could  be  brought 
to  them.  Some  few  Indians  passed  into  the  encampment  near  the 
angle,  and  one  or  two  penetrated  to  some  distance  before  they  were 
killed.  I  believe  all  the  other  companies  were  under  arms  and  tol- 
erably formed  before  they  were  fired  on.  The  morning  was  dark 
and  cloudy ;  our  fires  afforded  a  partial  light,  which,  if  it  gave  us 


294  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON    THE    NORTHWEST. 

some  opportunity  for  taking  our  positions,  was  still  more  advanta- 
geous to  the  enemy,  affording  them  the  means  of  taking  a  surer  aim  ; 
they  were,  therefore,  extinguished.  Under  all  these  discouraging 
circumstances,  the  troops  (nineteen-twentieths  of  whom  never  had 
been  in  action  before )  behaved  in  a  manner  that  can  never  be  too 
much  applauded.  They  took  their  place  without  noise,  and  less 
confusion  than  could  have  been  expected  from  veterans  placed  in 
the  same  situation.  As  soon  as  I  could  mount  my  horse. I  rode  to 
the  angle  that  was  attacked.  I  found  that  Barton's  company  had 
suffered  severely,  and  the  left  of  Geiger's  entirely  broken.  I  imme- 
diately ordered  Cook's  company,  and  the  late  Capt.  Wentworth's, 
under  Lieut.  Peters,  to  be  brought  up  from  the  center  of  the  rear 
line,  where  the  ground  was  much  more  defensible,  and  formed  across 
the  angle  in  support  of  Barton's  and  Geiger's.  My  attention  was 
then  engaged  by  a  heavy  firing  upon  the  left  of  the  front  line,  where 
were  stationed  the  small  company  of  United  States  riflemen  (then, 
however,  armed  with  muskets),  and  the  companies  of  Bean,  Snell- 
ing  and  Prescott,  of  the  4th  Reg.  I  found  Major  Daviess  forming 
the  dragoons  in  the  rear  of  those  companies,  and  understanding  that 
the  heaviest  part  of  the  enemy's  fire  proceeded  from  some  trees 
about  fifteen  or  twenty  paces  in  front  of  those  companies,  I  directed 
the  major  to  dislodge  them  with  a  part  of  the  dragoons.  Unfortu- 
nately, the  major's  gallantry  determined  him  to  execute  the  order 
with  a  smaller  force  than  was  sufficient,  which  enabled  the  enemy 
to  avoid  him  in  front  and  attack  his  flanks.  The  major  was  mortally 
wounded,  and  his  party  driven  back.  The  Indians  were,  however, 
immediately  and  gallantly  dislodged  from  their  advantageous  posi- 
tion by  Capt.  Suelling  at  the  head  of  his  company. 

"In  the  course  of  a  few  minutes  after  the  commencement  of  the 
attack  the  fire  extended  along  the  left  flank,  the  whole  of  the  front, 
the  right  flank  and  part  of  the  rear  line.  Upon  Spencer's  mounted 
riflemen  and  the  right  of  Warwick's  company,  which  was  posted  on 
the  right  of  the  rear  line,  it  was  excessively  severe.  Capt.  Spencer 
and  his  first  and  second  lieutenants  were  killed,  and  Capt.  Warwick 
was  mortally  wounded.  Those  companies,  however,  still  bravely 
maintained  their  posts,  but  Spencer  had  suffered  so  severely,  and 
having  originally  too  much  ground  to  occupy,  I  reinforced  them  with 
Robb's  company  of  riflemen,  which  had  been  driven,  or  by  mistake 
ordered,  from  their  positions  on  the  left  flank  toward  the  center  of 
the  camp,  and  filled  the  vacancy  that  had  been  occupied  by  Robb 
with  Prescott' s  company  of  the  4th  United  States  regiment.  My 
great  object  was  to  keep  the  lines  entire,  to  prevent  the  enemy  from 


BATTLE    OF   TIPPECAXOE.  295 

breaking  into  the  camp,  until  daylight,  which  should  enable  me  to 
make  a  general  and  effectual  charge.  With  this  in  view,  I  had  rein- 
forced every  part  of  the  line  that  had  suffered  much,  and  as  soon  as 
the  approach  of  morning  discovered  itself  I  withdrew  from  the  front 
line  Snelling's,  Porey's  (under  Lieut.  Albright)  and  Scott's,  and  from 
the  rear  line  Wilson's,  companies,  and  drew  them  up  upon  the  left 
flank;  and  at  the  same  time  I  ordered  Cook's  and  Bean's  companies, 
the  former  from  the  rear,  and  the  latter  from  the  front,  line,  to 
reinforce  the  right  flank,  foreseeing  that  at  these  points  the  enemy 
would  make  their  last  efforts.  Major  Wells,  who  commanded  on  the 
left  flank,  not  knowing  my  intentions  precisely,  had  taken  command 
of  these  companies,  and  had  charged  the  enemy  before  I  had  formed 
the  body  of  dragoons  with  which  I  meant  to  support  the  infantry.  A 
small  detachment  of  these  were,  however,  ready,  and  proved  amply 
sufficient  for  the  purpose.  The  Indians  were  driven  by  the  infantry 
at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  and  the  dragoons  pursued  and  forced 
them  into  a  marsh,  where  they  could  not  be  followed.  Capt.  Cook 
and  Lieut.  Larabee  had,  agreeable  to  my  order,  marched  their  com- 
panies to  the  right  flank,  and  formed  them  under  the  fire  of  the  ene- 
my, and,  being  then  joined  by  the  riflemen  of  that  flank,  had  charged 
the  Indians,  killed  a  number  and  put  the  rest  to  precipitate  flight.  A 
favorable  opportunity  was  here  offered  to  pursue  the  enemy  with 
dragoons,  but  being  engaged  at  that  time  on  the  other  flank,  I  did 
not  observe  it  till  it  was  too  late. 

k'I  have  thus,  sir,  given  you  the  particulars  of  an  action  which 
was  certainly  maintained  with  the  greatest  obstinacy. and  persever- 
ance by  both  parties.  The  Indians  manifested  a  ferocity  uncommon 
even  with  them.  To  their  savage  fury  our  troops  opposed  that  cool 
and  deliberate  valor  which  is  characteristic  of  the  christian  Sol- 
dier."* 

We  note  a  few  of  the  incidents  connected  with  the  campaign. 
The  night  was  dark  in  consequence  of  clouds,  which  occasionally 
discharged  a  drizzling  rain,  affording  the  Indians  a  chance  to  creep 
up  so  near  the  sentries  as  to  hear  them  challenged  when  relieved. 
They  intended  to  rush  upon  the  sentinels  and  kill  them  before  they 
could  fire;  but  one  of  the  sentinels  discovering  an  Indian  creeping 
toward  him  in  the  grass,  fired  his  gun,  the  report  of  which  was  in- 
stantly followed  by  an  Indian  yell,  and  a  desperate  charge  upon  the 
left  flank.  The  Indians  advanced  to  the  wild  music  of  their  rattles, 
made  of  deers1  hoofs,  the  shrill  noise  of  their  gun  chargers,  blowing 

*  General  Harrison's  Official  Report:  American  State  Papers,  vol.  5,  pp.  777,  778. 


296  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON    THE    NORTHWEST. 

them  as  whistles,  and  furious  savage  yells,  that  arose  in  the  darkness 
above  the  peals  of  the  musketry.  They  fought  like  the  very  demons 
they  were,  inspired  by  the  incantations  of  the  Prophet,  who,  secure 
from  flying  bullets,  occupied  an  adjacent  eminence  and  sang  ''the 
war  song."  lie  had  told  his  followers  that  the  American  bullets 
would  prove  harmless.  Soon  after  the  beginning  of  the  battle  word 
was  sent  him  that  his  men  were  falling.  He  encouraged  them  to 
tight  on,  saying  it  would  soon  be  as  he  predicted,  and  then  sang  the 
louder.  The  Indians  rushed  up  to  the  bayonets  of  our  men,  and  in 
one  instance,  related  by  Capt.  Snelling,  an  Indian  adroitly  pushed 
the  bayonet  of  a  soldier  aside,  and  clave  his  head  with  a  war  club. 
The  Winnebago  warriors  distinguished  themselves  by  their  bravery. 
The  governor  exposed  himself  constantly,  and  was  present  at  every 
point  on  the  lines  as  they  were  severally  pressed  by  the  enemy.  His 
clothing,  hat,  and  even  his  hair,  were  cut  by  the  enemy's  balls.* 

The  7th  was  spent  in  burying  the  dead  on  the  field  where  they 
fell,  caring  for  the  wounded,  and  fortifying  the  camp.  On  the  8th 
of  November  the  village  was  reconnoitred,  and  gave  evidence  of 
having  been  abandoned  in  great  haste.  The  household  utensils 
were  all  left,  and  some  guns,  still  in  the  covers  in  which  they  had 
been  imported,  and  a  quantity  of  prime  double-glazed  English  rifle 
powder.  Hogs  and  poultry  were  found,  running  through  the  village, 
a  large  quantity  of  corn  and  a  vast  number  of  kettles.  Gen.  John 
Tipton,  who  took  a  prominent  part  in  this  campaign,  says  in  his 
daily  journal  that  the  Americans  destroyed  two  thousand  bushels  of 
corn,  besides  six  wagon  loads  which  they  hauled  away  from  the  vil- 
lage. +     Everything  useful  to  the  army  was  removed,  and  then  the 

•*0f  the  little  more  than  eight  hundred  Americans  in  the  action,  the  killed  and 
wounded  numbered  one  hundred  and  eighty-eight.  An  unusual  per  cent  of  the 
wounded  died  or  lost  their  limbs  on  account,  as  the  surgeons  said,  of  the  Indians 
having  chewed  their  balls,  causing  them  to  tear  the  flesh  severely,  and  make  a  more 
ragged  wound  than  a  smooth  ball  would  do.  The  Indians  were  estimated  by  some  at 
six  hundred;  the  traders,  whose  opportunities  for  knowing  were  good,  said  there  were 
at  least  eight  hundred.  The  previous  summer  there  were  four  hundred  and  fifty  war- 
riors at  the  Prophet's  town,  and  these  were  joined  a  few  days  before  the  battle  by  all 
the  Kickapoos  of  the  prairie,  and  by  many  other  bands  from  the  Pottawatomie  villages 
on  the  Illinois,  and  the  St.  Josephs  of  Lake  Michigan.  It  being  in  the  dark,  the  Indians 
were  enabled  to  carry  many  of  their  dead  and  wounded  away  without  their  being 
observed;  still  thirty-eight  of  their  warriors  were  found  upon  the  field.  Of  the  Kick- 
apoos braves  in  the  battle  belonging  to  Pa-koi-shee-can,  or  "  LaFarine's  "  band  alone, 
fourteen  of  the  severely  hurt,  who  got  away  from  the  Wabash,  afterward  died  of  their 
wounds,  and  were  buried  near  their  village,  four  miles  west  of  Danville,  where  their 
graves,  still  to  be  seen,  were  pointed  out  to  the  early  salt  boilers  in  1819,  by  the  sur- 
vivors who  were  cognizant  of  the  facts. 

f  Tipton's  Journal  of  the  "Indian  Campaign  of  1811  "  contains  many  interesting 
items.  It  was  first  published  by  the  enterprising  pi-oprietor  of  the  Indianapolis 
"News,"  in  the  issue  of  the  5th  of  May,  1879.  It  covers  the  late  Gen.  Tipton's,  daily 
movements  from  the  time  his  company  left  Corydon  on  the  12th  of  September,  1811, 
to  his  return  home  on  the  24th  of  November,  a  period  of  seventy-four  days.     Much  of 


RETURN    MARCH.  297 

village  and  everything  in  it  was  committed  to  the  names.  wt  The  vil- 
lage  is   on   the    west   side    of    the   Wabash,    miles   above 

Vincennes,  on  the  second  bank,  about  two  hundred  yards  from  the 
river,  and  neat  built.  This  is  the  main  town;  but  it  is  scattering, 
a  mile  long,  all  the  way  a  fine  corn  field."  On  the  9th  the  troops 
were  put  in  motion,  returning  by  the  same  route  they  had  come. 
The  wounded  were  placed  in  wagons  drawn  by  oxen,  of  which  there 
was  scarcely  a  sufficient  number  for  this  humane  purpose.  All  camp 
equipage  and  baggage,  owing  to  the  insufficiency  of  transportation, 
was  destroyed,  the  governor  setting  the  example  by  knocking  his 
own  to  pieces  and  throwing  it  into  the  fire.  The  whole  army  cheer- 
fully followed  his  example,  and  the  camp  was  quickly  strewed  with 
debris  of  furniture,  mess  boxes,  plates,  dishes  and  bottles.  With 
all  this,  it  was  difficult  to  make  the  wagons  contain  those  who  could 
neither  walk  nor  ride.  The  wounded  were  dying  every  day.  Early 
in  the  action  two  or  three  of  the  army  fled,  reaching  the  block-house 
below  the  Vermilion,  and  spread  exaggerated  news  of  the  battle  and 
the  defeat  of  Harrison.  And  as  the  troops  were  returning,  they 
"were  frequently  met  on  their  way  by  persons  coming  to  learn  the 
fate  of  their  children  or  friends."*  The  army  was  reduced  to  the 
scantiest  of  rations,  part  of  the  time  living  upon  parched  corn ;  and 
on  the  13th  of  November  they  reached  the  block-house,  as  appears 
from  Tipton's  Journal,  just  as  a  timely  boat  was  arriving  with  much 
needed  provisions.  The  next  day  as  many  of  the  sick  and  wounded 
as  the  boat  would  hold  were  placed  aboard  and  sent  down  the  river. 
The  main  army  reached  Fort  Harrison  on  the  14th  of  November, 
and  Vincennes  four  days  later,  where  they  were  met  with  great  re- 
joicing by  the  inhabitants. 

In  its  results,  the  engagement  at  Tippecanoe  ranks  as  one  of  the 
most  important  ever  fought  against  the  Indians  in  the  west.  It  may 
be  said  to  have  been  the  opening  battle  of  the  war  of  1812,  although 
the  formal  declaration  of  hostilities  was  deferred  until  the  following 
June.  However  many  and  grave  were  the  irritating  causes  in  the 
Atlantic  states  which  had  threatened  the  peace  of  the  two  countries, 
had  they  not  existed,  still,  the  continued  aggressions  of  the  Indians, 
operated  upon  as  they  were  by  traders  within  our  borders  and  other 
subjects  of  Great  Britain  in  Canada,  would  have  provoked  collision,  f 

his  time  was  occupied  in  advance  of  the  army,  either  in  picking  out  crossing  places  of 
streams  or  other  difficult  portions,  and  in  scouting. 

*  Samuel  R.  Brown's  History  of  the  Second  War  of  the  Independence :  Auburn,  1815, 
vol.  1,  p.  227. 

fThe  causes  culminating  in  the  action  at  Tippecanoe,  the  movements  of  the  Amer- 
ican forces  before  and  after  the  engagement,  and  the  incidents  connected  with  the 
campaign,  are  taken  from  Dawson's  Life  of  Harrison,  McAfee's  History  of  the  Late 


298  HISTOKIC    NOTES   ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

While  the  Indian  difficulties  described  in  this  chapter  were 
transpiring,  matters  between  the  United  States  and  Great  Britain 
were  fast  assuming  a  warlike  hue.  An  embargo  was  laid  upon  all 
our  shipping,  to  protect  it  against  the  unwarrantable  interference  of 
English  cruisers.  Our  commerce  upon  the  high  seas  was  almost 
entirely  destroyed  by  the  policy  of  Great  Britain  and  France,  then 
engaged  in  the  mighty  struggle  for  empire  upon  the  continent  of 
Europe.  The  depleted  navy  of  England  was  recruited  by  seizure 
of  Americans  aboard  of  American  yessels  and  empressing  them  into 
her  service.     War  was  declared  on  the  19th  of  June,  1812. 

Since  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe  "the  frontiers,"  wrote  Gen.  Har- 
rison, "never  enjoyed  more  perfect  repose."  Still  the  Indians  were 
powerful,  thoroughly  organized,  and  fully  supplied  with  guns  and 
ammunition  from  Canada,1' and  were  eagerly  looking  at  the  toma- 
hawk long  uplifted  in  the  hand  of  their  English  father,  and  only 
waiting  the  time  when  it  should  fall  upon  the  head  of  the  Ameri- 
cans, to  begin  an  active  and  determined  war  of  extermination  upon 
all  of  the  western  settlements.  Notwithstanding  these  facts  were 
so  'apparent,  and  the  importance  of  providing  a  naval  force  upon 
Lake  Erie  and  an  army  for  the  protection  of  the  northwest  had  been 
urged  upon  the  secretary  of  war  and  others,  still  the  war  department 
refused*  to  do  any  tiling  commensurate  with  the  magnitude  of  the 
danger.  William  Hull,  governor  of  the  Michigan  territory,  was 
appointed  to  the  command  of  the  westward  frontiers ;  and,  although 
he  advised  the  department  that  it  was  idle  to  attempt  to  hold  the 
territory  with  less  than  three  thousand  well-equipped  soldiers,  little 
attention  was  paid  to  his  demands.  However,  through  the  activ- 
ity of  the  governors  of  Ohio,  Kentucky  and  Indiana,  a  small  army 
of  militia  volunteers,  with  the  4th  United  States  regiment  of  regu- 
lars { Miller's  regiment  of  Tippecanoe  fame)  as  a  nucleus,  was  tardily 
recruited.  Owing  to  the  wide  extent  of  thinly-settled  country  from 
which  the  forces  were  drawn,  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  munitions 
and  provisions  and  moving  them  over  districts  unprovided  with 
roads  to  points  of  concentration,  but  very  slow  progress  was  made. 
Before  Hull  could  reach  Detroit  the  enemy,  who  had  received  in- 
telligence of  the  declaration  of  war  before  Hull  was  notified  of  the 
fact,  had  already  begun  the  war  by  the  capture  of  a  schooner,  along 
with  a  quantity  of  baggage  and  some  thirty  officers  and  privates 
aboard  of  her.  while  on  its  way  from  Miami  Rapids  to  Detroit. 
Overcoming    all    delays,    Gen.    Hull    reached    Spring  Wells,    three 

War  iD  the  Western  Country,  and  Tipton's  Journal,  all  regarded  as  sources  of  original 
and  authentic  information. 


LOSS    OF   TERRITORY.  299 

miles  below  Detroit,  only  to  be  confronted  with  a  naval  and  mil- 
itary force  of  the  enemy  in  a  more  forward  state  of  concentration 
upon  the  Canadian  side  of  the  river.  The  commanding  general, 
on  the  12th  of  the  month,  moved  his  forces  across  the  river,  issued 
a  florid  proclamation  to  the  inhabitants  of  Canada,  whose  soil  he 
had  invaded,  and  in  the  course  of  a  few  days  retreated  back  to  his 
old  quarters.  On  the  16th  of  the  same  month,  without  striking  a 
blow,  Gen.  Hull  surrendered  Detroit  and  his  whole  force  to  Sir 
Isaac  Brock,  governor-general  of  Canada.  This  most  unexpected 
calamity  was  followed  by  intelligence,  received  on  the  28th  of  July, 
that  the  port  of  Mackinaw  had  been  captured  by  the  British.  Fast 
upon  this  startling  news  came  the  surrender  of  Fort  Dearborn  to 
the  Indians  by  Capt.  Heald,  on  the  loth  of  August,  and  the  mas- 
sacre or  capture  of  the  inhabitants  and  soldiers.  Thus,  in  less  than 
sixty  days  after  the  declaration  of  hostilities,  the  whole  northwest, 
from  the  Detroit  to  the  Mississippi  River,  was  in  the  hands  of  the 
British  or  their  Indian  allies  under  the  lead  of  English  traders. 
Fort  Wayne  and  Fort  Harrison  were  the  only  points  at  which  the 
United  States  presented  resistance. 

The  plans  of  Tecumseh  succeeding  more  happily  than  he  could 
have  expected,  it  was  determined  to  lay  siege  to  Forts  Wayne  and 
Harrison  simultaneously,  as  the  only  "-remaining  obstacles  in  the 
way  of  driving  the  white  inhabitants  over  the  Ohio"  River.  Fort 
Wayne  was  accordingly  besieged,  and  closely  invested  by  the  sav- 
ages until  it  was  relieved  by  Gen.  Harrison,  who  had  been  appointed 
to  the  chief  command  of  the  northwest  immediately  after  the  sur- 
render of  Hull. 

We  will  now  let  Capt.  Taylor  tell  how  nearly  the  Indians  suc- 
ceeded in  gaining  possession  of  Fort  Harrison,  only  noting  the  fact 
that  his  official  report,  written  immediately  after  the  assault,  before 
opportunity  was  given  him  to  acquire  more  accurate  information, 
erroneously  names  the  Miamis  as  a  part  of  the  attacking  force. 
M'Affee,  as  well  as  others,  writing  at  a  later  date,  correctly  state 
that  the  enemy  were  Kickapoos  and  Winnebagoes  only. 

"Fort  Harrison,  September  10. 

"Dear  Sir, —  On  Thursday  evening,  the  3d  instant,  after  retreat 
beating,  four  guns  were  heard  to  tire  in  the  direction  where  two 
young  men  (citizens  who  resided  here)  were  making  hay,  about  four 
hundred  yards  distant  from  the  fort.  I  was  immediately  impressed 
with  the  idea  that  they  had  been  killed  by  the  Indians,  as  the  Pro- 
phet's  party  would   soon  be  here  for  the  purpose  of  commencing 


300  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

hostilities,  and  that  they  had  been  directed  to  leave  this  place,  as  we 
were  about  to  do.  I  did  not  think  it  prudent  to  send  out  at  that  late 
hour  of  the  night  to  see  what  had  become  of  them,  and  their  not 
coming  in  convinced  me  that  I  was  right  in  my  conjecture.  I  waited 
till  eight  o'clock  next  morning,  when  I  sent  out  a  corporal  with  a 
small  party  to  find  them,  if  it  could  be  done  without  running  too 
much  risk  of  being  drawn  into  an  ambuscade.  He  soon  sent  back 
to  inform  me  that  he  had  found  them  both  killed,  and  wished  to 
know  my  further  orders.  I  sent  the  cart  and  oxen  and  had  them 
brought  in  and  buried.  They  had  been  shot  with  two  balls,  scalped 
and  cut  in  the  most  shocking  manner.  Late  in  the  evening  of  the 
4th  instant  old  Joseph  Lenar  and  about  thirty  or  forty  Indians 
arrived  from  the  Prophet's  town  with  a  white  flag,  among  whom 
were  about  ten  women,  and  the  men  were  composed  of  the  chiefs  of 
the  different  tribes  that  compose  the  Prophet's  party.  A  Shawnee 
man,  that  could  speak  good  English,  informed  me  that  old  Lenar 
intended  to  speak  to  me  next  morning,  and  try  to  get  something  to 
eat. 

"At  retreat  beating  I  examined  the  men's  arms  and  found  them 
all  in  good  order,  and  completed  their  cartridges  to  fifteen  rounds 
per  man.  As  I  had  not  been  able  to  mount  a  guard  of  more  than  six 
privates  and  two  non-commissioned  officers  for  some  time  past,  and 
sometimes  part  of  them  every  other  day,  from  the  u'nhealthiness  of 
the  company.  I  had  not  conceived  my  force  adequate  to  the  defense 
of  this  post,  should  it  be  vigorously  attacked,  for  some  time  past, 

"As  I  had  just  recovered  from  a  very  severe  attack  of  the  fever, 
1  was  not  able  to  be  up  much  through  the  night.  After  tattoo,  I 
cautioned  the  guard  to  be  vigilant,  and  ordered  one  of  the  non-com- 
missioned officers,  as  the  sentinels  could  not  see  every  part  of  the 
garrison,  to  walk  around  on  the  inside  during  the  whole  night,  to 
prevent  the  Indians  taking  any  advantage  of  us,  provided  they  had 
any  intention  of  attacking  us.  About  11  o'clock  I  was  awakened  by 
the  firing  of  one  of  the  sentinels.  I  sprang  up.  ran  out  and  ordered 
the  men  to  their  posts,  when  my  orderly-sergeant,  who  had  charge  of 
the  upper  block-house,  called  out  that  the  Indians  had  fired  the 
lower  block-house  (which  contained  the  property  of  the  contractor, 
which  was  deposited  in  the  lower  part,  the  upper  having  been 
assigned  to  a  corporal  and  ten  privates  as  an  alarm  post").  The  guns 
had  begun  to  fire  pretty  smartly  from  both  sides.  I  directed  the 
buckets  to  be  got  ready  and  water  brought  from  the  well  and  the  fire 
extinguished  immediately,  as  it  was  perceivable  at  that  time ;  but 
from  debility  or  some  other  cause  the  men  were  very  slow  in  execut- 


ATTACK    ON    FORT   HARRISON.  301 

ing  my  orders,  —  the  word  fire  appeared  to  throw  the  whole  of  them 
into  confusion,  —  and  by  the- time  they  had  got  the  water  and  broken 
open  the  door,  the  fire  had  unfortunately  communicated  to  a  quantity 
of  whisky  (the  stock  having  licked  several  holes  through  the  lower 
part  of  the  building,  after  the  salt  that  was  stored  there,  through 
which  the  fire  had  been  introduced  without  being  discovered,  as  the 
night  was  very  dark),  and  in  spite  of  every  exertion  we  could  make 
use  of  in  less  than  a  moment  it  ascended  to  the  roof  and  baffled 
every  effort  we  could  make  to  extinguish  it.  As  the  block-house 
adjoined  the  barracks  that  made  part  of  the  fortifications,  most  of  the 
men  immediately  gave  themselves  up  for  lost,  and  I  had  the  greatest 
difficulty  in  getting  my  orders  executed.  And,  sir,  what  from  the 
raging  of  the  fire,  the  yelling  and  howling  of  several  hundred  Indi- 
ans, the  cries  of  nine  women  and  children  (a  part  soldiers'  and  a 
part  citizens'  wives,  who  had  taken  shelter  in  the  fort),  and  the 
despondency  of  so  many  of  the  men,  which  was  worse  than  all,  I 
can  assure  you  that  my  feelings  were  unpleasant,  and,  indeed,  there 
were  not  more  than  ten  or  fifteen  men  able  to  do  a  great  deal,  —  the 
others  being  sick  or  convalescent ;  and  to  add  to  our  other  misfor- 
tunes, two  of  the  strongest  men  in  the  fort,  and  that  I  had  every 
confidence  in,  jumped  the  picket  and  left  us.  I  saw  by  throwing  off 
a  part  of  the  roof  that  joined  the  block-house  that  was  on  fire,  and 
keeping  the  end  perfectly  wet,  the  whole  row  of  buildings  might  be 
saved,  and  leave  only  an  opening  of  eighteen  or  twenty  feet  for  the 
entrance  of  the  Indians  after  the  house  was  consumed,  and  that  a 
temporary  breastwork  might  be  executed  to  prevent  their  even  enter- 
ing there.  I  convinced  the  men  that  this  might  be  accomplished, 
and  it  appeared  to  inspire  them  with  new  life,  and  never  did  men 
act  with  more  firmness  and  desperation.  Those  that  were  able 
(while  the  others  kept  up  a  constant  fire  from  the  other  block-house 
and  the  two  bastions)  mounted  the  roofs  of  the  houses,  with  Dr. 
Clark  at  their  head,  who  acted  with  the  greatest  firmness  and  pres- 
ence of  mind  the  whole  time  the  attack  lasted,  which  was  seven 
hours,  under  a  shower  of  bullets,  and  in  less  than  a  moment  threw 
off  as  much  of  the  roof  as  was  necessary.  This  was  done  only  with 
a  loss  of  one  man  and  two  wounded,  and  I  am  in  hopes  neither  of 
them  dangerously.  The  man  that  was  killed  was  a  little  deranged, 
and  did  not  get  off  the  house  as  soon  as  directed,  or  he  would  not 
have  been  hurt ;  and  although  the  barracks  were  several  times  in  a 
blaze,  and  an  immense  quantity  of  fire  against  them,  the  men  used 
such  exertions  that  they  kept  it  under,  and  before  day  raised  a  tem- 
porary breastwork  as  high  as  a  man's  head,  although  the  Indians 


802  HISTORIC    NOTES    ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

continued  to  pour  in  a  heavy  fire  of  ball  and  innumerable  quantity 
of  arrows  during  the  whole  time  the  attack  lasted,  in  every  part  of 
the  parade.  I  had  but  one  other  man  killed,  nor  any  other  wounded 
inside  the  fort,  and  he  lost  his  life  by  being  too  anxious.  He  got  into 
one  of  the  galleys  in  the  bastion  and  fired  over  the  pickets,  and  called 
out  to  his  comrades  that  he  had  killed  an  Indian,  and,  neglecting  to 
stoop  down,  in  an  instant  he  was  shot  dead.  One  of  the  men  that 
jumped  the  pickets  returned  an  hour  before  day,  and,  running  up 
toward  the  gate,  begged  for  God's  sake  for  it  to  be  opened.  I  sus- 
pected it  to  be  a  stratagem  of  the  Indians  to  get  in,  as  I  did  not 
recollect  the  voice.  I  directed  the  men  in  the  bastion,  where  I  hap- 
pened to  be,  to  shoot  him,  let  him  be  who  he  would,  and  one  of 
them  fired  at  him,  but  fortunately  he  ran  up  to  the  other  bastion, 
where  they  knew  his  voice,  and  Dr.  Clark  directed  him  to  lie  down 
close  to  the  pickets,  behind  an  empty  barrel  that  happened  to  be 
there,  and  at  daylight  I  had  him  let  in.  His  arm  was  broken  in  a 
most  shocking  manner,  which  he  says  was  done  by  the  Indians, 
which,  I  suppose,  was  the  cause  of  his  returning.  I  think  it  probable 
that  he  will  not  recover.  The  other  they  caught  about  one  hundred 
and  thirty  yards  from  the  garrison,  and  cut  him  all  to  pieces.  After 
keeping  up  a  constant  fire  until  about  six  o'clock  the  next  morning, 
which  we  began  to  return  with  some  effect  after  da}rlight,  they  re- 
moved out  of  reach  of  our  guns.  A  party  of  them  drove  up  the 
horses  that  belonged  to  the  citizens  here,  and  as  they  could  not  catch 
them  very  readily,  shot  the  whole  of  them  in  our  sight,  as  well  as  a 
number  of  their  hogs.  They  drove  off  the  whole  of  the  cattle, 
which  amounted  to  sixty-five  head,  as  well  as  public  oxen.  I  had 
the  vacancy  filled  up  before  night  [which  was  made  by  the  burning 
of  the  block-house]  with  a  strong  row  of  pickets  which  I  got  by 
pulling  down  the  guard-house."* 

The  events  following  the  relief  of  Fort  Wayne,  and  the  failure 
at  Fort  Harrison,  were  the  formation  of  a  navy  upon  Lake  Erie  and 
the  raising  of  a  large  military  force  by  Gen.  Harrison,  under  diffi- 
culties and  such  depressing  delays  as  would  have  discouraged  almost 
any  other  officers  than  Harrison  and  the  immortal  Perry. 

On. the  10th  day  of  September,  1813,  Perry  met  the  British  fleet 
of  vessels  at  the  head  of  Lake  Erie,  and  captured  every  one  of  them 
in  an  engagement  that  shed  imperishable  fame  upon  every  officer 
and  private  of  his  command.      Harrison's  arm}'   collected  upon  the 

*  Gen.  Taylor's  report,  read  in  connection  with  the  account  given  by  the  commander 
on  the  other  side, — Old  Joseph  Lenar,  as  Taylor  calls  "La  Farine,"  or  Pa-koi-shee-can, 
—  found  on  page  165,  will  give  the  reader  a  very  full  understanding  of  the  ingenuity 
and  boldness  of  the  attack  on  Fort  Harrison  and  the  heroism  of  its  defense. 


tecumseh's  death.  303 

peninsula  formed  by  Sandusky  Bay,  with  the  venerable  Gov.  Isaac 
Shelby  in  his  gray  hairs  at  the  head  of  his  children,  the  gallant 
Kentucky  militia,  were  transported  across  the  lake  to  Maiden,  which 
the  fleeing  Proctor  had  burned  at  their  approach.  Retreating  up 
the  River  Thames,  the  forces  of  Proctor  and  Tecumseh  were 
brought  to  an  engagement  near  the  Moravian  towns,  where,  on 
the  oth  of  October,  they  were  defeated  in  an  action  as  brilliant 
upon  the  land  as  was  Capt,  Barclay's  upon  the  water. 

The  Indians  were  posted  in  a  swamp,  and  were  commanded  by 
Tecumseh  in  person,  who  went  down  in  the  thickest  of  the  light, 
gallantly  encouraging  his  men.  His  prediction  was  verified  to  the 
letter  —  he  and  Harrison  had  "fought  it  out";  the  confederation 
he  had  molded  dropped  to  pieces.  The  several  tribes  hastened  to 
Gen.  Harrison1  s  headquarters  to  say  they  wanted  peace.  It  was 
the  last  great  combination  of  the  Indians  against  the  whites ;  and 
it  is  a  historical  coincidence  that  the  confederations  of  both  Pon- 
tiac  and  Tecumseh  to  check  the  ever  westward  now  of  immigration 
should  have  met  their  final  overthrow  in  the  vicinity  of  Detroit,  and 
on  British  soil. 

Happily  for  the  west,  that  owing  largely  to  the  exertions  of  its  own 
people,  the  lost  territory  was  recovered,  and  when  the  treaty  of 
peace  was  concluded  in  1815,  the  old  boundary  lines  remained  as 
before,  without  the  loss  of  a  single  acre. 

Upon  the  restoration  of  peace,  immigration  received  a  new  im- 
pulse. Indiana,  having  sufficiently  increased  her  population,  was,  on 
the  11th  of  December,  1816,  admitted  as  a  state  in  the  Union.  Two 
years  afterward,  December  3,  1818,  Illinois  followed  Indiana  in  the 
sisterhood  of  states. 

The  campaigns  of  Harmar,  Scott,  Wilkinson,  St.  Clair,  Wayne 
and  Harrison  gave  the  volunteers  a  knowledge  of  the  beauty  and 
fertility  of  the  western  country,  and  may  well  be  said  to  have  been 
so  many  exploring  expeditions.  As  soon  as  the  Indian  titles  to  the 
several  portions  of  the  territory  were  successively  extinguished, 
population  poured  in,  often  in  advance  of  the  government  surveys. 
The  Ohio  and  the  Mississippi  were  the  base,  and  the  Illinois,  the 
Wabash,  the  Miami  and  their  tributaries,  with  other  principal 
streams,  were  the  supporting  columns  upon  which  the  settlements 
respectively  formed  and  gradually  extended  itself  to  the  right  and 
left  from  these  waters  until  the  intervening  country  was  filled. 

Within  little  more  than  half  a  century,  population  has  extended 
itself  northward  over  the  states  of  Indiana  and  Illinois,  and  coun- 
ties have  been  organized  like  the  blocks  of  a  building,  one  upon 


304  HISTORIC    NOTES   ON   THE    NORTHWEST. 

the  other,  until  now  those  hitherto  wild  and  uninhabited  wastes  com- 
prise the  most  wealthy,  enterprising  and  populous  portions  of  these 
two  states. 

The  order  in  which  these  counties  were  organized  and  filled  can 
be  more  properly  carried  forward  in  their  respective  county  histories 
in  an  unbroken  continuity  from  the  place  where  the  writer  now  bids 
the  reader  a  hearty  good-bye. 


LJIHV 


T?f3^frfeT?T?mrfl; 


MA  (i 

vermhji 

ILLIiOi 


>o. 


3. 


.(        rA 


HISTORY  OF  VERMILION  COUNTY. 


BY  H.  W.  BECKWITH. 


That  part  of  Illinois  now  known  as  Vermilion  county  was  orig- 
inally a  portion  of  New  France.  It,  together  with  all  the  immense 
territory  lying  west  of  the  Alleghanies  and  north  of  the  Ohio,  be- 
longed, by  right  of  discovery  and  occupation,  to  the  King  of  France 
from  the  year  1682  to  1763.  During  this  time,  for  administrative 
purposes,  New  France  was  divided  into  two  immense  districts,  the 
one  known  as  Canada  and  the  other  as  Louisiana,  and  at  one  period 
prior  to  1745  the  division  line  of  the  "Illinois  country"  began  on 
the  Wabash,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Vermilion  River,  thence  northwest 
to  La  Sailed  old  fort  on  the  Illinois  River,  a  few  miles  above  Ottawa. 
North  of  this  line  was  Canada  ;  south  of  it,  and  west  of  the  Wabash, 
was  Louisiana.  At  that  time  the  county  seat  for  that  part  of  Ver- 
milion county  south  of  the  line  named  was  Fort  Chartes.  North  of 
this  line  the  country  was  governed  from  the  Post  of  Detroit ;  and  if 
a  French  trader,  then  living  along  the  Vermilion  River,  wished  to 
get  married  to  an  Indian  girl,  he  would  have,  in  the  absence  of  a 
nearer  parish  priest,  to  go  either  to  Fort  Chartes  or  Detroit,  if  he 
wished  to  lawfully  celebrate  the  ceremony.  They  seldom  went  to 
this  trouble,  however. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  French  colonial  war  in  1763  the  country 
eastward  of  the  Mississippi  and  west  of  the  Alleghanies  was  ceded 
to  Great  Britain,  and  this  power  held  and  exercised  dominion  over 
it  for  some  fifteen  years,  through  an  organization  or  board  known 
as  "The  Lords  Commissioners  of  the  Council  of  Trade  and  Planta- 
tions," or  "Lords  of  Trade."  While  the  revolutionary  war  was  in 
progress,  the  western  country,  by  the  capture  of  Kaskaskia  and 
other  settlements  within  its  borders,  fell,  in  1778,  into  the  hands  of 
Virginia,  through  the  conquest  of  Gen.  George  Rogers  Clark  and 
his  soldiers,  citizens  of  that  state.  After  this  Vermilion  became  a 
part  of  "Illinois  county,"  in  the  State  of  Virginia.     Our  own  gov- 

A 


306  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUXTY. 

ernment  acquired  title  to  the  northwest  by  deeds  of  cession  from 
Virginia,  together  with  releases  from  Connecticut,  Massachusetts  and 
New  York,  of  such  claims  as  these  states  might  have  had  to  parts 
of  it  under  their  old  charters  from  the  British  crown.  Afterward, 
and  under  the  ordinance  of  1787,  passed  by  congress  for  its  govern- 
ment, the  country  became  known  as  "The  territory  of  the  United 
States  northwest  of  the  River  Ohio.'"  In  the  year  1800  the  territory 
was  divided,  when  that  part  of  it  lying  west  of  a  line  drawn  from 
the  mouth  of  the  Kentucky  River  to  Fort  Recovery — the  old  battle- 
field of  St.  Clair's  defeat,  in  the  edge  of  Mercer  county,  Ohio,  four 
miles  east  of  the  Indiana  state  line — thence  north  to  the  British 
possessions,  was  named  and  governed  as  "The  Indiana  Territory"; 
the  capitol  at  Vincennes.  In  the  formation  of  counties,  by  virtue  of 
the  proclamation  of  Gen.  Harrison,  as  governor,  issued  on  the  3d 
day  of  February,  1801,  a  part  of  Vermilion  county  lay  in  the  county 
of  Knox,  and  the  other  portion  in  St.  Clair,  the  same  as  sections  of 
it  were  formerly  in  Canada  and  Louisiana,  with  the  difference  that 
the  line  established  by  Gov.  Harrison  split  our  county  by  a  nearly 
north  and  south  line,  while  that  fixed,  over  half  a  century  before,  by 
Mons.  Vaudreuil,  governor  of  Xew  France,  divided  it  in  an  oppo- 
site direction.  Again,  in  1809,  after  the  Illinois  Territory  had  been 
formed  off  of  the  Indiana  Territory,  by  a  line  running  from  the 
mouth  of  the  Ohio  up  the  Wabash  to  Yincennes,  thence  north  to  the 
British  Possessions,  and  when  Nathaniel  Pope,  acting  as  governor, 
issued  his  proclamation  on  the  28th  day  of  April,  1809,  reforming 
the  boundary  lines  between  the  counties  of  Randolph  and  St.  Clair, 
and  that  portion  of  Knox  lying  west  of  the  territorial  line.  Ver- 
milion county  fell  wholly  within  the  county  of  St.  Clair.  Our  county 
seat  by  the  change  was  now  Cahokia,  on  the  west  side  of  the  state, 
opposite  the  lower  suburbs  of  St.  Louis.  At  this  time  had  any  per- 
son living  within  the  present  limits  of  Vermilion  a  deed  he  de- 
sired to  record,  it  would  have  required  a  journey  of  nearly  two 
hundred  miles,  and  no  little  skill  in  finding  the  way  to  the  county 
seat. 

Two  years  before  Illinois  was  admitted  as  a  state  into  the  Union 
the  county  of  Crawford  was  formed,  and  at  that  time  Vermilion 
county  was  a  part  of  its  territory.  Here,  in  the  round  of  changes, 
our  new  county  seat  was  shifted  back  across  the  state  to  the  banks 
of  the  Wabash,  at  Palestine,  situated  at  the  mouth  of  La  Motte 
Creek,  where  in  1812  was  a  block-house,  called  Fort  La  Motte,  that 
stood  on  the  extreme  northern  limit  of  settlements  in  eastern  Illi- 
nois. 


HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY.  307 

In  1819,  the  year  after  Illinois  was  made  a  state,  the  county  of 
Clark  was  formed  off  the  northern  part  of  Crawford,  with  the  county 
seat  established  some  miles  higher  up  the  Wabash,  at  a  place  called 
Aurora,  which  in  turn  became  the  county  seat  of  all  that  region 
bordering  on  the  Indiana  line,  and  extending  north  as  far  as  the  Illi- 
nois and  Kankakee  Rivers.  As  it  was  when  Vermilion  county  was 
a  part  of  Clark,  and  while  Aurora  was  the  county  seat,  that  the  first 
permanent  settlement  was  begun  within  the  present  limits  of  Ver- 
milion, we  will  defer  further  reference  to  the  formation  of  counties 
in  the  chain  of  succession  until  we  have  noticed  the  incoming  of  the 
first  pioneers. 

It  was  fur  and  salt  that  first  attracted  attention  of  white  people 
in  this  direction. 

Prior  to  this  date,  the  title  of  the  Indians  claiming  the  country 
along  the  waters  of  the  Vermilions  had  not  been  wholly  extinguished. 
At  the  treaty  concluded  at  St.  Mary's,  Ohio,  on  the  2d  of  October, 
1818,  between  Jonathan  Jennings,  Lewis  Cass  and  Benjamin  Parke, 
commissioners  of  the  United  States,  and  the  Pottawatomie  nation  of 
Indians,  Me-te-a  —  "Kiss  me,"  Ke-sis — "The  Sun,11  To-pin-ne-bee, 
Pe-so-tem,  and  thirty  other  principal  chiefs  of  that  tribe,  ceded  the 
following  tract  of  country  :  "  Beginning  at  the  mouth  of  Tippecanoe 
River,  and  running  up  the  same  to  a  point  twenty-five  miles  in  a 
direct  line  from  the  Wabash  River;  thence  on  a  line  as  nearly  paral- 
lel to  the  general  course  of  the  Wabash  River  as  practicable,  to  a 
point  on  the  Vermilion  River  twenty-five  miles  from  the  Wabash 
River ;  thence  down  the  Vermilion  River  to  its  mouth ;  thence  up 
the  Wabash  River  to  the  place  of  beginning."  By  the  second  arti- 
cle of  this  treaty  the  United  States  agreed  to  purchase  any  just  claim 
which  the  Kick-a-poos  might  have  to  any  part  of  the  ceded  country 
below  Pine  Creek.  The  next  year,  by  the  treaty  of  Edwardsville, 
concluded  on  the  13th  of  July,  1819,  the  latter  tribe  ceded  a  large 
section  of  country  between  the  Illinois  River  and  the  Wabash,  in- 
clusive of  that  ceded  by  the  Pottawatomies,  and  which  is  more  par- 
ticularly described  in  the  chapter  on  the  Kickapoos,  and  will  be 
found  on  page  167  of  the  general  history.  Immediately  following 
this  latter  treaty,  another  treaty  was  concluded  on  the  30th  of 
August,  1819,  at  Fort  Harrison,  between  the  United  States,  through 
its  commissioner,  Benjamin  Parke,  and  that  particular  tribe  or  band 
who,  in  this  treaty,  described  themselves  as  " The  chiefs,  warriors 
and  head  men  of  the  tribe  of  Kickapoos  of  the  Vermilion,  in  which, 
to  the  end  that  the  United  States  might  be  enabled  to  fix  with  other 
Indians  a  boundary  between  their  respective  claims,  these  Kickapoos 


:;i(S  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

described  the  country  t<>  which  they  had  a  rightful  claim  as  follows: 
''Beginning  at  the  northwest  corner  of  the  Yincennes  tract" — see 
the  General  History,  page  167.  for  the  location  of  the  Yincennes 
tract,  — "thence  westerly  to  the  boundary  established  by  a  treaty 
with  the  Piankashaws  on  the  30th  of  December.  1805."  This  line 
runs  north  seventy-eight  degrees  west  from  the  northwest  corner  of  the 
Yincennes  tract  to  the  ridge  that  divides  the  waters  flowing  into  the 
W abash  from  the  streams  that  drain  directly  to  the  Mississippi,  ''to 
the  dividing  ridge  between  the  waters  of  the  Embarras  and  Little 
Wabash  ;  thence  by  the  said  ridge  to  the  sources  of  the  Vermilion 
River ;  thence  by  the  said  ridge  to  the  head  of  Pine  Creek ;  thence 
by  said  creek  to  the  Wabash  River ;  thence  by  the  said  river  to  the 
mouth  of  the  Vermilion  River,  and  thence  by  [up]  the  Vermilion 
and  the  boundary  heretofore  established  to  the  place  of  beginning." 
This  treaty  was  signed  by  \Y<i/i-co-haw,  "The  Grey  Fox";  Kitch- 
e-mah-quaw,  "Big  Bear";  Te-cum-the-na,  "Track  in  the  Prairie"; 
Pe-le-che-ah,  "The  Panther";  Mac-a-ca-naw  (none  of  the  treaties  to 
which  this  chief  was  a  party  give  the  signification  of  his  name) ;  Ka- 
an-eh-ka-Tca  or  Ka-an-a-k  "<■]>■.  "The  Drunkard's  Son,"  as  he  was 
first  called,  or  "The  Prophet,"  a  name  which  he  assumed  after  he 
reformed  and  became  a  religious  teacher;  J}a-ko(-s/tee-can,  or  "The 
Flour,"  and  whom  the  French  called  "  La  Ferine." 

However  singular  these  names  may  appear  to  us,  doubtless  the 
parties  to  whom  they  belonged  were  men  of  distinction  during  the 
time  they  owned  and  lived  within  the  territory  they  relinquished. 
We  have  mentioned  in  the  General  History,  page  164,  the  fact  of  the 
Kickapoos  having  ceded  the  tract  of  country  between  the  Vermilion 
and  the  mouth  of  Raccoon  Creek,  below  Newport,  Indiana,  and  ex- 
tending from  the  Wabash  westward  some  fifteen  miles.  In  an  address 
delivered  by  the  writer  before  the  Historical  Society  in  May.  1878,  it 
was  stated  that  "a  history  of  our  county  would  not  be  complete  un- 
less it  went  back  of  the  time  when  the  settlements  began  :  that  the 
mind  would  constantly  recur  to  the  unwritten  chapter,  would  go  back 
beyond  the  recollection  of  the  'oldest  inhabitant.'  and  busy  itself 
with  the  inquiries.  Who  first  explored  this  part  of  our  country  '. 
WIki  owned,  it  before  the  United  States  acquired  it '.  Who  were  the 
aboriginal  proprietors?  What  were  their  tribal  names?  Where 
were  their  villages  located  \  *  These  questions  the  writer  has  en- 
deavored to  answer  in  the  General  History  preceding  that  of  the 
County  History  in  this  volume.  One  other  topic  in  which  the  writer 
supposed  the  citizens  of  this  locality  would  be  interested  was  as  to 
when  and  how  our  government  extinguished   the   Indian    titles   to 


HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 


309 


the  lands  drained  by  the  Vermilion  Kiver  and  its  tributaries.     This 
last  question  has  now  been  answered. 

In  less  than  a  month  after  the  treaty  at  Fort  Harrison,  August, 
1819,  the  Vermilion  River  was  explored.  The  inducement  was  the 
hope  of  discovering  salt.  It  appears,  from  an  affidavit  made  to 
Joseph  Barron,  who  for  many 
years  was  Gen.  Harrison's  in- 
terpreter, and  well  versed  in 
the  dialects  of  all  the  Indian 
tribes  who  lived,  hunted  or 
claimed  to  own  the  lands  wa- 
tered by  the  Wabash  and  the 
streams  flowing  into  it,  that  he 
was  at  the  "  Vermilion  Salines" 
as  early  as  the  year  1801.  He 
further  made  oath  that  he  was 
again  at  the  same  kt  salt  spring, 
situated  on  the  Big  Vermilion 
River,  on  the  north  side,  about 
one  and  a  half  miles  above  the 
old  'Ivickapoo  town,1  and  about 
fifteen  or  eighteen  miles  from 
the  Big  AVabash  River,  in  the 
county  of  Clark,  state  of  Illi- 
nois, on  the  22d  day  of  September,  1819,  in  company  with  Lambert 
Bona,  Zachariah  Cicott"  [as  we  know  the  name,  or  Shecott,  as 
spelled  by  the  justice  of  the  peace  who  wrote  and  verified  the  affi- 
davits to  which  Bona,  Cicott  and  Barron  had  sworn  before  him  on 
on  the  8th  of  December,  1819],  "and  Truman  Blackmail,  together 
with  four  Shawnee  Indians  whom  he  [Barron]  had  hired  and  paid  to 
go  with  him  and  show  him  minerals,  salt  springs,  etc."" 

The  occasion  of  these  affidavits,  with  several  others  of  which  the 
writer  obtained  copies  from  the  archives  at  Springfield,  was  that  the 
legislature  had  previously  passed  a  liberal  law  to  encourage  the  dis- 
covery and  development  of  saline  water,  by  the  terms  of  which  any 
person  making  such  discoveries  should  have  the  exclusive  right  to 
manufacture  salt  within  a  given  area.  Conflicting  claims  arose  di- 
rectly as  to  the  rights  of  several  parties,  and  it  was  several  years 
before  they  were  finally  adjusted,  and  the  letters  and  affidavits  sent 
in  to  Gov.  Bond  from  the  contestants  afford  reliable  dates  and  other 
interesting  matter  relating  t<>  "the  first  settlement  of  the  county." 

The  parties  returned,  and  Capt.   Blackmail  organized  a  second 


JOSEPH    BARRON. 


310  HISTOR1    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

expedition  without  the  knowledge  or  sanction  of  Barron.  His  party 
consisted  of  himself,  his  brother  Remember  Blackman  —  George 
Beckwith,  Seymour  Treat,  Peter  Allen  and  Francis  Whitcomb.  They 
crossed  the  Wabash  at  the  month  of  Otter  Creek  in  the  latter  part  of 
October,  and  struck  out  in  a  northwest  course  through  the  timber 
and  prairies,  keeping  the  direction  with  a  small  pocket  compass,  un- 
til thev  arrived  at  a  stream  supposed  to  be  the  Big  Vermilion,  about 
twenty-five  miles,  as  thev  interred,  from  the  Wabash  River.  Here 
thev  encamped  on  the  Slst  of  October.  1S1!>.  Oapt.  Blackman 
pointed  out  a  smooth  spot  of  low  ground  from  twenty  to  thirty  rods 
across  where  he  said  there  was  salt  water.  There  was  no  vegetation 
growing  upon  the  surface,  and  no  traces  of  people  ever  having  been 
there,  "except,"  says  Peter  Allen  in  his  affidavit, — "in  some  few 
places  where  the  Indians  had  sunk  curbs  of  bark  into  the  soil  for  the 
purpose  of  procuring  salt  water." 

Capt,  Blackman  set  two  or  three  men  to  work  with  spades,  and  by 
digging  two  or  three  feet  into  the  saturated  soil  saline  water  was  pro- 
cured. This  was  boiled  down  in  a  kettle  brought  along  for  that  pur- 
se. About  two  gallons  of  water  yielded  four  ounces  of  good 
clear  salt.  An  experimental  well  was  dug  a  few  rods  from  the  former, 
where  the  brine  was  much  stronger.  It  was  agreed  by  Oapt.  Black- 
man  that  Treat.  Whitcomb  and  Beckwith  should  be  partners  in  the 
discovery  of  the  salt  water,  and  each  pay  his  portion  of  the  ex- 
penses. Beckwith  and  Whitcomb  wore  left  in  charge  to  hold  pos- 
session against  the  intrusion  ot'  other  explorers,  and  to  go  on  devel- 
oping the  saline  water,  while  the  others  returned  to  Fort  Harrison 
I  procured  a  team,  tools  and  provisions,  with  a  view  to  future  ope- 
rations. In  the  latter  part  of  November.  1819,  Treat  returned,  com- 
ing «]  .  Wal  as  and  Vermilion  rivers  in  a  pirogue,  with  tools, 
provisions,  his  . n.     With  the  assistance  of  Beckwith 

and  Whitcomb  —  both  good  axmen  —  a  cabin  was  quickly  erected 
-  family  took  immediate  possession.      In  this  way  and  at 
this  pli  g  an  the  first  permanent  settlement  within  the  present 

limits  of  Vermilion  county.     Mr.  Treat's  family  suffered  all  the  pri- 
-    Qcident  air  situation.     Their  nearest  neighbors  were  on 

IS    rth  Av;ii  Pra       .  some  forty  miles  away.    The  old  Kiekapoo  town, 
a  mile  below  their  cabin,   was  deserted.     The  fence  inclosing  the 
rnfield  had  tumbled  to  the  ground.    W<     Is    ..nkled  where  formerly 
the  Indian  sqiu.  I  hoed  her  corn  and  cultivated  her  squash c-s.    A 

-nor,  sav>  "that  his  taniilvhad 
Detained  on  the  ground  sin«  their  arrival,  except  one  who 

•  m  to  the  sufferings  and  privati      -  which  they  have  had 


MlSTokY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY.  :;|| 

to  endure,  in  a  situation  bo  remote  from  a  settled  country,  without 
the  means  of  procuring  the  ordinary  comforts  of  life." 

Capt.  Blackman,  if  seems,  did  not  do  as  be  agreed.  Instead  of 
making  an  application  to  the  governor  in  the  uame  of  Barron  and 
the  oilier  parties  interested,  be  look  the  lease,  or  permit,  in  his  own 
name.  The  other  parties  complained  and  presented  their  own  claims 
to  the  governor,  in  numerous  affidavits  and  letters,  and  it  wa  ome 
three  years  before  the  difficulties  were  finally  adjusted.  In  themean 
time  several  wells  were  sunk,  one  of  them  by  Beckwith  and  Whit- 
comb  ;it  their  own  expense,  to  the  depth  of  fiftj  feet,  mostly  by  drill 
ing  through  solid  rock.  The  sail  was  excellent  in  quality,  purity  and 
strength.  Greal  expectations  were  raised  as  to  the  benefit  that  would 
accrue  to  the  people  of  the  Wabash  Galley  from  these  saltworks. 
The  writer  bas  before  bim  a  letter  addressed,  on  the  8th  of  June, 
1*20,  by  .1  iiincs  B.  McCall,  from  Vincennes,  to  Gov.  Bond,  in  which 
the  former  says,  ki  the  people  of  the  eastern  section  ofyour  state  are 
very  anxious  that  the  manufacture  of  sail  might  be  gone  into.  Ap- 
pearances at  the  Vermilion  salines  justify  the  belief  that  salt  may  be 
made  north  of  this  sufficienl  for  the  consumption  of  all  the  settlers 
on  the  Wabash,  and  much  below  the  present  prices.  Nearly  all  of 
the  salt  consumed  above  the  mouth  of  the  Wabash  is  furnished   by 

Kentucky,  and    the   transportation    SO    far   up   stream-    materially  en- 

haneesthe  price,  and  in  the  present  undeveloped  state  of  the  country 
as  to  money,  prevents  a  majority  of  the  farmers  from  procuring 
the  quantity  of  this  necessary  article  that  their  stock,  etc.,  requires.*' 
On  the  L3th  of  December,  L822,  the  conflicting  claimants,  or  as- 
signees of  them,  settled  their  differences  at  Vandalia  before  Gov. 
Bond,  in  an  agreement  which  defined  the  shares  of  each.  During 
tli is  and  the  following  year  the  manufacture  of  sail  was  increased. 
Nothing,  however,  was  done  on  a  scale  equal  to  the  demand-  until 
in  1*24,  and  after  John  W.  Vance  obtained  possession  of  the  salines. 
In  the  spring  of  1824  Vance  brought  twenty-four  large  iron  kettles 
from  Louisville,  in  a  baton,  down  the  Ohio,  up  the  Wabash  and  Ver- 
milion to  the  mouth  of  Stony  Creek,  about  four  miles  southeast  of 
Danville.  The  water  being  low  and  the  channel  obstructed  by  a  sand- 
bar at  the  mouth  of  the  creek,  the  boat  was  abandoned,  and  the  ket- 
tles hauled  from  thence  to  the  salt  work-  by  o\  teams.  Soon  after 
this  the  number  of  kettle-  was  increased  to  eighty,  holding  a  hun- 
dred and  forty  gallons  each.  They  were  set  in  a  double  row  in  a 
furnace  constructed  of  -torn:  at  the  bench  of  the  hill  near  the  well-. 
A  hundred  gallons  of  brine  was  required  to  make  a  bushel  of  salt. 
and  from  sixty  to  eighty  bushels  was  a  good  week'-  run.      The  salt 


312  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

sold  readily  at  the  works  for  from  $1.25  to  $1.50  per  bushel.  Much 
of  it  was  taken  down  the  river  in  pirogues  to  supply  the  country 
below.  A  great  deal  was  taken  away  in  wagons,  and  much  of  it  in 
sacks  on  horseback  by  persons  who  were  too  poor  to  own  a  team. 
It  was  not  an  unusual  occurrence  to  see  people  at  the  "works  "  from 
the  settlements  at  Buffalo,  Hart  and  Elkhart  Groves,  from  the  San- 
gamon and  Illinois  Rivers,  and  from  the  neighborhood  of  Rockville 
and  Rosedale,  Indiana.  In  those  days,  says  Mr.  H.  A.  Coffeen,  in 
an  excellent  little  volume  issued  by  him  in  1870,  and  which  is  the 
pioneer  history  of  our  country,  "the  motto  seemed  to  be  more 
wagon  roads  to  the  salt  works." 

The  discovery  of  enormous  quantities  of  brine  upon  the  Ka- 
nawha River,  and  the  completion  of  a  government  pier  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Chicago  Creek,  making  a  practical  harbor  so  that 
vessels  on  the  lake  could  safely  enter  there,  created  a  competition 
that  put  an  end  to  the  further  manufacture  of  salt  in  Vermilion 
county.  The  works  after  this  were  a  loss  to  every  one  who  under- 
took to  run  them.  They  were  abandoned,  and  the  long  row  of 
buildings  that  had  grown  up  in  palmier  days  became  vacant.  For 
many  years  afterward  the  sole  occupant  was  a  singular  old  lady 
whom  the  people  called  "Mother  Bloss."  She  lived  all  alone, 
spending  her  time  in  knitting  or  in  boiling  a  little  salt  at  the  old 
furnace  when  the  weather  was  pleasant,  and  would  bring  the  pro- 
ducts of  her  industry  to  town  and  barter  them  for  sugar,  coffee, 
snuff  and  such  other  little  luxuries  as  her  limited  means  would 
allow. 

Nothing  now  remains  of  the  old  salt  works  except  the  furrowed 
hillside,  where  some  of  the  furnace  stones  point  above  the  overlay- 
ing grass,  and  a  few  depressions  in  the  ground  that  mark  the  posi- 
tion of  several  of  the  wells.  They  are  situated  over  half  a  mile 
west  of  the  crossing  of  the  middle  fork,  in  the  bottom,  near  the 
north  bank  of  the  salt  fork,  and  between  the  cultivated  fields  and 
the  river.  The  Indians  told  Maj.  Vance  that  they  and  the  French 
traders- had  made  salt  at  these  springs  for  at  least  seventy  or  eighty 
years  before  they  were  developed  by  the  white  people  ;  and  the  old 
Indians  said  they  had  no  recollection  of  the  time,  it  was  so  long  ago 
since  their  people  first  commenced  making  salt  there.  The  well- 
worn  trails  of  buffalo  and  other  wild  animals  were  found  converg- 
ing to  this  brakish  ooze  from  many  directions,  and  the  abundance 
of  game  that  collected  there  to  eat  the  salty  earth  is  proven  by  the 
quantity  of  broken  arrow-heads  which  have  been  found  in  this 
locality  ever  since  the  settlement  of  the  country. 


HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY.  313 

The  salt  works  were  the  nucleus  of  settlements  in  that  vicinity, 
as  they  were,  also,  the  beginning  of  the  county.  The  next  begin- 
ning, in  the  order  of  time,  was  made  in  1820,  by  James  D.  Butler, 
who  "took  up  a  claim,"  as  squatting  on  apiece  of  land  before  it 
was  surveyed  or  put  in  market  was  called,  just  west  of  Catlin. 
He  was  from  Chittenden  county,  Vermont ;  moved  to  Clark  county, 
Ohio ;  lived  there  six  years,  when,  with  two  or  three  other  persons, 
he  came  to  Vermilion  county.  His  cabin  was  erected  on  the  right 
hand  side  of  the  road  leading  from  Catlin  to  the  fair  ground,  and  on 
the  east  side  of  the  branch  which  still  bears  his  name.  He  put  in  a 
crop,  and,  in  company  with  his  neighbors,  returned  in  the  fall  to  Ohio. 
The  next  spring  he  brought  out  his  family.  His  neighbors  would  not 
come  back  with  him  ;  they  abandoned  their  "little  beginnings"  be- 
cause their  families  were  afraid  to  submit  themselves,  so  far  from 
civilization,  to  the  mercy  of  the  Indians,  whose  numerous  bands 
were  roaming  over  this  country  at  that  time.  When  Butler's  fam- 
ily moved  in,  their  nearest  neighbor  south  was  Henry  Johnson,  on 
the  Little  Vermilion,  while  Treat's  family,  at  the  salt  works,  with 
Whitcomb  and  the  two  Beckwiths,  Dan  and  George,  were  their  only 
neighbors  in  that  direction.  Within  two  or  three  years  Robert 
Trickle  came  to  Butler's  Point,  then  John  Light,  and  soon  after 
Asa  Elliott.  Whitcomb  took  a  wife  and  went  from  the  salt  works 
to  Catlin,  where  he  built  a  home  and  lived  for  many  years. 

At  a  later  day,  Butler,  greatly  prospered  by  his  industry  and 
thrift,  built  a  larger  house — in  fact,  a  mansion,  so  considered  at  the 
time — out  on  the  prairie  near  the  northeast  portion  of  the  present 
Catlin  fair-ground  inclosure.  The  logs  were  square  hewn  ;  the  cor- 
ners of  the  building  were  cut  even  with  the  line  of  the  walls.  Butler 
was  a  man  of  good  business  capacity,  and  possessed  a  practical  mind. 
This,  with  his  good  house  and  the  accession  of  enterprising  neigh- 
bors, soon  made  "Butler's  Point"  the  focal  center  of  the  country 
many  miles  around. 

Near  Butler's  house  stood  a  large  oak  tree,  all  alone,  out  well 
beyond  the  line  of  timber  skirting  the  branch,  where  for  years  it  had 
bid  defiance  to  the  annual  prairie  fire.  It  was  called  "  Butler's  lone 
tree,"  and  was  a  landmark  and  sentinel  that  served  as  a  guide  to 
travelers  crossing  the  prairies  from  the  south  and  west. 

A  Lewis  Bailey,  in  1823,  made  a  "tomahawk  improvement,','  as 
little  clearings  in  the  timber  were  called  in  those  days,  west  of  the 
salt  works  some  six  miles,  on  what  is  now  known  as  a  part  of  the 
old  Radclifte  farm.  Bailey  sold  out  to  Harvey  Luddington,  who 
was  well  known  in  Danville,  where  he  lived    since  1828  until  his 


314  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

death  within  the  past  year.  The  branch  near  by  became  known  to 
the  early  settlers  as  Luddington's  branch.  It  is  now  called  Stony 
Creek.  Within  a  few  years  afterward  a  Mr.  Walker  opened  a  farm 
higher  up  the  creek,  and  the  place  became  known  as  "Walker's 
Point." 

The  facts  narrated  in  reference  to  the  early  settlement  at  Butler's 
Point,  and  upon  the  Little  Vermilion  and  Stony  Creek,  are  produced 
from  a  narrative  given  the  writer  by  Annis  Butler,  daughter  of  Jas. 
D.  Butler,  afterward  the  wife  of  Marquis  Snow,  and  after  this  the 
wife  of  Cyrus  Douglas.  Her  reminiscences  are  quite  lengthy,  and 
were  taken  down  in  writing  by  the  writer  of  this,  at  the  time  and 
substantially  as  related  to  him  at  her  house  in  Fairmount,  on  the 
12th  of  August,  1876.  The  lady  was  in  excellent  health  at  the  time, 
and  exceedingly  quick  in  both  mind  and  body.  Her  recollection  of 
events  was  remarkable,  and  her  faculty  in  relating  them  minute  and 
exact.  She  had  always  enjoyed  excellent  health,  and  time  had  dealt 
so  gently  with  her  that  her  appearance  betrayed  no  evidence  of  her 
age.  The  writer  has  been  thus  particular,  that  the  reader  may  give 
proper  credit  to  her  statements  wherein  they  differ  from  the  "recol- 
lections" of  other  "old  settlers."  She  was  born  in  1805,  and  was 
about  sixteen  years  old  when  she  came  to  Catlin  Township  with  her 
father.  She  lived  in  that  part  of  the  county  until  in  March,  1877, 
when  she  died  at  her  home  in  Fairmount.  Concerning  her  first 
marriage,  she  says  that  her  husband,  Marquis  Snow,  drove  one  of 
her  father's  teams  when  the  family  moved  from  Ohio  to  Illinois, 
and  that  her  acquaintance  with  him  began  before  that  time.  Mr. 
Douglas  and  his  intended  bride  were  at  the  salt  works.  She  was 
there  also,  as  was  Marquis  Snow.  The  groomsman  took  their  girls 
on  horseback,  each  pony  carrying  two  persons,  the  groom  in  front, 
the  bride  behind,  following  in  single  file  along  an  Indian  trail,  leading 
from  the  salt  works  to  Denmark.  Dan  and  George  Beckwith,  dressed 
in  buckskin  blouse,  breeches  and  moccasins,  brought  up  the  rear  on 
foot.  Squire  Treat's  cabin  was  about  fourteen  feet  square,  built  of 
small  round  logs.  Douglas  was  married  first,  and  then  Marquis  and 
Miss  Annis  stood  up,  and  joining  hands,  their  marriage  was  next 
duly  solemnized.  The  ceremony  of  this  double  wedding  was  per- 
formed on  the  27th  day  of  January,  1825.  It  has  been  erroneously 
stated  that  these  weddings  were  the  first  ever  celebrated  in  Vermil- 
ion county.  These  were,  perhaps,  the  first  in  this  part  of  what  is 
now  known  as  Vermilion  county.  Then  Vermilion  was  a  part,  and 
only  a  small  part,  of  Edgar  county,  and  Squire  Treat  was  one  of  the 
justices  of  the  peace  for  the  county  of  Edgar.     Before  laying  aside 


HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY.  315 

Mrs.  Douglas's  narrative,  we  will  extract  two  or  three  incidents 
which  she  relates.  They  are  unimportant  in  themselves,  but  will 
illustrate  the  necessities  of  society,  and  the  condition  of  this  part  of 
the  country  at  that  time,  and  will  assist  the  reader  in  drawing  con- 
trasts between  the  "early  days"  and  now. 

After  Baily  sold  out  to  Luddington  he  cleared  out  to  the  "Illi- 
nois River  country,""  leaving  his  wife  and  two  or  three  small  children 
at  the  salt  works.  The  children  were  taken  sick.  The  wife  soon 
became  ill,  too.  There  was  no  other  woman  at  the  salt  works,  the 
men  laboring  there  being  all  unmarried.  Whitcomb  took  care  of  the 
sick  mother  and  her  children.  With  his  own  hands  he  did  all  their 
washing.  No  female  help  could  be  had.  No  doctors  or  drug  stores, 
from  where  aid  or  medicines  could  be  procured,  were  nigh.  No  food, 
such  as  invalids  require,  could  be  procured.  One  by  one  the  chil- 
dren, wasting  away,  day  after  day,  died.  No  plank  or  lumber  was 
to  be  had,  and  coffins  were  made  out  of  rough  boards,  split  from  a 
walnut  tree  that  grew  a  short  distance  from  Butler's  branch.  In 
these  rude  caskets,  roughly  made  by  the  men  with  such  tools  as  they 
possessed,  the  bodies  of  the  little  ones  were  placed  in  the  ground. 
The  sick  mother,  unable  to  leave  her  couch,  could  drop  no  tear  at 
the  graves  of  her  dear  ones.  There  were  none  to  mourn  at  the 
funeral,  —  no  relatives,  no  friends,  no  minister, —  only  the  sad  faces 
of  strong  men  inured  to  hardships,  who  silently  performed  the  last 
rites. 

The  walnut  tree,  says  Mrs.  Douglas,  was  called  the  "coffin  tree." 
Neighbors  came  from  a  long  distance  and  rived  boards  from  this 
tree.  It  was  straight-grained,  and  slabs  could  be  split  off  of  it  with 
little  difficulty.  From  such  material  as  this  were  formed  the  burial- 
cases  of  a  number  of  the  early  settlers. 

One  spring,  some  two  years  before  Mr.  Snow's  marriage,  he  was 
making  sugar  at  the  camp  near  the  salt  works,  and  as  he  was  hauling 
sugar  water  from  the  trees  to  the  camp  on  a  "bob-sled,"  a  panther 
came  near  him.  He  motioned  to  Lewis  Bailey,  who  was  at  the  camp 
fire,  to  bring  the  rifle,  but  Bailey  did  not  see  him.  All  the  while  the 
panther  was  eyeing  Mr.  Snow  sharply ;  whenever  he  moved,  the 
panther  would  move  in  the  same  direction.  He  mounted  a  fallen 
tree,  still  trying  to  attract  Bailey's  attention.  He  was  afraid  to  run, 
lest  the  panther  would  spring  upon  him.  The  panther  got  upon  the 
log  himself,  and  followed  Snow  up  as  the  latter  slowly  retreated,  walk- 
ing backward  upon  the  log  and  facing  the  crouching  animal.  At  last 
Mr  Snow  gave  a  loud  halloo,  not  daring  to  turn  his  eye  away  from 
the  panther  in  the  direction  of  the  camp.    His  shout  quickly  brought 


316  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Bailey  to  liis  assistance,  and  frightened  the  panther  away  at  the  same 
time.     No  more  sugar  was  made  at  that  camp  until  the  next  year. 

The  Blackmans  and  Treat  brought  up  a  lot  of  hogs  from  Terre 
Haute  to  the  salt  works  in  1820  or  1821,  and  turned  them  loose  in 
the  woods,  where  they  throve  and  multiplied  astonishingly.  The 
animals  lived  upon  grass  and  the  abundance  of  mast  found  in  the 
timber.  In  time  the  hogs  grew  wild,  and  the  males  were  dangerous. 
They  spread  their  numbers  many  miles  up  the  Middle  Fork  and  Salt 
Fork,  and  down  the  Vermilion  below  Danville.  The  round,  plump 
form,  the  result  of  domestication,  gave  way  as  the  animals  bred  back 
to  a  wild  condition,  and  their  bodies  became  tall  and  thin,  their  legs 
long,  and  their  whole  appearance  grew  so  changed  that  they  looked 
very  little  like  civilized  hogs.  They  became  common  property  in 
the  woods,  and  were  killed  off  as  wild  game. 

Leaving  the  narrative  of  Mrs.  Douglas,  the  writer  was  told  by 
Mr.  Jackson,  now  living  on  the  Little  Vermilion,  that  these  hogs 
were  so  wild  it  was  impossible  to  domesticate  them.  His  people 
caught  a  large  one,  with  dogs,  and  brought  it  to  Danville  and  put  it 
in  a  pen.  It  would  eat  no  corn  or  any  other  food,  but  walked 
around  the  pen  continually,  chafing  and  frothing  at  the  mouth,  like 
the  wildest  beast  he  ever  saw  caged  in  a  menagerie.  Thus  it  walked 
and  chafed  and  starved  to  death  under  the  restraint  of  its  confine- 
ment. Resuming  Mrs.  Douglas'  narrative,  this  lady  states  that  her 
father  in  1823  made  the  first  mill,  or  "corn  cracker"  ever  used  either 
in  Vermilion  or  Champaign  counties.  It  consisted  of  a  "gum,"  or 
section  of  a  hollow  tree,  some  four  feet  long  by  two  feet  in  diameter. 
Into  this  was  set  a  stationary  stone,  selected  with  reference  to  as 
flat  a  surface  as  could  be  procured.  The  revolving  burr,  like  the 
stationary  stone,  consisted  of  a  granite  boulder,  or  "nigger  head," 
as  the  old  settlers  called  the  stone,  which  are  distributed  freely  over 
the  ground  everywhere.  The  stones  were  broken  and  dressed  into  a 
circular  form,  and  the  grinding  surfaces  were  furrowed,  so  as  to  give 
them  cutting  edges,  by  Mr.  Butler,  with  the  aid  of  such  tools  as  he 
could  manufacture  at  his  forge  for  the  purpose.  A  hole  was  drilled 
on  the  upper  side  of  the  rotary  burr,  near  the  rim.  A  pole  was 
inserted  in  this,  and  the  other  end  placed  into  a  hole  in  a  beam 
some  six  or  eight  feet  directly  above  the  center  of  the  hopper.  By 
taking  hold  of  the  pole  with  the  hand  near  the  burr,  and  exerting  a 
li  push  and  pull  "  movement,  a  rotary  motion  was  given  to  the  mill. 
Its  capacity,  with  a  lively,  muscular  man  as  the  motive  power,  was 
about  one  bushel  of  tolerably  well  cracked  corn  per  hour.  The  corn 
was  put  into  the  gum  with  one  hand,  while  the  burr  was  revolved 


HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY.  :?17 

with  the  other.  "I  have,"  says  Mrs.  Douglas,  "ground  many  a 
time  on  this  mill,  and  so  has  Uncle  Harvey  Luddington. "  It  served 
the  wants  of  the  settlement  at  Butler's  Point  until  the  water-mill 
was  built  on  the  north  fork  at  Danville.  Afterward  it  was  taken  to 
the  "Big  Grove,"  in  Champaign  county,  by  Mr.  Trickle,  where  it 
did  work  for  the  whole  neighborhood,  then  consisting  of  five  or  six 
families,  among  whom  it  sustained  its  reputation  as  a  good  and  reli- 
able mill.  During  the  time  this  machine  was  the  only  "first-class 
mill"  in  the  county,  the  nearest  place  where  flour  and  good  meal 
could  be  procured  was  from  the  water-mill  on  Raccoon  Creek,  across 
the  Wabash,  below  Montezuma. 

The  year  before  I  was  married  to  my  first  husband,  continues 
Mrs.  Duglass  in  her  statement,  he,  in  company  with  Seymour  Treat, 
George  and  Dan  Beckwith,  went  off  "on  a  lark1'  to  Chicago.  The 
Indians  had  told  them  about  Chicago,  the  trading  post,  and  the 
"big,  big  water,"  and  the  young  men  were  curious  and  determined 
to  know  for  themselves  how  the  country  looked  up  that  way.  They 
had  a  little  bacon  and  meal,  an  Indian  pony  to  carry  their  provisions 
and  blankets,  and  to  help  them  over  the  streams,  and  a  pocket  com- 
pass. Thus  equipped,  they  started.  They  got  lost  on  the  way,  in 
the  confusion  of  trails  crossing  the  country ;  however,  they  were  put 
on  the  right  trail  by  an  Indian  whom  they  met.  They  got  through 
pleasantly  and  safe  enough,  saw  what  was  to  be  seen  at  Fort  Dear- 
born, and  returned.  They  had  a  first-rate  time  going  up  and  re- 
turning, which  occupied  the  better  part  of  two  weeks.  After  the 
party  had  returned  to  the  salt  works,  although  they  had  gone  one 
hundred  and  twenty-eight  miles  to  Fort  Dearborn,  they  might  have 
traveled  sixty  miles  farther  north,  and,  if  asked  where  they  had 
been,  might  have  replied,  in  truth,  that  they  had  not  been  outside  of 
the  county,  for  at  that  date  Edgar  county  extended  to  the  Wisconsin 
line.  They  slept  out  in  the  open  air  all.  the  way  going  and  return- 
ing, except  one  night  when  they  were  the  guests  of  a  Pottawatomie 
chief,  and  an  old  acquaintance,  at  his  village  on  the  Kankakee.  The 
Indians  treated  the  travelers  with  the  greatest  kindness,  giving  up 
their  skin  blankets  for  them  to  sleep  upon,  while  they  themselves 
lay  upon  the  bare  ground.  There  were  then  no  white  men's  houses 
between  the  salt  works  and  Chicago,  except  Treat's  cabin  at  Den- 
mark, and  Geurdon  S.  Hubbard's  trading  house  at  the  Iroquois. 

This  was,  perhaps,  the  first  "free"  or  "grand  excursion"  from 
Vermilion  county  to  Chicago.  The  reader  can  draw  the  contrast : 
Then,  it  was  the  Indian  trail  called  "Hubbard's  trace,"  over  wild, 
uninhabited    prairies,   and    terminating  on   the   desolate   sand-ridge 


318  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

crowned  with  stunted  oak  trees,  relieved  in  the  distance  by  the  white- 
washed barracks  of  Fort  Dearborn,  beyond  which  was  a  sluggish 
creek  that  meandered  a  devious  course  into  Lake  Michigan.  Now, 
the  trip  is  made  on  the  cushioned  seat  of  the  railway  car,  speeding 
in  a  few  brief  hours,  all  the  way  through  cultivated  fields  or  by 
thrifty  villages,  to  the  mighty  city  that  has  since  arisen  and  become 
alike  a  pride  and  wonder  of  the  west. 

In  1820  Henry  Johnson  and  Absalom  Starr  began  the  nucleus  of 
settlements  on  the  Little  Vermilion,  some  two  miles  west  of  George- 
town. The  writer  has  a  copy  of  a  letter  addressed  to  William  Lowery, 
the  member  from  Clark  county  in  the  Illinois  legislature,  from  Henry 
Johnson,  dated  " Achilles  township,"  November  22,  1822,  in  which 
he  says  that  "he  had  a  knowledge  of  the  affairs  of  this  township 
since  October,  1820."  From  the  text  of  the  letter  it  is  quite  appar- 
ent "Achilles  township'"  embraced  the  whole  territory  of  Clark 
county  watered  by  the  two  Vermilions  and  extending  as  far  north  as 
the  Kankakee.  Thomas  O'Neil  opened  up  the  so-called  Caroway 
Farm  at  "Brooks'  Point1'  in  1821.  A  little  later  he  settled  on  the 
Vermilion  River.  Capt.  Achilles  Morgan  and  his  two  daughters, — 
the  one  married  to  Henry  Martin,  the  other  to  George  Brock,  — 
arrived  at  the  salt  works  in  1821,  all  the  way  from  Virginia.  They 
passed  down  through  "Brooks'  Point,"  where  they  lodged  one  night 
in  an  Indian  wigwam  made  of  bark.  Then  they  pursued  their  way 
to  the  south  side  of  the  Little  Vermilion,  about  three  miles  west  of 
Georgetown,  where  they  found  a  home.  In  1822  Mr.  Dickson  Will- 
iams and  others  extended  the  picket  line  of  settlements  still  higher 
up  the  Little  Vermilion.  With  them,  or  soon  after,  we  hear  of  the 
Swanks,  the  McDonalds,  Mr.  McDowell  and  G.  W.  Cassiday.  We 
might  give  other  names,  only  in  doing  so  we  should  encroach  upon 
the  field  already  covered  by  other  writers,  to  whom  were  assigned 
the  histories  of  the  several  townships,  where  the  reader  will  find  the 
names  of  the  persons  by  whom  and  the  order  in  which  the  several 
townships,  respectively,  were  settled.  The  purpose  in  this  connection 
is  to  show  that  the  line  of  immigration  into  Vermilion  county  was 
from  the  south  toward  the  north. 

On  the  3d  of  January,  1823,  Edgar  county  was  formed  off  of 
Clark,  and  by  the  fifth  section  of  the  act,  passed  on  the  3d  of  Janu- 
ary, 1823,  for  its  organization,  all  that  tract  of  country  north  of  said 
Edgar  county,  to  Lake  Michigan,  was  attached  to  the  county  of 
Edgar,  for  judicial  purposes.  Our  county-seat  was  again  changed, 
still  working  its  way  north.  The  first  business  transacted  in  the  new 
county  of  Edgar  was  at  the  house  of  Jonathan  Mayo,  on  the  North 


HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY.  319 

Arm  Prairie.  Shortly  after  this  the  seat  of  justice  was  located  at 
Paris.  The  date  of  the  report  of  the  commissioners  fixing  the  county 
seats  is  April  21,  1823.  Amos  Williams,  late  of  Vermilion  county, 
was  the  surveyor  who  laid  off  the  original  town  of  Paris. 

Within  the  next  three  years  the  population  along  the  Little  Ver- 
milion and  northward  of  that  stream  had  increased  sufficiently  to 
justify  the  formation  of  another  new  county.  Accordingly,  by  section 
one  of  the  act  of  the  18th  of  January,  1826  (Laws  of  1826-7,  page 
50),  it  was  declared  that  all  that  tract  of  country  within  the  following 
bounds,  to  wit :  "  Beginning  on  the  state  line  between  Illinois  and 
Indiana,  at  the  northeast  corner  of  Edgar  county  [the  act  organizing 
Edgar  county  fixed  its  northern  boundary  by  a  line  running  east  and 
west  between  townships  16  and  17],  thence  west  with  the  line  divid- 
ing townships  16  and  17  to  the  southwest  corner  of  township  17 
north,  of  range  10  east ;  thence  north  to  the  northwest  corner  of 
township  22  north ;  thence  east  to  the  Indiana  state  line ;  thence 
south  with  the  state  line  to  the  place  of  beginning,  should  constitute 
a  separate  county,  to  be  called  Vermilion."  This  description  would 
strike  off  one  tier  of  townships,  or  six  miles,  from  the  north  end  of 
the  county,  and  extend  its  west  line  about  ten  miles  into  Champaign. 
By  the  seventh  section  of  the  act  referred  to,  "all  that  tract  of  coun- 
try lying  east  of  range  6,  east  of  the  3d  principal  meridian  and  north 
of  Vermilion  county,  as  far  north  as  the  Illinois  and  Kankakee 
rivers,  was  attached  to  Vermilion  county  for  judicial  purposes." 

The  attached  territory  embraced  all  of  the  country  now  occupied 
by  Champaign,  Iroquois  and  Ford  counties,  two  tiers  of  townships 
on  the  east  side  of  Livingston,  two-thirds  of  the  width  of  Grundy 
county  south  of  the  Kankakee  (which  comprises  more  than  half  the 
area  of  that  county),  and  nearly  one  and  one  half  congressional 
townships  in  the  southwest  corner  of  Will.  Tins  region  was  dis- 
posed of  substantially  in  the  following  order :  Iroquois  county  was 
formed  in  1833,  and  by  the  terms  of  the  act  for  its  establishment, 
the  old  boundary  line  of  Vermilion  was  extended  six  miles  farther 
north,  making  the  line  where  it  now  is.  Champaign  county  was 
stricken  off  by  the  act  of  February,  1833,  by  the  terms  of  which 
Vermilion  lost  half  of  range  11,  fractional  range  11  and  range  10, 
thus  reducing  the  old  limits  of  Vermilion  county  ten  miles  on  the 
west  in  its  entire  length.  Livingston  county  was  organized  in  1837, 
by  which  ten  full  townships  and  a  half  of  two  others  was  taken 
from  Vermilion.  Grundy  was  established  in  1841,  and  by  the  act 
for  its  formation  she  acquired  that  portion  of  Vermilion  which  we 
have  indicated.     In  January,  1836,  Will  county  was  formed  out  of 


320  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Cook  and  that  portion  of  Iroquois  between  the  present  northern  limit 
of  Iroquois  county  and  the  Kankakee.  After  the  formation  of  the 
several  counties  named,  there  still  remained  a  remnant  —  a  ''boot- 
leg," or  "pan-handle,"'  as  it  was  called  —  of  the  old  attached  ter- 
ritory. The  "boot-leg"  of  this  fragment  consisted  of  a  strip  lying 
between  Iroquois  and  Will  (or  latterly  Kankakee  county)  on  the 
east  and  Livingston  and  Grundy  on  the  west.  It  was  only  six  miles 
in  breadth  and  nearly  fifty  miles  long.  South  of  this  was  a  block 
sixteen  miles  north  and  south,  by  eighteen  miles  east  and  west,  with 
a  "toe'*  of  two  townships  extending  eighteen  miles  still  farther 
east.  The  three  northern  townships  of  the  boot-leg  —  Reed,  Essex 
and  Norton  —  were  disposed  of:  The  first  went  to  Will  and  the  two 
last  to  Kankakee  county.  The  remainder  was  organized  into  the 
county  of  Ford  in  1859.  Our  member  in  the  legislature  acted  un- 
wisely, perhaps,  in  submitting  to  the  loss  of  territory  on  the  west 
side  <>f  the  county  in  the  organization  of  Champaign.  The  latter  has 
the  greater  width  of  the  two.  The  dismembered  strip  would  have 
always  been  valuable  to  Vermilion,  while  the  people  living  in  it 
could  have  been,  in  all  probability,  as  well,  if  not  better,  accommo- 
dated had  the  old  relations  been  retained.  A  small  county  has  a 
correspondingly  less  influence  in  a  conference,  at  a  political  conven- 
tion, state  or  congressional,  and  in  the  legislature,  than  the  larger 
and  more  populous  ones,  as  little  counties  have,  unfortunately,  often 
learned  to  their  cost.  While  Vermilion  is  by  no  means  a  small 
county  as  compared  with  Edwards  or  Ford,  or  many  others  in  the 
state,  still,  when  contrasted  or  coming  in  a  collision  with  such  coun- 
ties as  Adams,  Sangamon  or  McLean,  her  interests  are  apt  to  suffer. 
Hence  it  will  be  seen  that  Chicago,  as  well  as  all  that  territory  lying 
north  of  the  Kankakee,  was  never  in.  and  formed  no  part  of.  Ver- 
milion county  proper.  True,  while  Vermilion  was  a  part  of  Edgar 
the  latter  did  embrace  all  the  territory  south  of  the  Wisconsin  line. 
Before  Vermilion  county  was  organized,  however,  to  wit,  on  the 
13th  of  January.  1  825,  Peoria  county  was  formed  off  of  Pike,  and 
took  in  all  the  territory  north  of  the  Illinois  and  Kankakee  Rivers, 
from  Indiana  state  line  west  to  the  boundary  established  by  that  act, 
between  the  old  county  of  Pike  and  the  new  county  of  Peoria.  The 
writer  is  aware  that  old  settlers  yet  living  would,  if  necessary,  make 
their  affidavits  that  Chicago  was  at  one  time  in  Vermilion  county, 
and  that  William  Reed,  the  sheriff,  paid  out  of  his  own  pocket  the 
taxes  due  from  property-owners  at  Chicago  rather  than  travel  there 
to  collect  them,  and  that  Harvey  Luddington,  having  occasion  to  go 
to  Chicago,  was  deputized  by  Sheriff  Reed  to  obtain  the  taxes  due 


HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY.  321 

in  Cook  county.  Mr.  Luddington,  H.  Cunningham  and  others  have 
often  told  the  writer  this  story.  The  old  settlers  were  doubtless 
correct  in  their  statements  as  to  the  manner  of  payment  of  this  tax ; 
but  they  are  mistaken  as  to  the  time,  which  could  only  have  been 
between  the  years  1823  and  1825,  while  Cook  was  a  part  of  Edgar, 
and  before  the  formation  of  Peoria  and  Vermilion,  during  which 
period  Mr.  Reed  was  acting  as  sheriff  of  Edgar,  and  while  Mr.  Lud- 
dington and  the  others  were  citizens  of  that  county,  though  residing 
within  the  present  limits  of  Vermilion.  In  those  days  new  counties 
were  being  organized  with  such  rapidity,  and  the  special  laws  were 
accessible  to  so  few  of  the  people,  that  a  mistake  such  as  the  one 
here  pointed  out  was  quite  likely  to  occur,  particularly  where  the 
narrators  are  speaking  of  past  events  with  no  data  to  refresh  their 
recollections. 

By  the  second  section  of  the  act  establishing  Vermilion  county, 
"John  Boyd  and  Joel  Phelps,  of  Crawford,  and  Samuel  Prevo,  of 
Clark  county,  were  appointed  commissioners  to  meet  at  the  house  of 
James  Butler,  on  the  second  Monday  of  March,  then  next ;  and, 
after  taking  oath  for  a  faithful  discharge  of  their  trust,  to  examine 
for,  and  determine  on,  a  place  for  the  permanent  seat  of  justice  of 
the  county,  taking  into  consideration  the  convenience  of  the  people, 
the  situation  of  the  settlements,  with  an  eye  to  the  future  population 
and  eligibility  of  the  place."  The  act  required  that  "the  owners 
of  the  land  selected  as  a  county  seat  should  donate  and  convey  the 
same  to  the  county  in  a  quantity  not  less  than  twenty  acres  in  a 
square  form,  and  not  more  than  twice  as  wide,  to  be  laid  off  in  lots 
and  to  be  sold  by  the  county  commissioners  for  the  purpose  of  erect- 
ing public  buildings.  In  case  of  a  refusal  of  the  owner  to  donate 
the  required  ground,  the  commissioners  were  required  to  locate  the 
county-seat  on  the  lands  of  some  other  person  who  would  make  the 
donation  contemplated  by  the  act.''1 

An  examination  of  the  old  private  laws  shows  that  it  was  a  gen- 
eral custom  in  those  days  for  the  Legislature  to  require  a  donation 
of  lands  as  a  condition  for  the  location  of  county  seats,  believing 
that  the  people  of  the  new  county  should  share  the  profits  of  the 
lucky  land-owner. 

The  act  further  provided  that,  in  the  event  the  county  seat  was 
located  within  the  bounds  of  the  Saline  reservation  on  the  Big  Ver- 
milion River  —  the  Saline  lands,  by  act  of  congress,  had  become  the 
property  of  the  state  —  the  county  commissioners  should,  as  soon  as 
practicable,  purchase  of  the  state  the  quarter  or  half  section  desig- 
nated for  the  use  of  the  county.     And  the  act  further  provided,  sec- 


322  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

tion  3,  that  "all  courts  should  be  held  at  the  house  of  James  Butler 
until  public  buildings  were  erected  for  the  purpose,  unless  changed 
to  another  place  by  order  of  the  county  commissioners." 

Boyd  and  his  associates,  after  a  casual  examination  of  the  country, 
made  their  report,  by  which  they  located  the  county  seat  some  six 
miles  west  of  Danville  and  back  a  distance  from  the  south  side  of 
the  Salt  Fork.  A  more  unfavorable  place  could  hardly  have  been 
selected ;  the  surface  was  cold,  flat,  clay  ground.  It  is  doubtful  if 
ordinary  wells  could  have  been  secured,  to  say  nothing  of  cellars  or 
drainage,  which  are  indispensable  for  the  convenience  and  health  of 
a  town.  It  would  have  been  impossible  ever  to  have  attracted  enter- 
prising men  to  such  a  spot ;  and  if  the  county  seat  had  been  estab- 
lished there,  it  never  would  have  grown  to  the  dignity  of  a  city,  or 
even  attained  the  respectability  of  the  average  modern  town.  It 
would  have  remained  an  unsightly,  ragged,  sickly  village,  not  unlike 
several  of  the  old  county  seats  in  the  state,  that  lingered  along  for 
years  only  to  die  and  be  forgotten. 

Fortunately  for  the  future  welfare  of  the  county,  Vance,  the  les- 
see, refused  to  yield  his  rights.  The  citizens  generally  were  very 
much  dissatisfied  with  the  site  selected,  and  sent  up  a  remonstrance 
coupled  with  a  prayer  for  the  removal  of  the  county  seat  to  a  more 
desirable  location,  and  for  relief  generally.  Accordingly,  on  the  26th 
day  of  December,  1826  (private  laws  of  Illinois,  1826-7,  page  2,)  the 
general  assembly  passed  an  act,  which  recites  in  the  preamble: 
"Whereas,  the  seat  of  justice  of  Vermilion  county  has  been  located 
by  the  commissioners  appointed  at  the  last  session  on  land  which 
was  then  and  still  is  leased  by  the  governor  for  a  term  of  years  to 
certain  persons  for  the  manufacture  of  salt ;  and  whereas,  the  said 
lessees  are  unwilling  to  surrender  the  same,  or  any  part,  for  the  use 
of  the  county,  in  consequence  of  which  no  improvements  can  be 
made  thereon ;  and  the  citizens  having  petitioned  for  its  removal, 
and  for  remedy  whereof,"  " therefore"  it  was  enacted,  "that  Will- 
iam Morgan,  Zachariah  Peter  and  John  Kirkpatrick,  of  Sangamon 
county,  be  declared  commissioners  to  explore  the  county  and  desig- 
nate the  place,  which,  on  being  located,  should  forever  remain  the 
permanent  seat  of  justice  of  Vermilion  county."  The  same  sec- 
tion further  provided,  that  in  case  the  new  commissioners  "should 
locate  the  county  seat  within  the  Saline  reservation,  the  state  would 
relinquish  its  title  to  a  half  quarter  section,  or  fractional  section,  on 
the  Vermilion  River,  not  exceeding  eighty  acres,  in  the  reservation, 
upon  which  the  county  seat  might  be  located,  for  the  use  of  the 
county,  on  condition  that  congress  would  confirm  the  same  to  the 


HISTORY   OF   VERMILION    COUNTY.  323 

county."  On  the  31st  of  January,  1827,  the  new  commissioners 
reported  to  the  county  commissioners  "that,  in  their  opinion,  the 
lands  donated  by  Guy  W.  Smith  and  Dan  W.  Beckwith,  near  the 
mouth  of  the  North  Fork  of  the  Yermilion  River,  was  the  most 
suitable  place  in  the  county  for  such  county  seat." 

A  most  fortunate  choice  it  was.  A  better  site  could  not  have 
been  selected.  In  the  whole  state  there  is  not  a  spot  of  ground 
where  Nature  herself  has  combined  so  many  advantages  of  drainage, 
surface  soil,  water,  coal,  timber,  stone,  gravel  and  all  else  that  is 
required  for  the  successful  growth  of  an  inland  city ;  and  the  act  of 
the  commissioners  in  establishing  the  county  seat  here  has  largely 
contributed  to  the  growth  and  development  of  the  entire  county. 

The  thought  of  making  a  town  at  Danville  was  not  original  with 
Messrs.  Morgan,  Peter  and  Kirkpatrick.  The  chiefs  and  head  men 
of  the  "  Miami- Piankeshaws ''  had,  about  a  hundred  years  before, 
selected  it  as  the  place  of  one  of  their  principal  villages,  giving  it 
the  name  of  Piankesliaw.  It  is  highly  probable — indeed,  the  writer 
has  but  little  doubt,  after  consulting  many  authorities,  and  making  a 
personal  examination  of  the  country  on  the  Yermilion  River  below 
and  above  Danville — that  the  old  village  of  Piatikeshaw,  referred  to 
in  French  documents  as  far  back  as  1719,  and  in  the  subsequent 
accounts  of  English  and  early  American  writers,  was  strung  along  the 
north  fork  from  the  northwestern  city  limits  to  Main  street,  thence 
along  the  Vermilion  River  as  far  as  the  extreme  of  east  Danville, 
and  extending  back,  in  an  irregular  line  a  half  a  mile  or  more,  from 
the  bluffs  of  the  two  streams.  The  old  corn  hills,  grown  over  with 
blue-grass,  heaps  of  stone  where  fires  had  been  made,  the  absence 
of  forest,  excepting  a  few  large  oak  trees,  and  other  appearances 
scattered  over  the  area  of  ground  we  have  described,  clearly  indicated 
its  former  occupation  to  the  early  white  visitants.  In  fact,  the  Potta- 
watomie Indians  told  Col.  Guerdon  S.  Hubbard  in  1819  or  1820  that 
it  used  to  be  "the  big  Piankashaw  town."  We  will  summarize  a 
description  of  the  locality  at  the  time  it  was  determined  to  establish 
the  county  seat  here.  Let  the  reader  fancy  all  the  houses  in  and 
about  the  city  taken  away  ;  remove  the  fences,  gardens  and  lawns  ; 
obliterate  the  streets  and  walks,  and  all  other  signs  of  civilization ; 
restore  the  trees  to  the  surrounding  forest,  and  look  upon  the  land- 
scape as  it  appeared  to  Guerdon  S.  Hubbard  in  1819,  to  Harvey 
Luddington  and  Jacob  Swisher  in  1821,  or  to  Alvin  Gilbert,  Hesi- 
kiah  Cunningham,  the  Leneve  Brothers,  John  H.  Murphy,  Leander 
Rutledge  or  William  Bandy,  a  few  years  later,  and  before  the  white 
settlers  had  made  many  of  their  marks  upon  it.     You  see  a  line  of 


."!24  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

stalwart  oaks  upon  the  river  bluffs,  and  others,  like  solitary  sentinels, 
scattered  at  wide  intervals  over  an  open  plain.  Westward  of  Stony 
Creek,  and  extending  from  east  Danville  northwest,  in  the  direction 
of  the  woollen  factory,  are  patches  of  hazel  and  jack  oak,  both  of 
recent  growth.  In  the  vicinity  of  the  high  school,  extending  north 
and  west  well  toward  the  bluffs,  and  embracing  nearly  all  of  Tinch- 
ertown,  is  a  broad  meadow,  set  in  with  blue-grass,  and  having  the 
marks  of  old  corn  hills  plainly  visible  over  many  acres  of  it.  Under 
the  hill,  west  of  Mill  street,  and  in  the  other  bottom  extending  from 
the  mouth  of  the  North  Fork  below  the  red  bridge,  are  other  ancient 
corn  fields,  also  overrun  with  blue-grass.  Along  the  bluffs  of  the 
North  Fork  and  Vermilion,  at  a  convenient  distance  from  some  of 
the  numerous  springs  that  bubble  out  of  the  hillsides,  are  scattering 
wigwams  formed  of  bark,  or  the  naked  lodge  poles  of  other  huts. 
These  are  only  the  temporary  abode  of  roving  bands  of  Kickapoos 
or  Pottawatomies  while  on  their  hunting  rounds.  Eastward  of  Ver- 
milion street  is,  seemingly,  a  prairie,  with  a  few  stunted  bushes  that 
grow  for  a  single  season,  only  to  be  burned  to  the  ground  by  the 
autumnal  fires. 

The  Piankashaws  are  gone,  and  desolation  broods  over  their 
ancient  village.  Some  quarter  of  a  century  or  more  before  the  white 
settlers  came,  the  rightful  dwellers  on  the  Vermilion  had  been  swept 
away  by  the  aggressive  advances  of  their  more  powerful  neighbors, 
the  Pottawatomies  and  Kickapoos. 

Beckwith  and  Smith  having  entered  into  bond  to  execute  a  deed 
to  the  county  for  the  lands,  severally  agreed  by  them  to  be  donated 
in  the  event  of  their  being  selected  as  the  place  for  the  county  seat, 
on  the  incoming  of  the  report  of  the  locating  commissioners,  the 
board  of  county  commissioners,  consisting  of  Asa  Elliott,  Achilles 
Morgan  and  James  McClewer,  ordered  the  lands  to  be  laid  off  into 
town  lots,  and  appointed  the  10th  of  April,  1827,  as  the  day  when 
the  lots  would  be  offered  at  public  sale.  Notice  of  the  sale  was 
ordered  to  be  published  in  the  Illinois  Intelligencer,  issued  at  Van- 
dalia,  the  state  capital,  and  also  in  a  newspaper  at  Indianapolis, 
Indiana ;  these  being  the  nearest  newspapers.  The  town  was  laid 
out  by  the  count;/,  through  its  commissioners.  Dan.  "W".  Beckwith. 
the  county  surveyor,  was  employed  by  the  commissioners  to  run  out 
one  hundred  lots.  The  day  of  sale  having  come  around,  a  large 
number  of  people  were  collected  ;  bidding  was  lively.  Harvey  Lud- 
dington  acting  as  auctioneer.  Forty-two  lots  were  sold,  from  which 
the  county  realized  nine  hundred  and  twenty-two  dollars  and  eighty- 
seven  cents.      The  average  price  was  about  twenty-two  dollars  per 


HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY.  325 

lot,  a  trifling  price  when  compared  with  their  present  value,  as  most 
of  the  lots  sold  were  on  Main  and  Vermilion  streets,  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  public  square.  It  will  be  observed,  from  facts  narrated,  that 
Danville  was  not  created  as  a  private  enterprise.  It  is,  on  the  con- 
trary, the  bantling  of  the  whole  county,  whose  people,  in  their  cor- 
porate capacity,  are  responsible  for  its  good  fame  and  proper  behav- 
ior. We  may  say  that  the  county  has,  as  yet,  had  no  reason  to  deny, 
or  be  otherwise  than  proud  of,  its  issue.  The  commissioners  who 
laid  it  out  named  it  after  the  man — '•'•Dan''  W.  Beckwith — who 
earliest  lived  here,  adding  the  iCviUe"  to  his  christian  name.  His 
name  is  often  referred  to  as  Daniel  or  Danel.  His  name  in  full  was 
Dan,  without  any  other  addition. 

The  day  of  the  sale  was  pleasant,  and  the  warm  sun  invited  a 
large  number  of  rattlesnakes  out  of  their  den  in  the  limestone  crev- 
ices on  the  river  side  at  the  foot  of  Clark  street.  In  the  afternoon 
the  bidders  at  the  sale  amused  themselves  with  a  "snake  hunt," 
killing  seventy-five  or  eighty,  some  of  them  over  six  feet  long,  in 
the  course  of  a  short  time.  In  this  connection  the  writer  will  state 
that  for  years  after  the  settlement  at  Danville  the  neighborhood  was 
infested  with  great  numbers  of  these  serpents,  not  to  mention  black 
snakes,  racers,  moccasins,  and  like  repulsive,  though  harmless,  rep- 
tiles. The  rattlesnakes  would  rendezvous  in  their  dens  on  the  hill- 
side through  the  winter,  and  spread  themselves  over  the  adjacent 
country  during  the  summer  months.  Before  the  state  quarried  the 
stone  with  which  the  old  abutments  at  the  Wabash  railway  bridge 
are  built,  the  rock  ledges  from  which  this  material  was  taken  stood 
out  in  bold  relief  along  the  river  bluffs  at  and  near  Danville.  The 
open  seams  in  the  ledges  afforded  a  comfortable  lodgment  for  the 
rattlesnakes.  The  Indians  called  the  rattlesnake  their  "grand- 
father," and  through  superstition  would  never  permit  one  to  be 
harmed  or  destroyed.  Hence  their  numbers  multiplied  rapidly  in 
localities  favorable  for  their  protection  and  increase ;  and  the  in- 
coming whites  were  annoyed,  and  often  frightened,  with  familiar 
liberties  they  would  take  in  and  about  the  houses.  The  writer  will 
illustrate  with  one  or  two  incidents.  Mr.  Cunningham  and  John 
Murphy  occupied  log  cabins  near  together  on  the  west  side  of  Ver- 
milion street,  south  of  the  public  square.  One  evening  subsequent 
to  1830,  Samuel  Russel  was  down  there  courting  the  girls.  As  he 
was  being  lighted  out,  the  taper  which  the  young  lady  held  in  her 
hand  reflected  upon  the  shining  skin  of  a  rattlesnake  coiled  up  on 
the  doorstep  at  his  feet.  Recently  Mr.  Gustavus  Pierson,  now  in 
the  city,  informed  the  writer  that,  many  years  ago  when  he  was  a 


326  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

lad,  he,  in  company  with  his  mother  and  brother,  was  spending  the 
evening  at  the  house  of  the  mother  of  the  writer,  and  among  the 
other  incidents  which  she  related  was  one  to  the  effect  that  one 
evening,  after  dusk,  she  went  out  to  the  wood-pile,  and  gathered  up 
with  her  hands  an  apron  full  of  fagots,  which  she  brought  into  the 
house,  and  emptied  upon  the  fire  by  dropping  the  folds  of  her  apron. 
Immediately  a  rattlesnake,  over  two  feet  long,  which  she  had  thrown 
into  the  fire  along  with  the  fagots,  crawled  out  from  the  flames. 

The  government  surveys  were  extended  north  of  the  Vermilion 
River  in  1821.  and  the  settlement  of  that  part  of  the  country  went 
forward  with  commendable  progress.  The  several  township  histories 
will  show  the  manner,  the  time,  and  by  whom.  From  an  examina- 
tion of  that  part  of  the  volume  it  will  appear  that  the  two  Vermilion 
Rivers  were  the  base,  and  that  the  Middle  Fork,  Xorth  Fork  and 
the  two  Stony  Creeks  were  the  supporting  columns  on  which  the 
population  of  the  county  was  formed.  The  early  settlers  clung  to 
the  timber.  They  did  not  expect  or  believe  the  prairies  ever  would 
or  could  be  settled.  Indeed  they  did  not  wish  it ;  and  many  of  the 
early  comers  were  dissatisfied,  and  sold  out  their  improvements  and 
moved  to  newer  counties,  when  they  saw  their  "cattle  range"  en- 
croached upon  by  the  advance  of  farms  from  the  timber  line  into 
the  open  prairie.  Gradually,  however,  the  prejudice  against  the 
open  prairie  was  overcome ;  people  learned  that  they  could  live 
entirely  away  from  the  timber.  Settlements  were  extended  pro- 
gressively from  the  timber  lines,  until  now  the  whole  intervening 
space  is  covered  with  blooming  fields.  The  monotony  of  the  former 
waste,  prairie  landscape  is  relieved  with  school-houses,  churches, 
villages,  groves,  orchards  and  cheerful  farm  buildings.  Public  roads 
and  railways,  lined  in  with  fence  or  hedge,  have  supplanted  the 
trails  of  the  Indian  and  the  paths  of  wild  animals.  The  prairie  fires 
no  longer  light  up  the  evening  sky,  as  in  the  days  of  yore.  A  popu- 
lation noted  for  their  intelligence  and  thrifty  toil  have  carried  for- 
ward the  beginning  made  by  the  early  pioneer,  and  developed  the 
resources  of  the  county,  and  given  it  a  position  among  the  foremost 
in  the  state. 

We  will  now  look  at  Danville,  and  see  how  it  appeared  in  the 
second  year  of  its  existence.  The  first  houses  erected  here  may  be 
assigned  to  the  following  respective  localities :  George  Wier,  where 
]\iill  street  crosses  the  I.,  B.  and  W.  Ry.;  Seymour  Treat,  at  the 
woolen  factory;  Gilbert's  Tavern,  a  double  log-house;  at  the  west 
end  of  Main  street,  on  the  south  side;  Dan  JBeckwith's  new  house 
in  Main  street,  just  west  across  the  ravine  from  Schroeder's  chair 


HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY.  327 

factory;  Beckwith's  old  pioneer  cabin  was  on  the  edge  of  the  bluff, 
nearly  on  a  line  between  the  seminary  and  the  Red  Bridge ;  then 
Amos  Williams',  on  the  bluff  at  the  foot  of  Clark  street;  next,  still 
following  the  bluffs  around,  and  near  the  several  springs,  after  the 
fashion  of  the  old  Indian  town,  was  a  house  near  the  foot  of  Walnut 
street;  northeast  from  there,  and  on  Vermilion  street,  were  the 
cabins  of  Hezekiah  Cunningham  and  John  H.  Murphy ;  across  the 
street  and  south  of  the  alley  was  Dr.  Asa  R.  Palmer's  log  residence; 
west  of  Vermilion  street  and  on  the  north  side  of  the  square,  was  a 
two-story  hewn  log-house,  the  largest  and  best  building  in  the  town, 
the  property  of  George  Haworth.  The  Lincoln  Hall  block  was 
occupied  with  a  hewn  log-house  of  lesser  pretensions,  built  by  the 
sheriff,  William  Reed,  who  designed  it  for  a  residence,  though,  as 
we  shall  see  directly,  it  was  put  to  a  more  public  use.  Part  of  the 
ground  now  covered  by  Mrs.  Schmitt's  block  was  graced  with  Beas- 
ley's  blacksmith-shop, 'though  shortly  afterward  it  was  purchased  by 
Leander  Rutledge,  and  converted  into  the  first  manufactory  in  the 
county,  where  the  lathe,  run  by  foot,  turned  out  bedstead  posts, 
table  and  chair  rounds,  to  the  astonishment  of  the  settlers,  when 
they  saw  how  real  furniture  was  made.  There  were  several  other 
buildings  besides  those  enumerated,  but  which  the  writer,  at  this  late 
day,  has  not  been  able  to  definitely  locate.  There  were  not  exceed- 
ing eleven  or  twelve  families,  including  the  heads  of  those  we  have 
named,  living  in  Danville  at  this  time.  The  streets  had  not  been 
lined  nor  cut  out  as  yet.  A  stranger  going  through  would  have  seen 
the  houses  scattered  around,  without  any  apparent  order,  some  of 
them  hidden  in  clumps  of  bushes ;  and  if  the  day  was  pleasant,  and 
early  in  the  week,  the  stranger  might  have  seen  Mrs.  Rutledge' s 
washing  "'out  drying"  upon  the  limbs  of  the  small  trees  on  Main 
street,  in  front  of  her  good  man's  door.  He  then  could  have  fol- 
lowed the  only  traveled  road,  which  led  a  zig-zag  course,  across  lots, 
in  a  northwest  direction,  to  the  woolen  factory. 

The  county  commissioners'  court,  like  our  former  county  seats, 
itinerated  around  a  good  deal  before  the  place  for  the  transaction 
of  public  business  became  permanently  fixed.  The  first  meeting  of 
the  Board  —  composed  of  John  D.  Alexander,  Achilles  Morgan  and 
James  D.  Butler — was  on  the  6th  of  March,  1826,  at  Butler's  house, 
near  Catlin.  On  the  18th  of  the  same  month  another  session  was 
held  there,  at  which  time  was  selected  the  first  grand  jury  which 
ever  served  for  the  county.  We  give  the  names,  as  the  time  will  fix 
a  date  prior  to  which  we  may  know  the  citizenship  of  some  of  the 
early  settlers,  who  served  the  county  in  a  responsible,  judicial  capac- 


328  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

ity,  viz  :  John  Haworth,  Henry  Canaday,  Barnett  Starr,  Robert 
Dixon,  Edward  Doyl,  John  Cassaday,  James  McClewer,  Alexander 
McDonald,  Henry  Johnson,  Henry  Martin,  Jonathan  Haworth, 
"William  Haworth,  Jacob  Brazelton,  Peleg  Spencer,  sr.,  Isaac  M. 
Howard,  Robert  Trickle,  John  Current,  John  Lamm,  Francis  Whit- 
comb,  Amos  "Wooden,  Jesse  Gilbert,  Cyrus  Douglas,  Harvey  Lud- 
dington  and  George  Beckwith. 

At  the  September  term,  1826,  a  new  board  appears,  the  names 
of  Asa  Elliott  and  James  McClewer  taking  the  place  of  Butler  and 
Alexander.  On  the  first  Monday  of  June,  1827,  the  commissioners 
met  at  the  house  of  Asa  Elliott ;  and,  on  the  first  Monday  of  Sep- 
tember following,  at  the  house  of  Amos  "Williams,  in  Danville.  Here 
the  affairs  of  the  county  were  conducted  until  the  county  purchased 
the  log-house  built  by  Reed,  on  the  Lincoln  Hall  lot,  with  the  design 
of  fitting  it  up  for  public  use.  This  was  the  first  court-house.  It 
did  not  stand  on  the  corner  now  known  as  Short's  Bank,  as  supposed 
by  some,  but  on  the  west  side  of  the  same  lot  near  the  alley.  It 
was  one  story  high,  with  space  for  a  low  attic  above,  about  sixteen 
feet  square,  and  made  out  of  heavy  logs,  hewn  inside  and  out.  Sub- 
sequently the  county  sold  it,  with  the  lot,  to  Hezekiah  Cunningham, 
who  agreed  to  provide  the  county,  for  the  term  of  two  years,  unless 
the  new  court-house  should  be  completed  before  that  time,  with  a 
place  for  holding  courts,  etc.,  in  the  upper  story  of  the  large  frame 
building  erected  by  Cunningham  and  Murphy,  on  the  southwest  cor- 
ner of  the  Public  Square,  and  which  was  only  removed  a  few  years 
ago  to  make  place  for  the  splendid  brick  block  of  E.  B.  Martin.  The 
first  court-house  was  removed,  some  years  after  Cunningham  pur- 
chased it,  to  a  lot  on  the  corner  of  North  and  Hazel  streets,  where, 
in  after  years,  it  was  weather-boarded,  and  formed  the  prominent 
feature  of  the  wings  attached  to  it  on  the  east  and  north  by  James 
Parmer.  It,  with  its  attachments,  remained  here  until  May  or  June, 
1876,  when  the  whole  was  destroyed  by  fire. 

At  the  December  term,  1830,  the  county  board  ordered  notice  to 
be  given  for  the  reception  of  plans  and  bids  for  a  permanent  court- 
house. Nothing,  however,  was  done  until  December  of  the  follow- 
ing year,  when  notice  was  again  given,  declaring  that  at  the  next 
term  of  the  court  bids  would  be  received.  The  records  show  that 
work  was  begun  on  the  new  court-house  early  in  1832,  and  prosecuted 
with  vigor  throughout  that  year.  Guerdon  S.  Hubbard — still  living, 
and  well  known  to  all  our  old  citizens  —  was  the  contractor;  and 
John  H.  Murphy,  the  active  superintendent  in  charge  of  the  work, 
to  whom  special  credit  is  due  for  the  interest  he  manifested  in,  and 


HISTOKY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY.  329 

the  integrity  with  which  he  discharged  his  trust.  The  brick  were 
mostly  made  by  Norman  D.  Palmer,  at  his  farm,  northwest  of  the  city. 
The  building  was  completed  in  1833,  and  was  used  for  nearly  forty 
years  by  the  county,  and  until  its  destruction  by  fire  in  1872.  It 
stood  on  that  part  of  the  Public  Square,  now  included  between  the 
wings  of  the  present  court-house,  on  the  east  and  north,  and  the  side- 
walks of  Main  and  Vermilion  streets  on  the  south  and  west.  It  was 
a  two-story  brick  building,  some  forty  or  fifty  feet  square,  with  main 
entrances  on  the  south  and  west  sides,  and  a  door  on  the  north.  The 
lower  story  was  in  one  room  for  court  purposes  ;  the  upper  part  was 
divided  into  four  rooms  for  the  convenience  of  juries,  etc. 

The  old  building  in  its  time  was  honored  by  the  presence  of  some 
of  the  most  noted  persons  in  our  nation,  called  thither  either  in  the 
capacities  of  judges  or  counsel.  Judge  Treat,  now  of  the  United 
States  circuit  court,  Judge  David  Davis,  of  the  United  States  senate, 
presided  here  as  our  circuit  judges.  Col.  E.  D.  Baker,  afterward 
governor  of  Oregon,  and  who  was  killed  at  Ball's  Bluff,  Virginia, 
during  the  rebellion,  and  Edward  Hannigan,  of  Indiana,  whose  repu- 
tation as  an  orator  was  national,  have  filled  its  walls  with  their  elo- 
quence. Here  has  the  musical  voice  of  Leonard  Swett,  the  sparkling 
wit  of  Usher  F.  Linder,  and  the  dramatic  magnetism  of  D.  W.  Vor- 
hees,  often  charmed  jurors  and  spectators.  The  immortal  Lincoln, 
during  the  many  years  he  itinerated  the  circuit,  regularly  attended 
the  Vermilion  courts,  and  in  the  course  of  a  long,  successful  and 
scrupulously  honest  practice  of  his  profession,  became  personally 
acquainted  with,  and  warmly  attached  to,  almost  every  man  in  the 
county. 

In  due  time  after  the  old  court-house  burned  the  board  of  super- 
visors began  maturing  plans  for  a  new  building.  First  they  appoint- 
ed a  committee,  consisting  of  two  of  their  number, — Bradley  Butter- 
field,  of  Butler  township,  and  Henry  Talbot,  of  Sidell,with  whom  they 
associated  the  writer,  making  a  committee  of  three.  Under  their 
instructions  the  committee  examined  three  court-houses  in  Illinois, 
one  in  Michigan  and  two  in  Indiana,  and  spent  much  other  time  in 
collecting  information  as  to  what  errors  should  be  avoided  and  what 
advantages  should  be  secured  in  the  construction  of  the  new  court- 
house. It  was  the  announced  desire  of  the  board  of  supervisors 
that  the  new  building  should  be  located  on  the  spot  it  now  occupies, 
the  county  having  owned  the  ground  since  the  donation  in  1827. 
The  peculiar  shape  of  the  ground,  being  barely  sufficient  for  it, 
necessarily  determined  the  shape  of  the  building,  a  fact  which  the 
committee  took  pains  to  impress  upon  the  several  architects  whom 


330 


HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 


they  invited  to  submit  plans.  This  explanation  is  made  to  answer 
the  ever-recurring  inquiries.  Why  was  the  new  court-house  built  in 
the  shape  it  is  ?  Why  was  it  not  constructed  after  the  usual  manner 
of  public  buildings  I  The  limited  quantity  of  ground  owned  by  the 
county,  and  the  number  and  size  of  the  rooms  required  for  courts, 
offices,  vaults,  etc.,  for  the  present  and  future  wants  of  the  county, 
would  admit  of  a  structure  of  no  other  form  or  proportion.  The 
committee  found  only  One  architect,— E.  E.  Myers,  of  Detroit,  Mich- 
igan,—  out  of  the  twelve  or  thirteen  with  whom  they  conferred,  who 
successfully  solved  the  problem,  and  his  plans  the  committee  recom- 
mended to  the  board,  by  whom  they  were  unanimously  adopted, 
after  first  having  examined  those  of  the  other  architects.    The  build- 


VERMILION   COUNTY   COURT-HOUSE. 


ing  was  erected  under  the  supervision  of  an  efficient  committee, 
whose  names  appear  in  another  part  of  this  work.  The  supervisors 
as  a  body,  as  well  as  those  of  their  members  who  comprised  the  com- 
mittee, are  to  be  commended  for  the  zeal  and  fidelity  with  which  they 
managed  the  public  funds  in  erecting  both  the  new  court-house  and 
the  jail.  It  can  be  said  to  their  credit, —  an  unusual  thing  in  the 
history  of  many  other  counties  in  the  construction  of  public  build- 
ings,—  that  not  a  dollar  was  misapplied,  and  the  contractors  in  both 
instances  were  strictly  held  to  the  terms  of  their  engagements,  and 
no  part  of  the  work,  from  foundation  to  top,  was  allowed  to  be 
slighted  in  the  least.  Indeed,  Vermilion  county,  as  a  rule  that  has 
scarcely  had  an  exception,  has  been  singularly  fortunate  in  the  char- 
acter, ability  and  integrity  of  her  public  servants. 


EARLY    SCHOOLS. 


The  first  school  in  Danville  was  taught  in  Haworth's   smoke- 
house, a  little  structure  ten  or  twelve  feet  square.     It  was  made  of 


HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY.  331 

logs,  without  a  floor,  and  its  only  openings  were  the  door  and  a 
square  hole  cut  at  the  opposite  side  for  light  and  ventilation.  It 
stood  west  of  Haworth's  house,  and  back  some  distance  north  from 
the  line  of  the  sidewalk,  on  the  ground  now  partially  covered  by 
the  room  occupied  by  Baum's  drug  store.  Mrs.  Lucy  Russell,  wife 
of  Sam.  Russell,  and  a  daughter  of  Solomon  Gilbert,  was  one  of 
the  scholars,  as  were  also  her  brother,  Othneal  Gilbert,  and  two  or 
three  of  her  sisters.  Dr.  JSTorten  Beckwith  was  the  teacher.  The 
scholars  numbered  some  eight  or  ten.  After  this  a  school-house  — 
the  first  built  expressly  for  that  purpose  —  was  constructed  upon  a 
lot  on  south  Hazel  street,  and  northwest  from  Wright's  mill,  set 
apart  by  the  county  commissioners  for  educational  purposes.  It  was 
made  of  small  logs,  about  twelve  by  fifteen  feet  in  size,  covered 
with  clapboards,  the  chimney  was  upon  the  outside,  built  up  with 
stone  and  sticks,  and  mudded  after  a  fashion  of  a  "Kentucky 
cabin,"  the  opening  occupied  nearly  the  whole  of  one  side  of  the 
building.  At  first  it  had  no  floor;  subsequently  a  floor  was  laid 
with  "puncheons,"  as  the  outside  slab  or  first  cut  sawed  off  of  a 
log  was  called.  The  seats  were  made  of  the  same  material,  smooth 
side  up,  supported  on  wooden  legs.  Among  the  teachers  who  taught 
here  at  different  times  can  be  named  Harvey  Luddington  and  Enoch 
Kingsbury.  Uncle  Harvey  also  taught  a  Sunday-school  here.  At  a 
later  day  James  A.  Davis  reached  Danville,  without  anything  except 
the  wearing  apparel  upon  his  person,  having  lost  all  his  effects  com- 
ing up  the  Wabash  on  a  boat.  Among  strangers,  and  out  of  means, 
but  with  a  determination  that  has  always  inspired  him  to  do  some- 
thing, he  looked  around  at  once  for  a  job.  Dr.  Beckwith  finding 
that  Davis  possessed  a  remarkably  good  education,  said  he  was  just 
the  man  that  Danville  needed.  He  wrote  up  a  paper  and  circulated 
it  through  the  town,  and  raised  a  list  of  scholars,  and  Davis  opened 
a  school  at  once  in  the  log  cabin.  Being  a  man  of  energy  and  a 
thorough  disciplinarian,  this  sterling  Englishman  soon  acquired  the 
reputation  of  a  successful  teacher,  which  he  so  worthily  retained  in 
the  county  for  many  years  afterward. 

From  Vermilion  street  a  little  way  south  of  the  square,  a  trail 
led  off  southeast  across  lots  to  the  school-house.  It  was  obscured 
by  thick  hazel  bushes,  whose  branches  interlocked  overhead.  The 
teachers  and  scholars  (as  Mr.  Davis,  Mr.  Luddington,  Mrs.  Manning, 
Mrs.  Russell  and  others  have  told  the  writer)  would  have  to  part  the 
bushes  in  some  places  with  their  hands  to  effect  a  passage. 

The  temporary  first  school-house  was  burned  up.  A  Mr.  Henry 
Blunt  had  collected  some  two  hundred  venison  hams  and  stored 


332  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION"    COUNTY. 

them  in  Ha  worth's  smoke-house,  where  he  was  smoking  and  drying 
them,  intending  to  ship  them  to  New  Orleans  by  flat-boat.  Some 
of  the  mischievous  men  about  the  town  (and  thev  were  all  alike  in 
that  respect,  and  did  not  stop  at  carrying  with  a  high  hand  if  any  fun 
was  to  be  had  out  of  the  undertaking)  amused  Blunt  at  a  neighbor- 
ing grocery  one  evening,  while  their  confederates  fired  the  building. 
The  alarm  was  not  given  until  the  blaze  was  fairly  under  way,  when 
Blunt  and  those  keeping  his  company  hurried  over,  too  late  to  save 
the  property.  Blunt  supposed,  of  course,  that  the  fire  was  acci- 
dental, and  had  caught  from  the  smudge  with  which  he  was  curing 
his  meat.  Although  his  anticipated  speculation  was  spoiled,  yet 
venison  half  roasted  or  otherwise  was  quite  cheap  in  Danville.  The 
market  was  fairly  glutted  with  it. 

The  next  school-house  was  the  one  built  by  Amos  Williams,  on 
his  own  ground,  and  at  his  own  expense,  on  the  west  side  of  Frank- 
lin street,  just  north  of  Leonard's  planing-mill.  This  was  fully 
twenty  feet  square,  some  twelve  or  fourteen  feet  high  in  the  clear, 
and  constructed  out  of  logs  hewn  inside  and  out.  It  had  a  door 
and  two  windows  fronting  east,  and  was  further  lighted  with  a  row 
of  three  or  four  8x10  window  lights  in  width,  and  extending  nearly 
the  length  of  the  three  other  sides.  The  floor  was  made  of  sawed 
plank,  matched  and  evenly  laid.  In  winter  time  a  stove  occupied 
the  center  of  the  room.  A  double  row  of  seats  (one  of  which  was 
in  front,  low  down,  next  to  the  floor,  and  the  other  raised  up  like  a 
gallery,  some  three  or  feet  back  of  and  above  the  first,  with  the 
wall  behind  and  sloping  desks  in  front)  extended  around  three  sides 
of  the  room,  with  openings  cut  near  the  middle  of  each  row,  and 
provided  with  steps,  so  the  scholars  could  ascend  to  the  higher  plat- 
form. Here  the  u  three  months'  school'  was  held  for  many  years, 
and  until  a  better  system  of  education  was  adopted,  and  more  pre- 
tentious buildings  were  constructed. 

If  the  boys,  —  who  for  the  most  part  ran  wild  in  the  streets, — 
should  see  a  stranger  coming  into  town  dressed  in  gloss-worn 
breeches  and  a  shabby-genteel  coat,  with  the  ancient  rents  neatly 
patched,  and  his  other  worldly  effects  tied  up  in  a  bandana  handker- 
chief, and  suspended  at  the  end  of  a  walking-stick  over  his  shoulder, 
they  would  become  alarmed.  There  was  no  mistaking  the  appear- 
ance and  garb  of  the  itinerant  school-master,  and  if  he  could  cipher 
as  far  as  the  rule-of-three  his  presence  foretold  that  a  ''three-months 
school"  would  probably  be  taken  up.  Soon  after  this  the  "Street 
Arabs"  might  be  seen  gathered  at  the  old  school-house,  the  smaller 
ones,  in  tow-linen  breeches,  seated  in  a  row  upon  the  lower  benches, 


HISTORY    OF   VERMILION"    COUNTY.  333 

their  bare  feet  blackened  and  cracked  open  with  seams  from  exposure 
to  wind  and  weather.  The  larger  boys  were  perched  upon  the  seats 
above.  Here  the  unruly  were  regularly  thrashed  through  the  rudi- 
ments, and  were  always  in  a  state  of  semi-rebellion,  while  those, — 
and  they  were  very  few,  —  who  were  more  submissive  and  well  be- 
haved were  allowed  to  do  pretty  much  as  they  pleased,  so  far  as  get- 
ting their  lessons  well  was  concerned.  There  was  little  or  no  confidence 
or  sympathy  between  teacher  and  scholar.  As  a  rule,  the  former  was 
brutal,  and  believed,  as  he  practiced  to  the  letter,  the  doctrine  that 
"to  spare  the  rod  was  to  spoil  the  child,"  while  the  latter  resented 
as  they  smarted  under  such  inhuman  treatment.  Those  who  have 
survived  this  kind  of  an  education  can  and  do  congratulate  the  chil- 
dren of  to-day  as  they  contrast  the  past  with  the  present  system  of 
teaching.  The  "big  girls"  also  occupied  places  upon  the  higher 
seats.  A  few  of  these  "big  girls,'1 — at  least,  they  then  seemed  quite 
large  to  the  writer,  —  are  still  living.  Among  them  might  be  men- 
tioned the  wives  of  Judge  Davis,  Hon.  J.  G.  English,  Dr.  Woodbury 
and  Mr.  Manning.  In  another  part  of  the  work  has  been  noted  the 
progress  made  in  the  manner  of  conducting  schools  since  the  time 
when  the  children  were  emancipated  from  the  tyranny  of  the  "trav- 
eling school-master." 

DAN    W.    BECKWITII. 

The  name  of  this  pioneer  is  so  frequently  referred  to  in  connec- 
tion with  the  early  settlers  that  the  writer  may  here  state  that  Dan 
W.  Beckwith  was  born  in  1795,  in  the  present  limits  of  Bedford 
county,  Pennsylvania.  His  father  was  among  the  Connecticut  set- 
lers,  from  New  London,  in  the  valley  of  the  Wyoming,  and  his 
mother  was  a  survivor  of  the  Wyoming  massacre,  being  a  little  girl 
at  the  time  the  Indians  destroyed  the  inhabitants  of  the  valley.  Dan 
was  one  of  a  family  of  six  brothers  and  two  sisters.  Three  of  his 
brothers  lived  in  Yermilion  county  at  an  early  day,  viz :  Jefferson 
H.,  called  Hiram;  Norten,  the  doctor;  Sebastian  and  George  M. 
George  and  Dan  left  New  York  state,  whither  their  father  had  emi- 
grated from  Pennsylvania  some  years  before,  and  reached  Fort  Har- 
rison as  the  so-called  Harrison  Purchase  was  being  surveyed,  in  the 
summer  of  1816.  From  Yigo  county  the  two  brothers  went  on  to  the 
North  Arm  prairie  in  1818,  and  were  living  with  Johnathan  Mayo's 
family  at  the  time  Illinois  was  admitted  as  a  state  into  the  Union. 
From  there  thev  came  to  the  salt  works  in  the  fall  of  the  next  year. 
George  was  a  citizen  of  the  county  until  183-1,  when  he  opened  a 
farm  on  the  Kankakee,  a  mile  below  the  mouth  of  Rock  Creek, 


334  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

where  he  died  some  twenty  years  ago.  Dan  W.  died  at  Danville  in 
December,  1835.  The  writer  has  no  personal  recollection  of  him  ; 
but  from  descriptions  given  by  many  citizens  still  living,  the  deceased 
was  a  man  fully  six  feet  two  inches  in  height,  broad,  square  shoul- 
dered and  straight,  spare  of  flesh,  though  muscular,  and  weighing 
when  in  health  about  a  hundred  and  ninety  pounds.  He  was,  like 
his  brother,  an  expert  axrnan,  and  a  pioneer,  as  his  people  for  three 
generations  back  before  him  had  been.  His  first  mercantile  venture 
was  an  armful  of  goods  suitable  for  Indian  barter,  which  he  kept  in 
a  place  "partly  excavated  in  a  side  of  the  hill  at  Denmark,  as  early, 
probably,  as  the  year  1821.  Subsequently  he  built  a  log  hut  on  the 
brow  of  the  hill,  a  little  west  of  south  of  the  Danville  Seminary. 
His  next  store  room  was  just  west  of  the  elm  tree  at  the  west  end  of 
Main  street.  He  was  county  surveyor  from  the  time  of  the  organi- 
zation of  the  county  until  his  death. 

GURDON    S.    HUBBARD. 

The  writer  deems  it  but  just  to  refer  to  another  early  settler, 
whose  name,  like  the  last,  is  not  found  in  the  township  histories. 
"We  allude  to  Col.  Gurdon  S.  Hubbard.  He  is  a  native  of  Vermont. 
At  the  age  of  sixteen  years  he  left  Montreal,  to  come  west  and  en- 
gage in  business  for  the  American  Fur  Company,  whose  headquarters 
were  at  Mackinaw.  He  reached  Chicago  some  time  in  October, 
1818,  by  way  of  the  lakes,  following  the  route  of  the  great  discov- 
erer La  Salle.  He  crossed  our  county  early  the  following  year.  The 
trading  posts  of  the  Illinois  brigade  of  the  American  Fur  Company 
were  on  the  Iroquois,  the  Embarrass  and  Little  Wabash.  Mr.  Hub- 
bard followed  the  Indians  in  their  hunting  rounds,  and  in  this  way 
acquired  an  early  knowledge  of  all  the  country  between  the  Wabash 
and  Illinois  Rivers,  as  far  north  as  Chicago  and  as  far  south  as  Vin- 
cennes.  In  1824  he  succeeded  Antonin  Des  Champs,  who  for  nearly 
forty  years  before  had  charge  of  the  company's  trade  between  the 
Illinois  and  Wabash,  and  abandoned  the  posts  on  the  Illinois,  and 
introduced  pack-horses  in  the  place  of  boats,  using  the  "Hubbard's 
trace,"  as  his  trail  from  Chicago  to  the  salt  works  was  called,  to 
conduct  the  fur  trade.  In  1827  he  abandoned  the  posts  on  the  Em- 
barrass and  Little  Wabash,  and  shortly  after  constructed  the  first 
frame  building  —  a  store  house  —  ever  erected  in  Danville  or  the 
county.  It  is  still  standing  on  the  south  side  of  the  public  square, 
opposite  Martin's  block.  This  became  the  headquarters  of  the 
Indian  fur  trade  in  this  part  of  the  country.  Among  his  clerks  were 
Samuel  Russell  and  William  Bandy,  both  living.     He  had  also  with 


HISTORY    OF   VERMILION"    COUNTY.  335 

him  three  Frenchmen,  viz :  Noel  Vassar,  Nicholas  Boilvin  and 
Toussaint  Bleau.  Boilvin  married  a  daughter  of  Dr.  Woods,  and 
Bleau  a  daughter  of  Dr.  A.  R.  Palmer. 

The  Indians  would  file  into  town  on  their  ponies,  sometimes  fifty 
or  a  hundred,  with  their  furs,  their  squaws  and  pappooses,  when 
trade  at  Hubbard's  corner  would  be  unusually  lively  for  a  few  days. 
The  Indians  would  camp  on  the  bluff  east  of  Walnut  street  or  farther 
down  toward  the  railway  bridge,  where  they  would  enjoy  them.selve.s 
and  feast  on  bread  made  out  of  flour,  and  upon  meat  and  other 
luxuries,  for  which  they  had  exchanged  their  furs.  Mr.  Bandy  re- 
lates many  ludicrous  incidents  that  occurred  during  his  connection 
with  Hubbard's  trading  house. 

In  1832,  the  fur  trade  having  declined  on  account  of  the  scarcity 
of  fur-bearing  animals  in,  and  the  dispersion  of  the  Indians  from, 
this  section  of  country,  Col.  Hubbard  converted  his  stock  into 
white  goods, —  as  merchandise  suitable  for  white  people  were  called 
to  distinguish  them  from  the  kind  adapted  to  the  Indian  trade. 
During:  the  same  vear  he  sold  out  his  stock  to  Dr.  Fithian,  and  in 
1833  took  up  his  permanent  residence  in  Chicago,  where  he  still 
lives,  hale  and  genial  as  ever.  The  old  records  of  the  county,  and 
the  archives  of  early  laws  at  Springfield,  abundantly  illustrate  the 
activity  and  energy  of  this  remarkable  and  public-spirited  man. 
While  a  citizen  of  this  county  he  was  always  foremost  in  every  en- 
terprise calculated  to  develop  the  infant  resources  of  the  county, 
and  he  has  retained  the  same  commendable  reputation  at  Chicago 
for  now  almost  a  half  century.  As  canal  commissioner  he  cast  the 
first  shovel  of  earth  out  of  the  Illinois  and  Michigan  Canal.  Few 
hands  have  aided  more  than  his  in  building  up  that  great  city ;  and 
no  man  did  more  than  he  to  give  Yermilion  county  and  Danville  a 
start. 

We  will  now  again  go  back  in  point  of  time,  as,  for  the  sake  of 
convenience  and  brevity,  it  is  preferred  in  this  chapter  to  treat  mat- 
ters topically,  rather  than  in  chronological  order,  and  note  some 
troubles  with  the  Indians,  in  which  citizens  of  Yermilion  county  bore 
an  honorable  part.  The  first  of  these  was  in  1827,  in  the  so-called 
"Winnebago  war,"  and  the  second  in  1832,  in  the  "  Blackhawk 
war."  The  Winnebagoes,  a  tribe  that  occupied  the  country  in 
northern  Illinois  and  southern  Wisconsin,  between  Green  Bay  and 
the  Mississippi,  became  •greatly  outraged  at  indignities  committed 
by  some  brutish,  unprincipled  white  men  in  charge  of  two  keel 
boats  ascending  the  Mississippi  river,  near  Prairie  du  Chien.  We 
take  the  following  extract  from  Ex-Governor  "Reynolds'   Life  and 


3S6  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Time'1:  The  boatmen  landed  at  a  camp  of  Winnebagoes,  not  far 
above  Prairie  du  Chien.  The  boatmen  made  the  Indians  drunk — and 
no  doubt  were  so  themselves, —  when  they  captured  some  six  or 
seven  squaws,  who  were  also  drunk,  These  squaws  were  forced  on 
the  boats  for  the  most  corrupt  and  brutal  purposes.  But  not  satis- 
fied with  this  outrage  on  female  virtue,  the  boatmen  took  the  squaws 
with  them  in  the  boats  to  Fort  Snelling,  and  returned  with  them. 
When  the  Indians  became  sober,  and  realized  the  injury  done  them 
in  this  delicate  point,  they  mustered  all  their  forces,  amounting  to 
several  hundred,  and  attacked  the  boats  in  which  the  squaws  were 
confined.  The  boats  were  forced  to  approach  near  the  shore  in  a 
narrow  pass  of  the  river,  and  thus  the  infuriated  savages  assailed  one 
boat,  and  permitted  the  other  to  pass  down  during  the  night.  It 
was  a  desperate  and  furious  fight  for  a  few  minutes,  between  a  good 
many  Indians,  exposed  in  open  canoes,  and  only  a  few  boatmen, 
protected  to  some  extent  by  their  boat.  The  savages  killed  several 
white  men  and  wounded  many  more,  leaving  barely  enough  to  navi- 
gate the  boat.  The  boat  got  fast  on  the  ground,  and  the  whites 
seemed  doomed  ;  but  with  great  exertion,  courage  and  hard  fighting 
the  Indians  were  repelled.  In  the  battle  the  squaws  escaped  to  their 
husbands,  and,  no  doubt,  the  whites  did  not  try  to  prevent  it.  Thus 
commenced  and  ended  the  bloodshed  of  the  ""Winnebago  war." 
Blood  had  been  shed,  and,  as  a  consequence,  every  Winnebago  be- 
came the  enemy  of  every  white  person.  War  parties  were  fitted 
out,  who  attacked,  indiscriminately,  every  white  person  within  their 
reach.  One  of  these  parties,  led  by  the  distinguished  "Red  Bird," 
killed  and  scalped  two  men  and  a  child,  and  the  inhabitants  within 
the  territory  above  described  became  at  once  greatly  alarmed.  The 
Pottawatomies  about  Chicago  and  westward  of  there  sympathized 
with  the  Winnebagoes,  and  were  upon  the  eve  of  openly  joining 
them.  The  federal  government  ordered  a  movement  of  troops  under 
Gen.  Atkinson,  while  Gov.  Edwards,  of  Illinois,  ordered  out  a  regi- 
ment, with  instruction  for  them  to  inarch  to  Galena.  It  was  while 
these  movements  were  being  matured  and  executed  that  the  inhab- 
itants at  Fort  Dearborn  became  greatly  distressed  over  their  threat- 
ened destruction,  and  dispatched  Col.  Hubbard  to  Vermilion  county 
for  troops.  Col.  Hubbard  left  Chicago  in  the  afternoon,  and  reached 
his  trading-post,  on  the  Iroquois,  that  night  in  the  rain.  He  pushed 
on  to  Sugar  Creek,  which  he  found  swollen  beyond  its  banks,  which 
obliged  him  to  wait  until  daylight.  The  same  day  he  reached  Spen- 
cer's, two  miles  south  of  Danville,  from  whence  runners  were  dis- 


HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY.  337 

patched  to  the  settlements  on  the  little  Vermilion.     Here  follows 
the  narrative  of  H.  Cunningham. 

hezekiah  Cunningham's  narrative  relating  to  the  winneba<;<> 

war. 

Here  follows  the  narrative  of  Mr.  Cunningham :  I  was  out  in  the 
Winnebago  war.  Myself,  Joshua  Parish,  now  living  at  Georgetown, 
Abel  Williams,  living  near  Dallas,  and  almost  ninety  years  old,  and 
Gurdon  S.  Hubbard,  of  Chicago,  are  the  only  survivors,  according 
to  the  best  of  my  present  information. 

In  the  night-time,  about  the  loth  or  20th  of  July,  1827,  I  was 
awakened  by  my  brother-in-law,  Alexander  McDonald,  telling  me 
that  Mr.  Hubbard  had  just  come  in  from  Chicago  with  the  word  that 
the  Indians  were  about  to  massacre  the  people  there,  and  that  men 
were  wanted  for  their  protection  at  once.  The  inhabitants  of  the 
county  capable  of  bearing  arms  had  been  enrolled  under  the  militia 
laws  of  the  state,  and  organized  as  "The  Yermilion  County  Battal- 
ion,''  in  which  I  held  a  commission  as  captain.  I  dressed  myself  and 
started  forthwith  to  notify  all  the  men  belonging  to  my  company  to 
meet  at  Butler's  Point  (six  miles  southwest  of  Danville),  the  place 
where  the  county  business  was  then  conducted  and  where  the  militia 
met  to  muster.  The  captains  of  the  other  companies  were  notified, 
the  same  as  myself,  and  they  warned  out  their  respective  companies 
the  same  as  I  did  mine.  I  rode  the  remainder  of  the  night  at  this 
work  up  and  clown  the  Little  Yermilion. 

At  noon  the  next  day  the  battalion  was  at  Butler's  Point.  Most 
of  the  men  lived  on  the  Little  Yermilion  River,  and  had  to  ride  or 
walk  from  six  to  twelve  miles  to  the  place  of  rendezvous.  Volunteers 
were  called  for,  and  in  a  little  while  fifty  men,  the  required  number, 
were  raised.  Those  who  agreed  to  go  then  held  an  election  of  their 
officers  for  the  campaign,  choosing  Achilles  Morgan,  captain ;  Major 
Bayles,  first  lieutenant,  and  Col.  Isaac  R.  Moores  as  second.  The 
names  of  the  private  men,  as  far  as  I  now  remember  them,  are  as 
follows :  George  M.  Beckwith,  John  Beasley,  myself  (Hezekiah  Cun- 
ningham), Julian  Ellis,  Seaman  Cox,  James  Dixon,  Asa  Elliot,  Francis 
Foley,  William  Foley,  a  Mr.  Hammers,  Jacob  Heater,  a  Mr.  Davis, 
Evin  Morgan,  Isaac  Goen,  Jonathan  Phelps,  Joshua  Parish,  William 
Reed,  John  Myers  ("Little  Yermilion  John"),  John  Saulsbury,  a 
Mr.  Kirkman,  Anthony  Swisher,  George  Swisher,  Joseph  Price,  George 
Weir,  John  Vaughn,  Newton  Wright  and  Abel  Williams.  Many  of 
the  men  were  without  horses,  and  the  neighbors  who  had  horses  and 
did  not  go  loaned  their  animals  to  those  who  did.     Still  there  were 


338  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION"   COUNTY. 

five  men  who  started  afoot,  as  there  were  no  horses  to  be  had  for 
them.  We  disbanded,  after  we  were  mustered  in,  and  went  home 
to  cook  five  days'  rations,  and  were  ordered  to  be  at  Danville  the 
next  day. 

The  men  all  had  a  pint  of  whisky,  believing  it  essential  to  mix  a 
little  of  it  with  the  slough  water  we  were  to  drink  on  our  route.  Abel 
Williams,  however,  was  smart  enough  to  take  some  ground  coffee 
and  a  tin  cup  along,  using  no  stimulants  whatever.  He  had  warm 
drinks  on  the  way  up  to  Chicago,  and  coming  back  all  of  us  had  the 
same. 

We  arrived  at  the  Vermilion  River  about  noon  on  Sunday,  the  day 
after  assembling  at  Butler's  Point.  The  river  was  up,  running,  bank 
full,  about  a  hundred  yards  wide,  with  a  strong  current.  Our  men 
and  saddles  were  taken  over  in  a  canoe.  We  undertook  to  swim  our 
horses,  and  as  they  were  driven  into  the  water  the  current  would 
strike  them  and  they  would  swim  in  a  circle  and  return  to  the  shore 
a  few  rods  below.  Mr.  Hubbard,  provoked  at  this  delay,  threw  off 
his  coat  and  said,  "Give  me  Old  Charley,"  meaning  a  large,  steady- 
going  horse,  owned  by  James  Butler,  and  loaned  to  Jacob  Heater. 
Mr.  Hubbard,  mounting  this  horse,  boldly  dashed  into  the  stream, 
and  the  other  horses  were  quickly  crowded  after  him.  The  water 
was  so  swift  that  "old  Charley"  became  unmanageable,  when  Mr. 
Hubbard  dismounted  on  the  upper  side  and  seized  the  horse  by  the 
mane,  near  the  animal's  head,  and  swimming  with  his  left  arm, 
guided  the  horse  in  the  direction  of  the  opposite  shore.  We  were 
afraid  he  would  be  washed  under  the  horse,  or  struck  by  his  feet  and 
be  drowned ;  but  he  got  over  without  damage,  except  the  wetting  of 
his  broadcloth  pants  and  moccasins.  These  he  had  to  dry  on  his 
person  as  we  pursued  our  journey. 

I  will  here  say  that  a  better  man  than  Mr.  Hubbard  could  not 
have  been  sent  to  our  people.  He  was  well  known  to  all  the  settlers. 
His  generosity,  his  quiet  and  determined  courage,  and  his  integrity, 
were  so  well  known  and  appreciated  that  he  had  the  confidence  and 
goodwill  of  everybody,  and  was  a  well-recognized  leader  among  us 
pioneers. 

At  this  time  there  were  no  persons  living  on  the  north  bank  of 
the  Vermilion  River  near  Danville,  except  Robert  Trickle  and 
George  Weir,  up  near  the  present  woolen  factory,  and  William  Reed 
and  Dan  Beckwith ;  the  latter  had  a  little  log  cabin  on  the  bluff  of 
the  Vermilion,  near  the  present  highway  bridge,  or  rather  on  the 
edge  of  the  hill  east  of  the  highway  some  rods.  Here  he  kept  store, 
in  addition  to  his  official  duties  as  constable  and  county  surveyor. 


HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY.  339 

The  store  contained  a  small  assortment  of  such  articles  as  were  suit- 
able for  barter  with  the  Indians,  who  were  the  principal  customers. 
We  called  it  "The  Saddle-bags  Store,"  because  the  supplies  were 
brought  up  from  Terre  Haute  in  saddle-bags,  that  indispensable 
accompaniment  of  every  rider  in  those  days,  before  highways  were 
provided  for  the  us*e  of  vehicles. 

Mr.  Reed  had  been  elected  sheriff  the  previous  March,  receiving 
fifty-seven  out  of  the  eighty  votes  that  were  cast  at  the  election,  and 
which  represented  about  the  entire  voting  population  of  the  county 
at  that  time.  Both  Reed  and  Dan  wanted  to  go  with  us,  and  after 
quite  a  warm  controversy  between  them,  as  it  was  impossible  for 
them  both  to  leave,  it  was  agreed  that  Reed  should  go,  and  that 
Beckwith  would  look  after  the  affairs  of  both  until  Reed's  return. 
Amos  Williams  was  building  his  house  at  Danville  at  this  time,  the 
sale  of  lots  having  taken  place  the  previous  April. 

Crossing  the  North  Fork  at  Denmark,  three  miles  north  of  Dan- 
ville, we  passed  the  cabin  of  Seymour  Treat.  He.  was  building  a 
mill  at  that  place,  and  his  house  was  the  last  one  in  which  a  family 
was  living  until  we  reached  Hubbard's  trading  post,  on  the  north 
bank  of  the  Iroquois  River,  near  what  has  since  been  known  as  the 
town  of  Buncombe,  and  from  this  trading  house  there  was  no  other 
habitation,  Indian  wigwams  excepted,  on  the  line  of  our  march  until 
we  reached  Fort  Dearborn. 

It  was  a  wilderness  of  prairie  all  the  way,  except  a  little  timber 
we  passed  through  near  Sugar  Creek  and  at  the  Iroquois. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  we  halted  at  the  last  crossing  of  the  North 
Fork,  at  Bicknell's  Point,  a  little  north  of  the  present  town  of  Ross- 
ville.  Here  three  of  the  footmen  turned  back,  as  the  condition  of 
the  streams  rendered  it  impossible  for  them  to  continue  longer  with 
us.  Two  men  who  had  horses  also  left  us.  After  a  hasty  lunch  we 
struck  out  across  the  eighteen-mile  prairie,  the  men  stringing  out  on 
the  trail  Indian  file,  reaching  Sugar  Creek  late  in  the  night,  where 
we  went  into  camp  on  the  south  bank,  near  the  present  town  of 
Milford. 

The  next  day  before  noon  we  arrived  at  Hubbard's  Trading 
House,  which  was  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Iroquois,  about  a  quar- 
ter of  a  mile  from  the  river.  A  lot  of  Indians,  some  of  them  half 
naked,  were  lying  and  lounging  about  the  river-bank  and  trading 
house ;  and  when  it  was  proposed  to  swim  our  horses  over,  in  ad- 
vance of  passing  the  men  in  boats,  the  men  objected,  fearing  the 
Indians  would  take  our  horses,  or  stampede  them,  or  do  us  some 
other  mischief.     Mr.  Hubbard  assured  us  that  these  savages  were 


340  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

friendly,  and  we  afterward  learned  that  they  were  Pottawatomies, 
known  as  "Hubbard's  Band,"  from  the  fact  that  he  had  long  traded 
with  and  had  a  very  great  influence  over  them. 

It  is  proper  to  state  here  that  we  were  deficient  in  arms.  We 
gathered  up  squirrel-rifles,  flint-locks,  old  muskets,  or  anything  like 
a  gun  that  we  may  have  had  about  our  houses.  Some  of  us  had  no 
fire-arms  at  all.  I  myself  was  among  this  number.  Mr.  Hubbard 
supplied  those  of  us  who  had  inefficient  weapons,  or  those  of  us  who 
were  without  them.  He  also  gave  us  flour  and  salt  pork.  He  had 
lately  brought  up  the  Iroquois  River  a  supply  of  these  articles.  We 
remained  at  Hubbard's  Trading  House  the  remainder  of  the  day, 
cooking  rations  and  supplying  oar  necessities.  The  next  morning 
we  again  moved  forward,  swimming  Beaver  Creek,  and  crossing  the 
Kankakee  River  at  the  rapids,  just  at  the  head  of  the  island  near 
Momence;  pushing  along,  we  passed  Yellowhead's  village.  The 
old  chief,  with  a  few  old  men  and  the  squaws  and  pappooses,  were 
at  home ;  the  young  men  were  off  on  a  hunt.  Remaining  here  a 
little  time  we  again  set  out,  and,  going  about  five  miles,  encamped  at 
the  point  of  the  timber  on  Yellowhead's  Creek.  The  next  morning 
we  again  set  out,  crossing  a  branch  of  the  Calumet  to  the  west  of 
the  Blue  Island.  All  the  way  from  Danville  we  had  followed  an 
Indian  trail,  since  known  as  "^Hubbard's  trace."  There  was  no 
sign  of  roads ;  the  prairies  and  whole  country  was  crossed  and  re- 
crossed  by  Indian  trails,  and  we  never  could  have  got  through  but 
for  the  knowledge  which  Mr.  Hubbard  had  of  the  country.  It  had 
been  raining  for  some  days  before  we  left  home,  and  it  rained  almost 
every  day  on  the  route.  The  fstreams  and  sloughs  were  full  of 
water.  We  swam  the  former  and  traveled  through  the  latter,  some- 
times almost  by  the  hour.  Many  of  the  ponds  were  so  deep  that 
our  men  dipped  up  the  water  to  drink  as  they  sat  in  their  saddles. 
Col.  Hubbard  fared  better  than  the  rest  of  us  —  that  is,  he  did  not 
get  his  legs  wet  so  often,  for  he  rode  a  very  tall,  iron-gray  stallion, 
that  Peleg  Spencer,  sr. ,  living  two  miles  south  of  Danville,  loaned 
him.  The  little  Indian  pony  which  Hubbard  rode  in  from  the  Iro- 
quois to  Spencer's  was  so  used  up  as  to  be  unfit  for  the  return  journey. 

We  reached  Chicago  about  four  o'clock  on  the  evening  of  the 
fourth  day,  in  the  midst  of  one  of  the  most  severe  rainstorms  I  ever 
experienced,  accompanied  by  thunder  and  vicious  lightning.  The 
rain  we  did  not  mind ;  we  were  without  tents,  and  were  used  to  wet- 
ting. The  water  we  took  within  us  hurt  us  more  than  that  which 
fell  upon  us,  as  drinking  it  made  many  of  us  sick. 

The  people  of  Chicago  were  very  glad  to  see  us.     They  were  ex- 


HISTORY    OF   VERMILION"    COUNTY.  341 

pecting  an  attack  every  hour  since  Col.  Hubbard  had  left  them,  and 
as  we  approached  they  did  not  know  whether  we  were  enemies  or 
friends,  and  when  they  learned  that  we  were  friends  they  gave  us  a 
shout  of  welcome. 

They  had  organized  a  company  of  thirty  or  fifty  men,  composed 
mostly  of  Canadian  half-breeds,  interspersed  with  a  few  Americans, 
all  under  command  of  Capt.  Beaubien ;  the  Americans,  seeing  that 
we  were  a  better  looking  crowd,  wanted  to  leave  their  associates  and 
join  our  company.  This  feeling  caused  quite  a  row,  and  the  officers 
finally  restored  harmony,  and  the  discontented  men  went  back  to 
their  old  command. 

The  town  of  Chicago  was  composed  at  this  time  of  six  or  seven 
American  families,  a  number  of  half-breeds,  and  a  lot  of  idle,  vaga- 
bond Indians  loitering  about.  I  made  the  acquaintance  of  Robert 
and  James  Kinzie,  and  their  father,  John  Kinzie. 

We  kept  guard  .day  and  night  for  some  eight  or  ten  days,  when 
a  runner  came -in — I  think  from  Green  Bay  —  bringing  word  that 
Gen.  Cass  had  concluded  a  treaty  with  the  Winnebagoes,  and  that 
we  might  now  disband  and  go  home.  ^ 

The  citizens  were  overjoyed  at  the  news,  [and  in  their  gladness 
they  turned  out  one  barrel  of  gin,  one  barrel  of  brandy,  one  barrel 
of  whisky,  knocking  the  heads  of  the  barrels  in.  Everybody  was 
invited  to  take  a  free  drink,  and,  to  tell  the  plain  truth,  everybody 
did  drink.  |  "!HJ 

The  ladies  at  Fort  Dearborn  treated  us  especially  well.  I  say 
this  without  disparaging  the  good  and  cordial  conduct  of  the  men 
toward  us.  The  ladies  gave  us  all  manner  of  good  things  to  eat; 
they  loaded  us  with  provisions,  and  gave  us  all  those  delicate  atten- 
tions that  the  kindness  of  woman's  heart  would  suggest.  Some  of 
them  —  three  ladies,  whom  I  understood  were  recently  from  New 
York  —  distributed  tracts  and  other  reading  matter  among  our  com- 
pany, and  interested  themselves  zealously  in  our  spiritual  as  well  as 
temporal  welfare. 

We  started  on  our  return,  camping  out  of  nights,  and]  reaching 
home  on  the  evening  of  the  third  day.  The  only  good  water  we 
got  going' out  or  coming  back  was  at  a  remarkable  spring  bursting 
out  of  the  top  of  a  little  mound  in  the  midst  of  a  slough,  a  few  miles 
south  of  the  Kankakee,  I  shall  never  forget  this  spring ;  it  was  a 
curiositv,  found  in  the  situation  I  have  described. 

In  conclusion,  under  the  bounty  act  of  1852  I  received  a  warrant 
for  eighty  acres  of  land  for  my  services  in  the  campaign  above  nar- 
rated. 


342  HISTOEY    OF   VEItMILION    COUNTY. 

THE    BLACK    HAWK    WAR. 

Were  the  writer  so  inclined,  it  would  not  be  proper,  in  a  mere 
local  history,  to  enter  into  all  the  causes  that  led  to  the  so-called 
''Black  Hawk  War,"  or  detail  the  movements  of  the  opposing 
forces  over  the  wide  extent  of  country  in  which  the  several  cam- 
paigns of  that  war  were  conducted.  It  will  he  necessary,  however, 
to  premise  some  facts  relating  to  that  war,  in  order  that  the  reader 
may  the  more  readily  understand  the  connection  which  citizens  of 
this  county  may  have  had  with  it. 

As  stated  in  the  general  history,  the  Sauk  and  Fox  Indians  owned 
the  territory  north  of  Rock  River,  by  conquest  from  ancient  Illinois 
tribes.  Their  principal  village  for  a  long  period  of  time  was  on  the 
north  side  of  Rock  River,  near  its  junction  with  the  Mississippi,  and 
the  most  populous  Indian  town  within  the  borders  of  our  state.  In 
1804  a  few  Indians  of  this  tribe  went  to  St.  Louis,  where  they  made 
a  cession  of  lands  to  the  United  States,  embracing  a  large  extent  of 
country,  and  including  the  principal  village.  Subsequently  a  second 
treaty  was  made,  by  which  the  terms  of  the  first  were  substantially 
ratified.  "Black  Hawk,"  a  chief  of  great  distinction,  claimed  that 
neither  himself  nor  the  band  of  which  he  was  the  leader,  all  of  them 
residing  at  this  village,  had  any  knowledge  of  this  treaty.  In  1828, 
the  government  having  previously  surveyed,  sold  to  private  parties 
a  quantity  of  land  in  and  around  "Black  Hawk's  village."  The 
white  settlers  and  Indians  soon  came  in  collision.  Black  Hawk's 
band  refused  to  leave.  They  destroyed  the  crops  of  the  white  set- 
tlers, and  acted  generally  in  a  menacing  manner,  claiming  that  the 
white  people  had  no  business  there.  The  squatters,  in  turn,  pulled 
down  the  fences  where  the  Indian  squaws  had  planted  their  corn, 
and  let  their  stock  destroy  the  crops.  The  governments,  national 
and  state,  interfered  with  a  military  force,  and,  without  going  to  the 
the  extremity  of  physical  force,  Black  Hawk's  band,  in  1831,  were 
finally  driven  across  the  Mississippi. 

Black  Hawk  had  no  love  at  all  for  the  people  of  the  United 
States.  His  band  were  active  partisans  on  the  side  of  the  British  in 
the  war  of  1812.  In  the  winter  of  1831-1832,  after  having  solemnly 
agreed  the  year  before  that  they  would  remain  peaceably  on  the  west 
side  of  the  river,  Black  Hawk  and  his  band  recrossed  the  river  and 
took  possession  of  their  ancient  village,  having  with  them,  says  ex- 
Gov.  Reynolds,  "about  five  hundred  warriors,  and  women,  children 
and  dogs  in  proportion."  Black  Hawk  had  brought  his  women 
and  children,  cooking  utensils  and  all  of  the  personal  property  of 
his  band  along  with  him,  a  circumstance  that  gives  great  plausibil- 


HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY.  343 

ity  to  his  often-repeated  avowal,  that  his  intentions  were  peaceable, 
and  that  if  his  women  were  not  permitted  to  plant  a  crop  in  their 
old  fields,  he  intended  to  accept  the  invitation  of  the  Winnebagoes 
and  plant  corn  near  some  of  their  villages.  His  presence  on  the 
east  side  of  the  Mississippi  caused  the  greatest  alarm.  In  fact,  the 
memorials  and  petitions  addressed  to  the  governor  for  protection, 
together  with  his  own  flaming  proclamations  based  thereon,  spread 
a  panic  throughout  the  whole  country.  The  frontier  was  threat- 
ened, and  the  governor  promptly  called  out  the  militia  to  protect 
it.  A  force  of  mounted  volunteers  was  soon  collected,  embracing 
in  its  numbers  many  of  the  best  and  most  influential  citizens  in  the 
state.  A  concentration  of  forces,  says  Benjamin  Drake  in  his  "Life 
of  Black  Hawk,"  was  made  at  Dixon's  Ferry,  on  Rock  River,  about 
thirty  miles  below  the  encampment  of  Black  Hawk  and  his  party. 
Had  a  conference  now  been  sought  with  the  Indians,  their  prompt 
submission  cannot  be  doubted.  Black  Hawk,  whatever  might  have 
been  his  previous  expectations,  had  receive'd  no  addition  of  strength 
from  other  tribes  ;  he  was  almost  destitute  of  provisions  ;  had  com- 
mitted no  act  of  hostility  against  the  whites,  and  with  all  his  wo- 
men, children  and  baggage,  was  in  the  vicinity  of  an  army,  princi- 
pally of  mounted  volunteers,  many  times  greater  than  his  own  band 
of  braves.  He  would  probably  have  been  glad  of  any  reasonable 
pretext  for  retracing  his  precipitate  steps:  Unfortunately,  no  effort 
for  a  council  was  made.  A  body  of  impetuous  volunteers  dashed 
on,  without  caution  or  order,  to  Sycamore  Creek,  within  three  miles 
of  the  camp  of  Black  Hawk's  party.  He  instantly  sent  a  white 
flag  to  meet  them,  for  the  purpose  of  holding  a  council,  and  agree- 
ing to  return  to  the  west  side  of  the  Mississippi.  Unfortunately  for 
the  cause  of  humanity,  as  well  as  the  good  faith  of  the  United  States, 
this  flag  was  held  to  be  but  a  decoy.  The  bearers  of  it  were  taken 
into  camp.  "  Shortly  after, "  says  Gov.  Reynolds, ."  six  armed  In- 
dians appeared  on  horseback.  Without  orders  some  officers  and  a 
few  soldiers  immediately  gave  chase,  following  the  armed  Indians 
some  three  or  four  miles,  in  which  two  Indians  were  overtaken 
and  killed.  During  the  skirmish,  which  extended  some  four  or  five 
miles  over  the  smooth  prairie  between  the  encampment  and  the 
mouth  of  Sycamore  Creek,  the  volunteers  at  the  camp,  knowing 
that  blood  was  shed,  attempted  to  kill  the  three  unarmed  Indians 
who  had  been  taken  into  custody  as  hostages  under  the  protection 
of  the  white  flag.  One  Indian  was  killed,  but  in  the  dark  and  con- 
fusion the  other  two  escaped  unhurt. "  While  this  fight  was  going 
on,  Black  Hawk  (wholly  ignorant  that  hostilities  had  begun,  and 


344  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION"    COUNTY. 

not  even  anticipating  any  >  was  at  his  camp  at  the  time  entertaining 
a  number  of  his  Pottawatomie  friends  -with  a  feast  on  dog  meat. 
uThe  retreating  Indians,"  says  Gov.  Reynolds,  "had  almost 
reached  Black  Hawk's  camp,  where  the  feast  was  broken  up  by 
the  whooping,  yelling  Indians  with  the  whites  at  their  heels.  The 
uproar  alarmed  Black  Hawk  and  the  Indians  at  the  feast,  and  they, 
in  a  hasty,  tumultuous  manner,  snatched  up  their  arms,  mounted 
their  horses  and  rushed  out  in  all  the  fury  of  a  mad  lioness,  in 
defense  of  their  women  and  children.  Black  Hawk  took  a  pru- 
dent and  wise  stand,  concealing  himself  behind  some  woods,  it 
being  then  nearly  dark,  and  suffered  the  straggling  forces  of  Maj. 
Stillman  to  approach  him.  This  aged  warrior  and  his  band  (all  he 
could  muster  at  the  moment),'"  continues  Gov.  Reynolds,  "marched 
out  from  their  concealment  and  fell  with  fury  and  havoc  upon  the 
disorderly  troops  of  Stillman,  who  were  scattered  for  miles  over  the 
prairie.  It  was  a  crisis  —  they  fought  in  defense  of  all  they  held 
most  sacred  on  earth.  Black  Hawk  turned  the  tide  of  war  and 
chased  the  whites  with  great  fury."  Such  were  the  circumstances 
under  which  the  first  blood  in  the  Black  Hawk  war  was  shed,  and 
the  battle  became  known  as  "  Stillman's  Defeat." 

Emboldened  by  his  brilliant  success  in  this  engagement,  and 
finding  that  he  would  not  be  permitted  to  capitulate,  he  sent  out 
his  war  parties,  removed  his  women  and  children  up  Rock  River, 
and  a  regular  border  war  was  commenced.  The  murders  which  his 
men  committed  upon  the  frontier  settlers  naturally  increased  the 
alarm  throughout  the  state,  additional  volunteers  rushed  to  the  seat 
of  war.  ami  the  commanding  general  commenced  his  military  oper- 
ations for  a  regular  campaign.  One  of  Black  Hawk's  war  parties, 
striking:  across  the  countrv  southeast  from  Sycamore  Creek,  fell 
upon  the  Hall  family  at  the  mouth  of  Indian  Creek,  on  Fox  River, 
a  few  miles  above  Ottawa,  and  most  brutally  murdered  them  all 
except  two  girls,  whom  they  carried  off  into  captivity.  At  this 
time  there  were  a  few  infant  settlements,  above  Ottawa,  and  upon 
the  Du  Page  River,  at  Naperville,  and  along  Hickory  Creek  that 
empties  into  the  Des  Plaines,  near  the  present  city  of  Joliet.  There 
were  no  people  living  nearer  those  neighborhoods,  south  and  east, 
than  the  settlements  in  Vermilion  county.  Hence,  the  endangered 
settlements  looked  in  this  direction  as  the  speediest  source  of  relief. 
The  reader  will  bear  in  mind  that  in  those  days  there  were  no  means 
of  quick  transmission  of  intelligence,  and  that  the  people  in  this 
part  of  the  state  (beyond  a  few  who  took  the  Springfield  papers 
may  have  known  that  Black  Hawk  was  again  in  Illinois)  had  no 


HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY.  345 

knowledge  of  the  hostile  acts  which  we  have  enumerated  until  in- 
formed in  the  following  manner :  Mr.  Kingsbury  was  conducting 
religious  services  in  the  upper  story  of  Cunningham's  store  (which 
was  used  for  such  as  well  as  for  court  purposes).  The  inhabitants 
of  the  Fox  River  country  and  Hickory  Creek  were  fleeing  from 
their  homes,  says  the  Eev.  R.  S.  Beggs,  in  his  interesting  book, 
through  fear  of  the  dreaded  enemy.  They  came  with  their  cattle 
and  horses,  some  bare-headed  and  others  bare-footed,  crying,  "the 
Indians!  "  "the  Indians!  '  Those  that  were  able  hurried  on  with 
all  speed  for  Danville.  Two  or  three  of  them,  one  without  a  hat, 
found  their  way  to  Danville,  and  on  that  bright  sabbath  day,  all 
breathless  with  fatigue  and  fear,  alarmed  the  town  and  broke  up 
Mr.  Kingsbury's  meeting  with  the  dreadful  stories.  Fast  on  this 
came  the  word  that  Stillnian  had  been  defeated.  This  was  soon 
exaggerated  into  rumors,  supposed  at  the  time  to  be  well  grounded, 
that  all  of  the  white  troops  had  been  killed  or  scattered,  and  that 
all  of  the  Indians,  having  joined  Black  Hawk's  victorious  warriors, 
would  soon  be  down  upon  us,  destroying,  burning  and  killing  in 
every  direction. 

True  there  was,  as  it  was  afterward  learned,  no  cause  for  all  of 
this  alarm  ;  but  at  the  time  the  people  acted  in  the  full  belief  that  the 
hour  was  one  of  extremest  peril.  The  flying  fugitives  must  be  re- 
lieved at  once  from  the  murderous  pursuit  of  the  Indians.  Not  a 
moment  was  to  be  lost.  A  call  was  made  for  a  forlorn  force  to 
go  to  their  assistance.  "Volunteers  were  called  for,  and  in  less 
than  two  hours,"  says  Col.  Othneal  Gilbert,  "thirty-one  of  us  were 
ready  and  on  the  march  to  save  the  settlers."  The  families  of  the 
advance  expedition  hastily  cooked  them  some  provisions  ;  shot-guns, 
squirrel-rifles,  flint-lock  muskets,  and  other  inferior  weapons,  were 
got  together  hastily,  with  which  the  company  were  armed.  Those 
who  had  no  horses  were  promptly  provided  by  other  citizens,  who 
cheerfully  loaned  them.  A  meeting  was  held  by  the  members  of 
the  company  for  the  election  of  officers,  as  was  customary  in  all 
volunteer  expeditions,  and  commanders  chosen  for  the  occasion 
without  regard  to  the  position  they  may  have  held  in  the  regularly 
enrolled  militia.  Dan  Beckwith,  major  of  the  Vermilion  county 
militia,  was  elected  captain,  and  by  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon 
the  men  were  on  the  way  toward  Joliet.  Night  overtook  them  at 
Bicknell's  Crossing  of  the  North  Fork,  where  they  went  into  camp. 
The  next  morning  they  went  out  upon  the  great  prairie,  and  in  the 
course  of  the  day  got  between  the  retreating  families,  which  they 
met  coming  this  way,  and  the  Indians,  who  were  supposed  to  be 


346  HISTOKY    OF   VEKMILION   COUNTY. 

in  close  pursuit.  After  passing  the  fugitives,  and  seeing  no  sign 
of  Indians,  they  pursued  their  course  northward  still  farther  for 
several  hours,  when  they  deflected  their  line  of  march  more  to  the 
west,  crossing  the  Iroquois  near  Spring  Creek,  that  being  the  more 
direct  route  to  Hickory  Creek.  They  went  into  camp  late,  at  the 
close  of  a  hard  day's  march.  During  the  next  day  they  crossed  the 
Kankakee  River,  near  the  present  city  of  that  name,  and  held  their 
way  toward  the  settlements  supposed  to  be  in  the  greatest  danger. 
Hoping  still  to  render  assistance  to  other  settlers,  or  rescue  their 
property.  They  went  on  to  Hickory  Creek,  and  scoured  the  country 
and  groves  in  that  direction.  They  saw  nobody,  white  or  red,  ex- 
cept some  Pottawatomies  along  the  Kankakee,  who  were  friendly 
and  personally  known  to  the  officers  and  many  of  the  men.  Aside 
from  the  fatigue  and  privations  endured,  the  men  met  with  no 
incident  or  loss  going  or  coming.  However,  they  were  very  near 
one  of  Black  Hawk's  war  parties,  secreted,  as  they  afterward  learned, 
in  a  grove — supposed  from  its  description  to  be  "the  twelve  mile 
grove."  One  evening  Dr.  Fithian  and  George  Beckwith  were  sent 
out  as  spies  to  reconnoiter  this  grove,  with  instructions  to  return  to 
a  designated  spot,  where  it  was  intended  the  company  should  go 
into  camp  for  the  night.  The  dusk  had  fallen  as  the  spies  were  per- 
forming the  work  assigned.  They  approached  quite  near  the  grove, 
when,  from  some  cause  they  could  not  explain,  their  horses  were 
seized  with  a  fright  that  rendered  them  entirely  beyond  the  control 
of  their  riders.  They  became  frantic  at  every  effort  to  urge  them 
forward.  By  this  time  it  was  so  dark  that  the  scouts  deeming  it 
imprudent  to  penetrate  the  grove,  returned  toward  the  place  where 
they  expected  to  find  their  comrades.  The  latter  were  alarmed  at 
the  protracted  absence  of  their  scouts,  not  knowing  what  had  be- 
come of  them ;  and  as  they  approached,  the  sound  of  their  horses' 
feet  aroused  the  camp,  now  all  strung  with  a  sense  of  danger.  u  Who 
goes  there?  "  rang  out  in  the  still  night  air.  Dr.  Fithian  says  that 
immediately  on  hearing  the  challenge,  his  ear  also  caught  the  click- 
ing sound  of  the  guns  as  they  were  being  cocked  all  along  the  line, 
a  few  rods  in  front  of  them.  He  answered,  quickly  as  he  could, 
in  a  choking  way,  "friends !"  to  which  the  reply  instantly  followed: 
"  If  friends,  advance  at  once  and  give  the  counter-sign,  or  we  wil 
blow  you  to  h — 1." 

Dr.  Fithian  tells  the  writer  that  Major  Beckwith  interviewed  Black 
Hawk  after  the  war,  at  Jefferson's  barracks,  while  the  latter  was  held 
a  prisoner.  Black  Hawk  there  told  the  Major  that  a  band  of  his 
warriors  had  i>een  watching  the  movements  of  Beckwith 's  men  dur- 


HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY.  347 

ing  the  day,  and  that  they  were  secreted  in  the  grove  named  on  the 
evening  that  Fithian  and  his  companion  reconnoitered  it.  The  details 
here  given  of  the  first  expedition  that  went  out  in  the  Black  Hawk 
war  is  taken  from  the  accounts  given  to  the  writer  by  Alvan  Gilbert, 
whose  lamented  death  is  only  of  recent  occurrence,  Dr.  William 
Fithian  and  Samuel  Russell,  who  still  survive.  They  all  actively  par- 
ticipated in  the  events  respectively  narrated  by  them.  The  eminent 
standing  of  these  gentlemen  is  so  well  known  that  any  comments  of 
the  writer  would  be  superfluous. 

In  the  meantime,  while  the  advance  corps  were  out,  the  Vermil- 
ion county  militia  were  concentrated  at  Danville,  and  put  upon  the 
march.  Previous  to  this  Col.  Isaac  R.  Moores  had  been  notified  by 
Gov.  Reynolds  to  have  his  regiment,  the  Vermilion  county  militia, 
in  readiness,  in  the  event  their  services  should  be  required.  No 
marching  orders  had  been  given,  and  no  intimation  of  hostilities  had 
been  received.  Immediately  on  the  alarm  the  volunteers  got  in 
readiness,  and  Col.  Hubbard  furnished  several  four-horse  wagons, 
loaded  with  provisions,  for  their  subsistence.  The  force  consisted  of 
three  hundred  mounted  men.  Every  part  of  the  county  was  repre- 
sented in  this  body  by.  many  of  its  best  citizens, —  Col.  Hubbard 
among  the  number, — under  command  of  Col.  Moores,  John  H.  Mur- 
phy acting  as  his  Aide.  Many  names  of  these  patriotic  citizen-sol- 
diers will  be  found  in  the  several  township  histories  and  biographical 
sketches,  prepared  by  other  writers.  The  route  of  the  regiment  was 
by  way  of  "Hubbard's  trace  "  to  his  trading-post  on  the  Iroquois,  and 
from  thence  northwest  by  another  Indian  trail  to  Joliet.  The  first  night 
out  the  regiment  encamped  at  Bicknell  crossing.  The  next  morning, 
after  they  had  gotten  well  out  on  the  prairies,  they  saw  ahead  of 
them  Major  Beckwith's  command,  filing  over  the  dividing  ridge,  on 
their  return.  The  meeting  was  very  cordial  on  both  sides.  Most  of 
Beckwith's  company  fell  right  in  with  the  regiment  and  went  on.  A 
few  others,  Beckwith  among  them,  returned  to  Danville  to  see  their 
families  for  a  moment,  when  they  hastened  back,  overtook  and  joined 
the  regiment.  From  Joliet  Capt.  Morgan  L.  Payne,  and  his  com- 
mand, were  dispatched  north  some  thirty  miles  on  Du  Page  River, 
with  instructions  to  there  erect  a  block-house  and  protect  property 
which  had  been  abandoned  by  the  inhabitants  in  their  flight.  Col. 
Moores  also  commenced  a  fortification  at  Joliet,  and  was  prosecuting 
this  work  when  his  command  was  ordered  to  Ottawa,  the  headquar- 
ters of  Gen.  Atkinson.  By  this  time  a  much  larger  force  of  volun- 
teers had  been  mustered  in  than  the  state  needed.  Black  Hawk's 
Indians,  except  a  few  straggling  war  parties,  were  being  closely  pur- 


348  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

sued  up  Fox  River  toward  the  Four  Lakes  country,  as  the  little  lakes 
in  the  vicinity  of  Madison,  Wisconsin,  were  then  called.  There  was 
no  use  or  room  for  any  more  troops,  and  Col.  Moores'  regiment  was 
discharged  and,  except  Payne's  command,  allowed  immediately  to 
return  home. 

The  writer  will  relate  a  few  incidents,  the  first  as  told  by  Col. 
Hubbard  and  Dr.  Fithian.  As  the  regiment  was  moving  from 
Joliet  to  Ottawa,  Dr.  Fithian,  Bolilvin,  Col.  Hubbard  and  several 
others  struck  across  the  prairie  in  advance  of  the  troops,  Hubbard 
leading  the  way,  as  he  was  well  acquainted  with  the  country.  On 
their  way  they  saw  a  place  where  the  grass  was  disturbed,  as  if  by 
parties  who  had  followed  a  course  nearly  at  right  angles  to  the  direc- 
tion Hubbard's  squad  was  pursuing.  The  latter  at  once  followed 
this  trail,  while  the  regiment,  which  had  now  come  up,  was  halted. 
Soon  a  pair  of  saddle-bags  was  found,  then  a  prayer  book,  then  a 
miniature  portrait.  The  tall  grass  was  bent  and  broken  down,  as  if 
a  fearful  struggle  had  taken  place.  A  camp  kettle  was  picked  up, 
and  just  beyond  the  mutilated  remains  of  a  white  man.  The  body 
was  that  of  the  Dunkard  and  itinerant  preacher,  Payne,  a  man  well 
known  to  the  early  settlers  between  the  Wabash  and  Illinois  Rivers, 
as  a  harmless  and  eccentric  religious  enthusiast.  He  had  left  the 
vicinity  of  Naperville  having  no  fears  of  the  Indians,  whom  he  said 
would  do  him  no  harm.  When  his  friends  tried  to  dissuade  him 
from  crossing  the  county  at  such  a  dangerous  time,  he  said,  even  if 
the  Indians  should  show  an  unfriendly  disposition,  his  fine  gray 
mare  could  outrun  any  Indian  pony.  He  was  mistaken  ;  for  falling 
in  with  one  of  Black  Hawk's  war  parties,  he  was  by  them  most  foully 
murdered.  The  Indians  scalped  off  his  long  flowing  white  beard, 
which  extended  quite  to  his  loins,  and  fastened  it  to  a  pole.  On  the 
top  of  the  pole,  stuck  upright  in  the  ground,  they  fastened  a  whisp 
of  grass,  pointing  in  the  direction  they  had  gone.  The  beard  and 
the  grass  waved  defiantly,  as  much  as  to  say,  "We  killed  this  man. 
This  is  our  trail.  If  you  white  people  do  not  like  it,  just  come  on 
and  help  yourselves  if  you  can." 

Capt.  Payne,  according  to  instructions,  built  a  fort  and  block- 
house not  a  great  way  from  Xaperville,  and  inclosed  them  with 
about  one  half  acre  of  ground,  with  a  palisade  about  ten  feet  high. 
The  fort  was  erected  about  forty  rods  from  the  Du  Page  River,  a 
short  distance  west  of  a  large  spring.  The  day  after  the  company 
arrived  at  Naperville,  William  Brown  and  a  boy  some  fifteen  years 
old  were  detailed  to  go  with  a  wagon  to  Butterfield's  pasture,  some 
two  miles  from  camp,  and  bring  in  a  lot  of  clapboards  that  had  been 


HISTORY    OF    VERMILION"    COUNTY.  349 

made  there  by  some  citizen  before  the  Indian  disturbances.  A  party 
of  five  Indians  fired  upon  Brown  and  the  boy.  Brown  was  killed 
and  scalped,  the  boy  escaped  to  the  cam}).  The  Indians  captured 
the  wagon  and  horses.  They  cut  the  harness  to  pieces,  and  ran  the 
wagon  against  a  tree,  and  broke  one  of  the  fore  wheels.  It  was  the 
only  wagon  the  company  had.  It  was  mended  by  Leander  Rutledge, 
and  the  harness  was  repaired  by  somebody  else  of  the  company,  and 
both  were  brought  home.  The  horses,  which  were  the  property  of 
Peleg  Spencer,  sr.,  were  taken  off  by  the  Indians.  Young  Brown 
was  the  only  person  from  this  county  killed  by  the  enemy.  He  was 
the  son  of  a  widow  lady  living  near  Kyger's  Mill.  The  inhabitants 
about  Naperville  had  fled,  seemingly  with  great  precipitation,  aban- 
doning their  property.  Mr.  Naper  had  left  his  store  unlocked,  with 
a  large  quantity  of  goods  inside.  Cattle  and  other  live  stock  were 
roaming  about.  Mr.  Samuel  Russell  who  was  assisting  in  the  quar- 
termaster's department,  informs  the  writer  that  Payne's  command, 
as  well  as  the  other  companies  of  the  regiment  in  charge  of  Col. 
Moores,  would  take  cattle  as  their  necessities  required,  and  issue 
requisitions  for  future  payment  when  the  owners  might  be  found. 
Some  seventy  women  and  children,  who  had  escaped  to  Chicago  on 
the  first  attack  from  the  Indians,  when  the  cholera  broke  out  in 
Chicago,  were  conducted  back  to  Naperville,  and  placed  within  the 
fort  for  safety.  Within  a  short  time  after  the  discharge  of  Col. 
Moores'  forces,  Capt.  Payne's  command  was  also  relieved,  when 
they  returned  home,  after  an  absence  of  between  thirty  and  forty 
days.  For  the  account  here  given  of  the  movements  of  Capt.  Payne 
the  writer  is  indebted  to  Leander  Rutledge  and  Greenville  Graves, 
both  members  of  Payne's  company,  and  still  living. 

The  early  citizens  of  Vermilion  county  and  Danville,  like  the 
present  inhabitants,  were  not  lacking  in  enterprise.  We  will  give  a 
few  illustrations  in  support  of  this  assertion.  On  the  3d  of  January, 
1831,  they  memorialized  the  governor  to  secure  the  location  of  a  gov- 
ernment land  office  at  Danville.  The  land  office  was  secured.  Samuel 
McRoberts  was  the  first  receiver  and  J.  C.  Alexander  the  register.  The 
land  office  remained  at  Danville  for  a  period  of  nearly  twenty-five 
years,  and  contributed  largely  toward  attracting  settlers  to  the  county. 
In  1832  a  postal  route  was  established  from  Chicago,  via  Danville,  to 
Yincennes,  and  in  1836  from  Danville,  via  Decatur,  to  Springfield, 
and  in  the  same  year  another  postal  route  was  secured  from  Danville 
to  Ottawa,  and  a  fourth  route  from  Indianapolis,  via  Danville  (Indi- 
ana), Rockville,  Montezuma  and  Newport,  to  Danville.  A  few  years 
later  still  another  mail  route  was  established  between  Springfield  and 


3  50  .  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION"    COUNTY. 

La  Fayette,  via  Danville.  In  this  way  was  Danville  and  the  county 
connected  with  the  principal  mail  routes  through  the  forethought 
and  energy  of  her  citizens.  The  reader  will  bear  in  mind  that  our 
county  and  city  labored  under  serious  disadvantages  as  long  as  the 
water  or  river  routes  were  the  only  highways  of  commerce.  Being 
back  from  the  Wabash  our  farmers  and  the  business  men  in  Danville 
were  compelled  to  take  their  products  to  river  towns  and  haul  all 
merchandise  and  other  commodities  back.  The  whole  country  as  far 
west  as  the  Sangamon  was  thus  made  tributary  to  and  wholly  de- 
pendent upon  La  Fayette,  Attica,  Covington,  Perryville,  Eugene  and 
Clinton  for  their  supplies.  It  was  not  until  after  the  modern  system 
of  transportation  by  railroads  was  successfully  inaugurated  that  we 
were  released  from  our  bondage  to  the  Wabash  river  or  the  canal 
running  alongside  of  it.  Had  the  people  been  less  enterprising  it  is 
doubtful  if  their  condition  to-day  would  have  been  any  better,  and 
that  railways  were'  not  sooner  secured  was  only  because  the  country 
was  not  then  sufficiently  developed  to  justify  a  construction  of  these 
costly  highways. 

First  the  Danville  people  tried  to  slack-water  the  Vermilion  and 
render  it  navigable  to  its  mouth.  Failing  in  this,  they  petitioned 
congress,  in  company  with  citizens  of  other  counties,  as  early  as  1831 
to  grant  a  strip  of  land  between  Yincennes  and  Chicago  for  a  rail- 
road. In  1835  a  charter  was  secured  for  the  Chicago  &  Yincennes 
Railway,  and  among  the  charter  members  appear  the  names  of  Gur- 
don  S.  Hubbard  (who  a  few  years  before  had  taken  up  his  residence 
at  Chicago),  John  H.  Murphy  and  Isaac  R.  Moores,  of  Danville. 
The  same  year  a  charter  was  secured  for  a  railroad  from  Quincy  to 
the  Indiana  state  line  in  the  direction  of  La  Fayette,  via  Springfield, 
Decatur  and  Danville,  under  the  name  of  the  "]STorthern  Cross  Rail- 
road."    This  is  now  none  other  than  the  great  Wabash. 

THE    GREAT    WABASH. 

At  this  time  our  county  was  ably  represented  in  the  legislature 
by  Dr.  Fithian.  He  predicted  the  financial  ruin  that  would  surely 
overwhelm  the  state  if  the  legislature  persisted  in  its  wild  scheme  of 
general  internal  improvements  —  a  project  with  which  the  people  of 
the  state  then  seemed  infatuated.  When  he  saw  he  could  not  pre- 
vent the  plan  from  being  carried  into  effect,  and  that  the  public 
money  was  going  to  be  wasted,  anyway,  he  skillfully  managed  that 
work  should  begin  at  once  on  that  part  of  the  "Northern  Cross'' 
running  through  his  county.  Accordingly,  a  large  portion  of  the 
$1,800,000  appropriated  to  the  "Northern  Cross"  was  expended  in 


HISTORY    OF   VERMILION   COUNTY.  351 

1837,  1838  and  1839  in  grading  the  road-bed  from  the  Champaign 
county  line  east  to  the  Yermilion,  and  in  the  heavy  cuts  and  fills 
adjacent  to  that  stream,  and  in  erecting  the  three  large  abutments  of 
piers  standing  in  or  near  the  river  itself.  Thus  the  heaviest  and 
most  expensive  part  of  the  road  east  of  the  Sangamon  was  practi- 
cally finished  before  the  "crash"  came,  which  put  an  end  to  the 
"system."  Here  matters  rested  until  1853,  when  the  project  of 
extending  the  railroad  from  Decatur  east  across  the  state  was  again 
taken  up.  The  heavy  work  previously  done  by  the  state  in  Vermilion 
county  was  too  valuable  to  be  thrown  away.  It  was  the  lodestone 
that  drew  the  iron  rails  to  Danville.  This  is  riot  all /  another  rail- 
road corporation  was  building  a  line  from  Toledo  up  the  Maumee 
and  down  the  Wabash.  Its  projectors  had  intended,  originally,  to 
keep  down  on  the  east  side  of  the  Wabash,  through  Covington,  and 
make  their  St.  Louis  connection  by  way  of  Paris.  Luckily  its  pro- 
jectors met  the  parties  who  were  extending  the  Great  Western  rail- 
road —  as  the  new  organization  was  called  —  in  New  York,  and 
learning  that  the  latter  road  was  assured  of  an  early  completion  to 
Danville,  the  former  corporation  changed  their  route  and  crossed 
the  Wabash  at  Attica  and  came  on  to  Danville.  The  writer  may 
state,  what  he  knows  to  be  true,  that  it  was  the  intention  of  the 
Wabash  road  to  make  Danville  its  terminal  point.  They  did  in  fact 
operate  the  section  between  Danville  and  the  state  line  for  a  spell, 
in  conformity  with  its  agreement.  The  two  corporations  disagreed 
about  a  trivial  matter,  when  the  Wabash  company  withdrew  to  the 
state  line,  compelling  the  Great  Western  to  follow  them.  Here  they 
remained  for  eight  years,  and  until  the  consolidation  of  the  two 
roads  in  1865,  when  Danville  again  became  the  end  of  a  running 
division. 

The  first  engine  that  ever  ran  into  Danville  was  The  Pionee?\ 
It  crossed  the  bridge  over  the  Yermilion  River  in  the  latter  part  of 
October,  1850.  The  writer  had  the  satisfaction  of  riding  over  on  the 
engine  with  the  engineer.  The  connection  with  the  Wabash  con- 
struction train  was  made  some  five  miles  northeast  of  Danville,  in 
Makemson's  timber,  one  cold  drizzly  day  well  on  toward  the  last 
of  November.  The  writer  was  on  the  ground,  as  were  a  large  num- 
ber of  other  citizens,  to  see  the  last  spike  driven.  The  next  day  the 
Wabash  engines  were  in  our  town,  waking  up  its  quiet  streets  to 
new  life  and  busy  stir,  which  has  since  continued  with  an  ever  in- 
creasing activity. 


352  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

CHICAGO    &    EASTERN    ILLINOIS. 

Although  this  is  a  comparatively  new  road  it  must  not  .be  pre- 
sumed that  consequently  it  should  -be  placed  among  the  list  of  unim- 
portant lines,  for  just  the  very  opposite  is  the  fact.  However  much 
older  roads  have  assumed  in  the  credit  of  opening  up  and  developing 
this  part  of  the  state,  no  less  can,  in  justice,  be  said  of  the  line  under 
consideration.  Let  any  one  take  a  map  of  eastern  Illinois  published 
prior  to  1870,  and  he  will  observe  that  much  of  what  is  now  known 
as  the  most  desirable  portions  of  the  state  was  entirely  without  rail- 
road facilities.  Some  places  through  which  this  line  now  passes  were 
forty  miles  from  a  railroad  station.  It  will  therefore  be  seen  under 
what  disadvantages  this  part  of  the  country  labored,  and  a  good 
reason  will  easily  be  discovered  for  its  tardy  development.  Then, 
also,  the  country  including  this  county  and  much  more  valuable 
country  was  cut  off  entirely  from  communication  with  the  great  me- 
tropolis of  the  west,  Chicago.  It  is,  therefore,  not  surprising  that 
so  complete  and  prosperous  a  road  as  the  Chicago  &  Eastern  Illinois 
railroad  should  be  built  up  in  eight  years,  for  its  construction  was 
an  urgent  necessity,  and  it  takes  no  philosopher  to  comprehend  that 
the  causes  which  led  to  the  building  of  the  road  will  ultimately 
make  it  the  most  important  line  passing  through  this  section.  While 
numberless  roads  have  been  projected,  and  many  built,  in  different 
portions  of  the  state,  wherever  local  pride  or  an  itching  for  speculation 
could  secure  the  needed  aid,  with  few  exceptions  they  have  not  only 
proved  failures,  but  have  bankrupted  and  disgusted  their  patrons. 
This  line,  however, unlike  nearly  all  born  under  the  peculiar  law  passed 
by  the  Illinois  legislature  but  a  short  time  before,  has  gradually  from 
the  first  gained  in  public  favor,  and  though  it  received  large  donations 
from  the  townships  through  which  it  was  built,  there  are  few  persons, 
and  perhaps  none,  who  regret  having  aided  so  worthy  an  enterprise. 

The  leading  citizens  of  this  county  had  long  felt  the  necessity  of 
a  direct  outlet  for  travel  and  commercial  purposes  with  Chicago,  and 
to  that  end,  in  1868,  a  bill  was  passed  by  the  legislature  which  au- 
thorized the  townships  through  which  it  was  proposed  to  run,  to 
vote  bonds  in  aid  of  its  construction.  Among  the  prominent  ones  in 
this  county  who  interested  themselves  in  the  project  were  John  L. 
Tincher,  H.  W.  Beckwith  and  Alvan  Gilbert.  It  was  through  Mr. 
Tincher's  influence  that  the  charter  was  obtained.  The  people  gen- 
erally in  the  eastern  part  of  the  county  were  interested  and  anxious 
for  the  success  of  the  enterprise.  Danville  township  voted  $72,000 
for  the  construction  of  the  road,  and  $75,000  for  the  erection  of  the 
car-shops,  which  are  located  at  that  city.     Ross  township  also  voted 


HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY.  353 

$24,000,  and  Grant  $18,000.  In  1871  the  road  was  completed  to 
Danville.  J.  E.  Young,  of  Chicago,  was  the  contractor,  and  built 
the  road.  The  road  was  originally  bonded  for  $5,000,000,  which 
represents  the  supposed  value  at  that  time,  but  in  consequence  of 
great  shrinkages  in  all  stocks  about  that  time  and  since,  its  actual 
value  is  probably  somewhat  less  at  present.  In  1871  the  company 
failed,  and  the  property  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  a  receiver,  in  the 
person  of  Gen.  A.  Anderson,  who  continued  to  manage  the  affairs 
of  the  line  until  1877.  On  the  17th  of  April  of  the  year  named  the 
road  was  sold  to  a  new  corporation  for  $1,450, 0( hi.  The  present 
officials  of  the  new  corporation  are  F.  "W.  Huidekoper,  of  Meadville, 
Pennsylvania,  president ;  Thomas  W.  Shannon,  of  New  York,  vice- 
president  ;  A.  S.  Dunham,  secretary ;  J.  C.  Calhoun,  treasurer ;  O. 
S.  Lyford,  general  superintendent ;  Robert  Forsyth,  general  freight 
agent.  Mr.  Dunham  has  been  connected  with  the  road  ever  since 
the  formation  of  the  first  company.  Mr.  J.  G.  English,  of  the 
city  of  Danville,  is  a  member  of  the  board  of  directors. 

In  1872  the  company  then  in  existence  began  the  construction  of 
a  branch  from  Bismark,  in  Newell  township,  to  Brazil,  Indiana.  The 
road  is  completed  and  in  running  order  to  the  coal-fields  in  Fountain 
county. 

The  machine-shops  referred  to  have  been  built  in  the  northeastern 
part  of  the  city  of  Danville,  and  are  in  successful  operation,  employ- 
ing about  two  hundred  hands. 

The  whole  enterprise  may  now  be  said  to  be  on  a  solid  basis,  and 
systematically  and  successfully  conducted.  Large  expenditures  are 
being  made  for  repairs  and  for  the  purchase  of  new  material  and  steel 
rails.  The  business  of  the  line,  through  the  discreet  management 
of  its  present  officers,  and  by  a  liberal  course  toward  its  patrons,  is 
already  very  large  and  rapidly  increasing. 

"Without  taking  up  space  to  note  the  many  preliminary  meetings, 
conferences,  etc.,  covering  a  period  of  four  or  five  years,  in  which 
many  citizens  of  Danville  spent  a  good  deal  of  time  and  money 
in  aid  of  the  "Indianapolis,  Crawfordsville  &  Danville,1'  and  the 
"Danville,  Urbana,  Bloomington  &  Pekin"  railroads,  we  may  say 
that  the  first  was  extended  as  far  west  as  Crawfordsville  late  in  the 
year  1869,  while  the  latter  was  completed  from  Pekin  to  Danville  in 
January,  1870.  Trains  ran  from  Danville  to  Pekin  for  a  period  of 
some  nine  months.  In  the  meantime  the  gap  between  Crawfords- 
ville and  Danville  was  closed  up.  The  connection  of  the  rails  was 
made  on  the  prairie  some  eight  miles  east  of  Danville  in  September, 
1870,  and  through  trains  were  put  upon  the  road  shortly  afterward. 


354  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

In  November  of  the  following  year  the  route  from  the  Ohio 
at  Evansville  to  Lake  Michigan,  at  Chicago,  was  established  by  the 
completion  of  the  Evansville,  Terre  Haute  &  Chicago  and  Chicago, 
Danville  &  Vincennes  railroad  lines.  Within  the  next  year  the 
La  Fayette,  Bloomington  &  Muncie  railroad  was  extended  across 
the  northern  part  of  our  county,  connecting  that  most  enterprising 
portion  of  our  population  with  an  eastern  outlet  for  the  products 
of  their  well-tilled  and  bountiful  fields. 

Another  enterprise  in  the  way  of  railroad  transportation  deserves 
special  mention,  not  so  much  for  the  encouragement  it  received  from 
citizens  of  the  county,  as  for  the  pluck  and  persistent  efforts  of  its 
projectors  in  putting  through  an  enterprise  in  the  face  of  the  most 
discouraging  obstacles.  We  allude  to  the  "narrow-gauge,"  built 
almost  entirely  through  the  unaided  efforts  of  Mr.  Gifford,  and  the 
Penfield  Brothers,  of  Rantoul.  This  line  opens  up  to  market  a 
wide  belt  of  rich  agricultural  country,  extending  the  entire  width 
of  our  county ;  and  the  annual  shipments  of  live  stock  and  grain 
would  astonish  citizens,  if  they  would  take  the  pains  to  consult  the 
statistics  of  the  business  of  this  company,  and  see  the  enormous 
tonnage  of  this  seemingly  little,  though  important  line. 

To  the  above  railroad  lines  has  been  added  still  another,  —  largely 
aided  by  local  subscription, —  the  Paris  &  Danville,  giving  the 
southern  townships  of  the  county  long  needed  facilities. 

Here,  then,  we  have  Vermilion  county  traversed  east  and  west 
by  no  less  than  four  of  these  great  and  indispensable  arteries  of 
communication,  and  by  another  trunk  line  traversing  the  entire 
length  of  the  county  north  and  south,  making  in  all  over  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty  miles  of  completed  track  within  the  limits  of  the 
county,  which  is  only  twenty-two  miles  broad  by  forty-two  miles 
long.  There  are  few,  very  few,  other  counties  in  the  state  so  abun- 
dantly supplied  with  railroad  facilities  as  Vermilion,  yet  the  enter- 
prise of  our  people  is  not  supplied  ;  their  demands  require  still 
more  railroads ;  and  the  writer  here  predicts  the  early  completion 
of  two  other  roads,  one  from  the  southwest  part  of  the  county, 
putting  Sidell  and  Carroll  townships  in  communication  with  the 
focal  system  at  Danville;  and  the  other  —  a  branch  line — from 
Marysville  to  Danville.  Then  every  part  of  the  county  will  be 
connected — without  more  than  one  transfer — with  Chicago,  Toledo, 
Indianapolis,  Evansville,  Cairo,  Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis,  and  through 
these  with  all  the  tide-water  ports  of  the  Gulf  and  the  Atlantic. 


HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY.  355 


TWENTY-FIFTH  REGIMENT  ILLINOIS  VOLUNTEERS. 

CONTRIBUTED    BY    CAPTAIN    ACHILLES    MARTIN. 

The  25th  111.  Yol.  Inf.,  three  companies  of  which  (A,  B  and  D) 
were  from  Vermilion  county,   was  organized  in  Vermilion  county, 
June  1,   1861,  and  mustered    into   service  at  St.   Louis,   Missouri, 
August  1,  1861,  and  from   there  transported  by  rail  to  Jefferson 
City,   Missouri,   and   thence  to   Sedalia,  Missouri,   and  marched  to 
Springfield,    Missouri,    under   Gen.    Fremont,    in   pursuit   of    Gen. 
Price's  army,   and  from  thence  to  Rolla,   Missouri,  where,  with  a 
portion  of  Fremont's  army,  it  spent  the  early  part  of  the  winter 
of  1861  and  1862,  but  returned  to   Springfield,   Missouri,  in   Feb- 
ruary,  1862,  under   command  of  Gen.   Siegel,  and   pursued    Gen. 
Price's  army  to  Bentonville,  Arkansas,  where,  on  the  6th,  7th  and 
8th  of  March,  1862,  the  memorable  battle  of   "Pea  Ridge ':   was 
fought.     The  25th  Reg.,  having  been  held  in  support  until  early 
morn  of  the  third  day,  took  the  front  under  the   immediate  com- 
mand of  Gen.  Siegel,  in  support  of  the  artillery  which  opened  the 
engagement.     After  a  fierce  contest  with  grape,  canister  and  shell 
at  short  range,  the  enemy's  batteries  were  silenced,  and  the  mem- 
orable order,  "Up,  25th,  Minutes!    Col.  Minutes!'     was  given  by 
Gen.  Siegel  in  person,  and  the  next  moment  the  regiment,  under 
the  most  terrific  fire  of  musketry,  with  other  troops,  charged   the 
enemy  in  a  thick  wood,  where,  after  a  fierce  and  deadly  contest,  the 
enemy's   lines   gave   way,    and    the   whole   army   was   soon    in    full 
retreat,  and  thus  was  victory  brought  out  of  what  but  a  few  hours 
before  was  considered,  by  the  general  commanding,  a  defeat.     The 
regiment  was  highly  complimented  for  its  gallantry  in  this  (its  first) 
engagement.     Then,  in  connection  with  the  army,  it  took  up  the  line 
eastward,  where,  after  a  long  and  tedious  march,  it  arrived  at  Bates- 
ville,  in  Arkansas,  and  was  there  detached  from  the  army,  and,  with 
nine  other  regiments  under  command  of  Gen.  Jeff.  C.  Davis,  marched 
eastward  to  Cape  Girardeau,  Missouri,  a  distance  of  two  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  in  nine  days,  having  made  an  average  of  about  twenty- 
eight  miles  per  day.     The  regiment  then,  by  river  transportation, 
joined  Gen.  Halleck's  army  in  the  siege  of  Corinth,   Mississippi, 
which  place  was  soon  evacuated  by  the  enemy ;  and  after  a  short 
stay  in  Mississippi  marched  eastward  under  command  of  Gen.  Buell 
by  way  of  Nashville,  Tennessee,  to  Louisville,  Kentucky,  a  distance 
of  nearly  five  hundred  miles,  in  the  month  of  August,  in  the  most 
extreme  heat  and  drouth.     Here  a  few  days  were  spent  in  reorgan- 


356  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

izing  the  army,  when   it  was  ordered  in  pursuit  of  Gen.   Bragg' s 
army,  then  invading  Kentucky.     Later,  the  battle  of  Perryville,  or 
Chaplain  Hills,  was  fought  between  a  portion  of  the  two  armies, 
wherein  the  25th  Reg.,   and  more  than  sixty  thousand  other  well- 
equipped  soldiers,  were  compelled  to  act  as  spectators  in  the  slaugh- 
ter of  a  portion   of  our  army  under  command  of   Gen.    McCook, 
because,  the  general  commanding  said,  that  Mc(  Y>ok  had  brought 
on  the  engagement  without  his  orders.      After  this  battle  the  regi- 
ment returned  to  Xashville.  Tennessee,  and  Gen.  Rosecrans  put  in 
command  of  the  army  then  known  as  the  Armv  of  the  Cumberland, 
which  remained  at  Xashville  until  the  last  of  December,  1862,  when 
it  was  advanced  to  Murfreesboro,  Tennessee,   and  met  the  enemy 
under  command  of  Gen.  Bragg  at  Stone  River,  Tennessee,  on  the 
30th  of  December,  1862,  and  at  the  dawning  of  the  31st  the  enemy 
attacked  in  great  force.     The  25th  Reg.  being  in  the  unfortunate 
right  wing  of  our  army,  was  soon  sharply  engaged,  when  the  charge 
grew  fierce  and  deadly.     The  line  on  the  left  of  the  25th  gave  way, 
and  being  fiercely  assailed  in  front  and  left,  the  regiment  was  com- 
pelled to  change  front  under  a  most  withering  fire.     Here  the  color- 
bearer  was  stricken  down  and  the  flag  lay  on  the  ground,  when  Col. 
Williams,  of  the  regiment  (than  whom  no  more  worthy  patriot  has 
died),  raised  the  colors  with  his  own  hands,  and  having  indicated 
the  new  line  to  be  formed,  he  planted  the  flag  firmly,  and  uttered  in 
loud  tones  his  living  and  dying  words:    "Boys,  we  will  plant  the 
fag  here  and  rally  around  it,  and  here  ice  will  die!''''     The  next 
moment,  with  flag-staff  in  hand,  he  fell.     The  regiment,  after  twice 
repulsing  the  enemy  in  front,  finding  itself  flanked  on  both  right 
an'd  left,  retired  from  its  position  and  fell  to  the  rear,  leaving  more 
than  one-third  of  its  number  dead  and  wounded  on  the  field.     The 
enemy  was  finally  checked,  and  the  battle  continued  sullenly  until 
the  2d  of  January.  1863,  when  Gen.   Breckenridge  made  his  cele- 
brated assault  on  the  left  wing  of  our  army.     The  charge  was  brill- 
iant beyond  comparison.     The  shock  of  battle  was  terrific.     Our 
left  was  broken,  defeated  and  driven  back.     Fresh  troops  were  in 
like  manner  swept  away  like  chaff  before  the  wind.     Fifty  pieces  of 
artillery  were  brought  to  bear  on  the  enemy's  right.     The  earth 
trembled  and  shook  as  a  leaf  in  the  storm  beneath  the  iron  mon- 
sters, as  they  poured  their  storm  of  death  into  the  advancing  col- 
umn, and  yet  their  onward  march  was  as  the  march  of  destiny, 
until  the   shout  from   Gen.  jSTegley  rang  out — "Who'll  save  the 
left?"       "The    19th    111.,"    was   the   reply  — the    25th    111.    being 
close  in  their  support.     They  did  save  the  left,  and  the  25th  held 


HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY.  357 

the  front  thus  carried  until  the  retreat  of  the  enemy,  while  the 
heaps  of  the  enemy's  dead  testified  to  gallantry  worthy  of  a  better 
cause.  The  regiment,  in  connection  with  the  army,  next  marched 
south  in  pursuit  of  Gen.  Bragg' s  army  till  it  reached  the  Tennessee 
River,  near  Stevenson,  Alabama.  To  cross  this  river  in  the  face  of 
the  enemy  and  lay  the  pontoon  bridge  was  given  in  charge  of  this 
regiment  alone ;  consequently,  at  early  morn  our  shore  was  lined 
with  skirmishers  and  a  battery  of  artillery,  while  the  regiment  em- 
barked in  pontoon  boats  and  rowed  away  to  the  opposite  shore  a 
mile  distant,  drove  the  enemy  back,  laid  the  bridge  and  was  cross- 
ing the  entire  army  over  by  eleven  o'clock  a.m.  The  sight  of  this 
little  circumstance  was  extremely  grand,  but  the  danger  great.  The 
regiment  next  crossed  over  Sand  Mountain  and  Lookout  Mountain 
and  entered  into  the  valley,  again  engaging  the  enemy  in  the  terri- 
ble battle  of  Chickamauga,  Georgia,  where  itjleft  more  than  two- 
thirds  of  its  number  among  the  dead  and  wounded  on  the  field,  all 
of  whom  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy.  This  battle,  for  severity, 
stands  second  to  none  in  the  history  of  the  war,  and  no  regiment  in 
the  engagement  suffered  greater  loss  than  the  25th  111.  The  regi- 
ment was  next  called  to  meet  the  enemy  at  the  battle  of  Chattanooga, 
under  command  of  Gen.  IT.  S.  Grant,  and  when  the  order  came  to 
storm  Mission  Ridge,  the  25th  Reg.  was  assigned  the  front,  or  skir- 
mish line,  where  it  advanced  slowly  until  within  a  few  rods  of  the 
enemy's  guns,  when,  with  a  simultaneous  charge,  in  connection  with 
the  JJ5th  111.,  carried  the  enemy's  works,  captured  their  batteries, 
broke  their  lines  on  Mission  Ridge,  and  made  way  for  a  magnifi- 
cent victory.  Along  the  entire  line  here  again  the  carnage  was  great, 
but  the  achievements  brilliant  in  the  extreme.  The  regiment  was 
then  ordered  to  east  Tennessee,  where  it  spent  the  winter  in  various 
unimportant  campaigns,  and  in  the  spring  of  1864  rejoined  the  Army 
of  the  Cumberland,  near  Chattanooga,  under  command  of  Gen. 
Sherman,  and  started  on  that  memorable  campaign  to  Atlanta, 
Georgia,  at  which  place  it  terminated  its  service  and  returned  home 
to  be  mustered  out. 

During  the  months  of  this  campaign,  the  endurance  of  both  offi- 
cers and  men  of  the  regiment  was  taxed  to  its  utmost  —  it  was  one 
long  and  tedious  battle,  often  violent  and  destructive,  then  slow  and 
sullen,  both  armies  seeking  advantage  by  intrenching,  manceuvering, 
flanking  and  by  sudden  and  by  desperate  charges,  the  25th  111.  bear- 
ing its  equal  burden  of  the  toils,  the  dangers  and  losses,  as  will  more 
fully  appear  from  the  following  order  or  address,  delivered  by  Col. 


358  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

W.  H.  Gibson,  commanding  the  brigade,  on  its  taking  leave  of  the 
army,  at  Atlanta,  Georgia,  August  20,  1864,  to  wit : 

"Soldiers  of  the  Twenty-fifth  Illinois  Volunteers :  As  your  term  of 
three  years'  service  has  expired,  and  you  are  about  to  proceed  to  your 
state  to  be  mustered  out,  it  is  fitting  and  proper  that  the  colonel  com- 
manding should  express  to  each  and  all  his  earnest  thanks  for  the 
cheerful  manhood  with  which,  during  the  present  campaign,  you  have 
submitted  to  every  hardship,  overcome  every  difficulty,  and  for  the 
magnificent  heroism  with  which  you  have  met  and  vanquished  the 
foe.  Your  deportment  in  camp  has  been  worthy  true  soldiers,  while 
your  conduct  in  battle  has  excited  the  admiration  of  your  companions 
in  arms.  Patriotic  thousands  and  a  noble  state  will  give  you  a  recep- 
tion worthy  of  your  sacrifice  and  your  valor.  You  have  done  your 
duty.  The  men  who  rallied  under  the  starry  emblem  of  our  nation- 
ality at  Pea  Ridge,  Corinth,  Chaplain  Hills,  Stone  River,  Chicka- 
mauga,  Mission  Ridge,  Noonday  Creek,  Pinetop  Mountain,  Kenesaw 
Mountain,  Chattahoochee,  Peach  Tree  Creek  and  Atlanta  having 
made  history  for  all  time  and  coming  generations  to  admire,  your 
services  will  ever  be  gratefully  appreciated.  Officers  and  soldiers, 
farewell.  May  God  guarantee  to  each  health,  happiness  and  useful- 
ness in  coming  life,  and  may  our  country  soon  merge  from  the  gloom 
of  blood  that  now  surrounds  it  and  again  enter  upon  a  career  of 
progress,  peace  and  prosperity." 


THIRTY-SEVENTH   REGIMENT  ILLINOIS  VOLUNTEERS. 

CONTRIBUTED    BY    GEN.    J.     C.    BLACK. 

This  regiment  was  recruited  in  the  counties  of  Lake,  La  Salle, 
McHenry,  McLean,  Cook,  Vermilion  and  Rock  Island,  and  was  or- 
ganized at  Chicago,  and  mustered  into  the  United  States  service  on 
the  18th  of  September,  1861.  Its  colonel  was  Julius  White,  since 
major-general ;  its  major  was  J.  C.  Black,  now  of  Danville,  Illinois, 
who  recruited  and  took  to  camp  Co.  K  from  Vermilion  county.  The 
muster  role  of  Co.  K  showed  representatives  from  many  of  the  old 
families  of  Vermilion  county :  Fithian,  Bandy,  English,  Morgan, 
Clapp,  Brown,  Henderson,  Allison,  Conover,  Black,  Culbertson, 
Johns,  Canada}7,  Lamm,  Myers,  Payne,  Songer,  Thrapp,  Delay, 
Folger,  Gibson,  Liggett,  and  others.  Some  of  these  representatives 
died  in  service ;  some  returned  home  full  of  the  honors  of  a  well- 
rendered  service,  and  are  to  day  prominent  among  our  business  and 
professional    men.     Peter  Walsh,    the   late   prosecuting   attorney ; 


HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 


359 


William  P.  Black,  of  Chicago ;  William  M.  Bandy,  editor  of  the 
"Post,"  Danville;  W.  H.  Fithian,  of  Fithian,  Illinois;  George  H. 
English,  and  many  are  farming  in  this  vicinity.  These  are  of  the 
living.  Among  the  dead  we  recall  Fitzgeral,  Marlatt,  Reiser,  Snider, 
Adkins,  Barnard,  Hyatt,  Henderson,  Stute,  Brewer,  Conover,  George 
Johns  and  Jas.  Culbertson.  These  died  without  fear  and  without 
reproach. 


THE    LEFT    WING    OF    THE   37tH    ILLINOIS    REGIMENT    AT    PEA    RIDGE. 


Co.  K.  was  distinctively  the  boys'  company ;  its  recruits  were 
most  of  them  under  age  at  the  time  of  enlistment.  In  the  Memorial 
Hall  at  Springfield,  Illinois,  are  found  only  two  captured  flags ;  one 
was  taken  from  the  Mexicans  at  Buena  Vista,  the  other  was  taken 
from  the  rebels  at  the  battle  of  Pea  Ridge  by  the  37th  111.  Vol.  Inf. 
"The  boys"  did  their  share  wherever  they  went.  Mustered  into 
service  on  the  18th  of  September,  they  entered  the  Department  of 
the  Missouri  the  next  day,  and  took  part  in  Hunter's  campaign 
against  Price  in  southwestern  Missouri,  marching  to  Springfield  and 
back  to  Laurine  Caulmint.  In  the  dead  of  winter,  breaking  up  their 
encampment,  they  joined  in  Pope's  campaign  against  the  guerrillas. 
In  the  spring  of  1862  the  37th  set  out  on  the  route  for  northwestern 
Arkansas,  and  participated  in  the  bloody  battle  of  Pea  Ridge  on  the 
6th,  7th  and  8th  of  March,  which  raged  with  especial  fury  on  the 
7th,  near  Lee  town,  when  the  37th  received  the  charge  of  McCul- 


360  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

lough's  and  Mcintosh's  column,  and  when  in  thirty  minutes  it  lost 
one  hundred  and  twenty  men  out  of  an  effective  present  force  of 
seven  hundred  and  fifty  ;  but  the  charge  was  broken,  and  the  enemy 
withdrew. 

After  this  battle  Gen.  Custer  was  ordered  to  Batesville  and 
Helena  with  the  entire  force,  except  the  37th  111.,  one  battalion  of 
the  1st  Mo.  Cav.,  and  one  section  of  the  Peoria  battery;  and  until 
June  this  force  was  kept  in  the  extreme  front  in  the  enemy's  coun- 
try, fifty-five  miles  in  advance  of  any  assistance,  feeling  the  pulse  of 
rebeldom  beating  daily  in  this  its  farthest  extremity.  Marching  and 
counter-marching  over  one  hundred  miles  frontage  of  mountainous 
region,  ambushed  and  bushwhacked  day  and  night,  it  kept  the  flag 
at  the  front,  and  always  flying.  In  the  summer  of  1862  the  37th 
joined  the  larger  forces.  It  bore  its  share  in  the  marches  and  skir- 
mishes in  southwestern  Missouri,  and  finally,  on  the  7th  day  of  De- 
cember, assisted  in  the  terrible  fight  and  brilliant  victory  at  Prairie 
Grove,  where,  in  the  capture  of  a  battery  and  the  assault  upon  the 
enemy  in  their  chosen  position,  the  37th,  reduced  to  three  hundred 
and  fifty  men,  lost  seventy-eight  killed  and  wounded  ;  but  they  took 
the  battery.  It  returned  to  St.  Louis  from  there,  and  were  sent  to 
Cape  Girardeau,  whence  it  started  after  Gen.  Marmaduke,  over- 
taking him  on  the  banks  of  the  St.  Francis  River  at  Chalk  Bluffs. 
The  fight  at  this  point  freed  southeast  Missouri  of  all  rebel  forces, 
and  won  for  the  37th  high  praise  in  the  reports  of  the  commanding 
general.  They  then  returned  to  St.  Louis,  and  joined  the  forces 
under  Gen.  Grant,  and  participated  in  the  siege  of  Yicksburg. 

From  this  time  on,  the  path  of  the  37th  was  away  from  its  Ver- 
milion county  comrades,  the  25th,  35th,  79th,  125th  Inf.,  4th  Cav., 
and  the  old  12th  Peg.,  some  of  whom  swung  across  the  continent, 
via  Chattanooga  and  Atlanta,  to  the  sea.  The  37th  marched  to  the 
south  ;  it  fought  and  beat  the  rebels  at  Yazoo  City,  joined  in  the 
campaign  after  Forrest  from  Memphis,  and  after  chasing  him  out  of 
Tennessee  via  Mississippi,  returned  and  took  part  in  the  Ped  Piver 
campaign  ;  in  the  meantime  bearing  a  light  share  in  the  fight  near 
Morganzia  Bend.  From  Duvall's  Bluff  the  regiment  was  sent,  via 
New  Orleans,  to  Barrancas  and  Pollard ;  thence  to  Mobile,  and 
participated  in  the  last  great  siege  of  the  war,  and  in  its  last 
great  battle;  for  Lee  surrendered  at  10  o'clock  a.m.,  and  at  5.45 
p.m.  of  the  same  day  the  federal  troops  assaulted  and  captured 
the  Blakelev  batteries.  The  time  occupied  from  the  firing  of  the  first 
gun  until  they  were  m  possession  was  ten  minutes;  the  loss  was  six 
hundred  men  on  the  Union  side ;  captured,  three  thousand  prison- 


HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY.  361 

ers,  forty-two  cannons  and  the  city  of  Mobile.  In  this  charge  the 
37th  was  the  extreme  left  regiment,  and  Co.  K  was  the  extreme  left 
of  the  entire  line,  which  advancing  in  a  semicircle,  struck  the  rebel 
works  almost  at  the  same  instant  along  the  whole  front,  the  right 
and  left  being  a  little  in  the  advance.  After  this  engagement  the 
37th  was  removed  to  the  Department  of  Texas,  where  it  remained 
until  August,  1866,  being  among  the  last  of  the  United  States  vol- 
unteers discharged  from  service. 

The  37th  veteranized  in  1864.  It  was  in  the  service  five  years 
from  the  time  of  recruiting ;  it  marched  and  moved  four  times  from 
Lake  Michigan  to  the  gulf;  it  moved  on  foot  nearly  six  thousand 
miles,  and  journeyed  by  water  and  land  conveyance  nearly  ten  thou- 
sand miles  more  ;  it  bore  its  part  in  thirteen  battles  and  skirmishes, 
and  two  great  sieges.  The  survivors  of  Co.  K  are  in  Oregon,  Cali- 
fornia, Texas,  Missouri  and  Illinois.  They,  like  the  vast  mass  of 
their  fellow  volunteer  soldiers,  are,  most  of  them,  respected  and 
useful  citizens.  May  their  age  grow  green  and  be  honorable,  and 
their  days  full  of  prosperity,  is  the  wish  of  the  chronicler. 


SEVENTY-THIRD  REGIMENT  ILLINOIS  VOLUNTEERS. 

CONTRIBUTED    BY    W.    H.     NEWLIN    AND    W.    R.     LAWRENCE. 

Under  the  call  of  the  President  for  three  hundred  thousand  vol- 
unteers, July  6,  1862,  Illinois  was  required  to  furnish  nine  regiments. 
Upon  this  call  the  73d  regiment  was  organized,  of  which  companies 
C  and  E  were  from  Vermilion  county.  Six  days  after  the  call,  Pat- 
terson McNutt,  Mark  D.  Ilawes  and  Richard  N.  Davis  began  to 
recruit  a  company  of  infantry  in  and  about  Georgetown,,  and,  soon 
after,  Wilson  Burroughs,  Charles  Tilton  and  David  Blosser  com- 
menced raising  a  company  near  Fairmount.  McNutt' s  company, 
consisting  of  eighty-five  men,  were  assembled  on  the  23d  at  George- 
town, where  they  were  sworn  in  by  'Squire  John  Newlin.  After 
this  ceremony,  McNutt,  Ilawes  and  Davis  were  elected  captain,  first 
and  second  lieutenant,  respectively.  The  next  day  the  men  went  to 
the  Y,  the  present  site  of  Tilton,  where  they  were  furnished  trans- 
portation to  Camp  Butler,  arriving  there  the  next  morning.  With 
the  exception  of  a  few  squads,  this  was  the  first  company  in  this 
camp  under  that  call.  Early  in  August  twenty-one  recruits  arrived 
from  Georgetown,  making  the  total  number  one  hundred  and  six. 
About  this  time  Capt.  Burroughs,  having  organized  his  company, 


362  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

arrived  with  seventy  men,  which,  being  recruited  from  Capt.  Mc- 
Nutt's  company,  made  their  complement. 

The  first  military  duty  done  at  this  camp  was  guarding  about 
three  thousand  prisoners,  who  had  been  captured  at  Fort  Donelson. 

Toward  the  latter  part  of  August  steps  were  taken  to  organize 
the  regiment,  and  this  was  accomplished  on  the  21st,  the  regiment 
numbering  eight  hundred  and  six  men  ;  James  F.  Jaques  being 
chosen  colonel,  Benjamin  F.  Northcott,  lieutenant-colonel;  ¥m.  A. 
Presson,  major ;  R.  R.  Randall,  adjutant,  and  James  S.  Barger, 
chaplain.  This  has  been  known  as  the  "preachers1  regiment,"  on 
account  of  the  fact  that  all  of  the  principal  officers  were  ministers  of 
the  gospel.  The  regiment  was  the  second  mustered  into  service 
under  the  call.  Of  this  regiment  McNutt's  company  was  designated 
C,  and  was  the  color  company,  and  Burroughs'  company,  E.  On 
the  27th  the  regiment  was  ordered  to  the  field,  and,  without  arms, 
they  were  transported  to  Louisville. 

The  first  camp  was  in  the  outskirts  of  Louisville,  near  the  L.  & 
~N.  R.R.  depot.  After  awhile  the  regiment  was  armed,  and  in  the 
early  part  of  September  the  camp  was  moved  to  a  point  some  four 
miles  from  the  city,  where  a  division  was  formed  with  the  73d  and 
100th  111.  and  the  79th  and  88th  Ind.  as  one  brigade,  under  the  com- 
mand of  Col.  Kirk.  While  in  this  camp,  great  commotion  was 
caused  by  the  defeat  of  the  Union  troops  at  Richmond,  Kentucky, 
and  the  division  was  ordered  under  arms,  and  made  a  rapid  advance 
of  near  a  day's  march,  when,  meeting  the  retreating  forces,  they 
returned  to  camp. 

About  the  middle  of  September  the  73d  was  sent  to  Cincinnati, 
to  assist  in  defending  it  against  the  threatened  attack  of  Kirby 
Smith.  The  regiment  returned  to  Louisville  in  the  latter  part  of 
September.  A  reorganization  of  the  army  now  caused  the  73d  to  be 
brigaded  with  the  44th  111.  and  the  2d  and  15th  Mo.,  making  a  part 
of  the  division  under  Gen.  Phil  Sheridan.  On  the  1st  day  of  October 
the  army  of  one  hundred  thousand,  under  Gen.  Buell,  moved  from 
Louisville  to  meet  Gen.  Bragg,  who  with  Kirby  Smith  was  over- 
running the  country  in  that  vicinity.  The  weather  was  very  hot  and 
dry,  and  here  the  experience  of  all  new  regiments,  of  disposing  of 
superfluous  accoutrements  such  as  overcoats,  knapsacks,  etc.,  began, 
and  the  line  of  march  was  strewed  with  a  variety  of  handy,  though 
dispensable  articles.  On  the  8th  Sheridan's  division  neared  Doctor's 
Fork,  a  fine  stream  of  water  near  Perryville.  The  Union  soldiers 
were  anxious  to  reach  this  point,  and  the  rebels  were  determined  to 
check  their  advance,  and,  from  a  skirmish,  this  grew  to  be  a  desper- 


HISTORY    OF   VERMILION"    COUNTY.  363 

ate  battle.  Through  some  blunder  the  73d  was  advanced  nearly  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  in  front  of  the  main  line,  up  to  the  very  jaws  of  a 
rebel  battery,  and  near  the  columns  of  the  main  rebel  infantry.  In 
the  nick  of  time  it  was  ordered  to  fall  back,  and  the  rebel  battery 
immediately  opening  upon  them,  they  obeyed  with  alacrity,  and 
gained  the  main  line  without  serious  loss.  In  the  fight  that  ensued 
the  73d  was  in  the  front  line.  Co.  C  had  in  this  fight  about  seventy 
men  engaged,  of  whom  John  J.  Halstead,  Zimri  Lewis,  Josiah 
Cooper,  James  E.  Moore,  Samuel  Boen,  John  S.  Long,  F.  M. 
Stevens  and  D.  W.  Doops  were  wounded,  Cooper  and  Lewis  subse- 
quently dying  of  their  wounds.  In  Co.  E,  John  Murdock  lost  his 
life,  and  J.  M.  Dougherty  and  John  L.  Moore  were  dangerously 
wounded. 

From  here  the  army  was  marched  to  Nashville,  which  place  was 
reached  on  the  7th  of  November,  and  the  army  went  into  camp. 
By  this  time  Gen.  Buell  had  been  succeeded  by  Gen.  Rosecrans. 
The  campaign  through  Kentucky  and  part  of  Tennessee,  though 
but  of  five  weeks'  duration,  was  an  eventful  one  to  the  new  troops. 
It  had  been  almost  a  continual  round  of  marching,  counter-march- 
ing, skirmishing  and  fighting  through  a  rough  country  that  had 
already  been  stripped  of  almost  everything  in  the  shape  of  forage. 
This  sudden  baptism  into  the  rugged  experiences  of  war  told  sadly 
upon  many  whose  lives  had  been  passed  in  the  quiet  scenes  of  the 
village  or  farm.  During  the  six  weeks'  encampment  at  Nashville 
and  Mill  Creek,  eleven  men  of  Co.  C  died  and  thirteen  were  dis- 
charged for  disability  ;  and  of  Co.E,  ten  died  and  ten  were  discharged 
for  disability.  Hawes  and  Davis,  of  Co.  C,  resigned  on  account  of 
sickness,  and  T.  D.  Kyger  and  W.  R.  Lawrence  were  promoted  to 
the  vacancies.  Lieut.  Blosser,  of  Co.  E,  resigned,  and  one  Presson 
was  promoted  from  another  company  to  fill  the  vacancy.  Less  than 
three  months  had  elapsed,  and  the  two  companies  had  lost  fifty-four 
men. 

On  the  26th  of  December  the  camp  at  Mill  Creek  was  broken, 
and  the  march  for  Murfreesboro'  was  begun  in  further  pursuit  of 
Bragg,  who  had  greatly  reinforced  his  army.  On  the  30th  the 
vicinity  of  Murfreesboro'  was  reached,  and  almost  immediately  skir- 
mishing began.  This  was  a  most  hotly  contested  field,  in  which, 
however,  the  Federal  troops  proved  victorious.  The  73d  lost  in 
this  severely,  and  the  two  companies  from  Vermilion  were  sufferers, 
John  Dye  and  James  Yoho  being  killed,  Lieut.  Lawrence  and  Daniel 
Laycott  taken  prisoner,  and  George  Pierce  severely  wounded. 
Rosecrans  was  proud  of  this  victory  and  of  the  men  under  his  com- 


364  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

mand,  and  made  a  special  order  providing  for  a  roll  of  honor,  to  be 
composed  of  one  name  from  every  company,  to  be  selected  by  the 
members  of  the  company.     Co.  C  selected  Sergt.  Wm.  H.  Newlin. 

In  June  our  regiment  came  in  contact  with  the  rebels  at  a  point 
near  Fairfield,  and  Alexander  Nicholson,  of  Co.  C,  was  wounded.  In 
August,  Capt.  McNutt  resigned,  and  Lieut.  Kyger  was  promoted 
captain.  Second  Lieut.  Lawrence  to  first  lieutenant,  and  David  A. 
Smith  succeeded  to  the  second  lieutenancy.  Lieut.  Lawrence  had 
returned  in  May  after  a  five  months'  absence  in  Libby  Prison. 

On  the  10th  of  September  the  army  again  advanced  toward  Chat- 
tanooga, to  dislodge  Bragg  from  that  position.  In  the  many  engage- 
ments in  the  vicinity  of  Chattanooga  the  73d  took  active  part,  but 
in  the  one  at  Crawfish  Springs,  on  the  20th  of  September,  the  bri- 
gade to  which  the  73d  belonged  played  a  most  important  part,  and 
displayed  a  degree  of  bravery  seldom  equaled ;  contending  with 
and  holding  in  check  the  massed  columns  of  the  rebels  at  a  most 
critical  moment.  Cos.  E  and  C  suffered  severely.  Sergt.  John 
Lewis,  of  C,  and  color  bearer,  fell,  but  held  the  flag  aloft.  It  was 
taken  by  Corp.  Austin  Henderson,  of  Co.  C,  but  he  carried  it  only 
a  few  steps,  when  he  was  wounded.  Each  of  the  color-guard,  who 
took  the  flag,  was  either  almost  instantly  killed  or  wounded.  In 
this  engagement  at  least  a  fourth  of  the  brigade  had  been  left  on 
the  field,  either  dead,  wounded  or  prisoners.  Lieut.  D.  A.  Smith, 
Artemus  Terrell  and  Enoch  Smith,  of  Co.  C,  were  killed.  Lieut. 
Lawrence,  Sergts.  John  Lewis  and  Wm.  Sheets,  Corp.  Henderson, 
privates  John  Burk,  Samuel  Hewit,  John  Bostwick,  Henderson 
Goodwine  and  H.  C.  Henderson  were  wounded.  Sergt.  W.  H. 
Newlin,  Enoch  Brown,  W.  F.  Ellis  and  John  Thornton  were  taken 
prisoners.  All  of  these  prisoners,  except  Newlin,  died  at  Anderson- 
ville  prison.*  Newlin  was  taken  to  Danville,  Virginia,  and  about  six 
months  later  made  his  escape  to  the  Union  lines.  Of  those  of  Co. 
C  who  went  into  this  battle,  more  than  one-third  were  killed, 
wounded  or  captured.  Co.  E  lost  Wm.  C.  McCoy,  killed,  and  H. 
Neville,  wounded.  The  activity  of  battle  was  not  the  only  hard- 
ship our  heroes  had  to  bear,  for  at  this  time,  on  account  of  scarcity 
of  rations,  and  the  long  continued  foraging  by  both  armies  on  the 
surrounding  country,  the  soldiers  were  not  only  often  hungry  but 
in  many  cases  half  starved.  On  the  24th  of  October  Lieut.  Lawrence 
resigned,  leaving  Capt.  Kyger  the  only  commissioned  officer  in  the 
company. 

*  Sergt.  Newlin,  wme  years  ago,  published  a  very  interesting  narrative  of  his 
escape. 


HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY.  365 

In  November  the  fights  of  Lookout  Mountain  and  Mission  Ridge 
took  place,  and  as  usual  the  73d  was  in  front.  The  flag  of  the  73d 
again  fell  from  the  hands  of  the  new  color-bearer  Ilarty,  to  be 
snatched  up  by  Kyger,  and  by  him  and  Harty,  who  had  risen,  was 
one  of  the  first  planted  on  the  heights  of  the  mountain.  In  this 
engagement  Stephen  Newlin  and  Nathaniel  Henderson,  of  Co.  C, 
and  Wm.  Hickman,  of  E,  were  wounded.  In  March  the  73d  marched 
to  Cleveland,  Tenn.,  where  it  remained  in  camp  until  called  into  the 
Atlanta  campaign.  The  movement  of  Sherman's  army  on  the  mem- 
orable campaign  began  with  the  month  of  May,  1864,  and  that 
part  to  which  the  73d  belonged  broke  camp  at  Cleveland  on  the 
3d  of  that  month.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  from  this  date  until  Sep- 
tember 4,  the  73d  was  under  fire  eight  days  out  of  ten,  Sundays 
not  excepted.  It  was  a  continuous  fight  from  Caloosa  Springs  to 
Lovejoy  Station.  During  the  Atlanta  campaign,  and  until  the  end 
of  the  war,  the  73d  was  in  the  1st  brigade  2d  division  and  4th  Army 
Corps.  In  the  battles  of  Buzzard  Roost,  Dalton  and  Resaca,  the 
regiment  was  engaged  and  suffered  some  loss.  At  Burnt  Hickory, 
Dallas  and  New  Hope  Church,  the  regiment  was  also  engaged.  The 
actions  at  Big  Shanty  Pine  and  Lost  Mountains,  brought  the  regi- 
ment by  the  middle  of  June  in  full  view  of  Kenesaw  Mountain.  The 
enemy's  works  at  this  place  were  very  strong,  and  well-nigh  im- 
pregnable ;  but  when  the  order  came  to  advance  and  take  them, 
the  lines  swept  forward  and  occupied  them  with  comparative  ease, 
but  just  as  the  federal  soldiers  were  fairly  in  possession,  the  rebels 
were  strongly  reinforced,  and  the  Union  forces,  embracing  the  73d, 
fell  back  to  their  original  position.  In  this  engagement,  though 
this  regiment  was  in  the  line  of  the  heaviest  firing,  but  being  on 
the  lowest  part  of  the  ground,  the  shots  from  the  enemy  passed 
harmlessly  over  their  heads.  On  the  17th  of  July  the  regiment 
crossed  the  Chattahoochee  River,  and  on  the  20th  was  engaged  in 
the  battle  of  Peach  Tree  Creek.  In  this  battle  the  73d  occupied 
a  very  dangerous  position,  and  did  most  splendid  execution,  having 
but  one  man  killed  and  a  dozen  slightly  wounded.  Shortly  after 
this  the  army  had  settled  down  in  front  of  Atlanta.  After  the 
capture  of  Atlanta,  a  siege  of  six  weeks,  the  army  marched  toward 
Chattanooga,  arriving  there  about  the  20th  of  September.  From 
Chattanooga  the  line  of  march  lay  through  Huntsville  and  Linnville, 
arriving  in  due  time  at  Pulaski,  where  the  skirmishers  began  to 
come  in  contact  with  those  of  Hood's  army.  In  the  vicinity  of 
Columbia  the  73d  took  an  active  part,  in  one  instance  sustaining  the 
shock  of  cavalry.     This  was  about  the  24th  to  28th  of  November. 


366  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

All  the  way  to  Columbia,  whither  the  Union  forces  were  retiring, 
followed  closely  by  Hood  and  his  army,  there  was  continual  fight- 
ing, in  which  the  73d  was  almost  constantly  engaged.  This  was 
the  last  stand  of  any  consequence  made  by  the  rebels  in  Tennessee. 
It  was  an  obstinately  contested  field,  and  seemed  to  be  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  last  hope  of  the  rebels  to  maintain  their  cause  in  this 
part  of  the  country.  The  hardships  endured  by  Thomas'  army  in 
the  last  few  days  of  this  struggle  were  extreme,  but  not  more  so  in 
•the  actual  conflict  than  in  the  forced  marches,  hunger  and  loss  of 
sleep ;  and  to  accord  equal  bravery  and  endurance  to  the  73d,  is 
only  to  repeat  what  has  already  been  written  by  some  of  the  most 
critical  historians  of  the  country.  A  few  days  later  the  regiment 
made,  in  the  assault  on  the  enemy  at  Harpeth  Hill,  in  the  vicinity 
of  Nashville,  their  last  charge,  which  proved  to  be  one  of  the  most 
splendid  in  their  experience.  As  if  indicating  that  the  73d  had 
reaped  sufficient  glory,  the  remnants  of  the  rebel  army  withdrew 
from  Tennessee,  and  left  our  heroes  in  possession  of  the  state  and 
twelve  or  fifteen  thousand  prisoners. 

The  Union  army  marched  now  to  Huntsville,  Alabama,  arriving 
there  on  the  5th  of  January,  1865  ;  the  73d  remaining  here  until 
the  28th  of  March,  at  which  time  it  left  by  railroad  for  East  Ten- 
nessee. While  encamped  near  Blue  Springs  the  war  closed,  and 
the  regiment  was  ordered  to  Nashville,  where,  on  the  12th  of  June, 
it  was  mustered  out,  and  in  a  few  days  started  for  Springfield, 
going  on  the  same  train  with  the  79th  111.  Two  trains  conveyed 
the  73d  as  it  was  going  to  the  theater  of  war ;  the  war  over,  one 
train,  no  larger  than  either  of  the  two  mentioned,  conveyed  both 
the  regiments  from  Nashville  to  Springfield,  indicating  that  the 
hardships  of  army  life  had  dealt  severely  with  their  ranks.  At 
Springfield  the  boys  received  their  final  pay  and  discharges,  and 
dispersed  to  their  several  homes,  having  been  absent  from  the  county 
within  a  few  days  of  three  years.  The  heroic  dead  of  this  regiment, 
whose  absence  was  most  notable  on  the  home  trip,  lie  buried,  some 
in  graves  dug  by  friendly  hands ;  but  were  tombstones  erected  for 
those  whose  bodies  were  hastily  pushed  into  the  unwelcome  soil 
of  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  they  would  almost  be  equivalent  to 
the  milestones  to  mark  the  road  of  the  army  through  the  country, 
which  they  fought  to  retain  in  the  Union.  Twenty-six  men  of  the 
73d  were  made  ju-isoners,  and  of  these  sixteen  died  of  hunger  and 
ill-treatment.  Of  the  keepers  of  these  last,  as  did  Jefferson  on  the 
subject  of  slavery,  so  say  we  :    "  We  tremble  "  for  them,  "  when  we 


HISTORY    OF   VERMILION"    COUNTY.  367 

consider  that  God  is  just,   and  that  his  vengeance  will  not  sleep 
forever." 

THIRTY-FIFTH  REGIMENT  ILLINOIS  INFANTRY. 

This  regiment,  nearly  live  companies  of  which  were  from  Ver- 
milion county,  was  organized  at  Decatur  on  the  3d  of  July,  1861, 
and  was  one  of  the  very  first  to  go  forward  to  defend  the  country 
from  the  rebel  hordes  who  were  not  only  threatening  the  life  of  the 
nation,  but  whose  grasp  seemed  to  be  already  encircling  it. 

Companies  D,  E,  F  and  I  were  almost  wholly  from  this  county, 
and  also  a  large  number  of  Co.  A,  the  last  named  being  under  the 
command  of  Capt.  Philip  D.  Hammond,  of  Danville.  Co.  D  was 
raised  in  Catlin,  and  had  for  its  officers  William  R.  Timmons,  cap- 
tain ;  U.  J.  Fox,  first  lieutenant,  and  JOsiah  Timmons,  second  lieu- 
tenant. Co.  tE  was  officered  by  William  L.  Oliver,  L.  J.  Eyman, 
and  George  C.  Maxon,  captain,  first  and  second  lieutenants,  respect- 
ively. This  company  was  raised  in  the  townships  of  Georgetown 
and  Carroll.  Co.  F  was  a  Danville  company,  and  had  for  captain, 
A.  C.  Keys ;  first  lieutenant,  John  Q.  A.  Luddington,  and  second 
lieutenant,  J.  M.  Sinks.  Co.  I  was  raised  in  the  vicinity  of  Catlin 
and  Fairmount.  Of  this  company,  A.  B.  B.  Lewis  was  elected  cap- 
tain; Joseph  Truax,  first,  and  Joseph  F.  Clise,  second  lieutenant. 

In  the  organization  of  the  regiment,  W.  P.  Chandler,  of  Dan- 
ville, was  elected  lieutenant-colonel ;  and,  by  the  disabling  of  Col. 
Smith  at  the  battle  of  Pea  Ridge,  Col.  Chandler  was  put  in  command, 
and  was  afterward  promoted  to  the  office. 

On  the  23d  of  July  the  regiment  was  accepted  as  Colonel  G.  A. 
Smith's  Independent  Regiment  of  Illinois  Volunteers,  and  on  the 
4th  of  August  left  Decatur  for  the  theatre  of  war.  The  regiment 
arrived  at  Jefferson  barracks,  Missouri,  the  next  day,  where  it  re- 
mained one  week,  and  then  removed  to  Marine  Hospital,  St.  Louis, 
where  it  was  mustered  into  service.  On  the  5th  of  September  it 
was  transported  by  rail  to  Jefferson  City,  Missouri,  and  from  thence, 
on  the  15th  of  October,  to  Sedalia,  to  join  Gen.  Sigel's  advance  on 
Springfield,  arriving  at  that  point  on  the  26th  of  October.  From 
November  13  to  19  the  regiment  was  on  the  march  from  Springfield 
to  Rolla.  From  January  21,  1862,  the  army  to  which  the  35th 
was  attached  was  in  pursuit  of  Gen.  Price,  and  here  our  regiment 
began  to  experience  a  taste  of  real  war.  At  the  memorable  battle 
of  Pea  Ridge  the  regiment  took  active  part,  and  lost  in  killed  and 
wounded  a  number  of  its  bravest  men,  among  the  wounded  being 
Col.  Smith.     At  the  siege  of  Corinth  the  regiment  took  an  impor- 


368  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

tant  part,  and  was  at  that  place  upon  its  evacuation  on  the  30th  of 
May.  At  Perryville  and  Stone  River  the  regiment  was  also  en- 
gaged, at  the  latter  place  losing  heavily  in  killed  and  wounded. 
This  was  during  the  first  three  days  of  January.  1863.  The  regi- 
ment was  the  first  on  the  south  side  of  the  Tennessee  River,  crossing 
that  stream  on  the  28th  of  August.  At  the  battle  of  Chickamauga, 
September  20,  the  regiment  was  engaged,  and  again  suffered  severely. 
By  the  22d  of  September  the  regiment  was  at  Chattanooga. 

In  the  battle  of  Mission  Ridge,  on  November  23-5,  the  regiment 
was  placed  in  a  most  dangerous  and  important  position,  being  in 
the  front  line,  and  displayed  great  valor  and  coolness,  being  led  to 
within  twenty  steps  of  the  rebel  works  on  the  crest  of  the  hill.  In 
the  assault  all  of  the  color-guard  were  shot  down,  and  Col.  Chand- 
ler carried  the  flag  into  the  enemy's  works,  followed  by  his  men. 
By  December  7  the  regiment  was  at  Knoxville,  from  which  point  it 
was  sent  on  various  important  and  dangerous  expeditions.  The 
regiment  was  assigned  to  duty  next  in  the  Atlanta  campaign,  and  to 
recount  all  of  the  incidents,  skirmishes  and  fights  in  which  the  35th 
took  part  would  be  only  to  repeat  what  has  been  said  over  and  over 
in  regard  to  other  regiments.  The  reader  will  simply  turn  to  the 
story  as  related  elsewhere,  and  appropriate  it  here.  Suffice  it  to 
say  that  at  Rocky  Face,  Resaca,  Dallas,  Mud  Creek  and  Kennesaw 
the  regiment  was  fully  tested  in  coolness  and  bravery,  and  never 
disappointed  its  commanders.  On  the  31st  of  August  the  regiment 
started  to  Springfield,  Illinois,  where  it  was  mustered  out  on  the 
27th  of  September,  1864. 


ONE   HUNDRED   AND  TWENTY-FIFTH    REGIMENT. 

CONTRIBUTED    BY    COL.    WILLIAM    MANN. 

The  125th  Reg.  111.  Yol.  was  raised  under  the  call  by  President 
Lincoln,  and  was  organized  and  mustered  into  the  service  of  the 
United  States  on  the  3d  of  September,  1862,  at  Danville,  Illinois. 
It  was  composed  of  seven  companies  (A,  B,  C,  D,  G,  I,  K)  from 
Vermilion,   and   three  companies  (E,  F  and   H)  from  Champaign. 

The  regiment  was  organized  by  the  selection  of  the  following 
officers :  Oscar  F.  Harmon,  Danville,  colonel ;  James  W.  Langley, 
Champaign,  lieutenant-colonel ;  John  B.  Lee,  Catlin,  major ;  Win. 
Mann,  Danville,  adjutant;  Levi  W.  Sanders,  chaplain,  and  John 
McElroy,  surgeon.  The  principal  officers  of  Co.  A,  as  organized, 
were:  Clark  Ralston,  captain;  Jackson  Charles,  first  lieutenant,  and 
Harrison  Low,   second  lieutenant.     Of  Co.  B,  Robert  Steward  was 


HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY.  369 

captain ;  William  R.  Wilson,  first,  and  S.  D.  Conover,  second  lieu- 
tenant. Of  Co.  C,  William  W.  Fellows  was  captain;  Alexander 
Pollock,  first  lieutenant,  and  James  D.  New,  second.  Co.  D  had 
for  captain,  George  W.  Galloway;  James  B.  Stevens,  first,  and 
John  L.  Jones,  second  lieutenant.  John  II.  Gass  was  captain  of 
Co.  G,  Ephraim  S.  Ilowells,  first,  and  Josiah  Lee,  second  lieutenant. 
Co.  I  was  officered  by  Levin  Vinson,  John  E.  Vinson  and  Stephen 
Brothers  as  captain,  first  and  second  lieutenants,  respectively.  The 
officers  of  Co.  K  were:  George  W.  Cook,  captain;  Oliver  P.  Hunt, 
first  lieutenant,  and  Joseph  F.  Crosby,  second. 

Immediately  on  its  being  received  into  the  service,  it  was  sent 
to  Cincinnati,  where  it  was  placed  in  the  fortifications  around 
Covington,  Kentucky,  but  was  in  a  few  days  sent  to  Louisville, 
Kentucky,  which  at  that  time  was  threatened  by  Bragg,  and  up- 
on his  retreat  was  connected  with  the  pursuing  forces,  and  received 
its  "  baptism  of  fire"  at  the  battle  of  Perry ville,  Kentucky,  assist- 
ing in  driving  the  rebel  army  out  of  the  state.  After  the  battle  above 
named  it  took  up  the  line  of  march  for  Nashville,  Tennessee,  which 
will  long  be  remembered  by  its  members  as  being  the  most  severe 
campaign  of  their  service,  owing  to  their  inexperience  in  such  duties, 
and  many  of  the  regiment  contracted  diseases  that  resulted  in  death 
or  complete  disability.  During  the  winter  following  the  regiment 
did  duty  in  the  fortifications,  and  on  patrol  and  picket  service  in  and 
around  the  city.  Owing  to  the  ignorance  of  camp  life  and  the  scar- 
city of  supplies,  this  period  was  more  disastrous  to  the  organization 
than  any  of  its  subsequent  battles.  Severe  picket  duty,  tiresome 
drills,  and  the  dull  routine  of  camp  life,  made  up  the  sum  of  the  ■ 
regiment's  duties  until  they  were  ordered  to  report  to  Gen.  Rose- 
crans,  who  was  about  to  take  up  the  gauntlet  thrown  down  by  Bragg 
at  Chattanooga. 

Proceeding  by  a  circuitous  route  through  western  Tennessee  and 
northern  Alabama,  driving  the  enemy  at  Rome  and  other  minor 
points,  the  brigade  to  which  the  regiment  belonged,  then  connected 
with  Gen.  Gordon  Granger's  Reserve  Corps,  the  command  found  it- 
self in  position  in  front  of  the  enemy  on  the  eve  of  what  proved  to 
be  a  disastrous  battle  to  the  federal  forces,  the  day  of  Chickamauga. 
In  that  battle, the  125th  took  a  prominent  part,  by  defending  and 
holding  positions  of  importance.  On-  the  retirement  of  Rosecrans 
to  Chattanooga  after  his  comparative  defeat,  the  brigade,  then  com- 
manded by  Col.  Dan.  McCook,  was  placed  to  defend  Rossville  Gap, 
an  important  pass,  while  Gen.  Thomas  collected  the  remnants  of  the 
army,  to  resist  the  farther  advance  of  the  victorious  foe.     In  the 

E 


370    '  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

defense  of  tins  important  position  the  regiment  was  under  a  severe 
fire,  and  met  with  l<»ss;  but  held  its  ground  through  the  day,  and 
checked  the  enemy  in  its  front.  After  nightfall  it  was  ordered  to 
retire,  and  was  among  the  last  to  leave  the  field,  marching  to  Chat- 
tanooga, where  it  took  part  within  the  fortifications,  and  awaited  the 
approach  of  the  enemy.  Here  it  remained  until  it  was  determined 
that  Bragg  did  not  intend  to  push  his  successes  farther,  when  the 
regiment  was  sent  to  a  point  up  the  Tennessee  River  known  as 
"Caldwell's  Ford,"  at  the  mouth  of  Chickamauga  Creek.  Here  it 
experienced  an  incident  which  was  one  of  the  most  startling  and  try- 
ing of  its  career.  The  camp  was  pitched  about  one  half  mile  back 
from  the  river,  on  the  hillside,  an  exposed  position,  but  rendered 
necessary  by  the  nature  of  the  ground.  ( )n  the  opposite  side  of  the 
river  was  a  rebel  picket  post,  and  a  hill  of  some  dimensions.  The 
opportunity  to  attack  was  deemed  so  favorable  by  the  rebels,  that, 
on  the  night  of  the  16th  of  November,  1863,  they  placed  a  heavy 
battery  of  eight  guns  in  position,  and  at  the  break  of  day  opened 
fire  on  the  camp.  The  bursting  of  shells  and  the  crack  of  solid  shot 
through  the  tents  was  the  first  sound  heard  by  the  command  in  the 
morning.  It  was  truly  a  grand  reveille,  and  certainly  the  men 
never  responded  more  quickly  than  they  did  on  that  memorable 
morning  to  roll-call.  Amid  the  thunder  of  the  rebel  guns,  and  the 
quick  and  gallant  response  of  our  own  battery  (two  guns  placed  to 
assist  the  regiment),  the  command  was  formed  in  line  of  battle,  ex- 
pecting the  river  to  be  crossed  and  the  camp  attacked.  The  execu- 
tion of  our  guns,  however,  soon  informed  the  enemy  that  they  had 
undertaken  a  difficult  task,  and,  as  was  afterward  learned,  finding 
that  they  were  experiencing  loss,  retired.  The  only  loss  sustained 
by  the  regiment  was  the  death  of  the  chaplain,  Levi  W.  Sanders, 
who  was  struck  by  a  round  shot  in  the  head  and  instantly  killed. 
At  Caldwell's  Ford  the  regiment  remained  until  the  advance  was 
made  which  culminated  in  the  battle  of  Mission  Ridge,  and  the  de- 
feat of  the  enemy.  In  this  battle  it  did  not  take  an  active  part  until 
the  enemy  was  in  full  retreat,  assisting  in  driving  him  beyond  reach. 
Learning  of  the  threatened  attack  of  Knoxville  by  a  portion  of  the 
forces  from  the  eastern  army,  it  was  sent  to  the  relief  of  that  post. 
Accomplishing  that  object,  it  returned  and  went  into  camp  on  Chick- 
amauga Creek,  at  a  place  known  as  Lee  and  Gordon  Mills,  Georgia. 
Here  it  awaited  the  reorganization  of  the  army,  and  was  placed  in 
the  3d  brigade,  3d  division  of  the  14th  Army  Corps,  Gen.  Jeff.  C. 
Davis,  commanding.  And  now  commenced  the  most  vigorous  part 
of  the  regiment's  career,     On,  the  advance  of  the  grand  army  on 


ftiSTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY.  :',7i 

what  is  known  as  the  "Atlanta  campaign,"  it  was  under  fire  many 
times,  and  participated  in  several  battles  in  approaching  that  city. 
In  the  battle  of  Kennesaw  Mountain,  Peach  Tree  Creek,  Tennessee, 
and  other  engagements,  the  regiment  suffered  severely,  and  at  the 
end  of  that  campaign  nearly  or  quite  one  half  of  the  command  that 
entered  upon  it  were  numbered  among  the  dead  or  wounded.  At 
Kennesaw  Mountain,  on  the  fatal  2Yth  of  June,  1864,  it  lost  one  half 
of  the  command.  Just  previous  to  the  order  to  charge  being  given, 
the  regiment  mustered  two  hundred  and  forty  guns.  After  the 
charge,  and  when  the  list  was  made  of  the  casualties,  it  was  found 
that  over  one  half  had  been  killed  or  wounded.  Here  fell  Col.  Har- 
mon, Capt.  Fellows,  Capt.  Lee,  Lieut.  McLean,  and  many  a  brave 
private,  whose  names  are  embalmed  in  the  hearts  of  friends,  and 
referred  to  with  sadness  after  a  lapse  of  fifteen  years.  Col.  Harmon 
had  been  chiefly  instrumental  in  raising  the  regiment,  lie  had  left 
honors  and  a  lucrative  profession  at  home,  to  respond  to  his  coun- 
try's call,  and  gave  his  life  in  its  defense.  His  name  will  be  remem- 
bered so  long  as  a  member  of  the  command  lives,  and  venerated  by 
them. 

This  campaign  ended  in  the  battle  of  Jonesborough,  in  which 
the  regiment  suffered  severe  loss,  as  they  did  at  Peach  Tree  Creek, 
and  the  subsequent  capture  of  Atlanta. 

At  Atlanta  a  reorganization  of  the  army  occurred,  and  the  con- 
coction of  the  great  campaign  known  in  history  as  the  "March  to 
the  Sea,"  under  Sherman.  With  that  army  the  regiment  took  up 
the  line  of  march  toward  the  coast,  and  without  any  startling  inci- 
dent aside  from  skirmishes,  etc.,  reached  Savannah  about  the  20th 
of  December,  1864,  and  participated  in  the  honor  attending  the  cap- 
ture of  that  important  post.  It  lost  many  men  in  this  campaign, 
through  capture,  sickness,  etc.  Crossing  the  Savannah  at  Sister's 
Ferry,  at  the  commencement  of  the  campaign  which  culminated  in 
the  surrender  of  the  Confederate  forces  and  the  suppression  of  the 
great  rebellion,  after  the  evacuation  of  Richmond,  it  advanced  with 
the  left  wing  of  the  army  and  participated  in  its  last  battle  at  Ben- 
tonville,  a  small  town  in  North  Carolina,  losing  quite  heavily.  On 
the  surrender  of  -Johnston  it  marched  to  Washington,  where  it  re- 
mained several  weeks,  and  was  then  sent  to  Chicago,  where  it  was 
mustered  out,  paid  and  discharged  from  the  service  of  the  United 
States  after  nearly  three  years  of  active  service,  with  hardly  one-half 
of  those  who  had  started  with  it  from  Danville  remaining.  Many 
had  died  or  had  been  killed  in  action,  others  had  been  discharged 
from  disability  arising  from  wounds  or  diseases  contracted  by  expo- 


872 


HISTOKY    OF   VEKMILION    COUNTY. 


sure  and  the  severity  of  campaign  life,  and  a  few,  a  very  few,  had 
been  lost  by  desertion.  And  thus  ended  the  services  of  the  125th 
regiment  Illinois  Volunteers  in  the  "Great  Rebellion." 


THE   PEESS. 

The  Illinois  Printing  Company  was  organized  under  the  laws  of 
the  state,  in  July.  1874,  with  a  capital  stock  of  $50,000.  It  has  been 
prosperous  from  the  beginning,  and,  by  fair  dealing  and  energetic 
effort,  has  won  for  itself  a  large  trade  in  Illinois  and  adjoining  states, 
and  a  reputation  which  places  it  among  the  first-class  printing  and 
blank-book  manufacturing  establishments  in  the  state.  The  com- 
pany occupy  six  rooms,  50x100  feet,  all  of  which  are  filled  with 
the  best  class  of  printing  and  book-binding  material,  machinery  and 
merchandise  adapted  to  the  trade  in  which  it  is  engaged.  The  Illi- 
nois Printing  Company  was  organized  when  the  times  were  very 
hard  and  money  scarce.  Its  rapid  and  healthy  growth  has  been  a 
matter  of  surprise  to  its  competitors  and  wonder  to  all  who  are 
acquainted  with  its  history.  It  now  has  an  acquaintance  and  finan- 
cial standing  in  commercial  circles  which  enables  it  to  buy  goods  at 
the  lowest  cash  figures,  thereby  making  it  possible  to  compete  with 
the  best  houses  in  the  country.  About  forty  hands  have  constant 
employment  at  this  establishment,  at  the  highest  ruling  wages.  The 
company  expects  to  manufacture  $100,000  worth  of  goods  this  year, 
and  find  a  ready  sale  for  them. 

The  Danville  News  was  es- 
tablished in  October,  1873,  and 
in  July,  1874,  passed  under  the 
control  of  the  Illinois  Printing 
Company,  under  which  manage-  jjf 
ment  it  still  remains.  The  News  p 
has  had  a.  steady  and  healthy 
growth  of  circulation  and  infiu-  \ 
ence.  and  ranks  in  all  respects  _  'Jj  ~113ll|§ 
with  the  best  newspapers  in  the 
country.  The  weekly  edition 
is  a  handsome  quarto  of  forty- 
eisrht  columns.  The  daily  edi- 
tion  was  established  on  the  13th  of  October,  L876,  at  the  ear- 
nest solicitation  of  the  enterprising  citizens  of  Danville,  who 
desired  a  morning  daily  which  would  give  them  the  latest  news  in 


DAILY    NEWS    BUILDING. 


HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY.  373 

the  famous  and  critical  presidential  contest.  The  Daily  News  has 
taken  the  press  dispatches  from  the  first,  and  at  once  gained  a  large 
circulation  in  the  city  and  a  compass  of  many  miles,  which  has 
increased  steadily  to  the  present  time.  With  every  facility  for  local 
and  general  news  —  a  telegraph  office  being  in  the  editor's  room; 
a  diligent  and  experienced  corps  of  assistants,  the  best  newspaper 
library  to  be  found  in  eastern  Illinois,  the  most  careful  business 
management,  and  a  constantly  increasing  patronage,  the  weekly  and 
daily  News  has  a  bright  and  promising  outlook  for  the  future. 

George  W.  Flynn,  president  and  manager,  was  born  on  the  25th 
of  August,  1828,  at  Bainbridge,  Chenango  county,  New  York.  He 
came  to  Illinois  in  May,  1849,  and  was  for  several  years  prominently 
connected  with  the  Urban  a  Union,  Urbana,  being  a  portion  of  the 
time  sole  editor  and  proprietor;  also  of  the  Gazette  and  Union, 
Champaign,  and  of  the  Cha,mpaign  County  Gazette.  He  did  faithful 
duty  during  the  war  of  the  rebellion,  giving  three  years'  active  ser- 
vice as  adjutant  of  the  25th  I'll.  Inf.  After  leaving  the  army  he 
became  the  senior  member  of  the  firm  of  G.W.  Flynn  &  Co.,  job 
printers  and  bookbinders,  Urbana,  Illinois,  retaining  the  position 
until  his  removal  to  Danville,  Illinois,  in  1871.  He  was  the  first  to 
move  in  the  organization  of  the  Illinois  Printing  Company,  and  has 
held  the  positions  of  president,  manager  and  director  ever  since  the 
date  of  its  incorporation. 

William  Ray  Jewell,  vice-president  and  editor,  was  born  in  Spen- 
cer county,  Kentucky,  August  7,  1837,  and  removed  with  his  father's 
family,  in  boyhood,  to  Sullivan  county,  Indiana,  settling  twenty 
miles  south  of  Terre  Haute.  He  worked  on  a  farm  until  fifteen 
years  of  age,  when  he  entered  the  printing  office  of  the  Wabash 
Courier  at  Terre  Haute,  where  he  learned  the  printing  business. 
He  worked  his  way  in  the  printing  office  through  Moses  Soule's 
select  school  in  Terre  Haute,  read  law  under  the  kind  assistance  of 
Henry  Musgrove  and  Hon.  R.  W.  Thompson,  and  subsequently 
entered  and  graduated  from  the  Northwestern  Christian  University, 
Indianapolis,  Indiana,  now  Butler  University.  For  some  years  he 
was  an  active  and  successful  preacher  of  the  Christian  church.  He 
served  in  the  war  of  1861-5,  as  lieutenant  of  Co.  G,  72d  Ind.  Inf. 
Bejiig  discharged  on  account  of  sickness,  he  was  soon  recommis- 
sioned  as  captain  by  Gov.  Morton,  and  assigned  to  the  recruiting 
service  of  the  state,  but  soon  accepted  a  call  to  the  7th  Ind.  Inf.  as 
their  chaplain,  with  which  regiment  he  was  mustered  out  of  the  ser- 
vice at  the  expiration  of  the  term  of  enlistment.  Mr.  Jewell  removed 
from  La  Fayette,  Indiana,  to  Danville,  Illinois,  in  November,  1873, 


374  HISTORY   OF  VERMILION   COUNTY. 

being  one  of  the  founders  of  the  News,  and  one  of  the  original  in- 
corporators of  the  Illinois  Printing  Company.  He  has  held  the 
position  of  vice-president  and  editor  since  July,  1875. 

Joseph  II.  Woodmansee,  secretary  and  treasurer,  was  born  in 
Butler  county,  Ohio,  March  24,  1830.  At  the  age  of  seventeen  he 
went  to  Cincinnati,  where  he  learned  the  trade  of  machinist,  and 
remained  in  the  city  until  1854,  when  he  was  married  to  Susan  M. 
Horr,  and  soon  after  removed  to  Paris,  Illinois.  In  1856  he  re- 
moved to  Urbana,  Illinois,  and  in  August,  1862,  enlisted  in  Co.  G, 
76th  Reg.  111.  Vol.,  and  was  honorably  discharged  at  New  Orleans, 
in  June,  1865.  In  1871  he  was  appointed  assistant  assessor  of  in- 
ternal revenue,  which  position  he  held  until  the  office  was  abolished. 
In  1873  he  became  a  member  of  the  firm  of  Gr.  W.  Flynn  &  Co.. 
printers  and  blank  book  makers,  and  in  September,  1874,  removed 
to  Danville,  Illinois,  with  the  printing  office,  which  was  incorporated 
into  the  Illinois  Printing  Company.  At  the  first  meeting  of  the 
directors  of  said  company  he  was  elected  secretary  and  treasurer, 
which  office  he  still  occupies. 

The  Danville  Daily  and  Weekly  Times,  edited  and  published  by  . 
A.  G.  Smith,  is  a  paper  that  is  widely  copied  from,  and  its  editorials 
are  often  repeated  by  the  press  of  the  state.  It  is  independent  re- 
publican in  politics,  and  is  noted  for  the  freedom  with  which  it  dis- 
cusses popular  questions.  At  times  it  has  enjoyed  a  larger  patronage 
than  was  ever  accorded  to  any  other  Danville  newspaper.  The  Times 
was  founded  in  February,  1868,  and  has  had  no  change  in  proprietor- 
ship. 

The  Danville  Weekly  Post  was  established  in  the  city  of  Danville, 
Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  in  June,  1878,  by  Messrs.  Jacobs  & 
Thompson.  It  is  the  only  democratic  paper  in  the  county,  and  has 
quite  an  extensive  circulation.  It  is  recognized  as  one  of  the  leading 
journals  of  'the  state  printed  outside  the  cities,  and  is  perfectly  relia- 
ble. It  is  an  eight-column  quarto,  neatly  printed  ;  subscription  price, 
$1.50  per  year.  Messrs.  Jacobs  &  Thompson,  the  editors  and  pro- 
prietors, are  both  young  men,  but  have  had  several  years'  experience  ' 
in  the  newspaper  business.  They  were  the  founders  and  publishers 
of  the  Chrisman  (Illinois)  Leader,  and  were  running  that  paper  pre- 
vious to  their  removal  to  Danville.  They  are  probably  the  youngest 
newspaper  men  in  the  state.  The  junior  member  of  the  firm, —  Mr. 
Thompson, —  has  always  taken  a  very  active  part  in  politics,  and 
seems  to  be  somewhat  of  a  favorite  among  leading  politicians  through- 
out this  part  of  the  state. 

The   Danville  Weekly   Commercial*   the   oldest    newspaper    now 


HISTOKT    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY.  375 

(July,  1879,)  published  in  Vermilion  county,  was  established  by  the 
banking  and  real-estate  firm  of  Short  A:  Wright,  and  the  first  number 
issued  on  the  5th  of  April,  1866,  under  the  editorial  charge  of  P.  D. 
Hammond.  The  paper  was  originally  published  in  quarto  form, 
eight  columns  to  the  page.  An  A.  B.  Taylor  cylinder  press,  the 
first  power  press  ever  set  up  in  the  county,  was  used  in  printing  it. 
In  connection  with  the  newspaper  department,  the  presses  and  mate- 
rial necessary  to  a  first-class  job  printing  office  were  added,  the  whole 
forming  an  establishment  rarely  to  be  found  in  a  city  of  the  size  of 
Danville  at  that  date.  The  Commercial  has  been  a  firm  and  consist- 
ent advocate  of  the  principles  held  by  the  republican  party,  though 
oftentimes  criticising  methods  and  men  of  its  party ;  has  advocated 
and  still  advocates  the  cause  of  temperance  and  prohibition  of  the 
liquor  traffic ;  favored  the  cause  of  education ;  shown  itself  the  friend 
of  good  morals  and  religion,  and  been  foremost  in  favoring  such 
measures  of  public  policy  as  have  added  immensely  to  the  growth 
and  prosperity  of  Danville  and  Vermilion  county.  On  the  loth  of 
( )ctober,  1867,  Mr.  J.  G.  Kingsbury  became  the  editorial  associate  of 
Mr.  Hammond,  the  latter  still  remaining  the  managing  editor.  At 
the  same  date  Mr. Wright  retired  from  the  firm  of  Short  &  Wright, 
as  proprietors,  and  was  succeeded  by  Abraham  Sandusky  and  An- 
drew Gundy,  old  residents  of  the  county,  the  proprietorship  becom- 
ing merged  in  the  firm  of  John  C.  Short  &  Co. 

On  the  12th  of  December,  1867,  the  proprietors  of  the  Commer- 
cial purchased  the  stock,  material  and  good  will  of  the  Danville 
Plaindealer,  and  merged  the  latter  journal  with  the  former  under 
the  name  of  the  Danville  Commercial  and  Plaindealer.  Under  the 
consolidation  Col.  R.  H.  Johnson,  late  editor  of  the  Plaindealer,  be- 
came  associate  editor  with  Messrs.  Hammond  and  Kingsbury.  With 
the  second  number,  issued  in  1868,  the  paper  was  enlarged  to  a  nine- 
column  folio.  With  the  issue  of  May  1-1,  1868,  "Plaindealer"  was 
dropped  from  the  title,  and  the  original  name  of  the  paper  was  re- 
sumed. With  the  issue  of  the  Commercial  of  September  17,  1868, 
Mr.  P.  D  Hammond  retired  from  editorial  connection  with  it,  in 
order  to  assume  editorial  charge  of  the  Lafayette  (Ind.)  Journal. 
Upon  this  change  Mr.  J.  G.  Kingsbury  became  managing  editor,  Col. 
Johnson  remaining  associate  editor,  a  position  he  continued  to  fill 
until  the  25th  of  March,  1869.  With  the  issue  of  the  Commercial  ot 
August  5, 1869,  it  was  announced  that  Jesse  Harper,  late  of  Williams- 
port,  Indiana,  had  purchased  an  interest  in  the  paper.  On  the  14th  day 
of  July,  1873,  Jesse  Harper  retired  from  all  editorial  connection  with, 
and  proprietorship  of,  the  Commercial,  having  sold  his  interest  to  A, 


I 

376  HISTORY   OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Harper,  his  nephew,  and  brother  of  O.  E.  Harper,  who  became  pub- 
lishers under  the  firm  name  of  Harper  Brothers.  From  this  date 
until  November  20  of  the  same  year  the  editorial  work  of  the  paper 
was  performed  by  O.  E.  Harper  and  Maj.  E.  A.  Routhe.  On  the 
latter  date  Mr.  Park  T.  Martin,  of  Shelbyville,  Illinois,  announced 
through  the  columns  of  the  Commercial  that  he  had  purchased  the 
sole  remaining  interest  of  John  C.  Short  &  Co.,  and  that  he  had 
assumed  the  editorship  from  that  date,  and  that  the  business  of  the 
office  would  be  conducted  under  the  firm  name  of  Harpers  &  Martin. 
Maj.  Routhe  was  continued  on  the  paper  as  associate  editor. 

In  the  early  spring  of  1874  Mr.S.  II.  Huber  purchased  an  interest 
in  the  paper,  an  additional  amount  of  capital  was  furnished,  and  the 
partnership  was  merged  into  a  joint  stock  company  under  the  general 
incorporation  law  of  the  state,  with  the  corporate  name  "The  Com- 
mercial Company  of  Danville,  Illinois."  The  authorized  capital  was 
$15,000,  of  which  $11,200  was  paid  up,  and  divided  in  nearly  equal 
proportions  between  the  four  incorporators :  O.  E.  Harper,  A.  Har- 
per, Park  T.  Martin  and  S.  II.  Huber.  The  company  was  organized 
by  the  election  of  A.  Harper  as  president,  and  Park  T.  Martin  as 
secretary  and  business  manager.  The  latter  was  continued  as  man- 
aging editor,  a  position  still  held  by  him.  With  the  increase  of 
capital  great  improvements  were  made  in  the  office,  the  old  hand- 
power  press  giving  place  to  a  fine  Chicago  Taylor  cylinder,  with 
steam  for  the  motive  power,  being  the  first  newspaper  press  in  the 
city  run  by  steam.  At  the  same  time  the  paper  was  enlarged  and 
changed  to  a  six-column  quarto  in 'form.  In  March,  1876,  O.  E. 
Harper  disposed  of  his  Commercial  stock  to  R.  C.  Holton,  when  the 
latter  became  superintendent  of  the  mechanical  department  of  the 
Commercial,  a  position  he  still  holds.  In  February,  1877,  Messrs. 
Huber  and  Martin  disposed  of  their  stock  to  their  associates,  and 
Mr.  Huber  retired  from  all  connection  with  the  office,  in  order  to 
enter  the  ministry  of  the  M.  E.  church.  In  August,  1878,  Mr.  A.  J. 
Adams,  for  some  years  connected  with  the  business  management  of 
the  Danville  Times,  purchased  stock  and  became  business  manager 
of  the  Commercial  company,  a  position  he  has  since  held.  On  the 
loth  of  September,  1878,  the  first  number  of  the  Daily  Danville 
Commercial  was  issued,  and  the  publication  has  been  continued 
without  intermission  as  an  evening  paper  since,  with  a  continually 
increasing  list  of  subscribers,  and  at  this  writing,  July,  1879,  the 
business  of  the  Commercial  company  in  all  its  departments  is  in  an 
encouragingly  prosperous  condition. 


•':', 


1 


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1 

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DECD. 

DANVILLE, 


HISTORY   OF  TOWNSHIPS. 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP. 

This  locality  being  so  intimately  connected  with  the  early  history  of 
the  county,  it  was  found  necessary  to  notice  it  quite  fully  in  that  con- 
nection. We  find,  therefore,  but  little  else  than  the  more  modern  facts, 
progress,  incidents  and  institutions  requiring  mention.  Those  of  our 
readers  who  have  carefully  followed  us  thus  far,  are,  by  this  time,  able  to 
enter  into  the  feelings  and  sympathies  of  the  early  settler,  who  yet  lin- 
gers for  a  season  with  us,  and  from  whom  many  of  the  important  items 
contained  in  these  pages  have  been  gleaned.  A  half  century  has  just 
passed  since  the  history  of  this  locality,  as  far  as  real  progress  is  con- 
cerned, began  ;  but  what  wonderful  changes  have  taken  place  !  Less 
than  fifty  years  ago,  the  people  of  this  county,  what  few  of  them  there 
were,  lived  in  log  cabins  utterly  devoid  of  ornament  or  adornment. 
The  half  of  one  side  of  the  only  room  was  devoted  to  the  fire-place,  at 
which  the  members  of  the  family  toasted  their  shins,  meanwhile  the 
good  wife  cooked  the  simple  meal  of  corn  cakes  and  wild  meat  at  the 
same  fire.  The  one  room  was  the  parlor,  kitchen,  dining-room  and  bed- 
room ;  and,  in  the  coldest  weather,  some  of  the  few  domestic  animals 
were  kindly  given  a  night's  shelter  from  the  storm. 

The  furniture  consisted  of  a  few  splint-bottomed  or  bark-bottomed 
chairs  of  the  plainest  and  roughest  sort,  made  by  the  use  of  a  hatchet, 
auger  and  jack-knife ;  bedsteads  and  table  of  a  like  character ;  and  a 
scanty  set  of  cooking  utensils,  often  consisting  of  no  more  than  a  skil- 
let, a  boiling  pot  and  a  Dutch  oven.  Our  younger  readers  will  hardly 
believe  us  when  we  say  that  the  whole  set  of  tableware,  including 
pewTter  plates,  knives  and  forks,  would  not  now  be  considered  cheap  at 
twenty-five  cents ;  but,  if  your  grandmother  is  still  living,  you  need 
only  ask  her  to  have  our  statements  substantiated.  There  were  no 
pictures  on  the  walls  of  the  pioneer's  cabins,  no  tapestry  hung  at  the 
windows,  and  no  carpets  were  on  the  puncheon  floors. 

The  ornaments  of  the  walls  were  the  rifle  and  powder  horn,  bunches 
of  beans,  medicinal  herbs  and  ears  of  corn  for  the  next  planting,  sus- 
pended from  pegs  driven  into  the  logs  of  which  the  walls  were  built. 
20 


306  BISTORT    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

The  windows  needed  no  curtains,  as  they  were  made  of  a  material 
which  not  only  kept  out  the  strong  sunlight  and  the  fierce  winds  of 
winter,  but  admitted  a  sufficient  amount  of  the  former  for  all  practical 
purposes.  In  this  matter,  the  pioneers  displayed  an  amount  of  inge- 
nuity that  could  be  called  forth  only  by  the  mother  of  invention — 
neeessit}\  Sheets  of  paper  were  procured  and  soaked  in  hog's  lard,  by 
which  process  they  became  translucent;  and  these,  pasted  to  some 
cross  sticks  in  the  opening  left  for  the  purpose,  constituted  the  window 
of  the  ancient  log  cabin.  Puncheon  floors  were  a  luxury  not  to  be 
found  in  every  house,  as,  in  many,  the  native  soil  was  both  floor  and 
carpet.  The  long  winter  evenings  were  spent  in  conversation  over 
personal  events  of  the  day,  or  of  recollections  of  events  of  the  old  homes 
in  the  east  or  south  from  which  they  had  emigrated.  The  railroad  and 
telegraph  brought  no  news  from  the  outside  world.  There  were  but 
few  books  and  papers  then,  the  whole  library,  in  many  instances,  con- 
sisting of  a  Bible,  an  almanac  and  a  few  school  books.  A  tallow  dip — 
an  article  now  almost  wholly  unknown — afforded  the  only  artificial 
light. 

In  1830  a  clock  or  watch  was  a  great  novelty,  and  our  worth}' 
ancestors  marked  time  by  the  approach  of  the  shadow  of  the  door  to 
the  sun  mark,  or  the  cravings  of  the  stomach  for  its  ration  of  corn 
bread  and  bacon. 

We  might  go  on,  describing  the  ancient  modes  of  farming,  of  dress, 
of  marketing  and  of  education,  to  almost  an  endless  length  ;  suffice  it 
to  say  that,  in  all  of  the  departments  of  life,  a  corresponding  simplicity, 
or,  we  had  almost  said,  rudeness,  was  the  rule. 

How  different  we  find  things  now  !  Luxury  of  every  kind,  un- 
thought  of  by  the  old  pioneers,  abounds  everywhere.  Industrious 
hands  and  active  brains  have  been  at  work,  and  to-day  we  find  in 
almost  every  house,  not  only  all  of  the  comforts  of  life,  but  the  luxuries 
in  endless  variety.  The  old  yawning  fire-place,  with  its  glowing  "  back 
log,  fore  stick  and  middle  chunks,"  have  given  way  to  the  numerously 
patented  cook  and  parlor  stoves.  Books  and  newspapers  are  on  the 
table  and  in  the  shelves  of  everybody  who  wants  them.  The  news 
from  London,  dated  at  8  o'clock  a.m.,  reaches  us,  is  set  up,  printed  and 
distributed  to  the  readers  of  the  News  and  other  daily  papers  of  the 
city  by  6  o'clock  the  same  morning,  thus  beating  time  in  3,000  miles 
by  two  hours.  Had  you  told  the  old  pioneers  this  would  be  done  in 
their  day,  you  would  have  been  set  down  as  a  lunatic  or  a  fit  subject 
for  the  ducking-stool.  If  there  was  a  piano  in  the  county  more  than 
forty  years  ago,  we  have  failed  to  find  a  trace  of  it ;  and,  as  for  reed 
organs,  they  were  only  invented  at  about  that  time.     Now,  almost 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  307 

every  other  house  has  one  of  these.  As  to  clocks  and  watches,  every 
house  has  one  or  more,  and  a  chain  dangles  from  the  neck  or  the  vest 
of  nearly  every  man,  woman  and  youth,  indicating  that  a  chronometer 
is  at  hand  to  regulate  the  movements  of  the  wearer. 

To  enumerate  all  of  the  comforts  and  modern  conveniences  now  in 
use  and  to  be  had,  would  be  to  give  up  most  of  the  space  in  this  book 
for  the  purpose  of  a  catalogue  of  the  articles.  On  every  hand  we  be- 
hold a  wonderful,  a  rapid,  a  happy  change.  A  wonderful  soil,  a  re- 
markable climate,  a  progressive,  economical,  industrious  and  intelligent 
people  combined  have  done  this. 

EARLY    BUILDINGS. 

The  old  log  hotel  which  Solomon  Gilbert  built  in  1827,  stood  at 
the  west  end  of  Main  street.  It  only  remained  in  use  as  a  "  tavern  "  a 
few  years,  for  it  soon  became  distanced  by  more  extensive  and  grander 
ones.  The  old  sign,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  day,  hung  in  a  tree 
near  by.  Bluford  Runyen  built  a  log  house  on  the  rear  of  the  old 
"Pennsylvania  House"  property  in  1828.  He  sold  this  to  John 
Leight,  who  commenced,  but  sold  to  Samuel  J.  Russell,  who  built  the 
first  part  (the  north  end)  of  the  old  tavern  in  1832.  It  stood  on  the 
west  side  of  Vermilion  street,  about  half  way  between  the  public 
square  and  the  "^Etna  House."  It  was  a  very  good  house  for  its  time, 
and  was  the  rival  of  the  "  McCormack  "  in  public  favor.  Russell  was 
selling  goods  on  Main  street,  and  soon  sold  his  house  to  Willison,  who 
in  turn  sold  to  Abram  Mann,  Senior,  who  had  recently  come  from  Eng- 
land. Mr.  Mann  put  up  the  southern  part  of  it.  The  ball-room,  which 
was  the  necessary  appendage  to  every  wejl-regulated  "  tavern  "  in  those 
days,  was  on  the  west  side,  over  the  dining-room.  It  remained  stand- 
ing with  the  old  log  "  house  which  Runyen  built,''  until  1875,  when 
the  march  of  events  called  for  the  lots  upon  which  it  stood,  for  business 
purposes,  and  it  disappeared.  The  first  part  of  the  famous  McCormack 
House  was  built  by  Jesse  Gilbert,  about  1833.  It  was  a  frame  build- 
ing, the  planks  being  fastened  on  with  wooden  pins,  before  nails  came 
into  very  general  use  here.  Charles  S.  Galusha  built  an  addition  to 
it  soon  after.  Mr.  Cross  kept  it  a  while,  and  then  William  McCor- 
mack took  it  and  enlarged  it,  making  it  the  best  hotel  in  town.  Dur- 
ing the  flush  days  of  land  office  business  here,  this  house  acquired  a 
national  reputation.  The  people  who  came  here  from  all  over  the 
country  to  enter  land  were  accommodated,  not  exactly  in  princely 
style,  but  in  good  shape,  at  the  McCormack.  No  "  runner"  found  it 
necessary  to  sound  its  praises  in  sonorous  notes  from  stentorian  lungs, 
for  it  was  known  and  read  of  all  men  everywhere.     From  all  over  the 


308  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION"    COUNTY. 

country  men  came  with  their  saddle-bags  and  ax-boxes  filled  with 
"shiny  boys,''  for  ''greenbacks"  had  not  then  been  invented,  to  buy 
the  land  which  was  soon  to  make  them  or  their  children  rich.  The 
building  still  stands,  close  b}7  the  side  of  its  "successor  in  office "  and 
in  public  favor,  the  beautiful  Arlington,  types  of  the  better  class  of  two 
ages  of  hotel  building;  the  former  being  as  good  a  building  as  any 
country  village  before  railroad  times  could  support,  the  latter  as  fine  a 
building  as  any  young  cit}7  in  the  land  can  show. 

The  corners  north  of  the  public  square  are  historical.  On  the  east- 
ern one,  where  the  court-house  now  stands,  the  old,  cramped-up  build- 
ing which  so  long  served  as  the  hall  of  justice  for  the  county  of 
Vermilion,  stood.  This  was  not  the  first  court-house,  but  the  first 
"permanent"  one.  The  two  which  preceded  it  were  temporary  affairs, 
and  were  soon  dispensed  with.  The  first  court-house  was  the  one  at 
Butler's  Point,  where  Judge  J.  O.Watties  was  falsely  reported  to  have 
been  seen  paring  his  toe-nails  secundum,  artem,  while  the  bailiff  had 
the  different  members  of  the  first  grand  jury  treed  by  hounds  in  the 
tall  timber  alono;  the  Salt  Fork.  The  second  one  was  built  of  hewn 
logs,  and  stood  on  the  west  side  of  the  public  square,  south  of  Main 
street.  The  next  one  was  the  old  square  building  which  so  long 
served  the  purpose.  For  nearly  forty  years  it  was  the  only  court-house 
Yermilion  county  had.  When  it  burned  there  were  few  to  mourn  its 
loss.  It  was  about  fifty  feet  square,  having  the  court-room  below, 
with  a  door  upon  its  south  front  on  the  public  square,  and  one  on 
its  west  on  Vermilion  street.  The  judge's  bench  was  on  the  east  side 
of  the  court-room,  which  was  in  the  first  story,  and  the  second  story 
was  divided  into  two  jury-rooms  for  the  grand  and  petit  juries.  The 
countv  offices  were  scattered  around  town,  wherever  rooms  could 
be  found  for  them,  and  necessitated  much  inconvenience,  and  had 
the  effect  of  creating  much  irregularit}T  in  the  transaction  of  business. 
Norman  D.  Palmer  and  G.  S.  Hubbard  were  the  contractors  and 
Thomas  Durham  the  builder  in  1832.  A  wing  was  built  later  for  the 
clerks'  offices,  which  answered  the  purpose  very  well  for  a  time. 

The  old  court-house  was  burned  in  1872,  by  some  one  who  wanted 
to  see,  a  better  one  in  the  place  of  it,  and  the  present  very  neat 
and  commodious  structure  was  erected  in  1876.  Col.  Myers,  of  De- 
troit, Mich.,  was  the  architect;  N.  C.  Terrell,  contractor.  The  build- 
ing committee  were:  J.  G.  Holden,  A.  Gilbert,  A.  H.  O'Bryant,  H. 
E.  P.  Talbott  and  B.  Butterfield.  The  building  cost,  complete,  in- 
cluding heating,  etc.,  $105,000.  It  is  in  the  form  of  an  L,  having 
a  front  on  Vermilion  street  and  one  on  Main  street,  having  the  post 
office,  the  janitor's  rooms  and  offices  in  the  basement  story ;   the  offices 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  309 

of  the  county  clerk,  county  judge,  circuit  clerk,  sheriff  and  treasurer, 
with  spacious  vaults  connected  with  them,  and  the  county  court-room 
on  the  first  floor ;  the  court-room  and  jury-rooms  and  other  offices  in 
the  upper  story.  The  rooms  are  all  nicely  finished  off,  and  well 
adapted  to  the  uses  for  which  they  were  intended,  and  convenient. 
The  basement  story  is  of  Joliet  stone,  the  superstructure  of  brick 
trimmed  with  cut  stone.  The  first  jail  stood  just  north  of  the  court- 
house which  was  burned.  It  was  made  of  hewn  logs,  dovetailed  to- 
gether and  pinned  through  the  corners.  It  was  about  thirty  feet  long, 
and  had  a  partition  across  it  near  the  center,  to  separate  the  two  classes 
of  prisoners  which  it  was  at  that  time  legal  to  put  in  jail,  criminal  and 
debt  prisoners.  Large  river  stones  were  put  on  the  ground  and  a  floor 
of  hewn  logs  placed  on  that.  It  was  covered  over  with  a  similar  floor 
of  hewn  logs.  There  were  two  windows  in  it,  about  eighteen  inches 
square.  It  was  thought  to  be  a  very  secure  institution  until  it  was  put 
to  the  test.  Hiram  Hickman,  who  had  considerable  to  do  with  running 
it  for  several  years,  says  that  he  never  had  any  trouble  in  catching  a 
horse  thief,  but  they  seldom  had  any  trouble  in  clearing  themselves 
without  feeing  a  lawyer,  for  they  were  sure  to  dig  out  before  the  first 
day  of  the  next  term  of  court.  This  worthless  old  concern  was  re- 
moved in  1873.  When  the  court-house  burned  it  absolutely  refused  to 
follow  suit.  The  new  jail  was  built  in  1874,  and  is  large,  well  built, 
well  ventilated  and  is  a  beautiful  residence,  having  little  about  it  to 
remind  one  of  the  uses  to  which  it  is  put.  It  is  built  of  Joliet  stone 
and  brick,  and  consists  of  two  stories  and  basement.  It  has  a  front  of 
forty-four  feet  on  Vermilion  street,  and  is  one  hundred  and  two  feet 
deep,  and  cost  $53,292.  B.  V.  Enos,  of  Indianapolis,  was  architect. 
The  building  committee  were  the  same  as  in  the  building  of  the  court- 
house, J.  G.  Holden  acting  as  chairman,  and  giving  his  best  endeavors 
to  the  work  of  keeping  everybody  honest  that  had  anything  to  do  with  it. 
None  of  the  old  settlers  will  ever  forget  the  occasion  of  the  first  female 
prisoner  being  confined  in  the  county  jail.  No  provision  had  been 
made  for  female  prisoners.  The  jail  had  but  two  apartments,  one  for 
criminals,  and  one  for  those  who  had  been  guilty  of  being  in  debt. 
When  Mr.  Dawrson  came  here  with  the  blooming,  dashing  woman  he 
introduced  here  as  his  wife,  and  occupied  a  little  cabin  where  the 
National  Bank  now  stands,  the  citizens  little  thought  that  she  would 
be  the  first  woman  to  occupy  that  old  log  jail.  She  was  a  woman  of 
more  than  ordinary  intelligence,  and  her  behavior  was  above  reproach. 
Her  wardrobe  was  of  the  most  extensive  nature,  and  costly  beyond  any 
thing  known  by  the  people  hereabouts.  Silk  dresses  in  the  most  lavish 
profusion  were  to  be  seen,  while  Dawson,  in  the  plain  garb  of  a  day 


310  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

laborer,  seemed  illy  mated  to  the  magnificent  woman  who  bore  the  air 
and  dress  of  one  who  had  been  brought  up  in  almost  regal  wealth.  She 
fairly  dazzled  the  entire  neighborhood.  A  year  later  there  appeared 
a  worn  and  weary  wanderer  who  said  this  woman  was  his  wife,  and 
that  she  had  eloped  with  Dawson,  and  that  he  had  been  searching  for 
her  a  year.  He  made  the  necessary  affidavits,  and  the  two  were  arrested 
and  thrust  into  jail.  Then  all  Danville  wagged  their  heads.  "I  told 
you  so,"  said  the  wise  women,  who  seemed  to  rather  delight  in  her 
misfortune,  and  the  men  who  had  bowed  so  obsequiously  when  she 
swept  by,  now  just  recollected  that  they  "more  than  half  suspected " 
all  along  that  all  was  not  right.  It  was  then  her  woman's  wits  served 
her.  Dawson  got  bail,  and  public  sentiment  began  to  turn  in  her  favor. 
She  had  several  consultations  with  her  husband,  and  promised  to  return 
home  with  him  if  he  would  get  her  out  of  jail.  To  accomplish  this, 
he  went  before  another  justice  of  the  peace  and  made  a  counter  affidavit, 
and  then  left  suddenly,  to  prevent  harsh  treatment,  which  was  pretty 
sure  to  follow  if  he  remained  here.  As  soon  as  she  was  liberated  she 
joined  Dawson  in  going  west  instead  of  returning  to  her  persecutor. 

The  war  and  the  activity  of  travel  incident  upon  it  made  a  strong 
demand  for  more  hotel  room  in  Danville,  and  in  1 865  M.  M.  Redford 
built  the  north  part  of  the  present  "^Etna  House,"  and  it  became 
at  once  the  popular  resort  for  those  whose  business  called  them  to  the 
county  seat.  It  was  a  large  and  magnificent  building  for  the  times, 
and,  with  the  addition  put  on  in  1873  by  William  Farmer  and  D. 
Gregg,  is  still  the  largest  hotel  in  the  city.  It  has  a  front  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty-five  feet  on  Vermilion  street  and  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty  on  Xorth  street;  is  three  stories  and  basement, 
with  seventy-six  guests'  rooms,  and  the  entire  block,  including 
ground,  has  cost  §62,000.  William  Farmer  is  proprietor.  Messrs. 
Crane  &  Son  and  McCormack  built  the  "'Arlington  Hotel  "  on  Main 
street  in  1875.  It  is  75x100,  three  stories  high,  having  two  stores 
besides  the  hotel  office  on  the  ground  floor.  It  is  a  splendid  building, 
and  probably  forms  the  neatest  block  in  the  city.  It  has  fifty  rooms. 
It  is  owned  at  present  by  J.  M.  Dougherty,  of  Fairmount,  Mrs.  Scott 
and  C.  R.  Brown.  White  cV  Rick,  who  are  in  charge  of  it,  have  been 
for  seven  years  in  the  hotel  business  in  the  city,  having  been  five  years 
in  the  ''.Etna."  Ed.  Galligan  built  the  "St.  James,"  on  Main  street, 
three  blocks  east  of  the  public  square,  in  1867,  and  in  1871  built  the 
addition  to  it.  It  has  two  stores  on  the  ground  floor  besides  the  office. 
It  is  the  same  size  as  the  Arlington,  and  has  forty-five  rooms.  F.  B. 
Freese  has  conducted  it  ever  since  its  occupancy.  The  Tremont, 
farther  east  on   Main   street,  an  elegant  and  tasty  building,  was  put 


DANVILLE   TOWS  SHI  l'. 


311 


up  by  Anselm  Sieferman,  at  a  cost  of  over  $16,000.  It  is  34x100,  and 
is  all  occupied  for  hotel  purposes,  except  the  basement  and  two  rooms 
on  the  ground  floor,  which  are  used  as  a  cigar  manufactory  by  the 
owner  of  the  building.  It  is  three  high  stories,  besides  the  basement, 
and  presents  a  fine  architectural  appearance  on  both  fronts.  It  con- 
tains thirty-three  guests'  rooms.  The  Hesse  House,  on  Hazel  street, 
was  built  by  Mr.  Hommac,  in  1874.  It  is  four  stories  high,  the  two 
upper  being  thrown  into  one  for  a  hall.  It  is  a  fine  building,  and  cost 
$12,000.  Hommac  sold  it  to  Hesse,  who  occupies  it.  The  upper 
room  is  used  by  the  military  company  for  an  armory.  The  "  Sherman 
House,"  a  three-story  brick,  is  east  of  the  railroad. 


MILLS. 


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CITY    MILLS. 


The  present  importance  of  the  milling  business  in  Danville,  being 
now  second  only  to  the  mining  interests,  makes  a  study  of  its  growth 
a  matter  of  interest.  So  we  inquire  into  all  the  little  doings  and  wise 
sayings  of  the  early  days — the  baby  days — of  those  who  have  waxed 
great  in  public  estimation  or  in  wealth  ;  search  out,  as  if  it  were 
of  importance,  every  minute  circumstance  of  his  boyhood,  if  it  is 
creditable,  and  drop  into  oblivion  all  which  tends  to  show  that  he  was 
not  great,  even  in  babyhood,  and  we  build  up  wondrous  heroes,  with 
shining  new  hatchets,  who  can't  tell  a  lie ;  powerful  heroes  who,  even 
before  they  are  large  enough  to  wear  boots,  can  ride  any  horse  bare- 
back, or  change  the  natural  gait  of  a  trotter  into  a  smooth  pacer.  Then 
after  we  have  told  our  children  and  grandchildren  these  beautiful  stories 
about  cherry  trees  and  the  rugged  moral  development  of  "  Truthful 
James,"  some  Parton  is  raised  up  to  tell  us  that  all  these  wondrous 
stories  that  we  had  "  built  our  hopes  upon  "  were  tables,  and  our  idols 


312  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

are  clashed  in  pieces.  The  first  mill  built  in  this  township,  as  far  as  the 
memory  of  those  now  accessible  serves,  was  commenced  by  Bob  Trickle, 
on  the  North  Fork,  near  the  lower  end  of  Main  street.  He  had  not  pro- 
gressed far  toward  completion  before  Solomon  Gilbert  purchased  it,  and 
it  became  known  as  Gilbert's  mill.  It  was  a  log  building,  and  the 
stones  were  cut  out  of  such  as  could  be  found  in  the  stream  near 
by.  This  answered  'the  purpose  of  the  neighborhood  very  well  for 
a  time,  but  it  could  not  be  deemed  a  great  success  in  a  money-making 
point  of  view.  Grain  was  very  cheap,  and  the  commissions  on  grind- 
ing were  necessarily  small.  The  bolting  was  done  by  hand  at  first,  and 
was  a  very  slow  process,  but  gave  work  for  the  boys  who  needed  some- 
thing to  keep  them  out  of  mischief.  The  date  of  building  does  not 
seem  to  be  well  settled,  but  it  must  have  been  about  1828,  and  about 
two  years  later  a  saw-mill  was  attached.  All  these  old  saw-mills  used 
the  "gate-saw,"  which  has  never  been  seen  by  the  younger  readers. 
The  saw  wTas  fixed  into  a  frame,  which  was  about  eight  feet  high 
by  six  wide,  made  so  strong  that  it  would  hold  the  saw  firmly  to 
the  work,  and  so  heavy  that  it  moved  up  and  down  very  leisurely, 
which  gave  rise  to  the  expression  that  it  would  go  up  in  the  spring 
and  come  down  with  the  fall  freshets.  It  moved  in  grooves  cut  in  the 
upright  timbers.  Such  an  one  would  not  be  endured  for  a  day  now, 
but  the  men  who  were  accustomed  to  run  them  could  saw  two  thou- 
sand feet  a  day,  and  the  writer  well  recollects  hearing  old  sawyers  tell 
of  turning  out  twice  that  amount;  but  this  latter  story  he  attributes  to 
the  unfortunate  habit  which  attaches  'to  some  elderly  gentlemen  of 
drawing  rather  strong  on  the  resources  of  their  early  recollections.  Of 
course  about  one  thousand  feet  of  lumber  for  a  twelve  hours'  "  trick  " 
was  very  good  work.  The  price  for  sawing  was  universally  fifty  cents 
per  hundred  feet,  or  a  share,  so  that  it  will  be  seen  that  a  saw-mill  was 
about  the  best  piece  of  property,  financially  speaking,  which  could  be 
had  in  those  days.  It  was  better  than  a  bank  or  county  office — theo- 
retically, at  least. 

Mr.  Amos  Williams,  who  held  almost  all  the  offices  at  that  time, 
from  postmaster  to  poundmaster,  thought  so,  and  concluded  to  own  one. 
He  bought  or  built  one — most  likely  both — on  the  main  stream,  long 
knowTn  as  Cotton's  mill.  The  date  of  this  has  also  faded  from  memory. 
Benjamin  Brooks,  the  relic  of  Brooks'  Point,  says  that  he  helped  cut 
and  put  in  the  first  dam  here,  which,  as  near  as  he  can  now  remember, 
was  forty-three  years  ago — 1836.  There  is  a  pretty  generally  received 
opinion  that  the  dam  was  built  before  that  date,  but  Mr.  Brooks  can 
hardly  be  mistaken  in  regard  to  date,  though  there  is  a  possibility 
of  his  having  helped  to  build  the  second  dam  at  that  time.     Mr.  Will- 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  313 

iams,  while  reasonably  successful  in  everything  else,  found  his  mill 
a  heavy  bill  of  expense,  and  so  it  continued  to  be  as  long  as  he 
continued  to  run  it.  After  Mr.  Williams'  death,  Mr.  Cotton  pur- 
chased and  refitted  it,  and  continued  to  run  it  and  the  carding 
machine  until,  about  1867,  when  the  building  of  the  mills  now  in 
existence  commenced,  and  he  thought  his  water  privilege  more  valu- 
able to  him  in  another  way.  The  fall  was  about  six  feet,  and  gave 
sufficient  head  for  the  modern  wheels.  He  still  keeps  up  the  dam  for 
its  supply  of  ice. 

Robert  Kirkpatrick  built  a  water-mill  on  Stoney  Creek,  in  1835 — a 
saw-mill — and  run  it  some  years. 

Hale  tfc  Galusha  built  a  saw-mill  in  1836.  Mr.  Hale  had  come  here 
with  some  considerable  money ;  in  fact,  was  the  first  "  capitalist "  who 
came  here,  but  he  soon  found  ways  to  dispose  of  it.  Besides  the  saw- 
mill, he  entered  a  large  amount  of  land,  and  the  "  revulsion  "  left  him 
with  nothing  to  pay  taxes  with.  Had  he  been  satisfied  with  half  the 
amount  of  land,  it  would  have  made  him  immensely  rich.  He  became 
soured  and  found  fault  with  "  the  way  this  government  was  run,"  and 
growled  furiously  at  the  "financial  legislation"  of  the  day,  and  wound 
up  with  endeavoring  to  get  up  a  foray  on  Mexico — in  all  probability 
helped  to  carry  on  the  war  against  that  country  to  "  extend  the  area  of 
freedom." 

In  1836  a  company  consisting  of  Thomas  Willison,  Thomas  McKib- 
ben,  J.  H.  Murphy  and  G.  W.  Cassady,  and  perhaps  one  or  two 
others,  built  the  first  steam  saw-mill  on  the  river  bottoms,  just  below 
the  Wabash  Railway  bridge.  The  "panic"  struck  it  soon  after,  and  it 
was  allowed  to  go  to  decay ;  even  the  logs  which  were  drawn  there  to 
be  sawed  were  permitted  to  rot  on  the  yard. 

The  Kyger  mill  is  also  historical  in  its  remembrance  and  its  associa- 
tions. Mr.  William  Sheets,  one  of  the  most  honored  and  respected  citi- 
zens of  Georgetown,  a  gentleman  whose  name  will  be  kindly  remembered 
by  many  long  after  he  shall  have  passed  away^and  Mr.  Thomas  Morgan 
built  the  first  mill  there  in  1835.  After  Mr.  Kyger  came  into  posses- 
sion of  it,  he  built  a  large  frame  and  got  in  new  machinery,  but  has 
never  yet  got  it  to  running.  There  was  a  corn-cracker  and  distillery 
on  Brady's  Branch,  built  as  early  as  1833.  The  distillery  made  a  very 
good  article  of  whisky  for  those  days ;  it  would  tangle  a  man's  legs 
just  as  effectually  as  any  of  the  later  improved  varieties.  It  would 
run  about  a  barrel  a  day,  which  was  deemed  sufficient  for  the  actual 
needs  of  the  dwellers  along  Brady's  Branch — that  is,  to  keep  them 
from  suffering.  Mr.  Froman  owned  the  distillery  and  Mr.  Wm.  M. 
Payne  had  charge  of  it.      Froman  built  the  first  fiat-boat  that  ever  ran 


:)14  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION"    COUNTY. 

out  of  this  county,  in  1834,  to  carry  his  produce  to  New  Orleans..  Mr. 
Payne  went  down  with  the  boat  as  supercargo.  The  trip  proved 
a  successful  one,  no  disaster  having  overtaken  the  "gallant  ship"  in 
her  cruise.  As  is  well  known  to  the  general  reader,  this  fiat-boating 
was  a  very  important  industry  in  those  early  days.  The  man  who  had 
never  run  the  river  did  not  know  much  worth  speaking  of.  He  was 
not  considered  educated,  not  fit  to  run  for  office,  was  like  his  first  pro- 
genitor in  the  Garden — did  not  know  "good  and  evil."  A  "hard- 
shell "  preacher  once  described  New  Orleans  as  a  city  where  "  honest 
men  were  scarcer  than  hens'  teeth,"  where  "  corn  was  worth  six  bits  a 
bushel  one  day  and  nary  red  the  next."  The  boats  upon  which  the 
produce  of  the  country  was  borne  to  market  were  made  on  the  streams 
here,  and  when  unloaded  were  sold  there,  and  the  crew  found  their 
way  hack  as  best  they  could — on  returning  steamers,  on  foot  or  horse- 
back. One  man  who  was  returning  proposed  to  himself  to  purchase  a 
puny  which  had  been  brought  in  from  the  western  wilds.  He  bought  the 
animal  cheap,  but  it  proved  a  dear  bargain  for  the  boatman.  When  out 
a  day  or  two  on  his  way  home,  the  pony  got  loose  from  his  fastening, 
and  evaded  every  endeavor  of  his  "  master,"  so  to  speak,  to  catch  him. 
After  trying  until  he  became  thoroughly  discouraged,  he  shouldered 
his  wrath,  his  bundles  and  his  saddle  and  started  north.  In  this  way 
he  proceeded  home,  the  pony  keeping  him  company  just  far  enough  in 
the  rear  to  keep  out  of  his  reach,  still  following  "afar  off."  Leonard's 
mill  was  built  about  1834,  and  Jenkins  had  one  farther  down  stream, 
near  the  state  line,  which  he  continued  to  run  until  he  went  to  Catlin 
and  put  a  mill  into  the  huge  building  which  the  citizens  there  pre- 
sented to  him.  Henderson  tV:  Kyger  put  up  the  first  steam  grist-mill 
in  1854.  The  people  had  been  going  over  to  Indiana  for  their  flour, 
and  these  gentlemen  thought  the  time  had  come  to  make  flour  nearer 
home.  Mr.  M.  M.  Wright  now  owns  the  mill,  and  it  is  still  in  good 
running  order. 

The  "Amber  Mill,"  near  the  Wabash  depot,  was  built  by  Shella- 
berger  A:  Bowers  in  1866,  at  an  original  cost  of  $28,000.  It  was 
burned  in  1S74  and  rebuilt  in  1875,  by  Bowers  A:  Co.  It  is  now 
owned  and  run  bv  D.  Greo-g.  It  is  brick,  three  stories  and  basement, 
40x110,  and  has  six  run  of  stone.  It  was  remodeled  last  winter  by 
substituting  the  "  new  process,"  and  is  a  first-class  mill  in  all  respects. 
Mr.  Gregg  is  also  largely  engaged  in  buying  and  shipping  grain. 
There  are  only  three  men  now  engaged  in  that  business  on  the  line  of 
the  Wabash  railway  who  were  in  business  when  he  commenced.  The 
"  Globe  mill  "  is  40x80,  and  stands  near  the  North  Fork  in  the  west- 
ern part  of  town.     It  was  built  by  G.  W.  Knight  in  1870.     Smith  & 


DAXYILLE    TOWNSHIP. 


315 


Giddings  run  it  on  custom  and  merchant  work.  It  has  four  run  of 
stone,  and  has  the  "patent  process "^ machinery.  The  "City  mill,"  on 
Vermilion  street,  opposite  the  jail,  was  built  by  Samuel  Bowers  in 
1875 ;  frame ;  is  sixty  feet  front  on  Vermilion  street  and  fifty-five  on 
South  ;  cost  $20,000.  It  has  four  run,  and  is  supplied  with  all  the  ap- 
pliances for  a  first-class  merchant  mill.  It  has  a  working  capacity 
of  five  barrels  per  hour.  The  old  Bushong  distillery,  in  the  east- 
ern part  of  town,  began  operations  in  1859.  With  the  coming  of 
armed  rebellion,  the  stern  necessities  of  the  government  called  for 
a  tax  on  whisky,  commencing  at  fifty  cents  per  gallon  and  increas- 
ing till  it  reached   two  dollars.     This  last  tax   made  and   destroyed 


A.MI'.El!    MILL. 


vast  fortunes.  The  men  who  were  in  the  secret  of  the  proposed 
advance  made  large  sums  by  laying  in  large  stocks,  for  it  was  decided 
not  to  increase  the  tax  on  that  which  was  on  hand  ;  others  evaded  the 
tax,  so  that  while  the  tax  was  $2,  whisky  was  selling  on  the  market  for 
from  $1.90  down  to  $1.75  per  gallon.  Mr.  Bushong  was  running  from 
eight}'  to  one  hundred  barrels  per  day,  and  had  about  one  hundred 
head  of  cattle  feeding,  and  all  the  hogs  he  could  get.  When  the  tax 
was  raised  to  the  highest  point  he  discontinued  business.  The  ma- 
chinery was  taken  to  Chicago,  where  they  had  a  process  of  making  $2 
whisk)'  and  selling  at  $1.75,  and  the  building  was  made  into  a  mill 
with  two  run  of  stones.  As  now  standing,  the  business  amounts 
to  twenty-two  runs,  all  in  active  operations. 

The  first  distillery  started  here  was  by  W.  D.  Palmer  and  Peleg 
Cole,  on  the  Chicago  road,  a  mile  and  a  half  north  of  town,  in  1830. 
This  was  before  the  temperance  cause  was  a  pronounced  success  along 
the  tributaries  of  the  Wabash.     It  did  not  continue  long. 


316  HISTOEY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

A  few  feet  above  the  wagon  bridge  over  the  Vermilion  between 
Danville  and  South  Danville,  lies  a  mill-stone  which  at  stages  of  low 
water  can  be  readily  seen.  Thousands  of  people  have  seen  it,  without 
knowing  its  history.  It  is  popularly  supposed  to  have  floated  out  there 
at  some  time  of  high  water,  from  Gilbert's  mill,  where  for  some  years 
it  did  service  in  the  manufacture  of  meal  and  flour.  Its  story  is  this : 
It  was  one  of  the  first  run  of  stones  ever  used  for  milling  here,  and 
was  cut  out  of  the.  boulders,  usually  called  "nigger  heads,"  to  be  put 
into  the  first  mill  built  here.  After  due  time,  regular  buhr  stones  were 
procured,  and  replaced  the  old  ones.  When  this  was  done  a  rope  ferry 
was  still  in  use  there,  and  there  was  a  necessity  of  some  staff  or  pole 
toward  the  center  of  the  stream,  to  stay  the  river  end  of  the  boat  while 
landing.  It  was  not  possible  to  plant  such  a  staff  firmly  in  the  ground, 
for  the  waves  or  ice  would  be  sure  to  remove  it.  By  framing  the  staff 
into  the  hole  in  the  stone,  however,  all  these  difficulties  would  be  ob- 
viated ;  and  this  plan  was  tried,  which  proved  a  great  success.  The 
Historical  Society  propose  to  secure  the  mill-stone  as  a  relic. 

OTHER    EARLY    BUILDINGS. 

In  1827  George  Haworth  built  a  substantial  log  store  on  the  corner 
where  the  "  Bateman  Corner"  now  stands.  It  was  made  of  huge  logs 
nicely  hewn,  and  was  two  stories  high,  and  took  all  the  men  in  the 
country  around  to  raise  it.  It  was  also  provided  with  defensive  port- 
holes above  and  below.  In  the  eastern  end  of  this  formidable-looking 
''old  barracks," — as  the  boys  would  call  it  now  —  Mr.  Gurdon  S.  Hub- 
bard had  his  stock  of  goods  for  trade  with  the  "poor  Indian."  Twenty- 
five  years  later,  Adams  &  Co.  built  a  two-story  frame  building  on  the 
site  of  this,  which  was  soon  after  burned.  Mr.  Bateman  was  occupy- 
ing a  portion  of  this  building  when  it  burned,  and  soon  after  bought 
the  lot,  and  erected  the  present  one-story  brick  building  in  1855.  From 
the  time  that  Hubbard  commenced  there,  more  than  fifty  years  ago,  it 
has  always  been  a  favorite  point  for  trade,  and  it  is  often  a  matter  of 
wonder  that  a  better  block  is  not  erected  there ;  but  probably  the  owner 
is  satisfied  with  the  return  which  the  property  makes. 

About  1830,  Dr.  Fithian  fitted  up  a  handsome  residence,  with  a 
"planed  floor"  of  hard-wood  lumber.  Such  an  extravagance  was  un- 
known in  Danville  until  that  time.  Puncheon  floors  were  all  the  rage, 
and  some  evil  genius  or  something  else  put  it  into  the  doctor's  head  to 
have  a  planed  floor ;  at  least,  so  Harris  McDonald  thought  before  he 
got  through  with  his  first  night's  experience  with  "  that  floor."  lie 
coaxed  the  carpenter  who  was  building  the  house  to  let  the  boys  have 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  :J17 

just  one  dance  on  that  floor  before  the  latch-string  was  turned  over  to 
the  stern  physician,  who,  in  all  probability,  would  veto  any  such  irregu- 
lar demonstration.  Harris  was  a  natural  leader,  and  having  been  the 
originator  of  the  night's  frolic,  he  insisted  on  leading  in  the  first  reel, 
this,  notwithstanding  there  were  several  older  men  and  older  residents 
in  the  crowd,  whom  a  just  man  would  have  given  precedence  to.  It 
caused  no  little  feeling,  but  he  carried  the  point,  and  placed  himself,  in 
dress  gorgeously  got  up  for  the  occasion,  at  the  head  of  the  first  figure. 
Tight  breeches,  with  straps  passing  under  the  shoes,  had  just  come  into 
vogue,  and  Harris  was  the  only  one  of  the  company  who  had  the  good 
fortune  to  have  a  pair  for  the  occasion.  He  was  on  the  top  wave  of 
internal  ecstasy  when  the  music  struck  up,  and  the  fantastic  toe  tripped 
lightly  in  unison  to  its  mazy  strains.  Happiness  in  great  solid  chunks 
beamed  from  his  delighted  countenance,  as  he  chassed  down  the  out- 
side, cutting  enlarged  pigeon-wings  at  every  draw  of  the  bow.  No 
beau  present  "could  hold  a  candle"  to  him,  much  less  discount  his 
graceful  step.  But,  as  if  "pride  must  have  a  fall,"  as  he  attempted  to 
bring  up  to  a  perpendicular  at  the  toot  of  the  set,  he  forgot,  for  the 
nonce,  that  he  was  on  a  new-fangled  "planed  floor,"  and  his  heels 
slipped  out  from  under  him,  and  he  fell  flat.  He  tried  to  recover  his 
perpendicular,  but  the  tight  pants  would  not  yield  an  inch  and  he  was 
as  helpless  as  a  babe.  After  repeated  trials,  to  the  evident  satisfaction 
of  those  who  had  felt  snubbed  at  his  course  in  assuming  the  lead,  some 
friend  unbuttoned  the  straps  of  his  pants,  and  two  strong  men  tilted 
him  up  onto  his  feet  again,  and  the  dance  went  on.  It  was  thought 
by  his  simple-hearted  comrades  that  it  was  "  a  judgment  on  him  "  for 
his  lamentable  behavior  in  thus  thrusting  himself  before  his  betters. 

Judge  Samuel  Mcltobberts,  who  came  here  as  fteceiver  of  the  Land 
Office,  built  the  house  south  of  the  square  now  occupied  as  a  boarding 
house  by  Mr.  Poddinger.  The  house  was  considered  a  very  good  one 
for  its  "  day  and  age."  The  Judge  had  a  fine  pair  of  horses  that  he 
was  sure  could  not  be  beat  in  Vermilion  county;  but  they  acquired 
the  bad  habit  of  getting  into  a  neighbor's  corn-field,  and  one  of  them 
was  treated  to  a  dose  of  salt  from  a  shot  gun  —  a  remedy  which,  like 
many  advertised  at  the  present  day,  "proved  so  successful  in  its  won- 
derful properties  that  unscrupulous  persons  have  counterfeited  it."  The 
fact  was,  that  the  horse  never  heard  a  gun  afterward,  that  he  did  not 
"run  like  a  M'hite-head,"  no  matter  who  was  driving;  so  that  the  Judge 
decided  to  adopt  the  remedy  of  all  respectable  horsemen,  and  "get  rid 
of  that  horse." 

The  first  frame  building  put  up  in  Danville  stands  still  on  the  cor- 
ner south  of  the  public  square  and  east  of  Yer  mil  ion  street.     It  was 


318  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

built  by  Mr.  Hubbard  for  bis  trade.  The  lumber  and  timbers  in  it 
were  sawed  at  Denmark  saw-mill,  and  time  has  shown  that  it  was  very 
substantially  built.  Murphy  &  Cunningham,  live  merchants  of  that 
day,  built  a  little  log  store  south  of  the  square  and  west  of  Vermilion 
street,  where  they  kept  a  "small  and  select  stock  of  staple  dry  goods 
and  groceries"  for  a  year,  and  then  built  a  large  two-story  frame  store 
in  front  of  it,  where  Martin's  block  now  stands,  in  1829.  This  building 
was  a  good  one  for  the  Danville  of  those  times.  The  upper  story  was 
used  for  various  purposes.  Occasionally  a  sermon  was  preached  there 
by  anyone  who  chanced  to  be  here,  and  the  attendance  on  such  services 
was  always  good  ;  for,  however  the  pioneer  may  have  practically  viewed 
the  subject  of  personal  religion,  he  always  realized  the  stubborn  fact 
that  it  is  a  good  thing  in  a  new  settlement. 

D.  W.  Beckwith  and  James  Civilian  had  a  small  log  store  on  Main 
street,  opposite  where  Force's  carriage  factory  now  stands.  The  stocks 
of  all  these  merchants  were  light  at  that  time.  There  was,  of  course, 
only  a  limited  trade;  the  people  only  being  prepared  to  buy  few,  and 
those  of  the  very  commonest  articles.  People  made  their  own  candles, 
soap,  cloth  and  shoes,  and,  in  a  great  measure,  their  sugar,  tea,  medi- 
cines, hats,  and  numerous  other  articles;  but  they  would  at  that  time 
buy  tobacco,  axes,  cutlery,  tinware,  and  a  few  such  things  as  they  could 
not  make  at  home. 

Few  of  the  early  comers  staid  more  than  a  season  or  two,  and  pushed 
on  further  west  or  north.  They  were  a  class  of  minds  who  never  find 
themselves  satisfied  with  anything.  Hunting  and  fishing  were  their 
principal  employments,  and  their  roving  dispositions  led  them  farther 
away  from  civilization. 

The  first  brick  building  built  in  Danville  was  the  one  which  has 
recently  been  demolished  to  make  room  for  A.  L.  Webster's  spacious 
hardware  store  on  Main  street.  McDonald  ifc  Roliston  were  engaged 
in  the  business  of  harness  making,  and  occupied  a  small  building  be- 
longing to  Dr.  Fithian.  In  1S32  they  got  the  contract  for  making  the 
holsters  for  the  rangers  who  were  out  on  the  war  path.  Their  contract 
was  for  $3.50  per  pair,  and  it  looked  like  a  pretty  good  thing.  They 
desired  to  increase  their  facilities,  and  commenced  to  build  this  brick 
building  for  their  shop.  They  dissolved  partnership,  however,  before 
the  building  was  completed,  and  the  property  fell  into  the  hands  of 
''Citizen  Smith,"  as  he  was  familiarly  called,  and  he  occupied  it  for  a 
long  time  as  a  small  retail  establishment.  He  made  a  very  popular 
article  of  beer,  which  he  kept  on  draught,  and  when  General  James 
Shields  was  here,  after  his  return  from  the  Mexican  war,  it  was  a 
favorite  resort  for  the  veterans;    though  it  is  thought  that  Smith  did 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  319 

not  always  just  exactly  relish  the  free  and  easy  manners  which  Mexican 
experience  had  engendered  in  these  warrior  friends ;  at  least,  a  shade 
of  countenance  or  mild  shrug  of  shoulder  seemed  to  cause  that  im- 
pression. 

The  first  carding  machine  was  put  into  a  large  wooden  building  on 
the  corner  just  north  of  the  "^Etna  House,1'  by  Nathaniel  Beesley. 
He  put  in  a  large  circular  tread  platform  or  'k  horse-power,"  which  was 
propelled  by  a  lively  pair  of  oxen.  Mr.  Beesley  was  a  preacher  of  the 
Baptist  denomination,  with  strong  antinomian  or  "  hard-shell  "  lean- 
ings. He  frequently  went  away  Saturdays,  taking  his  wife  with  him, 
to  preach  on  the  Sabbath.  He  invariably  locked  up  his  building  before 
going  away,  so,  as  he  used  to  tell  the  boys,  they  would  not  be  tempted 
to  break  the  Sabbath  running  his  tread-mill  for  fun.  While  he  held 
strongly  to  the  doctrine  that  "  what  is  to  be  'will  be,"  he  seemed  to 
have  a  flickering  hope  or  fear,  as  it  were,  that  if  he  locked  up  his  mill, 
"  what  was  to  be  wouldn't  be."  The  boys  never  failed  to  pick  the  lock 
while  the  good  man  was  gone,  and  run  his  tread-mill  "  for  all  there  was 
in  it."  They  "  wanted  to  see  the  wheels  go  round."  (  hi  one  occasion, 
the  largest  bov  in  the  crowd,  who  was  "  big  enough  and  old  enough  and 
ought  to  have  known  better,"  got  his  boot  caught  in  between  the  re- 
volving platform  and  the  side  of  the  building,  and  the  united  strength 
of  the  frightened  youngsters  failed  to  extricate  either  the  foot  or  the 
boot.  In  this  predicament,  brother  Beesley  returned  home,  full  of 
wrath  and  righteous  indignation  at  this  shocking  Sabbath  breaking, 
and,  but  for  the  mediation  of  his  good  wife,  would  have  given  the 
youngsters  an  exemplification  of  Calvinistic  retribution,  as  he  under- 
stood and  preached  it,  which  would  have  been  remembered  by  them 
until  —  the  next  good  chance  to  break  the  Sabbath. 

That  which  is  now  known  as  the  woolen-mill  was  first  built  by  Mr. 
Carter  as  a  carding-mill.  The  carding  process  was  much  more  in 
demand  at  that  early  day,  when  all  the  farmers  kept  a  few  sheep 
and  made  their  own  cloth.  The  water  to  run  it  was  collected  from 
the  springs  along  the  bank  and  conducted  by  a  dike  and  flume  to 
the  overshot  wheel,  and  answered  the  purpose  very  well.  About 
1850  Messrs.  Hobson  &  Aylsworth  bought  the  property  and  enlarged 
it,  put  in  the  present  machinery  and  built  the  brick  store.  Riggs 
&  Menig  are  the  present  proprietors.  They  run  one  set  of  machinery, 
employ  about  ten  hands,  and  make  a  very  excellent  class  of  goods. 
The  other  woolen-mill  is  not  now  in  running  order. 

OTHER    EARLY    INCIDENTS. 

W.  J.  Reynolds,  a  gentleman  of  musical  tastes,  and  who  had  re- 


320  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

ceived  in  Boston  a  thorough  musical  education,  organized  the  first 
brass  band  in  the  state  in  1847,  although  a  reed  band  had  been  organ- 
ized a  year  previously.  He  maintained  a  band  here  for  thirty  years, 
except  a  short  time  during  the  war,  when  pretty  nearly  all  those  who 
were  members  of  his  band  were  in  the  service  of  their  country.  He 
devoted  his  time  largely  to  music  teaching,  and  during  the  war  twenty 
bands  of  which  he  had  been  leader  were  in  the  service.  He  also  or- 
ganized and  directed  the  first  choir  in  Danville. 

The  first  newspaper  established  here  was  in  1832.  It  was  of  demo- 
cratic persuasion.  It  was  started  by  Mr.  Williams  and  R.  H.  Bryant, 
They  run  it  a  few  years  and  then  Williams  sold  to  Bryant.  He  then 
took  in  Loveless  as  a  partner,  and  then  sold  to  Delay.  Bryant  after- 
ward bought  it  back  and  removed  it  to  Milwaukee,  Wis. 

BANKS. 

The  State  Bank  of  Illinois  was  chartered  in  1835,  to  answer  a 
demand  of  the  public  for  such  banking  facilities  as  in  a  new  country 
like  this  might  be  considered  reasonably  safe.  Its  pattern  was  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States,  and,  like  it,  had  various  branches  in  differ- 
ent parts  of  the  state.  In  1836  Danville  had  become,  at  least  in  pros- 
pect, so  important  a  town  that  it  was  deemed  suitable  that  a  branch 
should  be  started  here.  The  United  States  Land  Office  was  here,  the 
Northern  Cross  Railroad  had  been  commenced  by  the  state,  and  busi- 
ness bid  fair  to  be  lively.  Mr.  Mordecai  Mobley  was  sent  here  to 
make  the  first  venture  in  banking,  and  rented  the  little  building  now 
standing  south  of  the  public  square  and  east  of  Vermilion  street.  He 
was  president,  cashier,  teller  and  clerk  ;  was  a  competent  and  safe  busi- 
ness man,  and  conducted  a  safe  and  very  good  business.  He  built 
a  stone  vault  outside  the  building,  which  encased  his  safe,  and  was  the 
first  to  make  a  gratuitous  distribution  of  bank-books  among  his  de- 
positors. This  began  to  look  like  business.  This  branch  did  not  issue 
any  bills,  but  paid  out  the  paper  of  the  parent  bank.  Everything  went 
prosperously  until  the  crash  of  1837  disorganized  all  business  and  put 
an  end  to  the  profits  of  banking  here  and  elsewhere.  Mr.  Mobley  was 
a  lover  of  good  horses  and  of  hunting,  and  getting  a  good  team 
he  devoted  much  of  his  time,  after  business  became  dull,  in  the  sport, 
sufficient  provocation  for  which  existed  all  around  the  bush.  One 
morning  he  and  his  Danville  branch  of  the  great  State  Bank  of  Illi- 
nois, his  family,  team  and  all  and  singular  the  various  "assets"  there- 
unto pertaining  were  "  found  missing,"  to  use  a  term  which,  notwith- 
standing its  significance,  was  becoming  alarmingly  common  at  that 
time.     But  the  singular  thing  about  all  this  was  that  nobody  lost  any- 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  321 

tiling  by  it.  It  is  probably  the  only  case  on  record  where  a  banker  ran 
away  "between  two  days"  without  defrauding  anybody.  The  explana- 
tion of  it  is  that  he  supposed  that  if  it  should  become  known  that  a  re- 
moval of  the  bank  was  contemplated,  measures  would  probably  have 
been  taken  to  prevent  it,  and  that  a  removal  could  be  made  safer 
if  secretly  done,  than  if  it  had  been  noised  abroad  through  the  country 
that  he  was  about  to  transfer  his  property. 

The  next  bank  was  started  by  an  eastern  man  by  the  name  of 
Cullum,  in  1852.  It  was  what  was  known  as  a  stock  security  bank — 
that  is,  a  certain  portion  of  his  capital  was  invested  in  state  stocks, 
usually  in  the  stocks  of  Missouri,  North  Carolina,  Tennessee  and  other 
southern  states.  The  state  of  Illinois  being  bankrupt,  not  having  paid 
even  the  interest  on  its  debt  for  fifteen  years,  her  bonds  were  not  con- 
sidered bankable,  and  other  bonds  were  sought  after.  Eastern  state 
stocks  could  not  be  purchased,  hence  when  a  bank  was  started  southern 
state  stocks  were  of  necessity  taken.  When  the  rebellion  occurred,  of 
course  it  became  impossible  for  such  states  to  pay  their  bonds  or  the 
interest  on  them,  and  it  is  believed  that  every  bank  which  was  estab- 
lished on  this  system,  which  had  not  previously  failed,  succumbed. 
While  it  was  in  one  sense  the  fault  of  the  system,  it  is  proper  to  say 
that,  in  its  day,  it  seemed  like  a  safe  and  wise  plan.  Mr.  Guy  Merrill 
was  appointed  cashier  of  this  bank,  and  it  had  quarters  in  the  old  frame 
building  which  stood  then  where  Adams'  block  now  stands.  It  had  a 
capital  of  $50,000.  Later  it  removed  to  a  building  opposite  the  Mc- 
Cormack  House,  which  was  then  the  center  of  business.  This  was  run 
successfully  for  three  years,  when  it  was  sold  to  Daniel  Glapp,  who  had 
neither  the  requisite  capital  or  experience  for  safe  business,  and  in 
1856  he  failed.  As  Soon  as  lie  failed  brokers  all  over  the  country  stood 
ready  to  buy  his  bills  for  from  fifty  cents  to  seventy -five  cents  on  the 
dollar.  Messrs.  Tincher  &  English,  who  had  until  that  time  carried  on 
a  large  and  growing  business,  were  his  assignees,  and  after  closing  up 
his  business  opened  a  private  bank.  They  were  men  of  large  experi- 
ence in  this  vicinity,  of  sufficient  capital  for  the  then  state  of  trade,  safe 
and  judicious,  and,  above  all,  enjoyed  the  full  confidence  of  every  per- 
son in  the  county.  Their  record  since  can  be  summed  up  in  a  few 
words:  Commencing  as  a  private  institution  in  1856,  they  successfully 
weathered  the  financial  storm  of  1857,  made  the  first  application  which 
was  received  at  Washington  for  a  charter  under  the  national  bank  act 
of  1861,  in  1872  increased  the  capital  to  $150,000,  went  through  the 
"panic1'  of  1873  without  difficulty,  and  stand  to-day  a  safe  and  secure 
institution.  Mr.  John  L.  Tincher,  the  head  of  the  firm,  was  a  man  of 
rare  qualities.  With  not  many  of  the  advantages  of  early  education  and 
21 


o22  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION"   COUNTY. 

culture,  lie  grew  steadily  to  a  business  man  of  first-class  ability.  During 
all  of  the  latter  years  of  his  life,  after  he  had  become  so  established  in 
his  business  relations  that  he  could  devote  the  time  to  the  affairs  of 
state,  he  served  his  county  and  district  in  public  as  faithfully,  honestly 
and  prudently  as  he  had  previously  himself  in  business.  He  was 
elected  to  the  state  senate  in  1S66,  to  the  constitutional  convention  in 
1&69 ;  again  to  the  senate  in  1S70,  and  died  at  Springfield  during  the 
early  part  of  the  following  session,  a  victim  to  the  exacting  labors 
which  an  honest  devotion  to  duty  there  calls  for.  There  are  few  men, 
if  any,  in  Vermilion  county  who  have  left  behind  them  a  name  more 
honored  or  a  reputation  so  unsullied.  Taken  away  in  the  prime 
of  life,  his  death  was  mourned  as  a  public  loss. 

The  real  estate  firm  of  Short  &  Wright  commenced  banking  in  con- 
nection with  its  business  about  1865.  In  1867  Mr.  Abraham  Sandusky 
and  Andrew  Gundy  became  partners  of  Mr.  J.  C.  Short,  and  continued 
the  business  under  the  style  of  the  "  Exchange  Bank  of  J.  C.  Short  & 
Co."  This  firm  was,  under  Mr.  Short's  lead,  largely  engaged  in  plans 
for  the  development  of  the  great  coal  interests  here,  and  engaged 
largely  in  building  railroads,  which  at  that  time  bid  fair  to  be  largely 
remunerative,  not  merely  to  themselves,  but  greatly  to  the  advantage 
of  the  community.  That  the  plan  should  have  proved  a  failure  is  not 
surprising ;  neither  should  the  plan  itself  be  deemed  rash.  There  was 
every  reason  to  believe  that  with  the  increased  market  which  these 
new  railroads  would  supply,  the  coal  beds  lying  west  of  Danville 
would  become  very  remunerative,  and  doubtless  they  will  yet  become 
so.  When  the  Exchange  bank  failed,  the  "  Danville  Banking  and 
Trust  Company "  was  organized  upon  its  ruins.  This  was  of  short 
duration,  however,  and  very  soon  closed. 

In  1873  W.  P.  &  J.  G.  Cannon  formed  a  partnership  under  the 
name  and  style  of  the  Vermilion  County  Bank,  with  a  capital  of 
$100,000,  and  are  carrying  on  a  successful  business.  The  junior  mem- 
ber of  the  firm  is  now,  and  has  been  for  several  years,  the  representa- 
tive in  congress  from  this  district.  There  seems  to  have  been  a  pre- 
disposition on  the  part  of  Vermilion  county  to  put  their  bankers  into 
legislative  work.  Besides  Mr.  Cannon's  congressional  service  and  Mr. 
Tincher's  two  terms  in  the  state  senate  and  seat  in  the  constitutional 
convention,  Mr.  Short  was  a  member  of  the  house  and  of  the  state  sen- 
ate, and  his  partner  in  the  Exchange  bank,  Mr.  Gundy,  served  as 
a  member  of  the  house. 

LATER    BCILDLXGS. 

In  addition  to  the  buildings  spoken  of,  there  are  in  Danville  many 
which  attract  notice.     The  Xorth-street  Methodist  church,  by  the  taste 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  323 

shown  by  its  designer  and  builder,  Mr.  Smith, —  now  deceased, —  by 
the  nice  proportions  of  its  building  and  spire,  delights  the  eye  more 
than  by  any  elegance  which  it  may  have.  The  Presbyterian  church  is 
a  substantial  and  plain  edilice,  without  being  extravagant,  or  out  of 
proportions  with  the  general  unassuming  character  of  the  buildings  of 
the  city.  The  citizens  of  Danville  have  almost  universally  been  for- 
tunate in  not  spreading  out  beyond  their  means  in  vain  attempts  at 
rivalry  in  building.  ,  The  Iviinler  church,  in  the  northwestern  portion 
of  the  city,  is  a  comfortable  though  not  elegant  edifice.  The  residence 
of  the  late  Hon.  J.  L.  Tincher,  with  its  ample  grounds  beautifully 
displayed  with  those  things  which  make  any  home  delightful,  is  one  of 
the  pleasantest  in  the  city.  Hon.  J.  G.  English  has  a  large  and  pleas- 
ant residence  on  Pine  street,  where  it  is  easy  to  imagine  the  comfort 
he  may  enjoy  after  the  busy  hours  are  over.  The  fine  residence  of  Mr. 
Blackburn,  which  was  built  by  Mr.  Townsend  in  1874  and  1877,  aside 
from  its  evident  appearance  of  city  airs,  is  one  of  the  beauties  of  archi- 
tecture within  and  without,  replete  with  evidences  of  elegant  taste  and 
home-like  comfort.  L.  T.  Palmer  has  a  large  and  roomy  home,  which 
presents  an  air  of  pleasant  "  old  homestead  "  life  which  time  only  can 
give  to  an}'  edifice ;  and  near  by,  his  son-in-law,  A.  C.  Daniel,  has 
one  in  which  it  seems  that  a  man  of  moderate  means  and  home-like 
tastes,  might  enjoy  the  hours  which  are  snatched  from  exacting  busi- 
ness pursuits.  That  old  pioneer,  Dr.  Fithian,  who  has  seen  a  good 
many  houses  and  other  things  "  go  up  "  in  Danville,  has  a  comforta- 
ble and  pleasant  residence;  and  Mr.  Reason  Hooton,  whose  life  runs 
nearly  parallel,  has  a  good  home  over  east  of  town.  The  residence 
built  by  Mr.  Short  is  also  a  very  good  one. 

The  Vermilion  Opera  House  on  the  corner  of  North  and  Vermilion, 
was  erected  by  Messrs.  English,  Chandler  and  Dale,  in  1873.  It  is  a 
substantial  brick  building,  with  Milwaukee  brick  trimmings,  50x110, 
with  two  fine  stores  on  the  ground  floor,  and  above,  one  of  the  laro-est 
halls  in  the  state.  Cost  $20,000.  Giddings'  carriage  factory  on  Hazel 
street,  built  in  1874,  is  of  brick,  25x150,  three  stories  high.  It  is  one 
of  the  most  substantial  buildings  in  town,  and  constructed  for  manu- 
facturing purposes.  Cost  $9,000.  Turner  hall,  on  the  east  side,  is  a 
neat  brick  building,  24x80,  built  in  1875.  The  organ  factory  of 
Miller  &  Son  is  a  two-story  building,  30X78,  built  in  1875. 

John  Stein  built  the  City  Brewery  in  1876.  It  is  60x74,  brick, 
and  has  a  capacit}'  of  400  barrels  per  month.  With  its  grounds  and 
buildings  it  has  cost  $8,000. 

The  Illinois  Printing  Company's  building,  built  in  1875,  is  two 


:;24  HISTORY    OF   TERM1LIOX    COUNTY. 

stories  and  basement,  brick,  48x100,  and  was  erected  expressly  for  the 
large  and  varied  business  of  the  company. 

Frazier  block,  corner  of  Main  and  Hazel,  -48x85,  two  stories  and 
basement,  brick  with  cut-stone  trimmings,  was  built  in  1876  by  Capt. 
Frazier,  and  is  occupied  by  stores  and  offices.  The  Lincoln  Hall  block 
is  older,  and  was  built  for  stores  below  and  offices  in  second  story  and 
hall  in  the  third  story.  E.  B.  Martin  &  Co.  put  up  the  block  south  of 
the  square  and  west  of  Vermilion  street,  in  1875.  It  is  5ox80,  brick, 
three  stories  high,  and  occupied  by  stores  and  offices.  The  Giddings' 
block  on  Main  street,  east  of  the  public  square,  was  one  of  the  earliest 
good  business  blocks. 

The  Metropolitan  block,  built  by  Williams  A:  Coffeen,  was  built 
about  1873,  is  two  stories  and  basement,  and  is  a  well-built  business 
house.  The  Xational  Bank  block  is  one  of  the  finest,  architecturally, 
in  the  city.  Leseurs"  block  and  Myers'  block  just  west  of  the  bank 
building,  and  Short's  block  and  the  marble-front  block  across  Main 
street,  are  all  first-class  buildings:  this  latter  is  a  tine  three-story  and 
basement,  with  iron  and  stone  front,  and  in  its  building  no  expense 
was  spared  to  make  as  solid  and  substantial  building  as  the  best  mate- 
rial could  make.  It  is  owned  by  Mrs.  Eva  ('.  Schmit  and  Mr.  Bier, 
and  cost  upward  of  $30,000. 

A.  L.  Webster  built,  during  the  past  year,  the  fine  large  brick  store, 
-"-7x80,  which  is  occupied  by  Griddings  &  Patterson  for  their  iron 
trade.  It  was  built  expressly  for  their  use,  is  two  stories  and  base- 
ment, and  is  all  occupied  by  this  firm. 

The  Union  Depot  building,  at  the  junction  in  the  northeast  part  of 
the  city,  is  one  of  the  prominent  buildings.  It  was  built  to  accommo- 
date the  traveling  public,  as  all  the  railroads  which  enter  the  city  cross 
there.  It  is  three  stories,  the  first  being  devoted  to  the  offices  of  the 
company,  and  waiting-rooms  ;  the  upper  ones  to  rooms,  for  guests.  It 
is  a  fine  building,  and  pleasantly  arranged. 

POST-OFFICE. 

Amos  Williams,  a  gentleman  whose  superiority  as  an  official  is 
recognized  by  every  one  who  has  ever  looked  into  the  records  of  the 
county  offices,  was  the  first  postmaster  at  Danville.  He  kept  the  office 
at  his  residence  in  the  south  part  of  the  town,  south  of  the  McCormack 
House.  Mails  were  received  twice  a  week  from  Vincennes  and  twice 
a  week  from  the  east.  The  mail  route  south  went  from  here  to  George- 
town, thence  west  to  a  post-office  that  was  kept  for  a  while  where  Mr. 
Josiah  Sandusky  resides;  thence  on  to  Paris,  in  Edgar  county.  When 
a  change  in  administration  called  for  a  change  in  postmaster  in  Dan- 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  325 

ville  (for  in  those  "good  old  times"  civil  service  reform  had  not  become 
a  party  watchword),  Col.  I.  R.  Moore  was  appointed,  and  removed  the 
office  to  a  store  on  Main  street,  west  of  Smith's  block.  Josiah  Alex- 
ander was  postmaster  for  a  while,  and  then  Col.  Othniel  Gilbert  was 
appointed,  and  removed  it  to  the  Pennsylvania  House.  There  was  a 
gentleman  boarding  there  who  seemed  to  have  no  very  important  busi- 
ness here  ;  bnt  he  had  access  to  the  mails.  Mr.  Cassady  mailed  $1,000* 
to  a  firm  in  Cincinnati  with  whom  he  was  transacting  some  land  busi- 
ness. It  never  reached  its  destination,  and  the  genteel  boarder  leaving 
soon  after  that,  suspicion  attached  to  him ;  but  he  was  never  traced. 
Alexander  Chesley  was  next  appointed,  and  took  the  office  to  a  little 
building  which  stood  where  Captain  Frazier's  block  now  is.  After  him 
H.  G.  Boise  was  appointed,  and  removed  it  to  the  building  which  has 
recently  been  moved  back  from  Main  street  to  make  room  for  Webster's 
building.  While  there  it  was  robbed  of  several  small  sums,  and  the 
depredator  was  discovered  by  means  of  decoy  letters  and  sent  to  the 
penitentiary.  In  1861  Rev.  E.  Kingsbury  was  appointed  postmaster, 
and  the  office  was  removed  to  the  old  Presbyterian  Church  building, 
and  another  robbery  followed.  A  man  by  the  name  of  Smith,  who 
was  a  music  teacher,  and  who  was  generally  respected  in  the  community, 
was  trusted  by  Mr.  Kingsbury  to  help  in  the  office ;  but  he  had  not 
honesty  sufficiently  developed  in  his  phrenological  make  up  to  with- 
stand temptation,  and  went  to  stealing.  Suspicion  turned  so  strong 
toward  him  that  Dr.  Fithian  and  Mr.  Kingsbury  took  him  one  side 
and  asked  to  search  him,  and  found  some  of  the  missing  property  in 
his  boots.  He  was  put  under  arrest,  but  was  bailed  out  and  left  the 
country.  He  was  found,  however,  in  Iowa,  and  had  become  quite  a 
noted  personage  there.  He  was  engaged  in  teaching  a  singing  school, 
and  the  ladies  had  such  faith  in  his  honesty  that  they  followed  him  to 
the  train  and  cried  after  him.  He  was  convicted  and  sent  to  the  peni- 
tentiary. William  Morgan  succeeded  Mr.  Kingsbury.  He  had  the 
office  on  the  south  side  of  the  public  square.  Col.  McKibben  followed 
him,  and  died  while  in  office.  He  kept  it  in  a  store  near  the  vEtna 
House.     Samuel  Fairchild  was  next,  and  then  C.  W.  Gregory. 

MERCANTILE. 

G.  S.  Hubbard  was  the  first  to  open  mercantile  business  here.  He 
was  an  Indian-trader,  and  his  business  as  such  was  verv  lar<j;e.  N.  J). 
Palmer  was  a  partner  of  his.  They  often  had  two  or  three  clerks  em- 
ployed. The  furs  which  the  Indians  brought  in  needed  a  considerable 
labor.  It  was  necessary  to  sort  and  pack  the  furs,  and  overhaul  them 
frequently.     D.  W.  Beckwith  and  James  Clyman  were  early  in  the 


326  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

business;  then  came  Murphy  &  Cunningham,  the  latter  of  whom  is 
still  residing  in  Danville,  and  is  the  oldest  business  man  residing  here. 
George  Scarborough  &  Bro.  were  here  in  trade  in  1831.  Soon  after 
then  Dr.  Fithian  engaged  in  trade.  He  is  still  living,  and  has  been 
one  of  the  most  important  factors  in  the  history  of  the  town.  Soon 
after  this  J.  B.  Williams  &  Co.,  I.  R.  Moore,  Samuel  Russell  &  Bro. 
and  Galusha  ife  Cole  engaged  in  mercantile  trade.  W.  H.  Wells  en- 
gaged in  trade  here,  made  a  fortune,  went  to  New  York  City  and 
loaned  his  money  in  this  country.  Palmer  &  Leveridge  carried  on  a 
large  business  and  were  prosperous.  N.  D.  Palmer  was  school  com- 
missioner and  judge  of  probate.  V.  &  P.  Leseure  commenced  business 
and  are  still  here.  Frazier  &  Gessey  engaged  in  trade,  and  about  the 
same  time  Tincher  <fc  English  commenced  a  prosperous  business.  James 
Whitcom,  Drs.  Palmer  &  Son  and  E.  P.  Martin  &  Hesse  engaged  in 
trade. 

Wm.  Bandy  <fc  Son  opened  up  trade.  Mr.  Bandy  had  been  here 
almost  from  the  very  first,  and  had  been  engaged  in  nearly  every  line 
of  business,  and  had  known  nearly  ever}'  person  who  had  ever  lived 
here.  Though  not  now  by  any  means  an  old  man,  he  has  been  more 
or  less  actively  engaged  in  business  since  1828,  and  has  seen  the  town 
grow  "  from  the  stump."  Among  the  names  that  follow  after  this  the 
following  will  be  recognized :  Craig  &  Crane,  Dr.  Woodbury,  Charley 
Palmer,  Levi  Klein,  Joseph  Peters,  Yates  &  Murphy,  A.  G.  Leverton 
and  Short  tfc  Bro.  There  are  now  in  the  leading  lines  of  trade  nine 
dry  goods  firms,  twelve  clothing  and  tailoring,  eight  hardware  and  im- 
plement firms,  two  harnessmakers,  two  furniture  firms,  five  booksellers, 
three  drug  stores,  eight  hotels,  five  milliners,  and  upward  of  thirty 
firms  engaged  in  the  sale  of  groceries,  provisions  and  fruit. 

The  earliest  settlers  came  mostly  from  the  southern  states  and  Ohio, 
few  from  New  England  and  New  York.  Later,  of  those  who  are  of 
foreign  birth  the  Germans  predominate.  They  enter  into  every  line 
of  business  and  labor.  Those  of  Irish  birth  come  next;  then  Belgians, 
Welsh,  Swedes  and  English,  in  the  order  named. 

SCHOOLS. 

The  first  school,  so  far  as  the  writer  has  been  able  to  ascertain  the 
facts,  was  taught  in  a  log  house  which  appears  to  have  been  put  up  for 
this  purpose,  standing  on  the  ground  where  Wright's  mill  stands.  It 
was  built  of  huge  burr-oak  logs,  which  were  fully  two  feet  in  diameter, 
and  the  ends  were  left  sticking  out  without  being  sawn  off,  with  clap- 
board roof  and  puncheon  floor.  It  was  rough  to  outward  appearance  and 
had  little  to  change  that  appearance  inside.    With  the  rudest  benches, 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  327 

its  walls  devoid  of  anything  which  would  give  beauty  or  help  in  edu- 
cation, it  had  more  the  appearance  of  a  prison  than  a  modern  school- 
house.  Maps,  charts,  blackboards  and  desks  were  unknown  to  the 
first  generation  of  Danville  children,  but  it  was  determined  that  the 
children  should  not  freeze  to  death  at  any  rate.  The  huge  fireplace 
extended  nearly  across  the  room.  It  was  a  peculiar  institution  in  its 
way ;  instead  of  the  chimney  beginning  at  the  ground,  strong  braces 
extended  from  the  wall  near  the  floor  out  into  the  room  and  upward, 
and  upon  these  for  a  ''sure  foundation"  the  chimney  was  constructed. 
It  was  not  less  than  six  feet  wide,  and  large  enough  to  hoist  a  good- 
sized  dry-goods  box  up  through  it.  The  tire  was  built  under  this,  and 
the  first  duty  of  the  accomplished  teacher  was  to  teach  the  smoke  to 
go  up  through  this  clumsy  chimney.  The  smoke  was  not  at  first 
as  prone  to  ascend  as  the  sparks  are  to  fly  upward,  but  after  a  little  it 
would  make  its  way  out.  The  wood  did  not  need  to  be  cut  up  for  this 
fire-place;  anything  short  of  "sled-length"  would  do  very  well,  and 
after  it  was  once  burned  in  two  in  the  middle  the  ends  were  rolled 
around  into  position  for  burning.  This  educational  beginning  must 
have  been  about  1830.  The  teacher  was  Mr.  Clark,  who,  though 
he  did  not  have  to  furnish  a  certificate,  was  a  very  successful  and  ac- 
complished teacher.  After  teaching  very  acceptably  for  a  time  he  en- 
gaged in  the  tanning  business,  and  soon  after  died.  After  this  a  house 
was  built  near  where  the  planing-mill  now  stands,  which  was  used  as  a 
school-house  and  meeting-house.  Here  several  teachers  whose  names 
ought  to  be  remembered  conducted  the  school. 

A  charter  was  granted  incorporating  the  Danville  Academy,  a  stock 
company,  in  1836.  By  its  terms  every  "free  white  person"  was  en- 
titled to  subscribe  for  the  stock,  and  every  subscriber  entitled  to  a 
year's  tuition  for  each  share.  No  permanent  organization  wTas  per- 
fected, however.  Mrs.  Cromwell  was  a  successful  school-teacher  here 
at  an  early  day,  and  several  others  engaged  in  teaching  private  schools 
up  to  1850.  The  first  school  taught  in  the  southwestern  part  of  the 
township,  at  Payne's  Point,  was  by  Wm.  M.  Payne,  who,  from  that 
time  to  the  present,  has  been  one  of  the  most  enterprising  and  public- 
spirited  men  in  the  county.  He  has  frequently  been  intrusted  with 
the  public  affairs  of  the  town,  and  served  one  term  as  sheriff. 

In  1850  the  Danville  Seminary  was  incorporated  under  the  pro- 
visions of  the  law  which  was  passed  by  the  legislature  in  18-19,  per- 
mitting citizens  to  become  incorporated  for  the  purpose  of  establishing 
and  conducting  institutions  of  learning.  The  plan  originated  with  the 
members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  and  their  articles  of  in- 
corporation provided  that  a  majority  of  the  trustees  should  be  mem- 


328  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

bers  of  that  church,  and  the  teachers,  should  be  appointed  by  its  au- 
thority. The  first  trustees  were  Eli  Helmick,  Benjamin  Stewart,  E.  F. 
Palmer,  Daniel  Fairchild,  James  Partlow,  James  Dennison  and  J.  H. 
Gilbert.  They  purchased  two  acres  of  land  just  north  of  the  west  end 
of  Main  street,  and  erected  a  two-story  brick  building,  about  35  x  65,  and 
employed  ().  S.  Munsell  as  principal.  This  act,  which  was  really  the 
first  organized  effort  to  provide  a  suitable  school  for  Danville,  gave 
rise  to  a  bitter  controversy  from  its  sectarian  organization,  which  re- 
sulted in  a  sharp,  closely-contested  slander  suit  between  two  of  the 
prominent  citizens  of  Danville.  The  school  prospered  notwithstand- 
ing all  this,  and  was  a  source  of  great  advantage  to  the  town.  A  cata- 
logue of  the  year  1852-3,  which  has  been  preserved  by  a  pupil  of  that 
time,  shows  that  in  that  year  Rev.  ().  S.  Munsell  was  principal  and 
Mrs.  Munsell,  C.  W.  Jerome,  Miss  Sarah  Whip  and  Miss  Ellen  Green 
were  teachers.  The  roll  of  pupils  numbered  206,  and  includes  many 
names  which  have  since  become  very  familiar  in  the  business  and  social 
circles  of  the  county.  Two  courses  of  study  were  laid  down — classical 
and  scientific — which  embraced  all  the  studies  of  higher  academic  edu- 
cation. The  seminary  was  conducted  in  a  very  successful  and  satisfac- 
tory manner  for  twelve  years,  when  by  common  consent  it  became 
merged  in  the  common  schools  and  the  building  was  used  for  several 
years  for  such  purposes,  the  corporation  still  continuing  to  control  the 
property  and  drawing  rent  therefor.  Another  law-suit  has  grown  out 
of  this,  having  for  its  object  a  testing  of  the  legal  right  of  such  a  corpo- 
ration to  continue  and  to  hold  property  for  the  purposes  it  now  does. 
However  people  ma}7,  from  the  accident  of  their  differing  standpoint, 
view  the  propriety  or  legality  of  certain  things  which  have  occurred  in 
connection  with  the  history  of  the  seminary,  or  however  much  some 
things  may  have  been  and  still  are  regretted,  there  are  no  two  opinions 
in  regard  to  the  grand  educational  results  of  the  noble  institution  and 
the  faithful  labors  of  Messrs.  Helmic,  Fairchild  and  others  of  the  board 
of  trust.  The  corporation  may  be  faulty  in  its  legal  essence,  but  the 
school  itself  was,  at  a  time  when  no  other  first-class  institution  of  learn- 
ing was  or  could  be  established,  the  outgrowth  of  sheer  necessity — was 
established  for  a  just  and  noble  purpose,  and  its  results  have  justified 
-"tiieir  judgment  and  their  acts.  Prof.  Aaron  Wood,  Prof.  P.  B.  Ham- 
mond, Mr.  McNutt  and  J.  L.  Dickinson  followed  Dr.  Munsell  as  prin- 
cipals of  this  school. 

The  contests  which  the  denominational  character  of  the  organization 
engendered  resulted  in  the  establishment  of  a  rival,  or,  perhaps,  rather 
of  another  seminary,  by  citizens  who  were  not  members  of  the  church 
which  controlled   the  first.     Union  Seminary,  a  joint-stock  company. 


DAXYILLE    TOWNSHIP. 


329 


was  organized  March  15,  1851.  The  trustees  were  L.  T.  Palmer,  J. 
A.  D.  Sconce,  S.  G.  Craig,  Guy  Merrill  and  Hamilton  White.  They 
secured  proper  grounds  (about  three  acres)  in  the  northern  part  of 
town  and  erected  a  good  building  on  it,  and  conducted  a  school  until 
1862.  This  seminary  was,  like  the  other,  very  successful  in  its  day. 
All  the  branches  usually  taught  in  high  schools  and  academies  were 
conducted,  and  a  very  satisfactory  standard  of  education  was  main- 
tained. Indeed,  it  is  probable  that  the  rivalry  between  the  two  tended 
to  make  the  instruction  in  both  more  thorough  and  efficient.  In  the 
year  1862  the  common-school  system  was  for  the  first  time  adopted  in 
this  city.  A  levy  of  a  state  tax  which  was  to  be  paid  to  each  district 
in  proportion  to  the  number  of  pupils  which  attended  the  district 
school,  drove  all  districts  into  supporting  schools.  It  was  well  known 
that  the  seminaries  could  not  be  maintained  in  opposition  to  free 
schools.     Both  buildings  were  rented  to  the  school  directors,  and  Mr. 

J.  L.  Dickinson,  who  had  conducted  the 
seminary  the  preceding  year,  was  employed 
by  the  district  and  remained  principal  with 
nine  assistants.  The  following  year  Mr. 
Spillman  was  emploj'ed,  and  during  his  ad- 
ministration a  new  building  was  erected 
on  the  ground  which  the  high-school  build- 
ing stands  on.  The  district  was  increased 
ir?  bounds  by  taking  in  territory,  and 
another  school  building  was  added  there- 
Mr.  Spillman  was  in  charge  four  years' 
and  during  his  service  the  schools  steadilv  grew,  not  merelv  in  num- 
hers,  but  in  usefulness.  He  was  a  strict  disciplinarian  and  a  very 
successful  educator.  He  died  here  in  1867,  just  as  he  was  about  to 
commence  another  year's  labors. 

Mr.  D.  I).  Evans  taught  for  a  short  time,  after  which  Mr.  J.  G. 
Shedd,  the  present  successful  superintendent,  was  employed  as  princi- 
pal, after  which  Mr.  Parker,  of  Chicago,  served  the  district  two  years, 
and  C.  M.  Taylor  one,  when  Mr.  Shedd  returned,  and  has  acted  as 
superintendent  since  1877. 

Mr.  Shedd  was  born  in  Madison  county,  Ohio,  June  23,  1842,  and 
is  a  son  of  the  Rev.  Henry  Shedd,  a  native  of  New  Hampshire,  and  a 
minister  of  the  Presbyterian  denomination ;  his  mother,  Lucretia 
(George)  Shedd,  is  also  a  native  of  New  Hampshire.  Mr.  Shedd 
graduated  in  1865  from  the  Western  Eeserve  College,  of  Hudson, 
Ohio,  which  at  that  time  was  a  very  prominent  institution  of  learning. 
He  was  then   engaged  as  teacher  in  an  academy  in  Warren  county, 


330  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Ohio.  Thence  he  removed  to  Chicago,  where  he  was  connected  with 
a  private  school.  In  1868  he  came  to  Danville,  111.,  and  the  following 
year  he  connected  himself  with  the  public  schools  of  the  city,  remain- 
ing until  1874.  He  then  went  to  Macomb,  McDonongh  county,  111., 
where  he  took  charge  of  the  public  school,  and  remained  about  two 
years,  after  which  he  returned  to  Danville,  in  1877,  and  was  made 
superintendent  of  public  schools,  which  position  he  now  fills. 

The  rapid  increase  in  population  within  the  past  eight  years  has 
called  for  an  enormous  increase  in  the  cost  of  the  schools,  in  building 
and  furnishing  new  buildings,  and  annuallv  an  increase  of  teachers. 
Four  new  buildings  have  been  erected.  The  high-school  building  and 
the  new  building  east  of  the  railroad  are  splendid  structures  for  the 
purposes  for  which  they  were  built.  The  schools  are  divided  into  high 
school  (4  rooms),  grammar  school  (8  rooms),  primary  (18  rooms);  total, 
30.  The  number  of  teachers  employed  in  the  different  buildings  is: 
high-school  building,  15;  East  Danville  building,  8;  South  Danville, 
3  ;  Tincher  school,  3  ;  Backbone,  1 ;  total,  30.  The  whole  number  of 
pupils  enrolled  in  the  different  departments  is:  high  school,  102; 
grammar  department,  411 ;  primary,  1,273  ;  ungraded  school,  38  ;  total, 
1,824.  Average  daily  attendants,  1,152 ;  total  cost  for  each  pupil  en- 
rolled per  annum,  sin. 42 ;  number  of  children  of  school  age  in  the 
district,  2,579  ;  number  of  months  school,  9  ;  number  of  private  schools 
in  the  district,  3 ;  number  of  pupils  reported  in  attendance  on  private 
schools,  317;  number  of  teachers  employed  in  such,  6;  total  number 
of  teachers  employed,  36 ;   total  number  of  children  in  schools,  2,141. 

In  the  general  management  of  the  schools  care  has  been  taken  not 
to  let  thorough  scholarship  be  forgotten  in  form  or  in  fact.  Here, 
within  these  walls,  under  the  care  of  the  superintendent,  are  nearly  two 
thousand  children,  whose  daily  business  is  study.  Those  parents  who 
make  it  a  care  to  look  after  the  way  their  children  are  being  controlled 
and  educated  are  not  by  any  means  numerous.  The  labor  and  responsi- 
bility rests  mostly  on  the  superintendent  and  the  teachers  under  him. 
Cases  are  not  rare  where  parents  find  the  end  of  their  resources  and 
patience  in  the  care  of  one  or  two  children  at  home,  and  feel  thoroughly 
glad  when  school  da\7s  come  around,  that  their  charges  may  be  off  their 
hands.  A  close  inspection  magnifies  the  work  which  is  being  done  in 
these  schools.  Written  examinations  are  held  in  all  the  grades  above 
third  each  month,  and  it  has  not  been  thought  best  to  complicate  this 
work  with  term  examinations. 

M.  A.  Lapham  is  principal  of  the  high  school.  D.  S.  Pheneger  of 
the  east  school,  L.  P.  Xorvell  of  the  south,  and  Miss  Kate  Tennery  of 
the  Tincher  school. 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  331 

The  first  graduates  from  the  high  school  were  in  the  year  1872. 
The  number  graduating  each  year  has  been  :  In  1872,  three ;  in  1873, 
six;  in  1874,  seven;  in  1875,  two;  in  1876,  seven;  in  1877,  eight;  in 
1878,  four;  in  1879,  ten;  total  in  eight  years,  forty-seven.  The  value 
of  school  property  now  belonging  to  the  district  is  $50,000 ;  private 
school  property,  $15,000. 

The  entire  course  embraces  twelve  years,  six  of  which  comprise  the 
primary,  two  the  grammar  and  four  the  high-school  courses.  The  latter 
of  these  embraces  algebra,  physical  geography,  zoology,  analysis,  phil- 
osophy, botany,  chemistry,  physiology,  geometry,  English  literature, 
trigonometry,  astronomy,  science  of  wealth,  civil  government  and  his- 
tory, to  which  are  added  in  the  classical  course  Latin  and  Greek. 

Though  commencing  at  a  later  day  than  most  of  the  cities  of  the 
state  to  develop  a  common  school  system,  the  citizens  who  have  had 
the  charge  of  the  matter  have  been  faithful  and  progressive,  and  the 
schools  are  to-day  the  pride  of  the  city. 

PRIVATE  SCHOOLS. 

Prof.  E.  Chilcoate,  a  graduate  of  the  Ohio  Wesleyan  University, 
occupies  the  building  of  the  Danville  Seminary,  for  conducting  the 
Danville  Normal  and  Academic  Institute.  The  course  of  study  in- 
cludes the  higher  branches  usually  taught  in  such  institutes,  to  which 
music  and  drawing  have  been  added.  Prof.  Vandersteen  has  charge  of 
vocal  and  instrumental  music. 

The  German  Lutheran  school  is  conducted  under  the  authority  of 
the  church  and  congregation,  and  is  under  the  charge  of  Prof.  G.  A. 
Alberns  and  an  assistant.  The  school  is  kept  up  under  the  rule  of  the 
church  in  conformity  to  the  old  country  doctrine  that  religious  instruc- 
tion is  a  legitimate  portion  of  school  education  ;  in  fact,  that  the  first 
duty  to  the  child  is  instruction  in  the  religious  doctrines  of  the  church. 
The  rule  of  the  church  does  not  require  members  of  the  congregation 
to  send  their  children  to  this  school,  but  it  does  require  them  to  sup- 
port the  school.  The  average  attendance  upon  this  school,  which  is 
carried  on  in  a  building  adjoining  the  church,  is  about  two  hundred. 
The  teacher  is  appointed  by  the  congregation,  and  he  must  report  to 
that  body.  The  expense  is  annually  about  $1,000,  and  is  borne  largely 
by  those  who  pay  considerable  taxes  to  support  the  public  schools.  All 
the  English  branches  are  taught  in  English,  and  reading,  spelling  and 
writing  in  German.  The  school  is  too  crowded  to  be  as  prosperous  as 
it  otherwise  would  be.     It  has  been  in  existence  twelve  years. 

The  German  Catholic  school  has  its  location  upon  the  east  side  of 
the  railroad,  and  is  supported  by  the  church.    The  teacher  is  appointed 


332  HISTORY   OF   VERMILION   COUNTY. 

by  the  bishop  of  this  diocese.  It  has  been  irregularly  conducted  for 
several  years,  that  is,  at  irregular  times,  in  consequence  of  this  church 
being  frequently  left  without  a  priest  in  charge.  The  large  increase  of 
German  Catholic  societies  in  this  country  renders  frequent  vacancies  in 
the  smaller  churches  necessary.  The  school  building  is  32x44,  and 
the  average  attendance  about  fifty.  It  is  under  the  charge  of  L.  Hahn, 
who  was  educated  at  Aix  La  Chapelle,  German}7.  The  primary 
branches  are  taught  in  the  English  language,  reading  in  both  languages. 
Religious  instruction  in  catechism  and  the  duties  to  the  church  are 
obligatory.  Prof.  Hahn  is  an  accomplished  teacher,  and  is  making  a 
good  impression  on  the  school  and  community.  He  has  taught  two 
years.  Singing  is  always  taught,  Mobr's  Cantata  being  used  as  the 
singing  book. 

ORGANIZATIONS. 

The  Countv  Historical  Societv  was  organized  under  the  general 
law  for  such  associations,  October  23,  1877,  having  for  its  laudable  ob- 
jects "  to  collect  and  preserve  samples  of  the  agricultural,  pomological, 
mineral ogical,  geological  and  other  products  of  the  county;  also  de- 
scriptions and  pedigrees  of  the  blooded  stock,  specimens  of  birds,  fishes, 
insects,  fossils  and  archeology  ;  and  also  to  collect  and  preserve  a  library 
of  historical,  scientific  and  miscellaneous  books,  periodicals,  pamphlets 
and  manuscripts,  to  be  examined,  used  and  preserved  under  such  rules 
and  regulations  as  the  society  ma}'  adopt.''  Hiram  W.  Beckwith,  W. 
E,.  Jewell  and  J.  C.  Winslow  were  selected  as  managers  the  first  year. 
The  board  of  supervisors  gave  the  society  the  occupancy  of  the  two 
southwestern  rooms  in  the  second  story  of  the  court-house,  and  Mr. 
"Winslow,  curator,  has  made  considerable  progress  in  securing  and 
arranging  collections.  Active,  working  standing  committees  were 
appointed  on  the  following  branches  of  the  work  of  the  society : 
1st,  lectures ;  2d,  library  ;  3d,  botany,  zoology  and  archeology  ;  4th, 
geology  and  mineralogy  ;  5th,  agricultural  products. 

The  by-laws  provide  that  an  initiator}7  fee  of  $5  shall  be  paid 
on  becoming  members,  and  that  the  ladies  of  the  families  of  mem- 
bers shall  be  entitled  to  all  the  rights  of  membership.  The  officers 
are  J.  G.  English,  president;  \Y.  P.  Chandler,  vice-president;  H.  A. 
Coffeen,  secretary;  E.  D.  Steen,  treasurer;  J.  C.  Winslow,  curator; 
II.  W.  Beckwith,  W.  E.  Jewell  and  C.  M.  Taylor,  managers.  Several 
cases  have  already  been  filled  with  books  and  articles  which  come  un- 
der the  various  heads  of  their  preserving  care,  Indian  relics,  antiquities 
and  interesting  articles  of  merit. 

Vermilion  county  is  exceedingly  prolific  of  things  which  will  yet  be 
found  in  the  historical  and  antiquarian  archives  of  this  young  society. 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  338 

The  faces  of  men  who  have  been  prominent  in  her  political,  busi- 
ness or  religious  history  would  of  themselves  form  a  most  interesting 
gallery.  Early  copies  of  newspapers,  catalogues,  sketches  of  the  old  build- 
ings which  are  now  fast  passing  away,  and  hundreds  of  other  interest- 
ing things.  The  researches  which  have  been  made  in  collecting  the 
material  for  this  "  History  of  Vermilion  County "  have  brought  to 
light  many  interesting  things  which  may  be  made  useful  in  enriching 
the  material  of  this  society,  and  even  the  defects  which  may  be  found 
to  exist  in  it  may  be  made  available,  in  so  far  as  they  may  call  atten- 
tion to  certain  corrections  and  additions  necessary  to  perfect  history. 

The  Danville  Lyceum  was  organized  July  4,  1878.  Its  objects 
are  the  mutual  improvement  of  its  members  in  literature  and  debate. 
It  numbers  forty  members,  and  has  the  nucleus  of  a  library.  They 
hope  to  succeed  in  securing  the  benefit  of  the  bequest  of  James  M. 
Culbertson,  who  left  at  his  death  $2,000  to  be  expended  in  the  purchase 
of  a  library,  one  half  of  which  should  be  for  the  permanent  benefit  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  of  which  body  lie  had  long  been  an  honored 
member  and  officer,  the  other  half  should  go  into  a  public  library 
whenever  an  equal  amount  should  be  raised  for  that  purpose.  The 
books  were  purchased  by  a  committee  chosen  under  the  provisions  of 
the  bequest,  and  are  now  in  the  library  room  of  the  church,  Avhere 
they  are  practically  free  to  all.  The  laudable  object  of  the  donor  seems 
now  to  be  in  a  fair  way  of  being  accomplished  through  the  Lyceum. 
The  meetings  are  held  weekly.  The  officers  are :  J.  D.  Benedict, 
president;  W.  L.  French,  vice-president;  W.  C.  Johnson,  secretar}7 ; 
A.  Sommers,  treasurer ;  W.  Heater,  marshal ;  G.  W.  Whyte,  librarian  ; 
W.  J.  Calhoun,  J.  D.  Benedict,  J.  B.  Samuels,  P.  E.  JSTorthrup,  J.  W. 
Whyte,  directors. 

Hacker's  Band  was  organized  in  1878,  and  is  composed  of  the  fol- 
lowing members  and  pieces  :  F.  C.  Hacker,  leader ;  A.  Watson,  drum- 
major;  A.  Hutter,  E-flat  clarionet;  S.  Reams,  E-flat  cornet;  Joseph 
McAlefee,  B-flat  cornet;  Charles  Hacker,  B-flat  clarionfet ;  Charles 
Hoke,  solo  alto;  Charles  Leverence,  first  alto;  Christian  Leverence, 
tenor;  John  Lewis,  baritone;  John  x\nders,  B-fiat  bass;  Theodore 
Poll,  tuba;  C.  M.  Colter,  tenor  drum  ;  Christian  Evert,  bass  drum. 

The  Danville  Orchestra  is  composed  of  the  following:  F.  C. 
Hacker,  leader;  A.  Watson,  flute;  A.  Hutter,  clarionet;  John  Lewis, 
violin;  S.  Reams,  violin,  and  Joseph  McAlefee,  bass  viol. 

The  Count}7  Agricultural  Society  was  organized  at  Danville  in  1852. 
After  its  second  fair  it  located  grounds  at  Catlin,  and  a  history  of  it  will 
be  found  in  the  sketch  of  that  township.  Hon.  J.  H.  Oakwood  has  been 
from  the  first  one  of  its  most  determined  and  energetic  promoters. 


334  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

The  Farmers  and  Mechanics'  Institute  was  organized  at  Danville  in 
1859,  and  has  held  annual  fairs  since.  Their  grounds  are  adjacent  to 
the  city  limits  on  the  north,  where  they  have  sixteen  acres,  which 
are  beautifully  shaded  and  supplied  with  comfortable  buildings,  amphi- 
theater, floral  hall,  etc.  The  principal  features  of  their  annual  fairs 
have  been  the  mechanical  displays  and  the  large  show  of  blooded  stock 
which  have  been  drawn  by  the  liberal  premiums  offered.  L.  T.  Dick- 
ason,  president;  James  Knight,  vice-president;  W.  M.  Bandy,  secre- 
tary ;  W.  S.  McClenathan,  assistant  secretary ;  V.  Leseure,  treasurer. 
This  society  has  always  been  prosperous  in  its  management,  and.  like 
the  regular  county  society  seems  to  merit  public  approbation. 

The  Moss  Bank  park  was  laid  out  by  Hon.  John  C.  Short,  when  he 
was  proprietor  of  the  property  west  of  town.  About  eighty  acres  was 
laid  out  in  drives  and  walks,  the  proprietor  intending  to  make  it 
a  pleasant  place  for  spending  a  shady  hour,  or  a  retreat  from  the  dusty 
streets  of  Danville.  It  abounds  in  shade,  and  by  nature  is  beautifully 
situated  for  such  a  purpose. 

MILITIA. 

Battery  "  A,"  First  Regiment  Illinois  National  Guards,  was  first 
organized  in  1875.  Captain,  Scott;  first  lieutenant,  A.  P.  Matthews; 
second  lieutenant,  E.  Winter.  It  was  reorganized  March  17,  1876. 
Captain,  E.  Winter ;  first  lieutenant,  J.  G.  Field ;  second  lieutenant, 
S.  W.  Denny ;  first  sergeant,  H.  J.  Hall ;  quartermaster's  sergeant, 
W.  W.  Woodbury;  commissary  sergeant,  C.  D.  Eoff;  first  duty  ser- 
geant, J.  Haptenstall ;  second,  S.  Thompson;  third,  Wm.  Cummings. 
It  numbers  fifty-three  men,  rank  and  file ;  is  supplied  with  two  ten- 
pound  Parrott  guns,  and  with  the  United  States  regulation  uniform. 
Its  armory  is  in  Bier's  hall. 

"The  Danville  Guards"  was  organized  February,  1876.  Captain, 
L.  T.  Dickason  ;  first  lieutenant,  Edgar  C.  Dodge;  second  lieutenant, 
J.  D.  Benedict ;  first  sergeant,  Jacob  Goth ;  second  sergeant,  L.  D. 
Gass ;  third  sergeant,  A.  C.  Bristow ;  fourth  sergeant,  James  Pate ; 
fifth  sergeant,  J.  D.  Harrison.  The  company  is  the  only  organized 
militia  company  in  the  count}7.  It  numbers  thirty-seven  men,  and 
is  equipped  and  uniformed.     Its  armory  is  Hesse's  hall. 

coal.  > 

The  coal  interest  has,  since  the  railroads  have  opened  up  a  market 
for  it,  proved  one  of  the  most  important  to  the  county.  Though 
largely  belonging  to,  so  far  as  its  locality  is  concerned,  Danville  town- 
ship, it  appertains  in  a  more  general  way  to  the  county. 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  335 

It  is  a  singular  arrangement  of  nature,  of  which  no  very  satisfactory 
explanation  has  yet  been  given,  that  coal  is  generally  only  found  along 
timber  belts,  or  in  close  proximity  to  the  streams  which  are  an  accom- 
paniment of  these  belts.  As  a  rale,  no  coal  has  been  found  in  this  state 
five  miles  away  from  these  streams  and  forests.  It  is  no  part  of  the 
duty  of  the  historian  to  advance  theories  in  explanation  of  this  seem- 
ingly strange  coincident.  For  several  years  after  the  settlement  of  the 
county,  though  coal  was  known  to  exist  here,  there  was  no  demand  for 
it  beyond  the  small  amount  needed  in  blacksmithing,  and  hence  there 
was  no  mining. 

In  1855  the  general  assembly  (February  14)  incorporated  the  Dan- 
ville Coal  Mining  Company.  Ward  H.  Lamon  and  others  associated 
with  him  were  by  this  act  authorized  as  a  corporation  to  engage  in 
mining  coal,  iron,  salt  and  other  minerals,  and  the  sale  of  salt,  iron, 
lime  and  other  mineral  products.  The  time  had  not  come,  however, 
to  carry  on  such  business,  and  nothing  was  done  under  this  charter. 
Before  this  date,  however,  coal  was  being  mined  or  stripped  in  small 
quantities.  Dudley  Lacock,  who  in  1854  removed  to  Livingston  coun- 
ty, owned  a  considerable  tract  west  of  Danville,  where  the  extensive 
coal  mines  are,  and  dug  out  some  of  it,  which  found  slow  sale.  Cyrus 
Tennery  early  commenced  the  enterprise,  which  he  continued  for  some 
years.  W.  Carruthers  and  Ball  commenced  mining  as  early  as  1853, 
and  farther  south  Mr.  Kirkland  opened  up  the  business.  Chandler  & 
Donlan  were  the  first  to  engage  extensively  in  mining,  and  were  fol- 
lowed by  Peter  R.  Leonard.  Michael  Kelley  has  for  more  than  twent}r 
years  carried  on  an  extensive  business  in  stripping  along  the  North 
Fork,  and  employs  a  number  of  hands  in  such  business  yet.  Charles 
Dobbins  has  for  some  years  carried  on  the  same  business,  as  have  also 
Win.  Shaw  and  B.  Bensel.  In  the  Grape  Creek  region  Win.  Kirkland, 
Hugh  Blakney  and  Graves  and  Lofferty  have  carried  on  the  business ; 
while  still  farther  south,  along  the  streams  which  flow  through  George- 
town and  Elwood,  numerous  parties  have  from  time  to  time  opened 
up  small  mines,  and  some  continue  to  operate  them.  The  "  Carbon 
Coal  Company,"  the  Ellsworth  Company,  the  Moss  Bank  Coal  Com- 
pany and  others  have  operated  in  corporate  capacities  more  or  less.  In 
Catlin  township  several  shafts  were  sunk,  accounts  of  which,  and  of 
their  failures  and  successes,  more  extended  notice  is  made  under  the 
appropriate  heading. 

The  fine  body  of  coal  lands  lying  just  west  of  the  city,  and  known 
as  Moss  Bank,  was  opened  up  and  worked  by  J.  C.  Short  &  Co.,  and 
became  the  property  of  the  Paris  &  Danville  railroad,  and  with  that 
road  was  transferred  and  became  the  property  of  the  Danville  &  South- 


:',:;<;  history  of  vermilion  county. 

western  Railroad  Company.  General  R.  H.  Oarnahan  has  been  for 
some  years  past  in  charge  of  the  mining  operations  of  this  company, 
and  is  carrying  on  a  large  business. 

The  Ellsworth  Company's  mines  south  of  the  river  are  now  under 
the  exclusive  management  of  A.  C.  Daniel,  Esq.,  who  is  successfully 
raising  several  hundred  tons  per  day.  Various  parties  have  worked 
small  mines  or  banks  all  over  the  coal  tract. 

The  great  depression  which  the  coal  interest  has  gone  through  has 
operated  to  reduce  the  amount  of  coal  raised  and  the  profits,  which 
seemed  to  be  assured,  and  many  have  seen  the  utter  failure  of  their 
plans  and  prospects.  A  writer  in  1870  made  the  following  statement : 
"And  when  we  call  to  mind  that  each  acre  contains  ten  thousand  tons 
of  coal,  and  that  it  is  worth  two  rents  .per  bushel  to  the  proprietors 
when  placed  in  the  cars,  it  is  apparent  that  the  only  financial  ques- 
tion with  them  is  to  exhaust  the  coal,  as  at  that  rate  the  land  will  yield 
$5,000  per  acre."  This  seemed  like  a  very  moderate  estimate,  and 
probably  has  been,  and  yet  will  be,  exceeded.  There  is  a  wealth  of 
u-reat  magnitude,  not  onlv  in  the  value  of  the  hidden  mineral  there, 
but  in  the  labor  which  for  ages  to  come  it  will  afford  hundreds  of 
laborers  in  its  mines,  and  thousands  of  artisans  in  the  various  indus- 
trial enterprises  which  it  must  draw  around  it.  This  does  not  alone 
give  a  profit  to  the  proprietors  and  the  tradesmen,  but  it  spreads 
through  every  artery  and  enlivens  every  business.  Xo  community  or 
state  ever  became  strong,  financially  or  intellectually,  which  depended 
alone  on  one  branch  of  industry,  however  prosperous  it  may  have  been. 
It  is  the  coal  mines  of  England  which  have  made  her  "'Mistress  of  the 
Seas"  and  has  made  her  Mother-queen  Empress  of  India.  The  reader 
should  not  draw  from  this  that  the  Moss  Bank  and  South  Danville 
mines  will  some  time  make  General  Carnahan  or  Mr.  Daniel  vice- 
gerents of  the  world,  but  they  will  give  to  Danville  a  permanent 
prominence  of  which  nothing  can  deprive  her. 

Though  changing  the  subject  slightly,  a  little  reminiscence  of  the 
war  record  of  the  "General  of  Moss  Bank"  must  find  a  place  here. 
When  the  general  was  plain  Mr.  Carnahan,  residing  in  Fairbury,  Liv- 
ingston county,  he  raised  company  K,  of  the  3d  regiment  of  Illinois  Cav- 
alry, which  the  Carr  brothers  led  into  the  heart  of  "Dixie."  While 
Grant  was  making  that  brilliant  succession  of  masterly  movements  which 
resulted  in  closing  around  Vicksburg,  and  fulfilling  the  promise  that 
he  "  would  give  us  Yicksburg  by  the  4th  of  July/*  Governor  Yates 
went  down  to  "  see  the  boys  "  and  to  learn  something  more  of  the 
great  leader  whom  he  had  given  to  the  army.  During  the  sharp 
engagement  at  Port  Gibson,  civilian  like,  he  found  himself  in  the  hot- 


DANVILLE    TOWNSHIP. 


.;:;; 


test  of  the  fight,  where  they  were  actually  "shooting  balls."  Captain 
Carnahan,  recognizing  his  danger  and  not  thinking  that  it  was  neces- 
sary to  sacrifice  a  "war  governor"  that  victory  might  be  assured, 
advised  the  governor  to  get  behind  a  fallen  tree,  and  held  his  horse  for 
him  until  the  rebel  attack  was  repulsed.  Governor  Yates  felt  grateful 
for  the  Captain's  aid,  and  rapid  promotion  soon  followed.  When  the 
regiment  reinlisted  as  veterans,  Captain  Carnahan  was  assigned  to  the 
duty  of  filling  up  the  regiment,  and  received  the  appointment  of  lieu- 
tenant-colonel ;  was  promoted  colonel,  and  at  the  close  of  hostilities 
retired  to  private  life  after  a  short  Indian  campaign,  as  general.  Some- 
how he  connects  his  good  fortune  with  that  little  incident  at  Port  Gib- 
son. In  writing  the  "  History  of  Livingston  County  "  the  writer  failed 
to  make  proper  mention  of  the  services  of  one  of  her  most  gallant 
soldiers,  for  the  reason  that  in  the  adjutant-general's  report  his  resi- 
dence was  put  down  at  Danville.  Ignorant  of  the  facts  then,  he  desires 
here  to  make  the  only  amends  in  his  power  to  make.  No  truer  soldier 
or  more  accomplished  officer  ever  went  into  the  service  of  his  country 
from  that  county,  and  his  comrades  in  arms  unite  in  saying  that  his 
promotion  was  based  upon  better  reasons  than  the  accident  of  his  saving 
a  war  governor  from  a  chance  rebel  bullet.  Livingston  county  having 
failed  to  take  the  credit  of  his  loyal  service,  Vermilion  county  will 
assume  it. 


ELLSWORTH    COAL   SHAFT. 


The  following  figures  are  taken  from  the  last  annual  report  of  the 

county  inspector  of  mines,  June,  1879  :    Number  of  shafts,  15  ;  number 

of  drifts,  14;  number  of  slopes,  3;  number  of  strip  banks,  22;  number 

of  men  employed,  325 ;  number  of  mules  and  horses  employed,  100 ; 

22 


•• 


338  HISTORY   OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

number  of  tons  raised  in  1STS,  200,000,  which  at  four  cents  per  bushel 
is  $200,000. 

BUSINESS. 

The  Illinois  Printing  Company  was  organized  under  the  laws  of  the 
state  in  1874, —  it  being  a  continuation,  so  far  as  its  business  is  con- 
cerned, of  the  printing  firm  of  G.  W.  ETynn  A:  Co.,  and  the  "'Danville 
News."  Capital,  850.000.  Its  business  is  the  carrying  on  of  the 
printing  business,  the  publication  of  the  ''Danville  News,"  a  daily 
morning  paper  with  a  weekly  edition  ;  the  printing  and  binding  of 
county  blanks  and  records,  railroad  printing,  fair  and  show  printing  in 
all  its  forms,  and  everything  pertaining  to  the  '"art  preservative.' 
G.  W.  Flynn  is  president  and  manager  ;  W.  K.  Jewell  is  vice-president 
and  editor,  and  J.  H.  Woo  dm  an  see,  secretary  and  treasurer.  The  com- 
pany has  a  fine  building  built  expressly  for  the  business,  and  is  pro- 
vided with  all  latest  improved  machinery  for  so  large  a  business.  They 
have  the  Taylor,  Hoe,  Gordon  and  Colter  presses,  employ  about  forty 
hands,  and  propose  to  conduct  stereotyping  as  a  branch  of  their  business. 

The  "Danville  Commercial"  Company  was  organized  under  the  state 
law  by  J.  C.  Short  &  Co.,  for  the  purpose  of  publishing  the  "Danville 
Commercial, "  and  earring  on  a  general  printing  business.  Several 
changes  have  been  made  in  its  officers,  but  its  business  has  continued  to 
be  the  same.  It  publishes  the  "  Daily  Commercial  "  and  a  weekly  edi- 
tion, carries  on  a  regular  printing  business  in  all  its  branches,  has  a  full 
supply  of  all  that  goes  to  make  up  a  first-class  printing  house.  In 
1874,  J.  C.  Short  &  Co.  having  disposed  of  what  stock  they  still  held 
in  the  company,  a  reorganization  took  place,  and  A.  Harper  was  elected 
president ;  Park  T.  Martin,  secretary  and  editor,  and  later,  Mr.  A.  J. 
Adams  became  business  manager.  Under  the  management  of  these 
gentlemen,  who  have  had  large  experience  in  the  printing  and  publish- 
ing business,  a  thriving  business  is  being  carried  on. 

The  Great  Western  Machine  and  Engine  Shops  are  at  present  be- 
ing carried  on  by  Mr.  K.  Pollard,  doing  a  general  machine  and  foundry 
business,  steam  and  gas-fitting,  and  engine  and  boiler  making.  His 
buildings  and  shops  are  near  the  Wabash  railway  depot,  and  built  of 
brick,  with  sixty-two  feet  front  on  Depot  street  and  one  hundred  on 
the  railroad, —  the  pattern  shop  being  two  stories.  Frisbie  &  Williams 
began  this  business  in  1865,  and  in  1869  J.  V.  Logue  bought  Williams' 
interest,  and  it  continued  under  the  name  of  Frisbie,  Logue  &  Co. 
until  ls74.  During  this  time  and  until  the  "panic,"  a  large  and  lucra- 
tive business  Mas  carried  on  in  stationary  and  portable  engines,  castings, 
house-fronts,  railroad  work,  and  all  the  various  branches  of  the  trade. 
About  thirty  hands  were  employed,  and  often  it  was  necessary  to  run 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  339 

night  and  day  to  fill  orders.  Thompson  &  Pollard  purchased  the 
works  in  1874,  and  the  business  was  becoming  again  prosperous  and 
pressing,  when  Mr.  Thompson's  death,  recently,  made  a  change  in  the 
firm  name  only. 

William  Stewart  is  carrying  on  a  general  foundry  and  machine  shop 
near  the  Junction.  The  foundry  and  blacksmith  shop  is  40X75,  brick. 
The  buildings  were  all  burned  but  the  pattern  shop  last  year,  and  the 
machine  shop  has  not  yet  been  rebuilt,  but  will  be  another  year,  60 X  80, 
of  brick.  Mr.  Stewart  is  the  successor  of  Reynolds  &  Stewart,  has 
$5,000  capital  invested  in  the  business,  and  employs  about  fifteen 
hands. 

J).  Force  commenced  the  carriage  making  business  hereabout  1867. 
His  shops  are  at  the  west  end  of  Main  street,  where  the  town  began. 
He  makes  only  tine  work  —  carriages,  spring  wagons  and  sleighs.  He 
occupies  seven  shops,  and  employs  on  an  average  sixteen  hands.  His 
market  is  principally  at  home,  although  he  has  formerly  found  market 
for  some  in  Texas. 

William  Whitehill,  whose  shops  are  in  the  same  vicinity,  carries  on 
a  similar  line  of  business,  and  employs  eleven  hands  usually,  and  like 
Mr.  Force,  finds  sale  for  most  of  his  work  at  home  where  it  is  best 
known. 

William  Grabs  carries  on  the  steam  bottling  works  in  his  shop  on 
West  Main  street. 

Morris,  Hurley  &  Co.,  cabinet  makers  and  builders,  are  established 
in  the  old  "Grange  Store"  east  of  the  railroad. 

J.  Miller  &  Son  are  engaged  in  making  cabinet,  parlor  and  church 
organs.  Mr.  Miller  has  been  engaged  in  the  business  thirtv  years.  In 
1875  the  firm  built  their  present  factory  east  of  the  railroad,  and  em- 
ploy about  eight  hands.  Their  organs  have  stood  the  test  of  the  most 
thorough  trial. 

The  wrought-iron  wagon  works  have  carried  on  a  pretty  large  busi- 
ness in  past  times. 

.1.  T.  Amos  has  been  carrying  on  the  business  of  tile  making  for 
about  two  years,  four  miles  west  of  town.  The  attention  of  farmers 
has  been  so  generally  called  to  the  advantage  of  tile-draining  that  the 
manufacture  of  tile  has  become  an  important  branch  of  industry.  A.  ( '. 
Garland  commenced  the  manufacture  of  tile  at  his  factory  near  the 
I.  B.  &  W.  depot,  this  spring,  and  will  increase  his  facilities  somewhat. 

The  "  Grange  Store  "  was  one  of  the  institutions  which  the  "  whirli- 
gig of  time,"  or  the  "march  of  events,"  or  the  "stern  logic  of  facts" 
brought  into  existence  at  Danville.  It  was  a  joint  stock  company  with 
$3,000  capital,  and  proposed   to  do  away  with  "middlemen,"  large 


340  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

profits,"  and  all  the  ills  that  the  farmers  of  Vermilion  count}'  were 
suffering  under.  Finding  that  more  capital  was  necessary  it  was  nomi- 
nally increased  to  si 5.000,  and  the  subscriptions  to  the  stock  were  con- 
ditioned on  the  full  amount  of  the  $15,000  being  subscribed.  The 
store  did  a  general  business, —  a  general  "trusting"  business, —  deal- 
ing  in  groceries,  implements  and  every  salable  thing.  AVhen  it  failed 
the  stock  subscriptions  could  not  be  collected  on  account  of  the  stipula- 
tions, and  notes  that  had  been  given  had  been  changed  so  that  thev  were 
uncollectable.  Mr.  Charles  Giddings  was  assignee  and  succeeded  in 
paying  about  45  per  cent  of  the  indebtedness.  It  was  so  fearfully 
mixed  up  that  he  begs  to  be  excused  from  ever  winding  up  another 
"  reform  "  store. 

BUILDING    ASSOCIATIONS,    CEMETERIES,    ETC. 

There  are  in  Danville  four  associations  formed  under  the  act  of  the 
legislature  approved  April  4,  1872.  "  To  enable  associations  of  persons 
to  become  a  body  corporate,  to  raise  funds  to  be  loaned  only  among 
their  members,''  having  for  their  object  the  assisting  of  persons  who 
have  small  means  to  secure  homes  at  about  the  price  which  they  would 
necessarily  pay  per  week  for  rent. 

"  The  Danville  People's  Building  and  Loan  Association "  was 
organized  in  1873,  with  W;  P.  Cannon,  president :  Win.  Giddings.  vice- 
president;  Asa  Partlow,  secretary;  P.  A.  Short,  treasurer,  and  F.  W. 
Penwell,  attorney,  who,  with  J.  H.  Miller.  O.  S.  Stewart,  W.  J.  Henry. 
Geo.  Dillon.  G.  AY.  Jones.  J.  P.  Holloway  and  C.  U.  Morrison,  consti- 
tute the  board  of  directors.  The  capital  stock  is  limited  to  840u,000. 
The  books  were  closed  when  3,313  shares  had  been  subscribed,  at  8100 
each.     There  are  now  only  775  shares  in  force. 

The  Mechanics'  Building  and  Homestead  Association  of  Danville 
perfected  its  organization  November  22,  1S73,  with  W.  W.  P.  "Wood- 
bury, president :  W.  A.  Brown,  vice-president ;  J.  H.  Phillips,  secretary ; 
E.  II.  Palmer,  treasurer,  and  J.  W.  Jones,  attorney.  The  2,500  shares 
of  capital  stock  authorized  was  subscribed.  Xo  person  is  permitted  to 
subscribe  for  more  than  40  shares.  There  are  still  in  force  790  shares. 
The  pressure  of  the  times  has  compelled  the  association  to  assume  some 
of  the  property  which  its  members  had  given  security  on. 

The  Danville  Benefit  and  Building  Association  was  chartered  June 
12, 1874.  a  few  days  before  the  act  repealing  the  act  authorizing  such  asso- 
ciations took  effect.  An  organization  was  effected  February  28,  1877, 
with  J.  G.  Holden.  president.  S.  H.  Stewart,  secretary,  and  T.  S.  Park.- 
treasurer,  and  twelve  directors.  The  same  officers  have  continued  till 
now.     The  authorized  capital  is  81,000,000,  in  shares  of  $100  each. 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  oil 

The  first  series  of  2,000  shares  is  now  full,  and  a  second   one  was 
opened  March,  1879. 

The  Danville  Building  and  Savings  Association,  organized  August 
20,  1873,  with  Judge  E.  S.  Terry,  president;  J.  G.  Holden,  vice-presi- 
dent; V.  Leseure,  secretary;  A.  S.  W.  Hawes,  treasurer,  and  J.  P.  Nor- 
vell,  attorney.  The  capital  stock  was  $250,000.  The  business  of  the 
company  lias  always  been  very  safely  managed,  and  in  no  case  has  there 
been  any  property  thrown  on  its  hands  by  foreclosures.  Four  hundred 
and  sixty-eight  live  shares  now  remain.  The  officers  are:  J.  G.  Hol- 
den, president;  Dudley  Watrous,  vice-president;  B.  E.  Bandy,  secre- 
tary; A.  S.  W.  Hawes,  treasurer;  J.  P.  JSTorvell,  attorney,  who,  with 
the  following,  compose  the  board  of  directors:  V.  Leseure,  C.  L. 
English,  C.  K.  Miers,  C.  J.  Palmer,  J.  B.  Mann,  E.  E.  Boudenott, 
J.  W.  Dale. 

CEMETERIES. 

Like  all  new  places,  Danville  had  for  several  years  various  places 
for  burying  the  dead.  At  first  each  country  church  had  its  "  grave- 
yard," and  only  those  who  from  religious  scruples  or  by  church  pro- 
scription were  compelled  to  select  some  particular  place  which  had 
been  set  apart  by  some  form,  were  secure  from  having  the  last  earthly 
resting  place  of  their  beloved  dead  interfered  with  by  caprice  or  care- 
lessness. The  tract  which  was  given  by  Mr.  Amos  Williams,  and  in 
which  the  remains  of  the  donor  and  of  his  wife  still  lie,  was  never 
sufficiently  guarded  from  various  encroachments  to  which  such  quasi 
public  grounds  are  ever  subjected.  These  and  other  reasons  caused 
those  who  had  been  recently  called  on  to  bury  some  loved  one  to  look 
around  for  some  more  suitable  place,  and  one  which  could  be  beautified 
by  art;  so  that,  so  far  as  human  hands  could  do  it,  the  old-fashioned, 
foolish,  "yawning"  terrors  of  the  grave  might  be  banished.  To  Mr. 
J.  G.  English,  more,  perhaps,  than  to  any  one  other  man,  the  citizens  of 
Danville  are  indebted  for  the  present  appropriate  "city  of  the  dead." 
Making  known  his  views  to  Mr.  J.  C.  Short,  Dr.  Woodbury,  Mr.  Le- 
seure and  A.  S.  Williams,  an  association  was  formed  under  the  laws  of 
the  state,  and  fifty  acres  of  land  was  purchased  north  of  town,  for 
which  s2,000  was  paid  by  these  gentlemen,  they  undertaking  the 
expense,  expecting  to  be  reimbursed  by  the  sale  of  lots  when  the 
organization  was  perfected.  April  28,  1864,  the  name  of  "  Spring  Hill 
Cemetery"  was  taken.  Mr.  English  was  elected  president;  J.  C.  Short 
secretary  and  treasurer,  and  Messrs.  Woodbury,  Williams  and  Leseure 
directors.  To  Mr.  Bowman  the  labor  was  assigned  of  visiting  other 
cities  and  deciding  on  the  plan  of  laying  out ;  and  this  labor  has  been 
so  acceptably  done  that  very  little  more  could  be  done  to  add  to  the 


o42  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

appropriateness  of  the  grounds.  Mr.  Bowman  adopted  the  park  or 
landscape  style  of  laying  out  the  land,  giving  here  and  there,  as  the 
make  of  the  surface  would  suggest,  a  well-graveled  road,  a  running 
stream  or  elegant  lake  to  diversify  the  beauty  of  the  peaceful  place. 
Several  thousand  dollars  have  been  expended  in  the  work,  and  so  well 
has  it  been  received  that  most  of  the  lots  in  the  first  fifteen  acres  laid 
out  have  been  disposed  of,  and  the  first  and  second  additions  are  under 
improvement.  The  business  of  the  association  is  still  in  the  hands  of 
the  same  board  of  directors,  with  the  exception  of  the  substitution  of 
Mr.  W.  T.  Cunningham  in  place  of  Mr.  Short  since  his  removal  from 
the  city.  The  rules  of  the  association  provide  against  unsightly  fences 
or  inclosures,  and  any  improper  buildings,  vaults  or  superstructures ; 
against  cutting  down  the  trees ;  against  the  growing  of  unsightly  trees 
or  shrubs,  and  against  improper  monuments.  The  care  of  the  grounds 
is  provided  for,  and  places  are  set  apart  for  the  resting  place  of  soldiers 
and  for  a  monument  to  the  hero  dead. 

The  Roman  Catholics  and  Lutherans  have  separate  burial  places, 
which  are  under  the  management  and  rules  of  their  respective  churches. 

TOWNSHIP    OFFICERS,    ETC. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  the  principal  township  officers  elected  in 
Danville  since  the  date  of  township  organization  : 

Supervisor.  Clerk.  Assessor  and  Collector. 

J.  A.  D.  Sconce W.  E.  Russell W.  M.  Payne. 

J.  A.  D.  Sconce W.  E.  Russell J.  G.  Mills. 

J.  A.  D.  Sconce J.  A.  Davis J.  G.  Mills. 

Isaac  Froman J.  A.  Davis W.  M.  Payne.* 

William  Bandy W.  M.  Payne W.  M.  Payne.* 

Enoch  Kingsbury J.  M.  Payton W.  M.  Payne. 

J.  W.  Miers David  Morgan T.  R.  Forbes. 

.1.  W.  Miers J.  M.  Lesley J.  H.  Miller. 

.1 .  W.  Miers J.  M.  Lesley J.  H.  Miller. 

Levin  T.  Palmer I.  M.  Lesley J.  H.  Miller. 

Levin  T.  Palmer J.  M.  Lesley J.  H.  Miller. 

W.  M.  Payne J.  M.  Lesley J.  H.  Miller. 

.  W.  J.  Moore H.  AY.  Beckwith J.  H.  Miller. 

W.  J.  Moore H.  W.  Beckwith J.  H.  Miller. 

L.  T.  Palmer A.  Matthews J.  H.  Miller. 

L.  T.  Palmer A.  Matthews J.  H.  Miller. 

L.  T.  Palmer C.  B.  Holloway J.  H.  Miller. 

L.  T.  Palmer H.  C.  Lesley J.  H.  Miller. 

L.  T.  Palmer H.  C.  Lesley J.  H.  Miller. 

L.  T.  Palmer W.  J.  Davis J.  H.  Miller. 

L.  T.  Palmer W.  J.  Stewart J.  H.  Miller. 

J.  G.  Holden D.  K.  Woodbury J.  H.  Miller. 

*  In  1854  A.  P.  Chesley  was  elected  collector,  and  in  1855,  T.  R.  Forbes. 


Date. 

Vote. 

1851. 

.  .  .     .  .  . 

1852. 

. ..  99  ... 

1854. 

. ..  175.... 

1855. 

. ..  152.... 

1856. 

. ..  248.... 

1857. 

. ..  297.... 

1858. 

. ..  32!)  ... 

1859. 

...  321.... 

1800. 

. . .  401 ... . 

18.1. 

. ..  345  ... 

L8G2. 

. ..  445.... 

1863. 

1864. 

. ..  560... 

1866. 

.  . .  642 

1867. 

...  823.... 

1868. 

. ..  898.... 

1869. 

. ..  701.... 

1870. 

. ..  850.... 

1871. 

. ..  954... 

1872. 

. ..  917.... 

DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  343 

Date.         Vote.  Supervisor.  Clerk.  Assessor  and  Collector. 

1873. ...  765. .. .  J.  G.  Holden John  Miers,  Jr J.  H.  Miller. 

1874.... 1251....  J.  G.  Holden H.  C.  Smith T.  S.  Parks. 

1875.... 1242....  J.  G.  Holden H.  C.  Smith J.  H.  Miller. 

1876. . .  .1254. ...  J.  G.  Holden John  Lane J.  H.  Miller. 

1877...  .1683....  J.  G.  Holden John  Lane J.H.Miller. 

1878. . . .  1380. ...  J.  G.  Holden John  Lane J.  H.  Miller. 

1879....  1378....  J.  G.  Holden John  Lane J.  H.  Miller. 

The  justices  of  the  peace  have  been  Nelson  Maddox,  Milton  Lesley, 
Benj.  Stewart,  A.  E.  Plowe,  H.  Cunningham,  II.  G.  Boyce,  George 
Hillary,  Benj.  Sanders,  J.  C.  Prather,  S.  Stansbury,  A.  A.  Dunseth, 
J.  A/Bradley,  Wm.  M.  Payne,  G.  W.  English,  J.  M.  Payton,  J.  W. 
Stansbury,  E.  H.  McMillen,  J.  A.  Prather,  J.  McMahan,  John  Green, 
H.  C.  Elliott,  G.  Klingenspor,  James  Bracewell,  J.  W.  Parker,  Wm. 
Morgan  and  Peter  Wilber. 

Those  who  have  been  elected  commissioners  of  highways  are  S.  L. 
Payne,  J.  G.  Davidson,  G.  H.  Graves,  R.  Ilootoii,  W.  M.  Payne,  E.  G. 
Cross,  M.  Moudy,  John  Johns,  L.  T.  Palmer,  Benj.  Crane,  Nathaniel 
Henderson,  J.  L.  Tincher,  D.  Kyger,  George  Hillary,  J.  Hinds,  J.  W. 
Miers,  H.  W.  Beckwith,  W.  W.  R.  Woodbury,  V.  Leseure,  J.  Q.  Villars, 
A.  S.  Williams,  Geo.  Rust,  J.  H.  Andrews,  M.  Mitchell. 

In  the  year  1865  Danville  became  entitled  to  an  assistant  supervisor, 
and  J.  L.  Tincher  was  elected  to  that  position,  and  continued  to  hold 
it  until  his  death,  in  1871,  since  which  H.  M.  Kimball,  Wm.  Morgan, 
James  Knight  and  J.  Donnelly  have  served  in  that  capacity. 

RAILROAD    BONDS    AND    SPECIAL    VOTES. 

In  1857,  at  the  town  meeting,  the  question  of  forming  a  new  county 
was  voted  on,  and  resulted  in  a  vote  of  36  for,  to  252  against,  such 
proposed  division  of  the  county.  In  1859,  when  the  proposition  was 
voted  on  to  erect  the  county  of  Ford,  the  vote  was  287  for,  to  4S 
against,  such  proposition.  The  same  year  a  vote  for  or  against  the  con- 
tinuance of  township  organization  resulted  in  53  for,  to  254  against,  its 
continuance. 

In  1863  a  proposition  was  submitted  to  vote  which  was  called  "A 
System  of  Bridges"  throughout  the  county.  The  vote  was  515  for,  to 
2  against,  showing  that  it  was  immensely  popular  at  Danville. 

The  following  is  the  record  of  all  township  votes  on  the  various 
questions  of  aid  to  railroads: 

In  May,  1867,  the  question  of  levying  a  tax  in  aid  of  the  Chicago, 
Danville  cv.  Vincennes  Railroad,  provided  said  road  run  east  of  North 
Fork  and  through  the  corporate  limits  of  the  city,  resulted  in  141  for, 
to  23  against,  such  levy.    July  9  of  the  same  year  another  special  town 


344  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

meeting  voted  (the  former  not  seeming  to  have  been  specific  enough), 
by  500  to  23,  in  favor  of  said  aid,  "provided  the  main  line  run  into  the 
corporate  limits,  as  prescribed  by  the  act  incorporating  Danville,  in 
force  February  15,  1855."  This  proposition  to  be  in  lieu  of  all  others 
that  had  been  voted  for  previously. 

To  make  this  still  more  specific  (it  will  be  seen  that  the  people 
were  learning  something  all  this  time),  another  meeting  was  held, 
which  voted  on  the  proposition  submitted  in  this  form :  "  For  or 
against  giving  852,000  to  the  Chicago,  Danville  &  Vincennes  Rail- 
road, provided  the  road  is  located  and  shall  run  into  the  city  of  Dan- 
ville on  a  line  between  the  North  Fork  of  the  Vermilion  River  and 
Stony  Creek,  and  intersect  the  Toledo,  Wabash  &  Western  Railroad 
north  of  the  Vermilion  River  and  within  the  city  limits."'  Upon  this 
proposition  the  vote  was  407  for,  to  6  against.  The  vote  on  the  propo- 
sition leaving  out  all  after  the  word  and  was  only  204  in  the  affirma- 
tive. 

August  28  a  special  town  meeting  was  held  to  vote  for  or  against  a 
subscription  of  8100,000  to  the  capital  stock  of  the  Danville,  Urbana, 
Bloomington  tfc  Pekin  Railroad,  under  the  terms  of  the  act  chartering 
said  road,  and  on  condition  that  the  main  track  of  said  road  be  con- 
structed in  and  to  the  city  of  Danville.  The  vote  resulted  in  285  for, 
to  30  against,  the  proposition. 

August  25,  1868,  a  special  town  meeting  was  held  to  vote  for  or 
against  a  proposition  to  appropriate  820,000  additional  to  the  Chicago, 
Danville  &  Vincennes  Railroad,  on  terms  exactly  similar  to  the  former 
one.  The  vote  was  114  in  the  affirmative,  and  11  in  the  negative.  It 
will  be  seen  that  the  voters  were  getting  tired  of  voting. 

December  11,  1869,  a  special  town  meeting  was  held  to  vote  for  or 
against  a  proposition  to  subscribe  825,000  to  the  capital  stock  of  the 
Paris  &  Danville  Railroad,  "  on  the  express  conditions  (1st)  that  said 
subscription  is  to  be  paid  for  by  the  bonds  of  said  township,  payable  in 
fifteen  years  absolutely,  or  sooner  at  the  option  of  said  township,  and 
to  bear  interest  at  the  rate  of  ten  per  cent  per  annum ;  and  (2d)  that 
said  bonds  are  not  to  bear  date,  nor  be  delivered,  nor  to  bear  interest, 
until  said  railroad  is  completed,  equipped  with  rolling  stock  and  run- 
ning in  successful  operation  from  Paris,  in  Edgar  county,  in  and  to  the 
city  of  Danville,  in  Vermilion  county,  Illinois;  and  (3d)  that  no  part 
of  said  railroad  shall  be  located  or  built  west  of  the  North  Fork  of  the 
Vermilion  River  in  said  city  of  Danville;  and  (4th)  that  said  railroad 
shall  be  completed  and  in  successful  operation  from  Paris  to  Danville, 
aforesaid,  within  five  years  from  this  date.''  lTpon  this  proposition, 
thus  hedged,  as  it  would  seem,  with  conditions  of  becoming  caution, 


DAXYILLE   TOWNSHIP.  345 

the  vote  was  460  for,  to  225  against;  showing  plainly  that  the  people 
were  far  from  unanimous  in  regard  to  this  additional  debt.  Future 
proceedings  show  that  the  caution  which  was  displayed  on  this  occa- 
sion was  well  taken.  After  the  road  was  so  far  completed  as  to  be  able 
to  run  cars  into  Danville  via  the  track  of  the  Toledo,  Wabash  & 
Western  Kailroad,  the  company  became  insolvent,  and  was  placed  in 
the  hands  of  a  receiver.  From  the  point  where  this  railroad  made  this 
intersection  with  the  Wabash  road,  a  track  was  built  across  the  river 
and  along  the  west  side  of  the  North  Fork,  and  thence  trains  were  run 
into  the  city  over  the  right  of  way  of  the  Indianapolis,  Bloomington 
&  Western  Railroad.  Then  a  demand  was  made  upon  the  supervisor 
and  town  clerk  for  the  bonds  which  had  been  conditionally  voted  more 
than  live  years  before.  The  demand  not  being  complied  with,  for  the 
reasons  that  (1st)  the  road  was  not  completed  in  and  to  the  city  of 
Danville  writhin  the  five  years  specified ;  (2d)  that  it  was  built  west  of 
the  North  Fork;  (3d)  that  having  no  independent  line  into  Danville  it 
was  not  yet  completed  in  and  to  the  city,  a  suit  followed,  which,  after 
various  ups  and  downs,  was  decided  in  favor  of  the  township,  and  it 
was  released  from  any  liability  to  the  company. 

A  special  town  meeting  was  held  July  20,  1870,  to  vote  upon  a 
proposition  to  give  an  additional  sum  of  #75,000  to  the  Chicago,  Dan- 
ville &  Vincennes  Eailroad  Company,  upon  the  following  very  explicit 
terms  and  conditions :  One-half  on  condition  that  Danville  should  be, 
and  ever  remain,  the  terminus  of  a  running  division  of  said  road.  The 
other  half,  that  as  soon  as  practicable,  said  railroad  company  should 
erect,  and  ever  maintain,  shops  for  the  repair  and  building  of  cars  and 
rolling  stock  of  said  company.  These  terms  were  accepted  by  the 
company,  and  the  money  was  duly  paid  over.  It  resulted  in  a  vote  of 
666  for,  to  240  against.  On  the  same  day  a  proposition  was  submitted 
and  voted  on  to  contribute  $25,000  to  the  Rosedale  &  Danville  rail- 
road, upon  terms  which  have  not  been  complied  with,  and  cannot  be. 
The  vote  was  597  for,  to  254  against. 

Under  the  old  system  of  voting  township  aid  to  railroads,  many 
towns  were  victimized  by  irregularity  of  proceedings  or  by  the 
carelessness  of  officers;  but  Danville,  while  pursuing  what  must  be 
called,  with  the  present  light,  a  very  liberal  course,  has  in  every  case 
got  whatever  was  bargained  for,  and  by  the  aid -of  careful  and  com- 
petent officers,  made  every  step  a  sure  one.  The  rapid  growth  and 
development  which  has  followed  this  railroad  building  is  convincing 
proof  that  it  was  the  course  of  wisdom  to  encourage  their  building  in 
the  only  way  it  could  be  encouraged, —  that  is,  by  granting  township 
aid.     However  much  it   may  be  condemned  now  by  some,  time  will 


346  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

no  doubt  justify  the  course  of  the  men  who  took  the  lead  in   this 
matter. 

GERMANTOWN. 

Germantown  is  a  village  in  Danville  township,  lying  northeast  of 
the  Junction.  Soon  after  building  the  car-shops  of  the  Illinois  Eastern 
Railroad,  the  employes  of  the  company  began  to  build  in  that  vicinity, 
and  their  numbers  increased  so  considerably  that  it  was  found  that  cor- 
porate authority  was  necessary. 

A  petition  was  filed  in  the  county  court,  June  25, 1874,  asking  that 
the  court  would  direct  the  holding  of  an  election  to  vote  for  or  against 
village  corporation,  under  the  general  law  of  the  state,  to  embrace  the 
territory  within  the  following  bounds,  and  setting  forth  that  there  were 
over  four  hundred  people  residing  within  the  said  limits,  to-wit :  Com- 
mencing at  the  point  where  the  eastern  boundary  of  the  city  of  Dan- 
ville crosses  the  road  leading  from  Danville  to  Covington,  thence  north 
with  said  eastern  boundaiy  line  to  the  northern  boundary  line  of  said 
citv ;  thence  west  alono-  the  north  boundarv  line  to  where  it  crosses 
Stony  Creek ;  thence  up  said  creek  to  a  point  where  the  road  from 
Danville  to  Williamsport  runs  due  east  from  said  creek;  thence  east 
on  said  Williamsport  road  two  hundred  and  thirty  rods  to  a  road  run- 
ning south  ;  thence  south  to  the  Danville  and  Covington  road ;  thence 
west  to  the  place  of  beginning.  The  petition  contained  the  signatures 
of  sixty  voters  who  resided  in  said  limits.  The  court  ordered  an  elec- 
tion to  be  held  for  the  purposes  set  forth  in  the  petition,  July  6,  1874, 
and  appointed  George  Rust,  August  Koch  and  J.  L.  Smith,  judges. 
At  such  election  30  votes  were  cast  for,  and  1  against,  incorporation. 
An  election  was  held  July  31  for  six  trustees  to  perfect  the  organiza- 
tion, the  same  gentlemen  being  appointed  to  act  as  judges.  At  such 
election  34  votes  were  cast,  resulting  in  the  election  of  the  fol- 
lowing trustees :  F.  Schlief,  August  Koch,  J.  Leverenz,  E.  Lowe,  F. 
Hause  and  C.  B.  Davis.  On  organization,  C.  B.  Davis  was  elected 
president.  John  L.  Smith,  clerk,  and  George  Rust,  treasurer.  In  1875 
sixty-one  votes  were  cast.  J.  L.  Smith  was  elected  president;  F. 
Schlief,  L.  W.  Taylor,  A.  Rudolph,  J.  Leverenz  and  Fred  Schoultz, 
trustees  ;  M.  M.Woodward,  police  magistrate,  and  G.W.  Davidson,  clerk. 

The  present  officers  are :  J.  A.  Thews,  president ;  D.  'Lynch.  J.  F. 
House,  John  Bahls,  Fred  Timni  and  Wm.  Schultz.  trustees:  Alexan- 
der Field,  clerk;  L.  M.  Taylor,  treasurer;  M.  M.  Woodward,  police 
magistrate. 

As  will  be  seen,  the  residents  are  principally  Germans,  and  are  an 
industrious,  intelligent  and  worthy  class  of  people,  most  of  them  being 
in  the  employ  of  the  railroad  company. 


DANVILLE    TOWNSHIP.  847 


CAP-SHOPS. 


The  machine  and  repair  shops  of  the  Chicago  &  Eastern  Illinois 
Railroad  Company  are  located  near  here,  having  located  in  this  place 
by  a  vote  of  Danville  township,  giving  to  the  company  #75,000  on 
condition  of  their  permanent  location.  The  car-shop  is  75x142,  brick, 
two  stories  high;  machine  shop,  75x142,  brick;  ronnd-honse,  with 
twelve  stalls,  is  210  feet  in  length,  of  brick  and  stone;  the  blacksmith 
shop,  50x100,  brick;  paint  shop,  16x24,  frame;  office  and  store, 
16x30,  frame;  oil  room,  16x25,  frame. 

The  business  carried  on  here  is  largely  the  repair  and  rebuilding  of 
cars,  coaches  and  locomotives  of  the  company,  though  new  ones  can  be 
built  throughout  when  occasion  requires.  The  business  has  been  so 
depressed  that  new  rolling  stock  has  been  bought  cheaper  than  it  could 
be  made  here, —  a  condition  of  things  not  likely  to  remain  long.  The 
works  are  under  the  charge  of  A.  Cook,  who  »has  had  many  years'  ex- 
perience on  various  eastern  roads.  There  are  two  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  men  employed,  and  the  pay  roll  for  labor  alone  amounts  to  $11,- 
000,  being  an  average  of  $40  per  man  per  month. 

SOUTH    DANVILLE. 

South  Danville  is  that  portion  of  the  township  which  lies  immedi- 
ately across  the  river  south  of  the  city,  where  the  coal  mining  opera- 
tions of  Mr.  A.  C.  Daniel  are  carried  on. 

The  village  was  incorporated  in  1874.  In  February,  John  A.  Lewis 
and  thirty-five  others,  petitioned  the  county  court  to  order  an  election 
to  vote  for  or  against  incorporating  under  the  general  act,  with  the  fol- 
lowing boundaries:  commencing  at  the  Wabash  railway  bridge,  thence 
southwest  with  said  railroad  to  a  point  where  the  state  road  from  Dan- 
ville to  Georgetown  crosses  said  railroad;  thence  west  to  the  Paris  & 
Danville  road  (now  Danville  &  Southwestern);  thence  north  to  the 
Vermilion  River;  thence  along  said  river  to  the  place  of  beginning. 
The  petition  set  forth  that  there  were  five  hundred  persons  residing 
within  said  limits.  The  election  was  held  March  14,  at  which  77 
votes  were  cast  —  51  being  for  incorporation  and  25  against. 

An  election  was  held  April  22,  for  six  trustees  to  put  the  organiza- 
tion into  effect,  at  which  73  votes  wrere  cast.  James  Bracewell,  James 
Hall,  David  Frazee,  Joseph  Anderson  and  M.  C.  Wilkinson  were  elected. 
B.  T.  Hodges  and  J.  H.  Lewis  received  an  equal  number  of  votes,  and 
were  in  consequence  summoned  before  his  honor,  Judge  Hanford,  to 
"  draw  straws."  Lewis  drew  the  short  straw,  and  by  this  apparent  game 
of  chance,  the  dignity  of  a  trustee  of  South  Danville  fell  upon  Hodges. 


:',4S  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

David  F razee  was  elected  president,  and  II.  J.  Hall,  clerk.  The  Board 
of  Trustees  provided  a  set  of  ordinances  for  the  government  of  the 
village,  and  set  the  wheels  of  government  in  motion. 

In  1875  the  following  were  elected  trustees:  Isaac  Bracewell,  Sam- 
uel Trisler,  Hugh  Graham,  Joseph  Robson,  Lewis  Bracewell,  Philip 
Pusoy,  and  Francis  Jones  was  elected  clerk. 

The  present  officers  are  Isaac  Bracewell,  president ;  F.  Jones,  clerk ; 
II.  J.  Hall,  police  magistrate  ;  James  Bracewell,  treasurer;  W.  J.  Bran- 
nock  and  Sylvester  Royce,  constables. 

By  ordinance,  trustees  receive  one  dollar  for  each  regular  meeting 
and  fifty  cents  for  each  called  meeting;  treasurer  and  clerk,  one  dollar 
and  twenty-live  cents  for  each  meeting.  The  citizens  of  South  Dan- 
ville are  largely  engaged  in  coal  mining  which  is  being  carried  on 
there. 

ORGANIZATION. 

There  seems  to  be  an  undue  amount  of  mystery  thrown  around  the 
official  life  of  the  city  of  Danville.  That  it  was  early  incorporated  is 
generally  known,  but  at  a  fire  which  occurred  about  1867  all  the 
records  of  the  city  were  destroyed.  Later,  or  about  1872,  the  clerk  ran 
away,  or  for  some  other  reason  it  became  an  object  for  some  one  to 
make  away  with  the  records, —  or,  to  put  it  in  the  other  form,  there  are 
no  records  in  the  city  clerk's  office  prior  to  1872. 

In  the  year  1855  a  new  special  charter  was  given  by  the  legislature, 
which  repealed  the  former  one,  and  established  the  limits  of  the  city 
which  should  contain  all  of  the  original  town,  and  such  additions  as  had 
been  platted,  or  such  as  should  farther  be  regularly  platted  and  re- 
corded as  additions  to  it.  In  1867  the  old  charter  seems  to  have  been 
worn  out,  or  at  least  it  was  burned  up  with  the  records,  and  a  new  one 
was  granted,  under  which  the  city  operated  until  1874,  when  it  became 
incorporated  under  the  general  act  of  1872. 

The  following  have  served  as  mayors  since  its  organization :  J.  C. 
Winslow,  J.  G.  English,  W.  W.  r"  Woodbury,  T.  H.  Myers,  L.  T. 
Dickason. 

The  city  is  now  divided  into  five  wards,  each  entitled  to  two  alder- 
men. The  following  is  the  list  of  officers  at  present :  Mayor,  L.  T. 
Dickason  ;  clerk,  A.  C.  Freeman ;  treasurer,  T.  B.  Castleman  ;  attor- 
ney, G.  F.  Tincher;  aldermen  —  1st  ward,  P.  Carey,  A.  Sieferman  ; 
2d  ward,  A.  H.  Patterson,  B.  Brittingham ;  3d  ward,  W.  A.  Young, 
I).  Watrous;  4th  ward,  E.  Good,  H.  W.  Beckwith ;  5th  ward,  John 
Schario,  W.  C.  McReynolds ;  marshal,  Leonard  Myers;  fire-depart- 
ment chief,  W.  H.  Taylor ;  engineer,  J.  M.  Partlow  ;  police  magistrate, 
John  McMahon.    The  following  table  of  population  has  been  compiled 


DANVILLE  TOWNSHIP.  :;4lJ 

from  "  Coffeen's  Hand-Book  of  Vermilion  County,"  and  other  sources : 
In  1826,  none;  1827,  probably  15;  1S28,  about  55;  1830,  nearly  100; 
1835,  about  500  ;  1840,  503  ;  1845,  nearly  600  ;  1850,  736  ;  1855,  1,125  ; 
1860,  1,632  ;  1865,  nearly  3,000  ;  1870,  township,  7,181  ;  L875,  no  cen- 
sus was  taken;  1879,  township  from  careful  estimates,  13,324. 

■ 

KIKE    DEPARTMENT. 

Of  the  fire  department  of  the  city  of  Danville  but  little  can  be  said 
up  to  May  6,  1867,  at  which  time  Lincoln  Fire  Company,  No.  1,  was 
organized.  The  company  consisted  of  forty  members,  without  pay, 
except  the  empty  honors  of  serving  the  public  —  not  for  glory,  but  for 
pastime.  They,  however,  did  the  best  they  could  with  the  inferior 
apparatus  at  their  command,  which  consisted  of  a  kind  of  hook  and 
ladder  truck,  bearing  about  the  same  relation  to  the  modern  hook  and 
ladder  apparatus  as  does  the  old  flint-lock  musket  of  a  century  ago  to 
the  modern  Henry  rifle.  Of  this  company  D.  A.  Childs  was  elected 
foreman ;  M.  Redford,  assistant  foreman  ;  Charles  Eotf,  secretary,  and 
C.  Y.  Yates,  treasurer. 

In  the  year  1867,  during  the  administration  of  J.  C.  Winslow  as 
mayor,  a  second  hand  engine  and  299  feet  of  leather  hose  was  pur- 
chased for  $1,200,  and  for  the  time  the  company  felt  proud  of  their 
machine  and  the  people  felt  secure  from  the  destructive  element.  But 
the  former  soon  became  tired  of  the  toy,  and  lost  interest  as  they  found 
to  their  sorrow  that  instead  of  pastime  it  was  real  labor,  plenty  of 
curses  and  no  glory ;  and  the  latter  began  to  feel  less  secure  as  here 
and  there  through  the  city  a  stable  or  a  shed  or  a  dwelling  destroyed 
by  tire  gave  evidence  of  the  lack  of  means  of  effectually  "fighting  fire.'" 
However,  things  ran  along  after  a  fashion  until  1872,  when,  during  the 
administration  of  T.  H.  Myers  as  mayor,  it  was  determined  by  the 
council  to  purchase  a  steam  fire  engine.  The  committee  on  fire  and 
water  at  that  time  consisted  of  N.  S.  Monroe,  W.  H.  Taylor  and  Win. 
A.  Brown.  To  this  committee  was  intrusted  the  selection  and  purchase 
of  the  engine. 

After  mature  deliberation  it  was  determined  to  purchase  one  of 
Messrs.  Silsbv  c*c  Co's  rotary  engines,  also  an  additional  hose  cart  and 
500  feet  of  best  rubber  hose.  The  purchase  gave  a  new  impetus  to  the 
fire  department,  and  the  company  was  reorganized  on  a  more  tangible 
basis.  The  number  of  members  was  fixed  at  sixteen,  and  salaries  suit- 
able to  the  services  performed,  and  of  the  ability  of  the  city  to  pay, 
given  to  each.  Under  the  new  organization  the  fire  department  began 
to  rise  in  importance  and  efficiency,  new  water  supplies  were  provided, 
and  the  citizens  slept  with  a  feeling  of  security  hitherto  unknown.    As 


350  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

the  city  increased  in  size  and  number  of  risks,  additional  protection 
was  found,  if  not  an  absolute  necessity  at  least  advisable,  and  an  addi- 
tional steamer  was  purchased  in  1875  by  the  committee  appointed  for 
the  purpose,  which  consisted  of  W.  II.  Taylor,  P.  Carey  and  Gr.  W. 
Ilooton.  After  witnessing  a  severe  test  of  several  leading  engines,  the 
committee  selected  another  of  the  Silsby  engines.  After  the  indorse- 
ment of  a  citizens'  committee,  appointed  to  report  on  the  same  subject, 
the  council  purchased  the  engine,  and  the  city  of  Danville  now  justly 
boasts  of  a  fire  department  and  apparatus  unexcelled  by  those  of  any 
city  of  its  size. 

Under  the  excellent  supervision  of  W.  H.  Taylor,  chairman  of  the 
committee,  all  the  modern  improvements  have  been  introduced.  These 
consist  of  a  heater,  by  which  the  water  is  kept  boiling  continually,  thus 
facilitating  the  raising  of  steam,  and  thereby  saving  time;  a  good  team 
of  horses  for  the  engine  and  hose  cart  have  been  purchased,  and  all  of 
the  apparatus  is  kept  in  readiness  to  be  used  at  a  moment's  warning. 

Since  1871  little  change  has  been  made  in  the  company,  except  the 
appointment  of  two  engineers,  one  of  which  is  on  duty  continually. 
In  the  year  1879  the  company  was  reorganized,  and  the  office  of  chief 
of  fire  department  created.  W.  H.  Taylor  was  appointed  chief,  and 
under  his  supervision  the  engines  and  apparatus  have  been  put  in  the 
best  possible  condition.  The  following  is  a  list  of  officers  and  members 
of  the  company,  as  constituted  at  this  writing,  with  salaries  attached : 

W.  H.  Taylor,  Chief  of  Fire  Department $55  per  month. 

George  Lupt,  First  Engineer 50      " 

Putnam  Russell,  Second  Engineer 50      " 

W.  D.  Dearing 50      " 

Isaac  Hurlacker 20  per  quarter. 

E.  Peables 20      " 

A.  Brant 15       " 

C.  Lindsey 15       " 

William  Dallas 13      " 

J.  Peables 13      " 

E.  Brant 13       " 

M.  Yearkes 13      " 

Charles  Adams 13  per  month. 

Frank  Wells 13      " 

James  Harrison 13      " 

Jackson  Brideman 13       " 

George  Cox 13      " 

DANVILLE  TURN-VEREIN. 

This  peculiarly  German  society,  established  for  the  purpose  of  de- 
veloping the  muscle  and  thereby  of  conducing  to  the  health  of  its 
members,  was  instituted  March  22,  1874,  with  a  membership  of  twenty- 


DANVILLE    TOWNSHIP.  351 

five.  The  first  officers  were:  A.  Sieferman,  president ;  A.  Oberdorfer, 
vice-president ;  John  Bross,  secretary ;  E.  Flemming,  treasurer,  and 
Henry  Grube,  leader  of  gymnastics.  Active  steps  were  immediately 
taken  for  the  erection  of  a  suitable  building  in  which  to  practice  the 
art  of  physical  development,  and  in  the  following  year  a  frame  building 
was  completed,  and  on  the  25th  of  December  was  dedicated  with  fitting 
ceremonies  to  the  use  for  which  it  was  designed.  This  building,  how- 
ever, was  destined  to  a  short  existence,  for  on  the  9th  of  February. 
1877,  only  a  little  over  a  year  after  its  dedication,  it  was  destroyed  by 
fire.  With  that  pluck  and  steadfastness  of  purpose  bred,  perhaps,  in 
part  by  the  exercises  of  the  gymnasium,  they  went  to  work  again,  and 
a  building  much  superior  followed  the  same  season.  This,  the  present 
fine  hall,  is  of  brick,  and  is  35  x  90  feet  in  size,  with  an  addition  1-1  x  30 
feet.  It  was  complete  and  dedicated  on  the  12th  day  of  August,  1877. 
Its  value  is  §1,000.  The  present  membership  of  the  society  is  about 
sixty,  of  which  A.  Schatz  is  president;  John  Seidel,  vice-president; 
E.  Blankenburg,  first  secretary ;  F.  Blankenburg,  second  secretary  : 
Fred  Theis,  treasurer ;  H.  Grube,  first  leader  of  gymnastics,  and  John 
Molter.  second  leader. 

GEOENSEITIGE    DEUTSCHE    UNTERSTUTZUNGS    VEREIN. 

This  society,  though  it  has  to  non-speaking  Germans  an  unpro- 
nounceable name,  is  yet  a  very  popular  and  well-patronized  institution, 
established,  as  its  name  indicates,  for  the  purpose  of  mutual  aid  among 
its  members.  It  ranks  high  financially  and  otherwise  among  the 
societies  of  Danville.  The  society  was  organized  February  7,  1872, 
with  A.  Sieferman  as  president;  George  Dudenhofer,  vice-president; 
E.  Blankenburg,  secretary;  W.  Schatz,  financial  secretary,  and  Stacy 
Miller,  treasurer.  The  meetings  of  the  society  are  held  in  Turner 
hall. 

THE    BOOK    TRADE. 

Nothing  indicates  more  clearly  the  status  of  a  community  in  culture 
and  enterprise  than  the  condition  of  its  book  trade,  for  it  marks  both 
the  intelligence  and  liberality  of  a  people  to  find  in  their  midst  well- 
supplied  book  stores. 

In  1868  Danville  was  just  starting  out  vigorously  in  its  new  march 
of  progress.  It  was  about  this  time  that  Mr.  Coffeen  came  to  Danville 
and  started  the  first  exclusive  book  store  in  this  place.  Previously  the 
book  trade  had  been  left  to  notion  dealers  and  merchants  carrying  other 
lines  of  goods.  Mr.  Coffeen  opened  in  a  store-room  belonging  to  C.  K. 
Mires,  now  occupied  Iry  Elliott's  dry-goods  store.  By  enterprise  and  a 
proper  appreciation  of  the  wants  of  the  growing  city,  he  built  up  a  very 


352 


HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COL'NTY, 


prosperous  book  trade,  and  afterward,  in  1874,  built  the  elegant  store- 
room on  Main  street  opposite  the  court-house,  where  the  book  store  of 
CofFeen  &  Pollock  is  now  kept.  An  idea  of  this  establishment  may  be 
obtained  from  the  accompanying  illustration  : 


INTERIOR   OF   COFFEEN   &   POLLOCK  S   BOOK   STOKE. 

About  the  same  time  that  Mr.  CofTeen  moved  his  book  store  to  its 
present  location,  Mr.  McCorkle  opened  out  a  store  of  similar  character 
in  the  room  now  occupied  by  E.  J.  Draper's  grocery  store.  This  store 
continued  until  1870.  In  the  meantime  L.  B.  Abdill  started  in  the 
trade  on  the  east  side  of  Main  street.  Mr.  Abdill  has  been  quite  pros- 
perous, and  his  is  one  of  the  many  excellent  stores  of  the  city. 

W.  W.  R.  Woodbury,  druggist,  also  handles  goods  in  this  line,  and 
carries  a  large  and  well  selected  stock  of  drugs  and  notions. 

Besides  the  reo-nlar  book  stores  mentioned  there  are  two  news 
stands  that  seem  to  be  doing  a  good  business  in  periodical  literature. 

CHURCHES. 

The  following  extract  from  a  sermon  delivered  by  Ttev.  A.  L.  Brooks 
on  the  occasion  of  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the  Presbyterian  church 
of  this  place,  is  a  fitting  tribute,  not  only  to  that  particular  society,  but 
applies  with  equal  propriety  to  the  church  in  general : 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  353 

'•  We  arrogate  nothing  when  we  say  that  it  is  a  church  of  the  living 
God,  that  it  has  been  a  pillar  and  ground  of  those  great  fundamental 
and  vital    truths   by  which   the  city  in  which   it  is  located   has   been 
blessed  and  prospered.     We  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  the  influence  of 
the  church  has  been  very  significant  and  benign  upon  all  the  material 
and  social  and  religious  interests  of  the  city.     Her  teachings  have  been 
in  accordance  with  the  wisdom  and  righteousness  and  love  and  grace 
of  God.     They  have  served  to  hold  in  check  the  tendencies  to  lawless- 
ness and  crime;  they  have  enforced  public  morality,  stimulated  the 
desire  for  good  government,  for  commercial  integrity,  for  social  purity. 
Conscience  has  been  enlightened  and  its  judgment  enforced.     It  has 
carried  the  peace  and  piety  of  our  holy  religion  into  many  of  the  homes 
of  the  city.     It  has  restrained  the  youth  from  the  follies  and  crimes 
that  afflict  the  homes  and  communities  where  church  influences  are  not 
in  the  ascendant.     It  has  drawn  to  our  city  some  of  the  best  and  most 
permanent  of  our  business  and  social  element.     It  has  exerted  a  signifi- 
cant influence  on  the  educational  interests  of  our  community.     It  has 
been   the  conservator   of  good   order  and  peace,   but  especially  and 
supremely  has  it  exerted  a  mighty  influence  in  maintaining  these  great 
and  fundamental  doctrines  by  which  alone  is  it  possible  to  lead  men 
out  from  under  the  dominion  and  condemnation  of  sin.     It  has  done 
a  work  for  this  city  which  no  mere  secular  institution  could  have  done. 
It  has  been  more  to  the  material,  social  and  christian  prosperity  than 
any  single  industry  could  have  been.     It  has  been  more  to  the  happi- 
ness and  welfare  of  our  families  than  any  or  all  of  the  worldly  endow- 
ments of  a  gracious  providence  could   have  been  without  it.     It  has 
brought  to  us  the  best  returns  of  all  the  investments  we  have  made 
of  our  worldly  substance,  and  it  has  brought  us  into  the  highest  and 
noblest  fellowship  of  the  pure  on  earth  and  of  the  sinless  in  heaven. " 

THE    PRESBYTERIAN    CHURCH. 

The  Presbyterian  is  the  pioneer  church  of  this  city  and  of  this  part 
of  the  country.  Though  religious  services  had  been  held  prior  to 
182!».  no  definitely  organized  society  existed  until  the  date  named. 
This  church  was  organized  on  the  8th  day  of  March,  1829,  by  Rev. 
Samuel  Baldridge,  with  the  following  eight  persons  as  the  original 
members:  Dr.  Asa  R.  Palmer,  Josiah  Alexander,  Elizabeth  Alexander, 
Mary  Ann  Alexander,  Solomon  Gilbert,  Submit  Gilbert,  Lucy  Gilbert, 
and  Parmela  Tomlinson.  Of  these  Dr.  Palmer  was  selected  as  first 
ruling  elder.  Of  the  eight  named,  but  one,  Lucy  Gilbert,  still  survives. 
The  names  given  will  be  recognized  as  among  the  most  worthy  and 
honored  citizens  of  the  city.  Their  work  in  the  church  was  unselfish, 
2:5 


35  t  HISTOKY    OF    VERMILION"    COUNTY. 

and  their  influence  for  good  was  acknowledged  by  all.  Rev.  Samuel 
Baldridge,  who  was  instrumental  in  organizing  the  church,  was  also 
first  pastor,  officiating  in  that  capacity,  however,  but  a  few  months. 
The  honors  of  the  enterprise  seem,  however,  to  cluster  around  the 
name  of  the  Rev.  Enoch  Kingsbury,  who  came  to  the  church  in  the 
early  part  of  1831,  and  settled  here  permanently  in  the  year  following. 
Mr.  Kingsbury  is  remembered  as  a  patriot,  a  hero,  a  philanthropist,  a 
christian  and  an  enthusiast  in  the  work  chosen  by  him.  He  served  the 
church  as  pastor  faithfully  and  most  acceptably  for  over  twenty  years, 
and  gave  up  the  pastorate  after  it  became  absolutely  necessary  from 
failing  health.  Afterward  he  was  engaged  in  various  religious  and 
benevolent  enterprises,  and  labored  enthusiastically  until  18G8,  when 
he  received  the  summons  to  "  come  up  higher,''  with  the  approbation, 
""Well  done  thou  good  and  faithful  servant/' 

This  church  has  prospered  well,  both  financially  and  spiritually,  under 
the  labors  of  Mr.  Kingsbury  and  his  successors.  The  present  member- 
ship numbers  two  hundred  and  eighty-seven,  of  which  Rev.  A.  L.  Brooks 
is  present  pastor.  Under  the  pastorate  of  Mr.  Brooks,  extending  from 
December,  1870,  to  the  present  writing,  the  church  has  been  in  a  most 
flourishing  condition,  there  having  been  received  as  members  during 
that  period  two  hundred  and  thirty-seven,  nine,ty-one  of  whom  have 
been  on  profession  of  faith. 

Rev.  A.  L.  Brooks  was  born  in  Madison  county,  New  York,  June 
19,  1819,  and  is  the  son  of  Jesse  and  Olivia  (Lyon)  Brooks.  His 
father  was  a  native  of  Connecticut,  and  in  his  early  life  was  a  merchant, 
and  in  later  life  postmaster  and  magistrate  of  Mayville,  New  York. 
His  mother  was  a  native  of  "Vermont. 

Mr.  Brooks  received  the  principal  part  of  his  education  at  Trenton. 
New  York,  where  he  graduated  in  1842.  He  also  graduated  at  Auburn 
Seminary  in  1845.  In  1846  he  was  ordained  as  a  minister,  and  settled 
at  Hamilton  of  the  state  named.  In  1856  he  came  west  and  settled  in 
Chicago,  where  he  remained  seven  years  with  the  Third  Presbyterian 
Church  of  that  city.  From  Chicago  he  went  to  Peoria,  remaining  three 
years  in  charge  of  the  Fulton  Street  Presbyterian  Church ;  thence  to 
Decatur,  as  pastor  of  the  New  School  Church  of  that  city  for  three 
years;  and  finally,  in  1870,  to  Danville,  as  already  related. 

During  the  first  six  years  of  the  existence  of  the  church,  its  meetings 
were  held  in  the  old  log  court-house,  in  private  houses  and  vacant  rooms 
in  different  places,  as  circumstances  demanded  or  permitted.  In  1835, 
by  great  personal  sacrifice  on  the  part  of  its  friends,  a  house  of  worship 
was  erected  on  the  site  of  the  present  church.  This  is  believed  to  have 
been  the  second  Presbyterian  church  building  in  the  east  part  of  the 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  355 

state.  This  church  building-  proved  to  be  really  historical.  It  was 
used  for  many  years  for  almost  all  public  gatherings,  Sunday-schools 
and  other  schools.  The  building  was  used  until,  on  account  of  the 
great  prosperity  of  the  church,  a  new  house  of  worship  was  an  actual 
necessity.  This  was  accomplished  in  1S58,  by  the  erection  of  the 
present  commodious  and  convenient  building.  The  house  was  dedi- 
cated to  the  worship  of  God  on  the  24th  of  December,  1865,  the  ser- 
mon on  that  occasion  being  preached  by  the  Rev.  Joseph  H.  Tuttle, 
president  of  Wabash  College.  The  cost  of  the  present  building  was  a 
little  more  than  $12,000. 

A  very  interesting  and  joyful  event  was  the  holding,  on  the  8th 
and  9th  of  March  of  the  present  year  (1879),  the  semi-centennial  of  the 
organization  of  the  society.  On  that  occasion  Rev.  A.  L.  Brooks,  who, 
as  before  intimated,  has  been  connected  with  the  church  during  its 
most  nourishing  period,  preached  a  historical  sermon,  and  other  mem- 
bers related  interesting  incidents,  and  laid  before  the  society  much 
other  valuable  facts  relating  to  the  church's  history.  These  items  have 
all  been  compiled  and  printed  in  a  neat  pamphlet,  to  which  the  reader 
is  referred  for  a  more  detailed  account  of  this  historical  church  enter- 
prise. 

In  connection  with  the  church  is  a  nourishing  Sunday-school,  -whose 
organization  was  almost  coincident.  The  school  at  present  writing  is 
under  the  efficient  superintendency  of  Mr.  Park  T.  Martin. 

METHODIST    CHUKCH. 

The  first  appointment  made  by  the  Methodist  church  at  Danville 
was  in  1829,  though  perhaps  some  meetings  had  been  held  a  year 
earlier.  This  was  then  a  portion  of  the  Eugene  circuit,  and  covered, 
also,  appointments  in  Indiana  and  all  of  what  is  now  Vermilion  and 
Champaign  counties.  It  was  a  four  weeks'  circuit,  the  preachers  upon 
it  holding  services  every  day  in  the  week.  Rev.  James  McKain,  a 
sketch  of  whose  useful  life  and  valuable  services  to  the  infant  church  is 
given  more  full}7  in  Blount  township,  and  Rev.  J.  E.  French,  of  whom 
the  reader  will  find  further  notice  under  the  head  of  Elwood,  were  the 
first  preachers  on  this  circuit.  After  them,  Rev.  William  Harshey  and 
Rev.  Cotton  James  appear  to  have  been  next. 

In  February,  1836,  G.  W.  Wallace  made  a  warranty  deed  to  the 
county  commissioners  (in  trust)  for  the  lot  upon  which  the  church 
now  stands.  The  deed  was  made  to  the  commissioners  for  the  reason 
that  there  seem  to  have  been  no  trustees  of  the  church  at  that  time. 
In  the  meantime  services  were  being  held  in  private  residences,  in  the 
old  log  school-house  with  greased  paper  windows,  and  on  some  occa- 


356  HIST0R3     OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

sions,  when  the  narrowness  of  these  quarters  (on  account  of  larger  con- 
gregations) required  more  room,  in  the  groves  —  God's  first  temples  — 
adjacent  to  the  village.  The  first  class  leader,  as  now  remembered, 
was  [saac  McKinney.  who  resided  near  Kyger's  mill.  He  walked  to 
town  and  back  for  the  purpose  of  holding  the  meetings. 

Aiming  the  first  members  of  the  class  and  church  were  Samuel 
Whitman  and  wife,  Harvey  Luddington  and  wife,  James  Hulce  and 
wife.  Mrs.  Mary  Sconce  and  a  few  others. 

About  the  time  the  deed  from  "Wallace  was  made  for  the  lot.  the 
building  which  now  stands  in  the  rear  of  their  present  house  of  wor- 
ship, and  now  used  as  a  blacksmith  shop,  was  erected.  The  frame 
building  alluded  to  cost  about  8S00,  and  continued  in  use  until  the 
present  building  was  erected.  The  new  church  cost  $13,500,  and  at 
the  time  of  its  erection  was  considered  one  of  the  finest  houses  of  wor- 
ship in  eastern  Illinois.  Indeed,  for  solidity  and  convenience  it  is  vet 
hardly  excelled,  but  its  size,  though  at  the  time  of  its  erection  thought 
to  be  commensurate  for  all  time  to  come,  has  not  prevented  several 
new  organizations,  which,  like  swarms  of  bees,  have  emerged  from  the 
parent  hive  and  gone  forth  to  work  in  other  portions  of  the  Lord's 
field. 

A  Sabbath-school  was  organized  in  connection  with  the  church, 
almost  coincident  with  the  organization  of  the  first  church  society.  At 
first  there  were  probably  two  dozen  scholars.  Xow.  besides  the  large 
number  attending  other  schools  of  this  denomination  in  and  about  the 
city,  the  parent  school  has  over  three  hundred  members.  The  present 
superintendent  is  George  Abdill.  under  whose  wise  supervision  the 
school  has  attained  a  degree  of  excellence  seldom  enjoyed  by  schools 
<>f  this  character.  The  minister  in  charge  of  the  North  Street  Church 
is  Rev.  F.  A.  Parker. 

Kimber  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  was  organized  in  February. 
1  s»>9,  and  was  so  named  in  honor  of  the  memory  of  the  late  Rev.  Isaac 
C.  Kimber.  Xo  suggestion  of  this  society  can  be  traced  to  a  remoter 
date  than  a  Sunday  afternoon  of  the  month  above  named.  An  inde- 
pendent Sabbath-school,  under  the  management  of  Methodist  people, 
held  in  a  frame  school-house  in  the  northwestern  part  of  the  city,  had 
been  dismissed,  when  a  number  of  officers  and  teachers  tarried  to 
gather  up  the  books,  etc.,  and  while  thus  employed,  incidentally  and 
without  premeditation  the  chorister  of  the  school  remarked  that  a 
church  building  was  desirable  for  the  accommodation  of  the  school. 
This  led  to  remarks  by  others,  and  it  may  be  said  that  the  church  was 
born  there  and  then.  They  who  were  present  and  took  part  in  the 
conversation  were  Joseph  G.  English.  Maria  L.  English,  Jacob  L.  Hill, 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  357 

John  M.  Lamm,    Lizzie   Lamm,  Edward   C.    Abdill,   Sarah  Vaughn, 
Milton  Doughty,  Anna  Doughty  and  Charles  Spedding. 

Rev.  Enoch  Jones  was  employed  to  conduct  services,  and  on  the 
18th  of  the  month  following  he  was  officially  appointed  by  Presiding 
Elder  Sampson  Shinn  as  pastor  of  the  charge.  He  continued  this 
relation  until  April  of  the  same  year,  when  he  was  succeeded  by  Rev. 
Nelson  R.  Whitehead,  who  ministered  to  the  society  until  the  meeting 
of  conference,  when  the  Rev.  James  C.  Rucker  assumed  the  pastorate. 
At  the  date  of  its  formal  organization  the  society  had  twenty  members. 
Its  first  quarterly  conference  was  held  on  Monday  evening,  June  7, 
1869.  A  board  of  trustees  consisting  of  John  McMahan,  John  M. 
Lamm,  Jacob  L.  Hill,  George  W.  Hooton,  Thomas  Neely  and  J.  G. 
English,  who  had  been  appointed  by  the  society,  was  confirmed  by  the 
first  quarterly  conference.  A  board  of  stewards  was  also  appointed, 
to  wit:  Thomas  McKibben,  E.  C.  Abdill,  G.  W.  Hooton,  T.  Neely. 
J.  L.  Hill,  J.  M.  Lamm,  J.  G.  English  and  J.  Moody.  Mr.  English 
was  appointed  recording  steward. 

Immediately  following  the  organization  of  the  society  the  erection 
of  a  meeting-house  was  undertaken,  and  the  dedication  occurred  in 
November,  1869,  by  the  Rev.  Granville  Moody,  of  the  Kentucky  con- 
ference. The  appointment  of  pastors  by  conference  have  been  as  fol- 
lows, to  wit :  Rev.  James  C.  Rucker,  two  years ;  Rev.  George  Stevens, 
three  years;  Rev.  Win.  S.  Hooper,  one  year;  Rev.  Wm.  F.  Gillmore, 
two  years,  and  Rev.  W.  H.  Musgrove,  who  is  now  serving  upon  his 
second  year. 

The  church  property  is  appraised  at  $10,000,  and  its  parsonage  is 
said  by  preachers  to  be  the  best  in  the  conference.  The  society's  con- 
tributions to  the  missionary  fund  have  averaged  $300  a  year.  No 
pastor  has  left  with  the  church  in  debt  to  him.  The  present  member- 
ship is  two  hundred  and  sixty-one. 

It  is  placed  to  the  credit  of  the  colored  people  that  they  are  pecu- 
liarly a  religious  race.  As  a  verification  of  the  assertion  we  find  the 
colored  people  of  Danville  fully  up  to  their  general  reputation  in  this 
particular,  and,  as  far  as  their  ability  warrants,  emulating  their  white 
neighbors  in  good  works. 

An  organization  designated  as  the  A.  M.  E.  Church  was  effected  in 
Danville  in  September  of  1872,  with  G.  W.  Nichols  and  three  or  four 
others  as  original  members,  and  Rev.  Henry  Pugh  as  pastor.  The 
membership  has  increased  to  twenty  at  present  writing.  The  society 
was  without  a  church  building  until  1877,  when  they  erected  what  is 
known  as  Allen  Chapel,  so  called  in  honor  of  their  first  bishop.  The 
building  cost  something  over  $1,200,  is  30x46  feet  in  size,  and  is  a  very 


358  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

comfortable  structure  of  its  kind.  The  colored  people  sustain  an 
interesting  Sabbath-school  in  connection  with  their  church,  of  which 
Mr.  G.  W.  Nichols  is  superintendent.  Rev.  R.  Holly  is  present  pastor 
of  the  church. 

The  first  meetings  of  Til  ton  M.  E.  Church  were  held  in  the  school- 
house  at  Tilton.  Among  the  first  members  were  0.  B.  Scharer  and 
wife,  M.  C.  Smith  and  wife,  Noah  Morgan  and  wife  and  M.  Founder. 
The  present  church  was  built  in  1872,  at  a  cost  of  over  $1,100.  The 
members  of  this  church  numbered  at  one  time  some  fifty;  but  on 
account  of  many  removals  and  some  deaths  the  membership  is  at 
present  only  about  fifteen.  The  church  was  dedicated  by  Dr.  R.  N. 
Davies.  The  present  pastor  is  the  Rev.  S.  H.  Huber.  The  present 
superintendent  of  the  Sunday-school  is  Mary  Lewis;  the  number  of 
scholars  is  about  twenty-five. 

The  first  meetings  of  the  Mount  Zion  M.  E.  Church  were  held  some 
twenty  years  ago  in  the  old  school-house  now  on  Mr.  X.  Parish's  place. 
The  first  members  were  J.  W.  Stine,  Elizabeth  A.  Stine,  Nathan  Parish, 
Hannah  Parish,  A.  Stine,  Eliza  Stine  and  Esther  Rose.  J.  \V.  Stine 
was  the  first  preacher.  In  1873  they  built  the  present  church,  at  a 
cost  of  $1,025 ;  it  was  dedicated  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Davies.  Since  1878 
there  have  been  no  meetings  held  at  this  church. 

GERMAN    METHODIST    CHURCH. 

It  was  in  1857  when  Rev.  G.  Zeiser  was  laboring  on  the  so-called 
Marshall  Mission.  His  field  included  Marshall,  Paris  and  Clarksville. 
He  was  the  first  one  that  was  invited  to  come  to  Danville  and  preach 
to  the  Germans.  One  of  his  members,  moving  from  Paris  to  Danville, 
invited  him  to  come  here.  It  was  in  the  month  of  May,  1857.  when 
he  visited  Danville.  He  visited  the  German  families  from  house  to 
house,  and  appointed  a  meeting  in  the  second  story  of  the  house  in 
which  Mr.  Jacob  Schatz  resided,  and  belonging  to  Dr.  Porter. 

The  meeting  was  numerouslv  attended.  From  that  time  Danville 
was  considered  as  a  regular  appointment.  In  the  fall  after  the  next  con- 
ference, Danville  was  given  under  the  charge  of  Rev.  C.  Holtkamp, 
residing  then  at  Urbana,  until  a  man  could,  be  found  specially  for  Dan- 
ville. Mr.  Holtkamp  came  here  every  three  weeks,  fifty  miles,  on 
horseback,  and  preached  to  the  Germans  of  Danville  with  a  remarkable 
success.  About  Christmas  time,  in  the  same  year,  the  first  quarterly 
meeting  Mas  held  in  the  basement  of  the  North  Street  M.  E.  Church, 
by  the  Rev.  Philip  Kuhl,  Presiding  Elder  of  the  Quincy  District. 
On  that  occasion  quite  a  number  joined  the  church  on  probation,  and 
the  society  was  formally  organized. 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  359 

As  they  had  no  place  of  their  own  to  hold  their  meetings  in,  per- 
mission was  granted  them  to  hold  their  devotional  services  in  one 
room  on  the  second  floor  of  the  old  court-house.  Joseph  Bauer  and 
wife,  Fred.  Loehr  and  wife,  and  John  Bireline  and  wife  were  of  the 
first  members.  Some  of  them  have  gone  to  their  reward.  Under  the 
administration  of  Rev.  Schwindt  was  the  first  little  frame  church  built 
and  completed  in  the  summer  of  1859.  The  building  cost  $700.  The 
following  conference  was  held  in  Danville,  and  as  the  dedication 
Sunday  was  very  rainy,  and  consequently  unfavorable,  one  Sunday 
evening  was  set  aside  on  which  Bishop  Simpson  preached  a  sermon  in 
the  English  church  for  the  purpose  of  raising  subscriptions  to  free  the 
little  German  church  from  debt. 

The  new  brick  church,  with  steeple,  38  x  60  feet,  was  erected  in  the 
summer  of  1874,  and  dedicated  November  30  of  the  same  year  by 
Dr.  Fowler,  then  president  of  the  Northwestern  University  at  Evans- 
ton,  111.  The  church  was  built  under  the  pastorate  of  Rev.  Charles 
Stellner,  and  cost  about  $7,000.  Under  the  administration  of  Rev.  J. 
W.  Roecker,  their  present  pastor,  the  society  enjoys  a  vigorous  condi- 
tion. Their  present  number  is  in  the  neighborhood  of  one  hundred 
members.  The  prosperity  of  the  society  will  undoubtedly  be  greater 
when  the  last  obstruction,  their  burdening  church  debt,  shall  have  been 
finally  and  completely  removed. 

The  society  appreciates  very  highly  the  kindness  of  the  community, 
and  especially  their  English  friends,  in  their  support  and  liberal  con- 
tributions. The  Sunday-school  was  organized  in  June,  1858.  The 
name  of  the  present  superintendent  is  John  Schmidt ;  the  number  of 
scholars,  seventy. 

The  present  minister,  John  W.  Roecker,  M'ho  was  born  in  Adel- 
shopen,  Baden,  Germany,  December  18,  1835,  came  to  America  in 
1848;  located  in  Washington  county,  Wis.,  where  he  received  his 
principal  education.  He  was  ordained  as  deacon  by  Bishop  Aimes  in 
1860 ;  as  elder,  by  Bishop  Baker  in  1862.  He  was  first  appointed  at 
Des  Moines,  Iowa;  thence  to  Burlington,  Iowra ;  Crown  Point,  Ind.  ; 
Manitowoc,  Sheboygan,  Oshkosh,  Milwaukee,  Wis. ;  Laporte,  Ind. ; 
and  Chicago.     In  1877  he  came  to  Danville. 

The  first  meetings  of  the  Asbury  M.  E.  Church  were  held  at  the 
residence  of  William  Delay  in  about  the  year  1830.  Among  the  first 
members  were  William  Delay  and  wife,  Father  Boston  and  wife,  Mr. 
Yillars  and  wife,  Mr.  Howard  and  wife,  George  Dillon  and  wife,  Samuel 
Roderick  and  wife,  and  Mrs.  Rigdon.  The  meetings  of  the  society 
continued  to  be  held  at  private  residences  and  in  the  school-house  until 
1851,  when  their  present  house  of  worship  was  erected.     It  was  named, 


■  tin  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

in  honor  of  one  of  the  great  lights  of  that  denomination,  Asbury 
Chapel.  Among  the  first  ministers  who  preached  here  were  Revs. 
Mr.  Lane,  Win.  C.  Prentis  and  Oliver  Mnnsell.  The  last  named  was 
afterward  connected  with  the  Wesleyan  University  at  Bloomington  as 
president.  The  pastor  in  charge  at  the  present  writing  is  Rev.  G.  B. 
Goldsmith.  The  church  is  in  good  condition  and  has  an  active  mem- 
bership of  forty-eight.  A  good  Sunday-school,  with  a  fail-  attendance, 
is  also  sustained. 

CHURCH    OF     THE    HOLY    TRINITY    (PROTESTANT    EPISCOPAL). 

The  first  services  of  this  denomination  were  held  in  the  city  of  Dan- 
ville by  Rev.  Mr.  Osborn,  of  Chicago,  who  preached  occasionally  during 
the  years  1863-4.  The  founding  of  the  church  was  brought  about  by 
E.  J.  Purdy,  late  of  Logansport,  Ind.,  who  held  services  here  December 
10,  1865,  and  on  the  next  evening  called  a  meeting  for  the  purpose 
of  definite  work.  At  that  meeting  Mrs.  Win.  Hessey,  Mrs.  Henry  S. 
Forbes,  Miss  Matilda  Holton,  and  Messrs.  John  Donlon,  J.  C.  Winslow, 
Charles  Caton,  J.  R.  Baker  and  R.  W.  Hanford  were  appointed  as  a 
committee  of  general  extension.  At  the  organization  there  was  only 
one  communicant  in  town,  and  though  the  building  up  of  a  church  of 
this  faith  has  been  a  constant  struggle,  they  have,  with  a  steadfastness 
of  purpose  peculiar  to  that  sect,  pursued  the  even  tenor  of  their  way, 
and  to-day  finds  them  with  a  pleasant  house  of  worship,  27  x  50  feet  in 
size,  capable  of  seating  comfortabl}'  over  two  hundred  persons,  a  good 
conoreffation  anc]  a  nourishing-  Sabbath-school.  Rev.  F.  W.  Tavlor  is 
rector  and  superintendent  of  the  Sabbath-school. 

UNITED    BRETHREN    IN    CHRIST. 

The  first  preaching  service  held  by  this  denomination  in  Danville 
was  at  the  old  German  church  in  the  winter  of  1870.  The  church 
was  organized  with  the  following  five  members :  George  Holycross, 
Isaiah  Smutz,  Mary  Smutz,  G.  W.  Vangordon  and  Robert  Wilson,  the 
first  named  being  the  leader. 

The  first  quarterly  meeting  was  held  at  the  residence  of  G.  W.  Bar- 
low in  June,  1871.  The  work  of  erecting  a  house  of  worship  was 
undertaken  in  April,  1871,  and  completed  the  same  year.  The  size  of 
the  original  building  was  32  x  44  feet,  and  cost  $1,250.  Four  years 
later  the  building  was  taken  down  and  removed  to  North  Vermilion 
street,  where  it  was  rebuilt  and  twelve  feet  added  to  the  length,  at  an 
additional  cost  of  §1,630.  Thus  the  Brethren  have  a  very  neat  and 
commodious  building  for  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  designed. 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  361 

The  present  membership  of  the  church  is  twenty-three,  of  which 
Rev.  F.  E.  Penney  is  pastor. 

THE    GERMAN     UNITED    I5RETHREN    IN    CHRIST 

Held  their  first  meetings  at  private  residences,  but  their  first  meeting 
for  organization  and  to  receive  members  was  held  in  the  German 
Methodist  church,  at  which  time  and  place  ten  persons  —  Philip 
Steube,  John  Buy,  Philip  Timm,  J.  Schoultz  and  Carl  Leverenz, 
and  their  wives  —  united,  thus  founding  the  church,  since  established 
at  the  corner  of  Hayes  and  North  streets.  Messrs.  Buy  and  Schoultz 
were  appointed  as  first  trustees.  In  about  the  year  1862  they  built 
the  little  chapel  on  the  corner  next  to  their  present  building  at  a  cost 
of  about  $600.  This  building  they  occupied  for  about  ten  years,  when, 
in  1871,  they  erected  a  more  commodious  building,  at  an  outlay  of 
$3,033.     The  small  building  is  now  used  for  school  purposes. 

Over  one  hundred  members  now  belong  to  the  organization.  Rev. 
Mr.  Aessel  is  the  present  pastor.  A  good  Sunday-school  is  sustained, 
of  which  J.  Schoultz  is  superintendent. 

BAPTIST    CHURCH. 

The  Baptist  church  of  Danville  was  organized  in  1873,  holding  its 
first  meeting  for  that  purpose  on  the  first  Sabbath  of  the  year  named, 
in  Robert  McDonald's  hall,  over  Freese  &  Bayle's  store,  on  Main 
street.  Though  this  was  the  first  organized  effort  of  this  denomination 
at  this  point,  it  was  not  the  first  religious  service  held  by  them,  as  the 
Baptists  —  at  least  a  branch  of  that  church  —  were  really  pioneers  in 
religion,  not  only  here,  but  all  over  this  part  of  the  state.  At  the  date 
to  which  allusion  has  been  made,  Rev.  E.  S.  Graham  preached  a  ser- 
mon, after  which  he  advised  the  brethren  and  sisters  present  to  organize 
a  Baptist  church.  To  this  call  E.  F.  Graham,  Mrs.  F.  B.  Freese,  Mrs. 
M.  F.  C.  Wilber,  Mrs.  K.  Bayle,  Mrs.  H.  L.  Hoi  ton,  Mrs.  S.  Kimball, 
J.  W.  Parker,  Mrs.  J.  W.  Parker,  E.  Wilkinson,  Mrs.  E.  Wilkinson 
and  Mrs.  Eliza  Davis  responded  by  affixing  their  names  to  the  cov- 
enant and  adopting  the  articles  of  faith. 

The  church  then  called  Rev.  E.  S.  Graham  to  be  their  pastor,  which 
position  he  has  ever  since  held.  The  church  has  prospered  well,  both 
financially  and  spiritually.  In  the  short  period  of  its  existence  there 
have  been  received  into  its  fold  by  letter,  104  members;  by  baptism, 
38,  and  by  relation,  15,  making  a  total  of  157.  Of  the  original  eleven 
members,  eight  are  still  connected  with  the  church. 

The  society  owns  a  very  pleasant  and  commodious  house  of  wor- 


362  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

* 

ship,  valued  at  about  $7,000,  which  seats  comfortably  four  hundred 
persons. 

CHRISTIAN    CHURCH. 

The  Christian  Church  of  Danville  was  organized  January  13,  1873. 
During  the  month  named  Rev.  John  F.  Rowe  held  the  first  services, 
in  the  hall  in  the  third  story  of  the  Leseure  block.  The  meetings 
finally  resulted  in  the  founding  of  the  society  as  stated.  The  church 
soon  after  called  Elder  W.  R.  Jewell,  present  pastor,  and  also  editor  of 
the  Danville  "Daily  News,"  to  take  charge  of  the  society.  The  enter- 
prise, though  begun  under  some  inauspicious  circumstances,  has  pros- 
pered well,  and  to-day  numbers  over  one  hundred  and  twenty  members. 
The  next  year  after  the  organization  they  concluded  to  erect  a  house 
of  worship.  A  very  neat  and  commodious  building  34x55  feet  in  size 
was  erected  at  a  Cost  of  $3,500. 

In  connection  with  this  church  is  an  interesting  Sabbath-school, 
which  was  organized  in  1874,  Mr.  H.  A.  Coffeen  being  the  first  super- 
intendent. From  a  small  beginning,  with  about  thirty  members,  the 
school  has  increased  to  nearly  one  hundred.  At  the  present  writing, 
the  school  is  under  the  superintendence  of  Elder  W.  R.  Jewell. 

The  Christian  Church  of  Tilton,  by  some  known  as  the  New  Light 
Church,  was  erected  in  1872,  at  a  cost  of  about  $1,400,  and  was  dedi- 
cated by  Elder  Wilkins.  The  first  pastor  in  charge  was  Rev.  John 
Green,  the  present  preacher.  Among  the  original  members  of  the 
society  were  S.  Hodge,  Benjamin  Hodge  and  wife,  William  Hodge  and 
wife,  John  Green  and  wife  and  William  Butler  and  wife.  The  society 
is  in  a  very  flourishing  condition  and  the  membership  is  quite  large. 
A  good  Sabbath-school,  under  the  superintendence  of  John  Radliff,  is 
also  sustained. 

CATHOLIC. 

The  first  meetings  of  the  Irish  Catholic  Church  were  held  in  private 
residences.  In  1852  Father  Rhian,  who  was  the  first  preacher,  held 
services  in  what  is  known  as  Thicker  Town,  in  a  building  near  the  I. 
B.  &  W.  railroad  bridge.  In  1858  they  built  the  present  brick  church, 
situated  on  Chestnut  near  Elizabeth  street.  The  cost  of  the  building 
was  about  $1,500.  The  first  pastor  of  the  church  was  Father  Lambert, 
and  the  first  bishop  who  ever  preached  in  Danville  (in  1871)  was 
Bishop  Foley,  of  Chicago.  This  church  has  perhaps  the  largest  mem- 
bership of  any  in  Danville,  and  is  in  a  nourishing  condition.  In  fact, 
the  present  building  is  entirely  too  small  for  the  congregation.  They 
are  now  (1879)  taking  subscriptions  for  a  new  church  edifice,  which  is 
intended,  when  complete,  to  be  the  finest  building  of  that  character  in 
this  part  of  Illinois. 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  363 

The  German  Catholic  Church,  at  the  corner  of  Green  and  College 
streets,  was  built  in  1868.  Previous  to  this  date  the  congregation  held 
their  services  in  the  Irish  Catholic  house  of  worship,  and  it  was  in  that 
place  that  their  first  meetings  were  held.  Indeed,  the  two  branches, 
prior  to  the  date  named,  had  been  under  the  same  charge  and  organi- 
zation. The  German  branch,  however,  being  desirous  of  having  ser- 
vices in  their  own  language,  withdrew  from  the  parent  church  and 
erected  for  themselves  their  present  edifice.  The  building  was  put  up 
at  a  cost  of  $4,570,  and  was  formally  dedicated  by  the  Rt.  Rev.  John 
W.  Luers,  bishop  of  Fort  "Wayne.  The  first  priest  in  charge  was  Rev. 
A.  M.  Reck,  and  the  board  of  trustees,  as  first  selected,  consisted  of 
George  Fuchs  and  Lawrence  Little.  George  Meyer,  T.  Young,  F. 
Senger,  Michael  Schroll,  Joseph  Clements,  Frank  Stengleberger,  Au- 
gust Foeher  and  John  Kneidal  were  also  some  of  the  first  members. 

The  church  has  prospered  well,  and  now  numbers  fifty-three  fam- 
ilies. In  1871  the  church  erected  a  school  building  for  their  own  use, 
at  a  cost  of  $1,500.*  They  also  have  a  comfortable  parsonage,  valued 
at  $1,300.  The  whole  establishment  is  under  the  charge  of  Rev.  Peter 
Schmal.  Father  Schmal  is  a  native  of  Prussia,  from  whence  he  came 
to  this  country  in  1871.  In  1877  he  came  to  Danville,  and  has  been 
in  charge  ever  since. 

GERMAN    LUTHERAN    CHURCH. 

In  November,  1802,  Rev.  H.  Schoenberg,  from  Lafayette,  Indiana, 
met  a  few  of  the  German  people  of  the  faith  -under  consideration  at  the 
house  of  J.  Hacker,  and  at  that  meeting  were  held  the  first  regular 
services  of  this  denomination  in  Danville.  Occasionally  thereafter  the 
people  were  called  together  for  the  same  purpose,  until  in  February  of 
the^following  year  it  was  decided  to  enter  into  an  organized  effort  for 
the  purpose  of  establishing  a  church  of  their  own  choice.  Among  those 
who  entered  into  the  organization  at  the  first  were  W.  Hubb,  M.  Hein- 
rich,  J.  Hacker,  F.  Hacker,  C.  Friedrichs,  E.  Klingenspor,  C.  Wendt, 
C.  Schultz  and  F.  Anders.  The  first  minister  appointed  to  the  charge 
was  Rev.  G.  Markworth. 

In  1865,  though  a  very  unfavorable  time  to  begin  the  erection  of  a 
church  building,  owing  to  the  very  high  price  of  materials  and  labor 
then  prevailing,  with  an  energy  for  which  the  German  people  are  justly 
noted,  they  went  to  work  and  erected  a  building,  at  a  cost  of  over 
$7,000  and  capable  of  seating  four  hundred  persons.  Besides  their 
church  enterprise  they  also  sustain  a  private  school  for  the  purpose  of 

*  Mentioned  more  at  length  on  another  page. 


364  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION'    COUNTY. 

teaching  the  elementary  branches  of  education  and  the  peculiar  tenets 
of  their  religion.     Rev.  E.  Martens  is  present  pastor. 

The  Welsh  Independent  Church  was  organized  in  South  Danville 
March  10,  1872.  Prior  to  the  date  named  the  United  Brethren  had 
erected  a  church  building  (the  one  now  occupied  and  owned  by  the 
Welsh  church)  at  a  cost  of  $1,800.  The  brethren,  however,  disbanded 
at  this  place  and  sold  out  their  property  in  1875  to  the  present  owners 
for  $500.  The  organization  of  the  church  under  consideration  took 
place  at  the  residence  of  Mrs  W.  Watkins,  and  consisted  of  twenty-two 
members.  The  organization  was  effected  by  the  Rev.  Roderick  W. 
Williams,  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  The  first  regular  pastor  of  the  church 
was  Rev.  John  Price.  The  church  did  not  seem  to  prosper  well  for  a 
number  of  years,  and  from  a  statement  made  to  the  Superintendent  of 
Home  Missions  in  September,  1878,  we  learn  that  the  membership  had 
dwindled  down  to  two  persons.  At  the  date  last  mentioned  Rev.  John 
A.  Griffin  was  put  in  charge  of  the  feeble  organization,  and  through 
his  strenuous  efforts  new  life  and  energy  have  been  infused,  and  at  this 
writing  thirty-nine  active  members  belong  to  the  societv. 

In  1872  a  Sunday-school  was  also  organized,  but,  like  the  church,  it 
had  been  neglected.  An  excellent  school  under  the  superintendence 
of  John  A.  Lewis  is  now  sustained,  and  it  is  largely  due  to  his  efforts 
that  it  has  attained  its  present  high  standard. 

In  connection  with  the  Welsh  church  the  organization  known  as  the 
South  Danville  Temperance  Union  is  kept  up.  The  Union  is  in  a  very 
flourishing  condition,  and  has  already  done  a  great  amount  of  good  for 
this  community.  It  numbers  about  three  hundred  members,  of  which 
Benjamin  Dean  is  president  and  Joseph  Robinson  is  secretary. 

SECRET    SOCIETIES. 

Danville  soil  seems  to  be  quite  well  adapted  to  the  growth  of  such 
organizations  as  practice  their  peculiar  rites  and  ceremonies  with  none 
to  behold  but  the  All-Seeing  Eye  and  those  who  have  been  so  fortunate 
as  to  be  admitted  behind  the  veil  of  secrecy.  To  say  that  in  a  quiet 
and  unostentatious  manner  —  fulfilling  the  command  of  the  Great 
Master  to  let  not  the  right  hand  know  what  its  fellow-member  is  doing 

—  they  have  performed  many  acts  of  benevolence,  is  to  say  only  what 
many  who  have  been  the  recipients  of  their  benefactions  would  testify. 
They  desire  no  praise  —  preferring  to  let  their  works  recommend  them 

—  therefore  we  will  only  add  that  as  far  as  this  city  is  concerned,  their 
reputation,  which  is  based  wholly  upon  what  they  do  and  not  on  what 
they  say,  is  of  a  character  becoming  those  who  profess  the  principles  of 
friendship,  love,  morality,  truth  and  relief. 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  865 

The  Masons  are  entitled  to  the  credit  of  being  the  pioneers,  they 
having  established  themselves  in  an  organization  as  early  as  1840.  At 
that  time  Danville  was  but  a  small  village  of  five  or  six  hundred 
inhabitants,  with  six  or  eight  stores  and  but  little  business  of  any  kind. 
Railroads  and  telegraphs  had  not  and  did  not  seek  out  this  locality  for 
another  decade,  yet  the  principles  of  the  order  were  even  then  here. 

Olive  Branch  Lodge,  No.  38,  A.  F.  &  A.  M.,  is  comparatively  one 
of  the  "ancient"  lodges  of  the  state,  there  being  but  a  few  that  have 
preserved  a  continuous  existence  for  more  than  fort}7-three  years.  The 
Grand  Lodge  of  the  state  was  organized  in  1840,  only  six  years  prior 
to  the  granting  of  Olive  Branch  charter,  and  as  the  charters  of  all  the 
earliest  lodges  date  from  the  establishment  of  the  Grand  Lodge,  and  as 
several  of  the  primary  lodges  have  surrendered  their  charters  or  have 
been  merged  with  other  lodges,  it  gives  to  the  institution  at  Danville 
quite  a  flavor  of  antiquity.  Danville  contains  but  few  inhabitants  now 
who  witnessed  the  ceremonies  of  institution  or  who  were  even  resi- 
dents of  this  locality. 

W.  E.  Russell,  John  Payne  and  John  Thompson  were  the  first  prin- 
cipal officers,  being  Worshipful  Master,  Senior  Warden  and  Junior  War- 
den, respectively.  From  a  small  membership  at  the  time  of  organization 
this  mother  lodge  has  been  the  progenitor  of  a  large  number  of  other 
lodges  in  the  county,  besides  establishing  on  her  own  territory  other 
orders  of  a  higher  character.  t  The  membership  of  the  lodge  at  present 
writing  is  155,  of  which  George  W.  Hooton  is  W.M. ;  W.  J.  Calhoun, 
S.W. ;  E.  R.  Dan  forth,  J.W. ;  H.  P.  Boener,  S.D. ;  G.  F.  Tincher,  J.D. ; 
D.  S.  Pheneger,  Sec'y;  R.  W.  Ilanford,  Treas.,  and  J.  T.  Culbertson, 
Tiler. 

The  fraternity  have  a  very  finely  furnished  and  convenient  lodge- 
room  in  the  third  story  of  Schmitt  block. 

By  1805  the  order  at  this  place  had  greatly  increased  in  numbers, 
having  kept  pace  with  the  growth  and  importance  of  the  city  itself, 
which  had  grown  to  number  nearly  a  thousand  to  the  hundred  of  1840, 
and  Vermilion  Chapter,  No.  82,  R.  A.  M.,  was  chartered,  with  D.  R. 
Love,  J.  C.  Winslow,  John  L.  Smith,  J.  T.  Culbertson  and  sixteen 
others  as  charter  members.  This  order  is  not  confined  in  its  limits  to 
the  city  of  Danville,  but  embraces  territory  occupied  b}r  several  other 
lodges  in  the  county.  The  membership  has  grown  to  number  about 
125  members.  Of  this  order  A.  S.  Bixby  is  present  H.P. ;  H.  P. 
Boener,  K.;  L.  P.  Norvell,  S. ;  E.  R,  Danforth,  C.  of  H. ;  C.  V.  Guy, 
P.S. ;  T.  B.  Castleman,  R.A.C. ;  John  Treteline,  George  Probst  and 
C.  M.  Smith,  Masters  of  Vails;  J.  B.  Samuels,  Sec'y;  A.  L.  Webster, 
Treas.,  and  J.  T.  Culbertson,  Sent. 


366  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

A  Subordinate  Council  was  also  (previous  to  1877)  in  operation  at 
this  place,  but  by  order  of  the  Grand  Bodies  all  Councils  being-  merged 
into  the  other  orders,  Danville  Council,  No.  37,  has  ceased  to  exist. 

Athelstan  Commandery,  No.  45,  of  Knights  Templar,  was  chartered 
October  28,  1874.  There  being  but  about  fifty  societies  of  this  order 
in  the  state,  Danville  is  one  of  the  few  localities  favored  with  an  occa- 
sional sight  of  the  imposing  evolutions  of  these  somber  soldiers  and 
representatives  of  the  twelfth  century. 

Rev.  N.  P.  Heath  was  the  first  Commander  at  this  point.  J.  B. 
Mann,  W.  P.  Cannon,  J.  T.  Culbertson,  James  Knight,  P.  McCormack, 
D.  Watrous,  A.  S.  Bixby  and  J.  C.  Probst  were  also  charter  members. 

At  present  writing  A.  S.  Bixby  is  Eminent  Commander;  J.  P.  Nor- 
vell,  Gen. ;  B.  Brittingham,  C.G. ;  W.  J.  Calhoun,  Prel. ;  A.  L.  Webster, 
S.W. ;  J.  V.  Logue,  J.W. ;  B.  E.  Bandy,  Rec,  and  D.  Watrous,  Treas. 
The  membership  numbers  sixty-four.  Rev.  N.  P.  Heath,  first  Com- 
mander of  Athelstan  Commandery,  since  his  removal  from  this  place 
has  held  the  office  of  Grand  Prelate  of  the  Grand  Commandery  of 
Illinois.  He  has  since  been  a  resident  of  Champaign,  at  which  place 
he  recently  died.  John  P.  Norvell,  present  Generalissimo  of  this 
place,  has  also  been  honored  with  offices  in  the  Grand  Bodies  for  the 
past  four  years. 

The  Independent  Order  of  Odd-Fellows  were  granted  a  charter  for 
the  purpose  of  performing  "  mystic  rites,"  and  for  the  purpose  of  prac- 
ticing the  principles  of  F.  L.  &  T.  in  their  own  peculiar  manner,  July 
25, 1850.  The  charter  members  of  Danville  Lodge,  No.  49,  were  John 
L.  Tincher,  Samuel  Frazier,  J.  B.  Gilbert,  Joshua  Holingsworth  and 
H.  J.  C.  Batch. 

The  order  has  prospered  well  both  in  number  and  financially.  It 
has  numbered  among  its  membership  some  of  the  solidest  citizens  of 
Danville  and  vicinity,  and,  like  the  Masonic  order,  is  the  parent  of  a 
number  of  other  lodges  in  different  portions  of  the  county.  The  mem- 
bership at  the  present  writing  is  105,  of  which  F.  Wortman  is  N.G. ; 
Elias  Good,  V.G. ;  F.  C.  Hacker.  Treas. ;  S.  Goodman,  R.Sec,  and  S. 
Leaverton,  P. Sec.  John  McMahan,  F.  W.  Penwell,  Elias  Good,  Geo. 
Dillon  and  S.  Leaverton  constitute  the  present  board  of  trustees.  An 
organization  of  the  highest  order  of  Odd-Fellows  was  established  at 
Danville  by  charter  from  the  Grand  Encampment,  December  16,  1857. 

The  charter  members  of  Marsh  Encampment,  No.  46,  were  Robert 
Y.  Chesley,  John  McMahan,  J.  D.  Hartzler,  L.  H.  Sconce,  J.  P.  Brown, 
Thomas  McKibben,  G.  H.  Brown,  H.  T.  Downing  and  J.  II.  Davis. 

The  Encampment  numbers  about  fort}'  members,  most  of  whom  are 
also  members  of  the  Subordinate  Lodge  of  this  city ;  however,  as  an 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  367 

encampment  does  not  necessarily  accompany  every  lodge,  some  of  its 
members  reside  at  and  hold  lodge  membership  at  other  points. 

In  1872  the  German  Odd-Fellows  of  this  city  being  desirous  of  an 
organization  authorizing  lodge-work  in  their  own  language,  petitioned 
for  a  charter  for  the  institution  of  Feuerbach  Lodge,  No.  499,  and  in 
October  of  that  year  such  authority  was  granted  to  Charles  Hesse, 
George  Dndenhofer,  Michael  Kohler,  Otto  Bein,  George  Waltz,  L.  H. 
Kahn,  Kilian  Knell,  Jacob  Schorr,  Anselm  Sieferman,  E.  Blankenbnrg 
and  F.  B  rand  en  ber  o-er.  Georo-e  Dndenhofer  was  first  N.G. ;  Ott<> 
Bein,  Y.G. ;  L.  H.  Kahn,  Sec,  and  Kilian  Knell,  Treas.  The  lodge 
has  been  quite  prosperous,  and  now  numbers, —  according  to  the  last 
Grand  Lodge  Reports, —  sixty-three  members,  of  which  John  Zuhn  is 
KG. ;  Theodor  Ott,  Y.G. ;  Gottlieb  Maier,  Sec:  A.  Oberdorfer, 
P.  Sec,  and  John  Shultz,  Treas. 

The  Ancient  Order  of  Hibernians,  No.  1,  was  chartered  in  1873. 
The  objects  of  the  order  are  of  a  charitable  nature,  and  in  some  respects 
is  intended  to  fill  the  place  of  the  secret  orders  which  are  not  counte- 
nanced by  the  Roman  Catholic  church.  It  is  not  secret,  but  its  mem- 
bership is  confined  to  Catholics  and  is  under  the  supervision  of  the 
clergy.  The  officers  are :  P.  Carey,  president ;  P.  Burns,  vice-presi- 
dent; D.  Moore,  financial  secretary;  Win.  Ryan,  treasurer;  P.  Ger- 
rety,  county  delegate  ;  M.  J.  Hogan,  corresponding  secretary  ;  John 
Buckley,  marshal;  P.  Monahan,  sergeant-at-arms ;  W.  Dougherty, 
doorkeeper.  The  priest  in  charge  acts  as  chaplain.  The  order  is 
in  good  standing  and  in  prosperous  condition,  having  $600  in  the 
treasury. 

BIOGKAPHICAL. 

Under  this  head  we  propose  to  give  extended  biographies  of  a  large 
number  of  the  leading  citizens  of  Danville  Township,  not  only  of  early 
settlers,  but  also  of  the  more  modern.  Many  of  them  have  already  been 
mentioned  incidentally  in  the  preceding  pages,  but  we  think  it  will  add 
vastly  to  the  value  of  the  work  as  a  book  of  reference  and  as  a  basis  for 
the  future  historian,  to  give  to  this  department  the  most  minute  detail. 
As  far  as  practicable,  they  have  been  arranged  in  chronological  order, 
or  rather  in  the  order  of  coming  to  this  township  or  county. 

Perry  O'Neal,  Danville,  farmer,  is  one  of  the"  old  settlers.  He  was 
born  in  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  one-half  mile  east  of  Westville,  on 
the  16th  of  January,  1825,  and  is  the  son  of  Thomas  and  Sarah  (How- 
ard) O'Neal.  Thomas  O'Neal  was  born  in  Nelson  county,  Kentucky, 
in  1792,  and  there  learnt  the  trade  of  a  tanner  and  currier.  He  moved 
from  his  native  state  to  Indiana,  and  located  in  Madison,  Jefferson 
county,  where  he  was  engaged  in  working  at  his  trade.     He  remained 


368  HISTOBl     OF   VEEMILION    COUNTY. 

there  until    L821,  and   in   that  year   with  wife  and   family  moved  to 

Illinois,  and  located  in  Vermilion  county  near  what  is  now  known  as 
Westville.  He  first  entered  eighty  acres  of  land  and  set  out  in  tanning ; 
here  he  erected  a  tan-yard  which  consisted  of  a  large  shed,  30x30,  and 
ground  his  tan-bark  with  a  large  round  stone  by  horse-power.  This 
tannery  was  the  first  in  Vermilion  county,  and  was  located  about  fifty 
yards  southeast  of  the  home  of  Perry  O'Neal.  The  old  log  cabin  is 
still  standing  in  the  rear  of  Mr.  O'Neal's  house.  Thomas  O'Neal  fol- 
lowed the  trade  of  a  tanner,  and  operated  the  tan-yard  for  several  years, 
and  then  spent  some  time  in  farming, —  he  owned  at  one  time  five 
hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land.  He  was  coroner  of  Vermilion  county 
for  over  twenty  years;  was  elected  in  1840  and  held  office  until  his 
death.  He  and  his  son  Samuel  O'Neal  were  both  in  the  Blaekhawk 
war  of  1832.  His  son  William  was  a  blacksmith  at  the  salt  works  at 
an  early  day — probably  the  first  blacksmith  in  Vermilion  county. 
Thomas  O'Neal  was  a  man  that  was  known  and  respected  perhaps  as 
well  as  any  man  in  Vermilion  county.  He  died  in  1861,  and  thus 
passed  away  one  of  Vermilion  county's  old  and  honored  citizens.  His 
wife  was  born  in  Kentucky,  in  1794  ;  she  died  in  1863.  She  was  a  kind 
and  good  woman.  <  )f  the  O'Neal  family  four  children  are  now  living. 
James  O'Neal,  who  was  born  in  Vermilion  county  on  the  20th  of  April. 
1822,  one  of  the  first  white  children  born  in  the  county.  Perry 
O'Neal,  Nancy  (now  the  wife  of  Lewis  Ballah),  and  Cynthia  Ann  (wife 
of  Joel  BatesV  Perry  O'Neal,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  brought 
up  as  a  farmer,  and  this  he  has  through  life  followed  on  the  old  home- 
stead, with  the  exception  of  a  few  years  on  the  prairie.  He  has  never 
been  married. 

George  Martin,  Danville,  retired  farmer.  This  gentleman  is  one  of 
the  pioneers  of  Vermilion  county,  having  made  his  home  here  in  1827. 
He  was  born  in  Brown  county,  Ohio,  on  the  18th  of  October,  1810, 
and  is  the  son  of  Hutson  and  Martha  (Lacock)  Martin.  His  father  was 
a  native  of  Virginia,  and  followed  farming;  he  was  a  soldier  of  the  war 
of  1812,  and  died  in  Oregon,  near  Fort  Vancouver,  in  1851,  at  an  old 
age.  Mr.  Martin  remained  in  Ohio  until  he  was  six  years  old,  when  he 
moved  with  his  parents  to  Ripley  county.  Indiana,  where  he  remained 
until  1827,  engaged  in  farming.  He  then,  with  his  parents,  moved  to 
Illinois,  and  located  in  Newell  township,  Vermilion  county.  His  father 
came  here  with  wife  and  ten  children,  and  now  only  three  girl-  and 
Mr.  Martin  are  alive.  Mr.  Martin,  in  1S54,  moved  to  Marion  county, 
Illinois,  where  he  was  a  resident  about  nine  years,  at  the  expiration  of 
which  time  he  returned  as;ain  to  Vermilion  county.  He  married  in 
Vermilion  county  to  Mary  Mdvee,  who  was  born   in  Fleming  county. 


DANVILLE    TOWNSHIP.  :'>l'>'.' 

Kentucky,  in  1812,  and  is  a  daughter  of  William  and  Hester  (Adams) 
McKee,  who  moved  to  Vermilion  county  in  1832.  They  came  to  this 
county  with  eleven  children,  and  only  four  are  now  living.  William 
McKee  was  born  in  Pennsylvania  on  the  17th  of  January,  1783,  and 
died  in  Vermilion  county  on  the  21st  of  February,  1872.  Mrs.  Hester 
McKee  was  born  in  Kentucky  on  the  12th  of  August,  1785,  and  died 
(in  the  1st  of  December,  1816.  Mr.  Martin  had  two  sons  in  the  late 
war:  George  M.  enlisted  from  Indiana  for  one  year;  he  did  good  ser- 
vice and  was  honorably  discharged.  John  H.  enlisted  in  the  125th  111. 
Vol.  Inf.,  Co.  A,  for  three  years,  as  corporal ;  he  did  good  service  and 
participated  in  some  of  the  leading  battles:  Perry ville,  Kenesaw 
Mountain,  Atlanta  and  Jonesboro,  where  he  was  wounded  in  the 
left  shoulder ;  he  was  in  the  Atlanta  campaign  to  Kichmond,  and  was 
captured  at  Black  River,  North  Carolina,  and  taken  as  a  prisoner  of 
war  to  Richmond,  Virginia,  where  he  remained  about  eight  days,  and 
was  then  paroled,  receiving  his  final  discharge  at  Springfield,  Illinois. 
Mr.  Martin  states  that  he  and  Mr.  Norton  Beckwith  made  the  first 
brick  in  Vermilion  county. 

Rev.  John  Villars'  grandfather  was  from  England  and  his  grand- 
mother from  Ireland.  His  father  was  born  on  the  28th  of  July,  1774, 
and  his  mother  was .  born  on  the  23d  of  March,  1770 ;  her  maiden 
name  was  Rebecca  Davison.  They  were  married  in  Jefferson  count}', 
Pennsylvania,  on  the  19th  of  April,  1796;  to  them  were  born  five 
boys  and  three  girls;  five  were  born  in  Ohio.  John,  the  eldest,  was 
born  on  the  14th  of  February,  1797;  the  names  of  the  others  were 
Mary,  James,  William  and  Rachael.  They  moved  to  Ohio  in  April, 
1806,  and  there  were  born  to  them  George,  Rebecca  and  Hiram.  In 
1*26  the  parents  and  children  were  all  members  of  the  M.  E.  Church. 
John  joined  in  1821  and  in  1823  was  licensed  to  exhort ;  he  came  to 
Illinois  and  settled  in  Vermilion  county  in  1830,  about  four  and  one-half 
miles  east  of  Danville;  in  1833  he  was  licensed  by  the  M.  E.  Church 
to  preach,  but  in  1S38  he  joined  the  United  Brethren  in  Christ,  and 
remained  a  minister  in  that  church  until  his  death,  on  the  14th  of 
March,  1858.  From  Illinois,  in  1852,  he  went  to  Milwaukee,  Wiscon- 
sin, remaining  until  1853,  when  he  returned  to  this  county  and  re- 
mained until  1857.  He  then  moved  to  Nemaha  county,  Nebraska, 
and  remained  there  until  the  14th  of  March,  1858,  when  he  died. 
Rev.  John  Villars  was  married  to  Elizabeth  McGee,  his  first  wife,  in 
Ohio  on  the  14th  of  March,  1816.  She  was  born  on  the  25th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1797.  To  them  were  born  ten  children, —  six  sons  and  four 
daughters.  Jane  was  born  March  10,  1817;  James,  November  28, 
1819;  William.  May  22,  1822:  Mary,  February  14,  1825;  Rebecca. 
24 


370  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

September  7.  L827;  John  Q.,  May  1.  1830;  George,  October  16, 
1832;  Elizabeth,  December  14,  1834;  Hiram  E.,  November  25, 1837 ; 
Jona,  November  10, 1842.  Elizabeth  yillars  died  on  the  22d  of  April. 
1848  :  she  was  a  member  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  and  her  parents  were 
Baptists.  John  Yillars  was  married  to  his  second  wife,  Elizabeth 
Campbell,  on  the  10th  of  October,  1849;  she  was  born  in  what  was 
then  known  as  Harrison  county,  Virginia,  on  the  2d  of  September, 
1816.  Her  father  was  from  Ireland  and  her  mother  from  Scotland; 
they  were  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church.  Rev.  John  Yillars, 
by  his  second  wife,  became  the  father  of  two  sons  and  one  daughter : 
Josephine  R..  born  July  31,  1S50 ;  John  B.,  born  February  15.  1853, 
and  Henrv  B..  born  February  26,  1857.  Mr.  John  Yillars  was  a  life- 
director  in  the  American  Bible  Society  from  the  20th  of  September, 
1856,  and  at  his  death  gave  over  sti.ooo  to  that  society.  Elizabeth 
Yillars,  his  second  wife,  has  been  a  life-member  of  the  same  society 
from  the  8th  of  December,  1856.  Rev.  John  Yillars  was  a  man  well 
to  do,  at  one  time  owning  over  twelve  hundred  acres  in  this  county, 
besides  other  property  in  Iowa ;  he  always  gave  each  one  of  his 
children  a  good  start  when  they  embarked  in  life  for  themselves. 

Wm.  Fithian,  Danville,  physician.  Dr.  Win.  Fithian  is  one  among 
the  oldest  settlers  of  Vermilion  county,  and  a  man  who  has  been  iden- 
tified with  as  much  of  the  development  and  improvement  that  has  been 
made  in  the  county  since  1830  as  any  of  the  pioneers  of  Danville.  He 
is  a  native  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  and  was  born  in  the  year  1800.  In 
1S22  he  began  the  study  of  medicine  with  Dr.  Joseph  T.  Carter,  of 
Urbana,  Ohio,  and  was  in  time  granted  a  diploma  by  the  board  of  cen- 
sors. He  practiced  two  vears  at  Mechanicsbnrgh  and  four  years  with 
Dr.  Carter,  and  in  ls3<>  came  west,  arriving  at  Danville  on  the  1st  of 
June.  1S30.  Before  leaving  Ohio  we  may  mention  the  fact  that  he 
built  the  first  house  in  both  the  city  of  Springfield  and  Urbana,  Ohio. 
In  1S34  he  became  quite  interested  in  politics,  and  for  several  terms 
was  a  member  of  the  legislature  and  afterward  of  the  senate.  He  was 
also  a  soldier  in  the  Blackhawk  war.  He  has  been  very  active  in  the 
movements  which  resulted  in  bringing  several  railroads  to  Danville. 
In  1871  he  gave  to  the  I.  B.  tfc  W.  road  the  right  of  way  through  a 
large  tract  of  land  in  Oakwood  township  and  five  acres  of  land.  The 
village  of  Fithian  on  this  line  of  road  was  founded  and  named  by  the 
company  in  honor  to  the  Doctor.  He  is  a  member  of  several  of  the 
medical  associations,  and  is  one  among  the  oldest  practicing  physicians 
<»f  the  State  of  Illinois. 

John  Q.  Yillars,  Danville,  farmer,  was  horn  in  Clinton  county,  Ohio, 
on  the  1st  of  May.  1830,  and  is  the  son  of  John  and  Elizabeth  Yillars. 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  :'>71 

Mr.  Villars,  with  his  parents,  came  to  Illinois  and  located  in  Vermilion 
county  in  1830.  Here  Mr.  Villars  has  resided  ever  sjnce.  He  has  been 
engaged  in  fanning  from  the  time  he  was  able  to  hold  the  plow.  He 
has  held  several  offices  of  public  trust,  overseer  of  highways  and  school 
director  of  Danville  township.  He  married  on  the  1st  of  January, 
1851,  to  Miss  Itachael  Olehy,  who  was  born  in  Vermilion  county  and 
whose  parents  came  to  this  county  at  an  early  day.  They  have  five 
children,  Mary  E.,  James  W.,  William  D.,  John  P.  and  Rebecca  J.,  all 
born  in  this  county.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Villars  are  members  of  the  M.  E. 
church.  He  owns  one  hundred  and  eighty-four  acres  of  fine  improved 
land. 

Abraham  Draper,  Danville,  retired  farmer.  The  subject  of  this 
sketch  is  one  of  the  old  pioneers  of  Vermilion  county.  He  was  born 
in  Washington  county,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  15th  of  February,  1804; 
his  parents  were  James  and  Mary  (Peden)  Draper;  his  father  was  a 
native  of  Delaware  and  his  mother  of  Pennsylvania.  When  Mr.  Dra- 
per was  but  five  years  old  he,  with  his  parents,  moved  to  Ohio  and 
located  on  a  farm  in  Clermont  county,  where  he  remained  until  1830 
engaged  in  farming.  lie  married  in  Clermont  county  on  the  21st  of 
October,  1827  (fifty-two  years  ago),  to  Miss  Eliza  Porter,  of  Westmore- 
land county,  Pennsylvania.  She  was  born  on  the  17th  of  January, 
1805.  In  1830  Mr.  Draper,  with  his  wife  and  one  child,  came  to  Illi- 
nois and  located  in  Vermilion  county,  near  the  present  homestead  here 
in  Danville  township,  which  has  now  been  his  home  for  forty-nine 
years.  A  tree  stands  on  his  farm  that  he  remembers  of  noticing  in 
1830.  Mr.  Draper  came  here  very  poor,  having  borrowed  a  horse  and 
hired  a  wagon  to  bring  himself,  wife  and  family  here  from  Ohio.  He 
settled  on  congress  land,  and  with  hard  labor  and  good  management 
paid  for  the  place  in  five  years.  His  first  one  hundred  pounds  of 
flour  was  obtained  on  the  other  side  of  Attica,  Indiana,  and  the  second 
hundred  weight  was  gotten  on  the  other  side  of  Covington.  He 
found  a  market  for  his  grain  at  Terre  Haute  and  Chicago,  and  hauled 
it  there  in  wagons.  With  hard  work  and  economy  he  accumulated  six 
hundred  acres  of  land.  He  has  given  land  to  each  of  his  children.  He 
had  two  sons  in  the  late  war,  Alexander  S.  and  Abraham  I.,  who  did 
good  service  and  were  honorably  discharged.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Draper 
have  been  members  of  the  Baptist  church  for  the  last  forty-four  years. 

Eben  H.  Palmer,  Danville,  cashier  First  National  Bank,  was  born 
in  Danville,  Illinois,  on  the  10th  of  August,  1830,  and  is  the  son  of 
Dr.  A.  R.  Palmer,  who  was  born  in  South  Coventry,  Connecticut,  on 
the  9th  of  March,  1783.  He,  with  his  parents,  moved  to  Vermont 
when  he  was  very  young,  where  he  remained  until  he  was  about  eigh- 


:;72  histobi   of  vermilion  county. 

teen  years  old;  he  then  moved  to  the  Black  River  country,  in  New 
York.  At  Moscow  he  commenced  the  study  of  medicine,  and  gradu- 
ated from  a  medical  college,  where  he  received  his  diploma  and  com- 
menced the  practice  of  medicine  in  about  1824  or  1825.  In  1826  he, 
with  his  wife  and  three  children,  came  west  to  Indiana,  coining  down 
the  Ohio  River  from  Pittsburgh  in  a  flat-boat  and  then  up  the  "Wabash 
River,  and  located  in  Vermilion  county  on  a  farm,  where  he  was  en- 
gaged  in  farming  and  the  practice  of  medicine,  which  extended  to  a 
circuit  of  forty  miles.  In  1828  they  moved  to  Danville,  Vei*milion 
county,  Illinois,  where  he  was  engaged  at  his  profession  and  in  the 
drug  business  in  company  with  his  son,  E.  F.  Palmer,  thus  forming 
the  firm  of  E.  F.  Palmer  &  Co.,  which  was  perhaps  the  first  drug  store 
in  Danville.  It  was  located  on  the  corner  of  Main  and  Walnut,  in  the 
house  now  occupied  by  Mr.  Woods,  the  hatter.  Dr.  Palmer  continued 
his  practice  of  medicine  for  a  number  of  years,  his  circuit  extending 
throughout  Vermilion  county.  He  was  married  three  times  ;  twice  in 
the  east,  and  his  third  wife,  Delia  Hawkins  (the  mother  of  E.  H. 
Palmer),  he  married  in  Vermilion  county,  Indiana.  She  was  a  native 
of  West  Bloomfield,  New  York,  having  come  west  with  her  parents  at 
an  early  day  :  she  died  in  1851,  and  Dr.  Palmer  died  in  August,  1861. 
Thus  one  by  one  the  old  settlers  of  Vermilion  county  are  passing  be- 
yond the  shore  of  the  unknown  river.  By  the  marriage  of  Dr.  A.  R. 
Palmer  and  Delia  Hawkins  they  had  eight  children  ;  of  this  family 
only  three  are  now  living,  Clara,  John  J.  and  Eben  Ii.  Our  subject 
at  fourteen  years  of  age  commenced  clerking  in  a  drug  store;  at 
twenty-five  years  of  age  he  entered,  in  company  with  S.  A.  Humphreys 
and  P.  Partlow.  the  dry-goods  business,  which  continued  about  two 
years.  He  then  was  appointed  school  commissioner,  to  fill  the  vacancy 
left  by  his  uncle.  X.  D.  Palmer,  who  died.  In  1859  he  entered  the 
private  bank  of  English  &  Tincher  as  clerk  and  book-keeper,  which 
position  he  held  until  the  organization  of  the  First  National  Bank  of 
Danville,  when  he  was  elected  cashier,  which  position  he  has  held  ever 
since.  In  1854  Mr.  Palmer  married  Fannie  B.  Xelson,  of  Pennsylva- 
nia ;  by  this  union  they  have  four  children.  Mr.  Palmer  is  a  member 
of  the  Presbyterian  church,  of  which  his  father  was  one  of  the  founders 
and  elders. 

Sarah  Ann  (  Mehy.  Danville,  was  born  in  Kentucky  on  the  11th  of 
October,  1822,  and  is  the  wife  of  the  late  Dennis  Olehv,  who  was  born 
in  Ohio,  on  the  12th  of  October,  1802.  In  about  1830  he,  with  his 
mother  (his  father  having  died  in  Ohio)  and  one  brother,  came  to  Ver- 
milion county  and  located  on  the  farm  where  Mrs.  Olehv  now  lives. 
Here  he  set  out  in  farming,  first  building  a  place  out  of  rails  in  which 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  :<?:'. 

they  might  live.  This  served  until  they  could  find  better  quarters, 
which  he  afterward  built  with  a  linn  tree,  making  a  puncheon  floor,  a 
door  and  a  table  for  the  cabin.  They  came  here  very  poor,  he  having  but 
ten  dollars  in  his  pocket.  His  first  clearing  and  farming  was  done  with 
one  horse,  on  a  forty-awe  farm  very  thick  with  timber  and  hazel-brush. 
He  worked  hard  and  faithfully,  and  before  his  death  had  accumulated 
two  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land.  He  married  his  first  wife,  Eliza- 
beth Glaze,  in  Vermilion  county.  She  lived  some  sixteen  years  after 
marriage.  He  then  married,  on  the  Oth  of  May,  1S47,  to  Miss  Sarah 
Ann  Jones,  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  He  had  eleven  children — 
three  by  the  first  wife  and  eight  by  the  second.  Mr.  Dennis  Olehy 
died  a  good  Christian,  being  a  member  of  the  Baptist  Church  for  a 
number  of  years.  He  died  on  the  2d  of  March,  1877.  Thus  one  by 
one  the  old  settlers  of  Vermilion  county  are  passing  away. 

Edmund  P.  Jones,  Danville,  fanner,  was  born  in  Vermilion  county, 
on  the  13th  of  January,  1830,  and  is  the  son  of  William  and  Jane 
(Martin)  Jones.  His  father  was  a  native  of  Kentucky,  and  came  to 
Vermilion  county  with  his  wife  and  family  at  an  early  day,  locating  on 
a  farm  and  commenced  farming,  which  he  followed  up  to  his  death. 
William  Jones  was  born  on  the  24th  of  February,  1700;  died  on  the 
30th  of  October,  1859.  Jane  (Martin")  Jones  was  born  on  the  15th  of 
April,  1795 ;  died  on  the  10th  of  September,  1807.  They  were  mar- 
ried on  the  25th  of  January,  1810.  Edmund  P.  Jones  was  brought  up 
on  the  farm,  engaged  in  farming,  and  to-day  he  owns  a  good  improved 
farm  of  one  hundred  and  seventy-six  acres,  made  by  his  own  industry. 
He  has  twice  been  married  :  First  to  Sarah  Cox,  of  Vermilion  county, 
on  the  19th  of  October,  1854;  she  died  in  1858.  He  married  the 
second  wife,  Mary  E.  Villars,  on  the  21st  of  February,  1801 ;  she  was 
born  on  the  11th  of  December,  1840.  They  have  four  children  living. 
Mr.  Jones  is  a  member  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Joseph  T.  Ross,  Danville,  retired  farmer.  The  above-named  gentle- 
man is,  perhaps,  one  of  the  best  known  and  most  respected  citizens  of 
Vermilion  county.  He  was  born  in  Mason  conntv,  Kentucky 'on  the 
30th  of  May,  1810,  and  is  the  son  of  John  Ross,  a  native  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, who  came  to  Kentucky  at  an  early  day,  when  there  were  plenty 
of  Indians.  There  he  remained  until  1830,  and  then,  with  his  wife  and 
ten  children,  he  came  to  Illinois  and  located  in  Vermilion  county,  on 
Stony  creek.  Here  he  died  a  respected  and  good  citizen,  leaving  a 
wife  and  family  to  mourn  his  loss;  his  wife  died  on  the  farm.  Mr. 
Joseph  T.  Ross  has  been  engaged  in  farming  from  the  time  he  was  able 
to  hold  the  plow  until  some  years  ago.  He  at  one  time  owned  eight 
hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  fine  land,  and  gave  to  each  of  his  children 


374  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION"    COUNTY. 

a  tine  farm.  Mr.  Ross  made  a  trip  from  Vermilion  county  to  New 
Orleans,  Louisiana,  on  a  flat-boat  loaded  with  produce.  He  had  two 
sons  in  the  late  war.  James  and  Hiram,  who  enlisted  in  the  125th  111. 
Vol.  Inf.  for  three  years;  both  did  good  service.  James  served  three 
years  and  was  honorably  discharged  ;  he  died*  about  1871  with  the 
heart  disease  and  lung  fever,  contracted  principally  while  in  the  war. 
Hiram,  on  the  account  of  sickness,  was  honorably  discharged;  he  is 
now  farming  in  Danville  township,  near  his  father's  home.  Mr.  Ross 
has  been  married  three  times.  His  first  wife  was  Minerva  Ticknor,  a 
native  of  New  Hampshire  and  a  daughter  of  James  Ticknor,  who  came 
to  Vermilion  county  with  a  family  in  about  1824  or  1825.  He  then 
married  A.  J.  Black,  a  native  of  Kentucky:  his  third  wife  is  Olivia 
Ann  Morton,  of  New  York ;  he  is  the  father  of  five  children  living — 
four  by  his  first  wife  and  one  by  the  second. 

A.  S.  Williams,  Danville,  dealer  in  queensware.  A.  S.  Williams, 
of  the  firm  of  Hawes  &  Williams,  was  born  in  Danville  on  the  22d  of 
August,  1831.  His  father,  Amos  Williams,  whose  name  is  found  so 
often  in  the  general  history  of  this  county,  was,  as  will  be  found  in  that 
history,  one  of  the  early  and  prominent  pioneers  of  the  county.  A.  S. 
had  been  engaged  in  several  kinds  of  business  until  February  of  1877, 
when  he  and  V.  L.  Hawes  became  proprietors  of  the  establishment  they 
are  now  running;  Hawes  having  been  in  the  business  for  several  years 
previous  to  the  organization  of  the  present  firm.  Theirs  is  the  only 
large  and  exclusively  queensware  house  in  the  city,  their  store-room 
being  22-J  feet  front  by  125  feet  in  depth,  with  a  basement  and  part  of 
the  second  story;  in  addition  to  this  the}'  have  a  ware-room  22^x30. 
All  of  this  extensive  establishment  is  well  stocked  with  everything 
pertaining  to  the  queensware  trade.  Mr.  Williams  has  never  sought 
any  favors  of  the  public,  but  has  always  given  liberally  to  any  enter- 
prise pertaining  to  the  public  good;  though,  we  may  add,  from  1875 
until  1878  he  held  the  office  of  Commissioner  of  Highways.  He  is  so 
old  a  resident  of  the  city  and  so  well  known  that  any  compliments  of 
the  press  are  wholly  unnecessary. 

William  C.  Wait,  Danville,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in 
Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  12th  of  July,  1831,  and  is  the  son 
of  George  and  Nancy  (Ray)  Wait.  His  mother  was  a  native  of  Indi- 
ana; his  father,  who  was  from  New  York,  with  parents,  moved  to 
Ohio  and  located  near  Columbus;  he  then  moved  to  Vigo  county, 
Indiana,  and  there  married.  He  and  his  wife  then  came  to  Vermilion 
county,  Illinois,  and  located  at  Marysville  in  about  1826,  where  he  was 
engaged  in  farming,  and  then  moved  on  the  farm  now  owned  by  Mr. 
Wait.     His   wife   died    in    Marysville.  and    he,  after  going  west  and 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  375 

remaining  two  years  in  Missouri,  one  year  in  Texas  and  one  in  Ar- 
kansas, returned  to  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  and  died  in  1857,  at  the 
age  of  sixty-six;  he  had  married  the  second  wife,  Enlia  Cox,  who 
died  in  Woodford  county,  Illinois.  There  are  four  children  living — 
Stephen,  James,  Catharine,  and  William  C,  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
who  has  since  followed  farming  and  stock-raising,  owning  a  fine  ini- 
proved  farm  of  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land.  Mr.  Wait 
has  been  married  three  times.  His  first  wife  was  Catharine  Foley,  now 
deceased ;  his  second  wife  was  Margaret  M.  Moudy,  and  his  third 
wife  Sallie  M.  Farris.  She  was  born  in  Monroe  county,  Indiana.  He 
is  the  father  of  six  children  living — four  by  his  second  and  two  by  his 
present  wife. 

George  M.  Villars,  Danville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Vermilion  county, 
Illinois,  on  his  present  farm,  on  the  10th  of  October,  1832.  and  is  the 
son  of  John  and  Elizabeth  Vi liars,  who  were  among  the  early  settlers 
of  Vermilion  county.  Mr.  Villars  was  raised  on  the  farm,  and  has 
been  engaged  in  farming  on  the  old  homestead  since  he  was  able  to 
hold  the  plow  up  to  the  present  time.  He  owns  a  fine  improved  farm 
of  two  hundred  and  six  acres  of  land,  and  also  eighty  acres  in  Sidell 
township  and  eighty  acres  in  Warren  county,  Indiana.  Mr.  Villars  has 
held  several  offices  of  public  trust, —  school  director  and  school  trustee. 
The  latter  office  he  now  holds.  He  was  married  in  1854  to  Miss 
Amanda  Srouf,  of  Indiana.  They  have  ten  children,  all  born  on  the 
old  homestead.  Mr.  Villars  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  of  which  church  he  has  been  a  member  for  the  last  twenty 
years. 

William  Emley,  Danville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Vermilion  county, 
Illinois,  on  the  11th  of  December,  1832,  and  is  the  son  of  Isaac  and 
Rebecca  (Hathaway)  Emley.  Isaac  Emley  was  born  in  Virginia  on  the 
21st  of  April,  1806.  He  moved  to  Ohio  with  his  parents  when  he  was 
about  two  years  old,  and  here  remained  for  a  number  of  years,  engaged 
in  farming.  From  Ohio  he  went  to  Perrysville,  Indiana,  where  he  was 
married  in  about  1829  to  Rebecca  Hathaway,  wdio  was  born  on  the  4th 
of  May,  1810,  and  died  about  1874.  From  Perrysville  they  moved  to 
Vermilion  county,  and  located  about  four  miles  east  of  Danville;  here 
he  set  out  in  farming.  He  was  for  a  number  of  years  a  preacher  in  the 
Christian  Church,  of  which  he  was  one  of  the  founders  in  that  neigh- 
borhood. He  died  on  the  14th  of  June,  1877,  on  the  farm  adjoining 
that  of  Mr.  E.  P.  Jones.  Thus  passed  away  another  of  the  old  settlers, 
honored  and  respected.  Mr.  William  Emley,  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
has  all  his  life  been  engaged  in  farming  here  in  Vermilion  county,  with 
the  exception  of  about  two  years,  when  he  was  herding  and  driving 


376  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

cattle.  He  was  married  in  Vermilion  county  to  Catharine  Lynn,  of 
Vermilion  county,  Indiana.  They  have  four  children  living.  Mr. 
Emley  owns  one  hundred  and  ninety-six  acres  of  land. 

Daniel  Kyger,  Danville,  proprietor  of  Kyger' s  Mill.  This  gentle- 
man was  born  in  Monroe  county,  Ohio,  on  the  22d  of  January,  1829, 
and  is  the  son  of  John  and  Mary  (Sheets)  Kyger.  He  started  from 
Grand  view,  Ohio,  on  the  Ohio  River,  in  a  flatboat.  for  Illinois.  They 
floated  down  the  Ohio  River  to  the  mouth  of  the  Wabash,  and  with 
ropes  pulled  the  boat  up  stream  to  the  Vermilion  River,  and  camped  a 
short  distance  up  that  stream.  They  landed  and  located  in  Vermilion 
county,  Illinois,  on  a  farm  near  Georgetown.  Here  Mr.  Kyger  was 
raised  on  the  farm  until  he  was  about  eighteen  years  old.  He  then 
commenced  to  work  at  the  millwright  business.  In  1849  he,  in  com- 
pany with  Wm,  Sheets,  Thomas  Morgan  and  H.  T.  Kyger,  commenced 
the  erection  of  a  steam  flour-mill  in  Georgetown,  which  was  the  first 
steam  flour-mill  built  in  Vermilion  county.  In  1850  it  was  finished 
by  Daniel  Kvger,  Thomas  Morgan,  X.  Henderson  and  Son  at  a  cost  of 
about  $6,000.  This  mill  had  three  run  of  stone.  Here  Mr.  Kyger  re- 
mained in  the  mill  until  1854.  This  year,  in  company  with  Nathaniel 
Henderson  and  Sons,  he  went  to  Danville  and  commenced  the  erection 
of  what  is  now  known  as  the  Danville  Flour  Mills.  This  was  also  the 
first  steam  flour-mill  erected  in  Danville.  It  had  three  run  of  stone 
and  commenced  grinding  in  1856.  Here  Mr.  Kyger  remained  about 
eight  years.  In  1865  he  came  to  the  present  mill.  This  mill  was  first 
built  by  William  Sheets  and  Thomas  Morgan  in  about  1833,  and  com- 
menced grinding  in  1834.  It  was  known  for  a  number  of  years  as  the 
Morgan  &  Sheets  Mill.  In  connection  with  their  grist-mill  they 
erected  a  saw-mill.  This  was  one  of  the  first  water  mills  in  this  neigh- 
borhood, and  drew  custom  for  forty  miles  around.  They  first  com- 
menced with  one  run  of  stone,  but  soon  after  had  two  run  of  stone. 
Morgan  &  Sheets  continued  until  about  1842.  In  1850  Henry  Kyger 
became  owner  of  the  mill.  In  1865  the  firm  of  Kyger  Brothers  was 
formed,  and  continued  until  1873,  when  Mr.  D.  Kyger  took  full  charge. 
In  1865  the  Kyger  Brothers  made  improvements  to  the  mill  at  a  cost 
of  about  s8,000. 

Henry  Martin,  Danville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Elwood  township,  Ver- 
milion county,  Illinois,  on  the  22d  of  February,  1S32,  and  is  the  son  of 
Henry  and  Mary  (Morgan)  Martin,  natives  of  Virginia,  who  made  their 
home  there  at  an  early  day.  Mr.  Martin,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was 
brought  up  on  the  farm  and  was  engaged  in  farming  until  the  breaking 
out  of  the  late  war.  when  he  enlisted,  on  the  27th  of  August,  1861, 
for  three  years,  in  the  4th  111.  Caw.  Co.  F,  as  private.     He  partici- 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  377 

pated  in  some  of  the  most  severe  battles  during  the  war,  such  as 
Fort  Henry,  Fort  Donelson  and  Shiloh.  After  serving  his  three  years 
he  reenlisted  in  the  same  regiment  and  served  until  the  29th  of  May, 
1866,  having  served  four  years,  nine  months  and  two  days.  He  entered 
as  private,  but  was  promoted,  first  to  sergeant,  then  to  orderly  sergeant 
and  from  that  to  first  lieutenant.  This  office  he  filled  for  over  one 
year.  Mr.  Martin  had  one  horse  shot  from  under  him  during  one  of 
the  engagements.  He  was  sick  about  four  months,  and  with  this  ex- 
ception he  served  full  time.  At  the  close  of  the  war  he  returned  to 
Yermilion  county,  and  has  been  a  resident  there  ever  since.  Mr.  Martin 
was  married  in  1854  to  Miss  Miranda  H.  Gebhart,  daughter  of  Anthony 
and  Ellen  Gebhart,  who  made  their  home  here  in  Vermilion  county  at 
an  early  day.  By  this  marriage  they  have  seven  children.  Mr.  Martin 
has  held  several  offices  of  public  trust, —  that  of  justice  of  the  peace, 
constable  and  town  collector  of  Georgetown  township.  In  these  offices 
he  has  given  entire  satisfaction. 

Martha  McMillen,  Danville,  was  born  in  Bourbon  county,  Kentucky, 
on  the  13th  of  October,  1821,  and  is  the  wife  of  the  late  R.  H.  McMil- 
len, who  was  born  in  Ohio,  near  Columbus,  on  the  17th  of  June,  1816. 
His  father  was  a  farmer  and  a  miller  by  trade,  having  in  operation  a 
flour  and  saw-mill  on  his  farm.  Here  Mr.  McMillen  was  eno-aged  in 
working  in  the  mill  and  on  the  farm.  In  1832  he,  with  his  parents, 
came  to  Illinois,  and  located  in  Vermilion  county.  His  father  built 
about  the  first  saw  and  flour-mill  in  Denmark,  and  here  Mr.  McMillen 
helped  his  father.  He  was  married  near  Denmark,  in  this  county,  to 
Martha  Oder,  the  subject  of  this  sketch.  She  moved  with  her  parents 
from  Kentucky  to  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  and  from  there  to  Vermilion 
county,  Illinois,  at  an  early  day.  Some  twenty-two  years  ago  they 
moved  from  Blount  township  to  Danville  township,  on  the  farm  oppo- 
site the  present  homestead,  and  from  there  they  moved  to  where  Mrs. 
McMillen  still  resides.  Here  Mr.  R.  II.  McMillen  died,  on  the  1th  of 
May,  1876,  with  ulcer' of  the  stomach,  after  being  sick  some  three 
months.  Thus  passed  away  one  of  the  good  old  settlers  of  Vermilion 
county,  and  a  man  that  was  loved  and  respected  by  all.  He  and  Mrs. 
McMillen  had  been  members  of  the  Christian  Church  for  the  last 
thirty  years.  The}'  had  two  sons  in  the  late  war, — J.  G.  and  Wm.  M. 
Both  enlisted  in  the  125th  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  and  did  good  service,  being 
honorably  mustered  out.  William  is  now  farming  on  the  old  home- 
stead, and  J.  G.  is  farming  in  the  county.  By  the  marriage  of  R.  H. 
McMillen  to  Martha  Oder  they  had  nine  children,  seven  of  whom  are 
living. 

Joseph  Peters,  deceased.     Joseph  Peters,  the  subject  of  this  sketch 


378  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

and  whose  portrait  appears  in  this  work,  was  born  in  Franklin  county, 
Ohio,  on  the  19th  of  May,  1819.  His  father  was  a  native  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  his  mother  of  Virginia.  They  were  of  English  and  German 
descent.  But  little  of  the  surroundings  of  his  early  life  is  known.  In 
1833  he  came  to  Vermilion  county,  Illinois.  For  several  years  he  was 
engaged  in  almost  any  honorable  employment  that  would  furnish 
means  for  him  to  complete  his  education.  After  completing  his  literary 
studies  he  began  the  study  of  law  under  Mr.  J.  J.  Brown,  of  Danville. 
In  1840  he  went  to  the  city  of  Springfield  to  be  examined,  with  a  view 
to  being  admitted  to  the  bar.  Here  he  was  directed  to  the  residence 
of  Mr.  Abraham  Lincoln.  Mr.  Lincoln  had  been  married  but  a  short 
time,  and  when  called  upon  by  Mr.  Peters  was  found  sitting  in  the 
shade  of  a  tree,  reading  to  Mrs.  Lincoln.  He  often  remarked  many 
years  afterward,  when  hearing  people  speak  lightly  of  her,  that  he 
could  only  think  of  Mrs.  Lincoln  as  he  saw  her  when  making  that  call 
— pleasant,  social,  and  in  every  word  and  jesture  a  lady.  After  being 
examined  by  Mr.  Lincoln,  at  the  proper  time  and  place  he  was  admitted 
to  the  bar.  From  Springfield  he  went  to  Marion  county,  where  he 
practiced  law  until  1845,  when  he  returned  to  Danville.  Here  he  fol- 
lowed the  practice  of  his  profession  as  a  principal  business.  For  a  time 
he  filled  the  office  of  police  magistrate,  and  in  1858  was  elected  county 
judge.  He  also  represented  the  county  in  the  lower  house,  and  at  the 
time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  on  the  4th  of  July,  1866,  he  was  a 
member  of  the  state  senate.  During  the  rebellion  of  1861-65  Mr. 
Peters  served  his  country  as  quartermaster  of  the  135th  111.  Vol.  Inf., 
a  history  of  which  regiment  is  found  in  this  work.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  order  of  A.  F.  and  A.  M.,  and  also  of  the  M.  E.  Church.  On 
the  20th  of  October,  1842,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Henrietta  Blakeley, 
who  is  a  native  of  Christian  county,  Kentucky.  Their  family  consists 
of  four  children,  as  follows:  Anna  B.,  Mary  E.,  Prier  G.  and  Willie. 
W.  W.  R.  "Woodbuiw,  Danville,  druggist  and  bookseller.  One 
among  the  oldest  residents  of  the  city  of  Danville  or  of  Vermilion 
countv  is  Dr.  W.  W.  R.  Woodburv.  He  was  born  on  the  19th  of  No- 
vember,  1824,  in  Ripley  county,  Indiana.  In  1833  he  came  with  his 
father's  people  to  Vermilion  county,  Illinois.  During  his  early  life  the 
Doctor  had  but  few  chances  of  getting  an  education.  His  father  being 
permanently  crippled,  there  were  but  few  advantages  to  be  had  either 
by  going  to  school,  which  was  the  old  subscription  system,  or  by  study- 
ing at  home.  All  due  honor,  however,  must  be  given  his  father,  who, 
to  raise  money  to  pay  for  the  Doctor's  last  term  of  school,  sold  the  old 
family  clock.  Not  being  able  to  give  him  the  advantages  he  would 
like,  his  father  allowed  him  to  become  a  member  of  old  Dr.  Fithian's 


DANVILLE    TOWNSHIP. 


:!7!> 


family,  witli  whom  lie  began  and  completed  the  study  of  medicine, 
graduating  at  Rush  Medical  College,  of  Chicago,  on  the  7th  of  February, 
1850.  Returning  to  Danville  after  graduating,  he  proposed  to  follow 
his  profession  ;  but  became  interested  in  the  drug  trade  with  Dr.  J.  A. 
D.  Sconce,  and  finally  made  it  a  permanent  business.  He  began  in  the 
drug  trade  in  April  of  1850,  and  is  now  the  only  man  engaged  in  the 
mercantile  trade  that  was  at  that  date  doing  business  in  the  city  of 
Danville.  In  company  with  John  W.  Myers,  in  1859  he  built  the 
Lincoln  Opera  Hall,  which  at  that  time  was  the  wonder  of  the  country. 

The  proprietors  were  laughed  at 
very  much  for  building  their  mon- 
ument of  folly,  as  it  was  called. 
But  real   estate   about   that  time 


taking  an  upward  turn,  Mr.  Wood- 
bury came  out  all  right.  He  has 
filled  several  public  offices,  among 
which  may  be  mentioned  that  of 
commissioner  of  highways  and  the 
%^  office  of  mayor  of  the  city  of  Dan- 
ville. He  has  built  some  twelve 
or  fifteen  different  buildings  in  the 
Lincoln  opera  hall.  citj  and  added  four  additions  to  the 

city  plat.  In  1853  Mr.  Sconce  sold  out  to  Stephen  and  John  W.  Myers. 
In  1857  Stephen  died,  and  Mr.  AVoodbury  then  bought  their  interest 
in  the  business,  and  has  since  conducted  it  alone.  It  is  now  twenty- 
nine  years  since  he  began  on  the  same  ground  where  he  is  still  engaged 
as  one  of  the  successful  men  of  Danville. 

Samuel  Frazier,  Danville.  This  gentleman,  perhaps,  is  one  of  the 
best  known  and  highly  respected  citizens  of  Vermilion  county.  He 
was  born  in  Trumbull  county,  Ohio,  on  the  18th  of  September,  1806, 
and  is  the  son  of  Samuel  and  Mary  (Massey)  Frazier,  natives  of  Mary- 
land. His  father  was  a  boot  and  shoe-maker  by  trade;  he  was  also  a 
soldier  of  the  war  of  1812  —  a  major  in  General  Harrison's  army.  In 
1818  he  moved  to  Indiana  and  located  in  Dearborn  county.  Here  he 
commenced  farming,  and  remained  there  until  1838,  when  he  came  to 
Vermilion  county  and  located  where  Catlin  township  now  is.  Here 
they  set  out  in  farming  and  remained  until  they  both  died,  in  Catlin 
township,  and  were  buried  in  the  Danville  City  Cemeteiw.  Mr. 
Frazier,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  remained  on  the  farm  in  Ohio  until 
1833;  he  then  came  to  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  and  entered  two 
hundred  acres  of  land.  He  returned  to  Ohio,  and  in  1834  came  to  Ver- 
milion county,  which  has  been  his  home   ever  since;    he   came  here 


:>Mi  HISTORY    OF   TER5IILIOX    COUNTY. 

with  his  wife  and  one  child,  and  settled  in  what  is  now  Catlin  town- 
ship; here  he  remained  until  1838,  when  he  moved  to  Danville.  In 
1840  Mr.  Frazier  was  elected  sheriff'  of  Vermilion  county,  and  filled 
this  office  until  1846  ;  in  1850  he  was  re-elected  to  the  same  office,  and 
filled  it  until  1S52 ;  this  office  he  filled  with  honor  and  credit  to  him- 
self and  to  the  people  of  Vermilion  county.  "When  the  announcement 
of  the  fall  of  Fort  Sumter  was  made  the  people  were  at  once  aroused, 
and  no  time  was  lost  in  setting  about  to  solve  the  problem  as  to  what 
could  be  done  to  help  to  restore  and  save  the  union  of  the  states. 
Captain  Frazier  raised  company  C  of  the  12th  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  which 
was  the  first  company  raised  in  Vermilion  county.  It  was  mustered 
in  for  three  months  and  did  good  service.  Mr.  Frazier  was  captain  and 
"William  Mann  first  lieutenant.  Edward,  the  son  of  Captain  Frazier, 
enlisted  in  company  A,  71st  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  for  three  months.  He  took 
sick  near  Columbus.  Kentucky,  was  brought  home,  and  died  with  that 
dreadful  disease,  camp  diarrhoea,  in  1862.  His  remains  were  interred 
in  the  Danville  City  Cemetery.  Captain  Frazier  married  in  Ohio,  to 
Beulah  Ann  Finley.  by  whom  they  have  had  twelve  children. 

Achilles  Martin,  post-office  Danville ;  real  estate  and  abstract 
office,  township  Danville,  was  born  in  Georgetown.  Vermilion  coun- 
ty. Illinois,  on  the  25th  of  February,  1834,  and  is  the  son  of  Henry 
and  Mary  (Morgan)  Martin,  who  were  both  natives  of  Virginia  and 
among  the  first  settlers  of  Vermilion  countv,  having  made  their  home 
here  at  an  early  day.  Mr.  Martin,  our  subject,  was  brought  up  on  his 
father's  farm,  where  he  remained  until  he  was  about  twenty-two  years 
of  age.  In  1861,  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  late  war.  he  enlisted  for 
three  years  in  the  25th  111.  Vol.  Inf..  Co.  A.  as  private.  He  was 
in  a  number  of  the  most  severe  battles  fought  during  the  war:  Pea 
Eid^e.  Stone  River,  Chickasaw  Mountain,  siege  of  Atlanta  and  other 
engagements.  He  received  a  wound  in  the  left  arm.  From  private 
Mr.  Martin  rose  to  first  sergeant,  then  to  second  lieutenant,  and  from 
thence  to  first  lieutenant.  In  1864  he  was  mustered  out,  at  which  time 
he  returned  to  Vermilion  county.  In  1868  he  moved  to  Danville, 
which  he  has  made  his  home  ever  since,  and  has  here  been  engaged  in 
the  real  estate  and  abstract  business.  Mr.  Martin  married  Miss  Lucre- 
tia  Underwood,  of  "Wisconsin.  She  died  in  1859.  He  then  married 
Miss  Helena  Monroe,  of  !Xew  Vork.  He  is  the  lather  of  one  child  bv 
his  first  wife. 

"W.  T.  Cunningham,  Danville,  deputy  circuit  clerk.  This  gentle- 
man was  born  in  Danville,  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  8th  of 
February,  1834,  and  is  the  son  of  Hezekiah  Cunningham,  who  was 
bom  in  Virginia  on  the  3d  of  March,  lfc03.     He  was  the  son  of  David 


DANVILLE    TOWNSHIP.  381 

and  Nellie  (Burnett)  Cunningham.  Both  parents  were  of  Irish  descent. 
His  father  was  a  tanner.  In  1819  Mr.  Cunningham  came  west  with 
his  mother  and  the  Murphy  family,  by  wagon,  taking  them  seven 
weeks  in  making  the  trip.  They  arrived  and  located  on  the  North 
Arm,  in  Edgar  county,  Illinois,  in  the  fall  of  1819,  there  being  but  ten 
families  in  that  part  of  the  country.  In  1825  Mr.  Cunningham  came 
to  Yermilion  county  and  married  Mary  Alexander,  daughter  of  John 
B.  Alexander,  by  whom  they  had  five  children,  two  of  whom  are  liv- 
ing,— the  wife  of  Judge  O.  L.  Davis  and  of  W.  T.  Cunningham,  the 
subject  of  this  sketch.  In  1828  Mr.  Hezekiah  Cunningham  moved  to 
Danville,  where  he  has  resided  ever  since.  While  a  resident  here  he 
has  been  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business  some  ten  years.  He  was 
a  soldier  in  the  Blackhawk  war  of  1832-3.  His  wife  was  born  in 
1791,  and  died  on  the  5th  of  September,  1867.  She  was  buried  in  the 
old  Danville  Cemetery.  Mr.  Cunningham  helped  to  bury  the  first 
corpse  in  the  Danville  Cemetery,  which  was  in  1828.  W.  T.  Cunning- 
ham, our  subject,  was  raised  and  educated  in  Danville.  He  was  clerk 
in  a  drug  store  for  five  }7ears,  and  for  a  number  of  years  clerk  in  other 
departments  here  in  Danville  and  Washington  City.  He  was  appointed 
collector  of  the  seventh  district  by  President  A.  Lincoln.  During 
his  term  of  office  he  collected  over  $3,700,000.  He  is  now  deputy  cir- 
cuit clerk,  which  office  he  has  filled  for  some  eight  years.  Mr.  Cun- 
ningham married,  in  1859,  Miss  Lucy  A.  Lemon,  daughter  of  John 
Lemon,  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Vermilion  county.  She  died  in 
1876.  By  this  union  they  had  five  children,  four  of  whom  are  living, 
two  boys  and  two  girls. 

Theodore  Lemon,  Danville,  physician.  Dr.  Theodore  Lemon,  one 
of  the  old  pioneers  of  Danville,  was  born  on  the  16th  of  December, 
1812.  He  began  the  study  of  medicine  in  Bunker  Hill,  Virginia, 
coming  to  Vermilion  county  in  1835.  His  first  business  was  to  teach 
a  term  of  school  in  what  at  that  time  was  the  Presbyterian  church. 
After  this  he  began  the  practice  of  his  profession,  and  at  that  early  day 
was  sometimes  called  upon  to  ride  fifteen  miles  to  attend  the  calls  of 
his  patients.  He  has  passed  a  long  life  of  usefulness  in  Vermilion 
county,  and  has  seen  and  helped  to  make  many  of  the  changes  in  the 
development  and  improvement  that  have  taken  place  since  he  became 
a  resident  of  the  county.  He  married  Miss  L.  E.  Sconce,  who  is  a 
native  of  Kentucky.  They  have  a  family  of  eight  children,  six  sons 
and  two  daughters.  The  doctor  is  of  that  class  of  men  who  have  not 
been  seekers  of  notoriety,  yet  he  has  made  many  warm  friends,  and 
will  long  be  remembered  by  the  citizens  with  whom  he  has  spent  s<» 
many  years. 


382  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

William  I.  Moore,  deceased.  William  I.  Moore  (now  deceased; 
was  probably  as  well  known  to  the  citizens  of  Danville  and  vicinity  as 
any  old  resident  of  the  county.  He  was  horn  in  the  State  of  New 
Jersev  in  the  year  1804.  his  ancestors  being  formerly  of  England. 
He  came  west  and  located  in  Vermilion  county  as  early  as  the  year 
1835,  beginning  in  the  mercantile  trade,  which  he  followed  until 
l>i57,  when  he  retired  from  active  business.  During  the  early  days 
in  this  county,  when  it  was  impossible  to  do  business  with  the  rush 
and  jam  of  the  present  times,  Mr.  Moore  used  to  buy  large  quan- 
tities of  flour,  pork  and  other  produce,  which  he  used  to  stow  away 
in  a  large  wareroom  which  he  had  built  at  Perrysville,  Indiana,  and 
when  sufficient  quantities  had  accumulated  he  shipped  to  New  Or- 
leans. His  method  of  transportation  was  by  the  old-time  flatboat. 
well  remembered  by  the  early  settlers,  who  thus  transported  their 
woods  down  the  Wabash  and  Ohio  rivers.  About  the  Year  1814  or 
1845  Mr.  Moore  served  the  people  of  this  county  as  their  represent- 
ative in  the  state  legislature.  In  March  of  1857  he  was  married  to 
Miss  Marv  A.  Rowland,  daughter  of  Thomas  Rowland,  who  was  one 
of  the  early  pioneers  of  Vermilion  county.  Coming  to  the  county  in 
the  fall  of  1826,  he  located  at  what  was  known  for  miles  around  as  the 
salt-works.  He  remained  there  until  the  following  spring,  when  he, 
with  his  family,  moved  to  Champaign  county,  remaining  there  for 
about  seven  years.  When  he  had  completed  all  arrangements  for 
returning  to  Vermilion  county  he  w^as  taken  sick  and  died,  leaving  the 
family  to  return  alone,  which  they  subsequently  did.  Mr.  Moore,  after 
his  marriage,  remained  a  resident  of  Danville  until  his  death,  which 
occurred  in  April  of  1877,  he  being  in  his  seventy-fourth  year.  But 
little  of  the  surroundings  of  his  early  life  are  known,  but  with  over 
forty  years  of  the  latter  part  of  his  life  many  of  the  old  citizens  of  this 
county  are  familiar.  He  was  a  man  liberal  in  his  support  of  all  public 
institutions  for  the  benefit  of  the  people.  After  a  residence  of  over 
forty  years  in  this  county  he  died,  leaving  a  wife,  but  no  children,  to 
mourn  his  loss. 

E.  R.  Lynch,  Danville,  farmer,  was  born  in  what  was  then  known 
as  Harrison  county,  Virginia,  on  the  16th  of  May,  1830,  and  is  the  son 
of  John  and  Mariah  (Campbell)  Lynch.  His  father,  born  on  the  8th 
of  July,  1794,  was  a  cabinet-maker  by  trade,  but  lived  on  a  farm.  He 
moved  from  Virginia  with  his  family  to  Lancaster,  Ohio,  where  he 
remained  about  three  years.  He  then  went  to  Illinois,  and  located  in 
Pontiac,  Livingston  county,  which  at  that  time  had  but  two  cabins  in 
the  town.  He  remained  there  but  a  short  time  when,  in  1835,  he 
came  to  Vermilion  county,  and  here,  on  the  21st  of  July,  1836,  he 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  383 

died,  and  was  buried  in  the  Lynch  graveyard,  being  the  first  person 
buried  in  that  graveyard.  His  wife  (Mariah  Campbell  Lynch)  died  on 
the  22d  of  November,  1874;  she  was  born  on  the  13th  of  February, 
1802.  Here,  on  the  farm,  Mr.  E.  E.  Lynch,  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
commenced  farming  at  nine  years  of  age,  and  has  been  engaged  on  the 
present  farm  since.  He  owns  a  fine  improved  farm,  obtained  by  his 
hard  work  and  industry.  He  was  married  on  the  Kith  of  September, 
1850,  to  Elizabeth  Villars,  who  was  born  in  Vermilion  county,  Illi-' 
nois,  on  the  14th  of  September,  1834,  and  is  the  daughter  of  John  and 
Elizabeth  (Magee)  Villars,  whose  biographies  appear  in  this  history; 
they  have  had  nine  children,  seven  living. 

E.  W.  Cramer,  Danville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Virginia,  on  the  9th 
of  September,  1S25 ;  son  of  John  Cramer,  of  Virginia;  both  parents 
were  of  German  descent.  His  father  was  a  farmer,  but  a  carpenter  by 
trade.  From  Virginia  the}'  moved  to  Ohio,  and  remained  there  for 
about  eight  years;  then,  in  about  1835,  moved  to  Vermilion  county, 
Illinois.  They  first  located  in  Blount  township  on  a  farm,  and  his 
father  and  mother  died  at  a  good  old  age.  Thus  passed  away  two  of 
the  old  pioneers  of  Vermilion  county.  Mr.  Cramer  commenced  a  poor 
man,  but  bv  hard  work  and  2;ood  management  he  owns  one  hundred 
and  twenty  acres  of  fine  improved  land.  He  married  Maria  Jane 
Hiller;  she  died,  and  he  was  married  the  second  time  to  Malindia 
Albart.  They  have  one  adopted  child,  Charles  W.  Mr.  Cramer's 
father  was  a  soldier  of  the  war  of  1812  in  the  six  month's  service. 

C.  J.  Langley,  Danville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Vermilion  county,  Illi- 
nois, on  the  25th  of  February,  1835,  and  is  the  son  of  Nathaniel  and 
Margaret  (Holthouser)  Langley,  both  natives  of  Kentucky,  who  were 
married  in  Nelson  county  of  that  state,  and  with  two  children  (Eliza- 
beth and  Thomas)  came  to  Illinois  and  located  on  a  farm  in  Danville 
township,  Vermilion  county,  in  1832.  Nathaniel  Langley  was  a  sol- 
dier of  the  war  of  1812.  Having  come  here  with  moderate  means,  he 
entered  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land,  but  with  hard  labor  and 
good  management  he  owned  four  hundred  and  eighty-seven  acres. 
He  died  in  March,  1848,  at  about  sixty  years  of  age.  Margaret  Langley 
died  in  1864  or  1865  ;  she  was  nearly  sixty-five  years  old.  Thus  passed 
away  two  of  Vermilion  county's  old  and  respected  citizens.  Both 
were  buried  in  what  is  known  as  Langley's  graveyard.  Mr.  Langley, 
the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  brought  up  on  the  farm,  and  this  busi- 
ness'he  has  followed  through  life.  He  owns  a  tine  improved  farm  of 
four  hundred  and  sixty  acres.  Mr.  Langley  was  married  in  1865  to 
Miss  Belle  Anderson,  of  New  York,  by  whom  they  have  six  children, 
Leona,  Nora,  Maggie,  Hortense,  Laura  Belle  and  James  Rosco. 


384  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Richard  T.  Leverich,  Danville,  farmer.  The  subject  of  this  sketch, 
whose  portrait  appears  in  this  work,  was  born  in  Queens  count}',  New 
York,  on  the  27th  of  August,  1815,  and  is  the  son  of  John  and  Alletta 
(Berrien)  Leverich.  His  father  was  a  blacksmith  by  trade,  and  lived 
on  a  farm,  and  here  Mr.  Leverich  was  brought  up,  engaged  in  farming. 
In  1835  he,  in  company  with  Dr.  Fithian,  left  New  York  for  Danville, 
Vermilion  county,  Illinois.  He  had  made  arrangements  with  Dr. 
Fithian  to  clerk  in  his  store.  Mr.  Leverich  went  to  Dayton,  Ohio, 
riding  Dr.  Fithian's  horse  from  there  to  Indianapolis.  From  here  he 
took  the  stage  to  Perrysville,  Vermilion  county,  Indiana,  and  from 
there  to  Danville,  where  he  arrived  on  the  14th  of  September,  1835, 
taking  him  about  two  weeks  in  making  the  trip.  The  first  two  years 
he  clerked  for  Dr.  Fithian  at  twelve  dollars  per  month,  and  on  account 
of  business  he  worked  for  his  board  the  third  year.  From  there  he 
entered  into  partnership  with  L.  T.  Palmer  in  the  general  store  busi- 
ness. These  gentlemen  continued  in  partnership  some  fourteen  years. 
From  that  he  entered  into  partnership  with  his  brother,  J.  G.  Lev- 
erich, which  connection  continued  about  five  years.  Then  Mr.  Lev- 
erich continued  alone  in  business  some  rive  years  longer.  He  then 
came  to  the  farm,  where  he  has  resided  ever  since.  He  was  married 
in  Danville,  on  the  22d  of  November,  1843,  to  Miss  Lydia  F.  Gilbert, 
who  was  born  in  Ontario  county,  New  York,  on  the  15th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1822,  and  is  the  daughter  of  Solomon  Gilbert,  who  was  one  of  the 
pioneers  of  Vermilion  county.  Mrs.  Leverich  states  that  her  parents 
brought  the  first  stove  to  Danville.  On  her  way  to  Danville  from 
New  York,  with  her  parents,  who  came  down  the  Ohio  river  in  a  flat- 
boat,  she  fell  into  the  Ohio  river  at  Pittsburgh,  Pennsvlvania,  and 
came  near  drowning.  She  was  rescued  by  a  stranger,  after  going 
under  water  the  third  time.  By  their  union  they  have  had  seven  chil- 
dren, rive  living. 

Edward  L.  Gutterridge,  Danville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Virginia  in 
1799,  and  is  the  son  of  Edward  and  Elizabeth  (Thrap)  Gutterridge. 
Mr.  Gutterridge,  with  his  parents,  moved  to  Ohio  when  he  was  very 
small.  In  1835  he  moved  to  Vermilion  county,  where  he  has  been  a 
resident  ever  since.  He  located  on  the  present  homestead,  and  here 
he  has  made  nearly  all  the  improvements.  He  was  married  in  Ohio 
to  Elizabeth  Thompson. 

Levin  T.  Palmer,  Danville,  real  estate  and  loan  agent,  was  born  on 
Long  Island,  New  York,  on  the  3d  of  December,  1814.  His  father, 
Charles  Palmer,  "was  born  on  the  18th  of  December,  1790,  in  Newtown, 
New  York  ;  he  was  engaged  in  farming,  and  died  on  the  30th  of  August, 
1*22.     Mr.  Palmer  received  a  common-school  education  in  his  native 


* 


■ '  '"'*■— ';St»<v'. 


Ce^ty?  c 


DANVILLE 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  385 

state.  In  1835  he  came  west  to  Illinois,  and  in  July  of  the  same  real- 
located in  Danville,  which  he  has  made  his  home  principally  ever 
since.  He  first  commenced  to  clerk  for  Dr.  Fithian,  having  arrived 
here  a  poor  boy,  and  with  only  twenty-five  dollars.  He  clerked  one 
year  for  Dr.  Fithian,  and  then  went  to  Milwaukee,  where  he  remained 
for  several  years,  when  he  returned  to  Danville  and  entered  the  dry- 
goods  and  general  store  business  in  company  with  Richard  T.  Leverich, 
whose  biography  and  portrait  appears  in  this  work.  These  gentlemen 
continued  in  business  about  fourteen  years.  From  the  mercantile  busi- 
ness Mr.  Palmer  entered  the  loan  and  real-estate  business  with  Thos. 
C.  Forbes.  This  firm  was  dissolved,  and  Mr.  Palmer  then,  in  1872, 
entered  into  partnership  with  his  son,  Charles  J.  Palmer,  which  firm 
to-day  is  L.  T.  and  C.  J.  Palmer,  real  estate  and  loan  agents.  Mr. 
Palmer  was  married  on  the  17th  of  August,  1842,  to  Miss  Esther  Gil- 
bert, who  was  born  in  Ontario  county,  New  York,  on  the  29th  of  No- 
vember, 1824,  and  is  the  daughter  of  Solomon  Gilbert,  who  was  born 
in  Massachusetts  on  the  19th  of  June,  1787,  and  died  on  the  5th  of 
February,  1857.  He  married  Esther  Green  on  the  6th  of  April,  1809; 
she  was  born  in  Massachusetts  on  the  13th  of  December,  1789;  she 
died  in  Danville  on  the  31st  of  January,  1839.  Solomon  Gilbert,  when 
very  young,  moved  with  his  parents  to  Ontario  county,  New  York, 
where  he  married  Esther  Green,  a  daughter  of  Captain  Henry  Green, 
who  was  a  soldier  of  the  war  of  1812;  Mr.  Gilbert  also  was  a  soldier 
of  the  war  of  1812.  In  1828  they  started  for  the  far  west,  and  arrived 
in  Danville  in  July,  after  being  out  since  April.  They  came  via  Pitts- 
burgh, Pennsylvania,  by  fiatboat  to  Cincinnati,  then  by  wagon  to  Iro- 
quois county.     Mr.  Gilbert  built  the  first  grist-mill  in  Danville. 

M.  A.  McDonald,  Danville,  hardware  merchant.  The  subject  of 
our  sketch  was  born  on  the  11th  of  November,  1836,  in  Vermilion 
county,  Illinois,  and  is  the  son  of  Alexander  McDonald,  who  was  born 
in  Elbert  county,  Georgia,  on  the  14th  of  February,  1796.  Mr.  Alex- 
ander McDonald  was  engaged  in  farming,  and  moved  from  Georgia  to 
Tennessee.  He  was  married  on  the  24th  of  November,  1818,  in  Lin- 
coln county,  to  Katherine,  daughter  of  John  B.  Alexander.  She  was 
born  on  the  20th  of  April,  1800.  From  Tennessee  they  moved  to  Illi- 
nois, and  located  in  Vermilion  county  about  1821.  The  land  not  being 
surveyed  they  moved  to  Edgar  county,  where  they  raised  one  crop, 
when  they  returned  to  Vermilion  county  and  located  on  the  Little 
Vermilion  river,  near  Indianola,  on  a  farm,  where  he  remained  for  a 
number  of  years.  He  then  moved  to  Georgetown  to  school  his  chil- 
dren. He  had  held  several  offices  of  public  trust;  he  was  assessor  and 
collector  for  several  years.  He  died  in  Georgetown  about  1861.  Thus 
25 


386  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION"    COUNTY. 

passed  away  one  of  the  pioneers  of  Vermilion  and  Edgar  counties, —  a 
man  that  was  loved  and  respected  b}r  all.  M.  A.  McDonald,  our  sub- 
ject, remained  on  the  farm  until  he  was  about  eighteen  years  old,  when 
he  entered  school,  where  he  received  a  common-school  education.  He 
then  commenced  clerking  in  his  father's  drug-store  in  Georgetown, 
and  from  there  he  went  to  Pontiac.  He  was  married  in  Terre  Haute 
to  Anna  W.  Jackson  ;  she  was  born  on  the  17th  of  July,  1840,  and  is 
the  daughter  of  Charles  D.  Jackson,  of  New  York,  who  moved  west 
and  settled  in  Vincennes,  Indiana,  in  1817,  and  from  there  he  went  to 
Terre  Haute.  By  this  marriage  they  have  had  eleven  children.  In 
1  s*»l  Mr.  McDonald  came  to  Danville  and  commenced  clerking  in  a 
drv-goods  store.  He  then  went  into  the  hardware  business,  and  has 
continued  in  this  since. 

J.  G.  Davidson,  Danville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Rockbridge  county, 
Virginia,  on  the  24th  of  June,  1817,  and  is  the  son  of  John  and  Eliza- 
beth (Goodbar)  Davidson,  of  Virginia.  Plis  father  was  a  carpenter  by 
trade,  and  followed  farming;  he  was  also  a  soldier  of  the  war  of  1812. 
Thev  both  died  in  Virginia.  Mr.  Davidson  first  went  to  Ohio  in  1835. 
and  remained  there  until  1837,  when  he  came  to  Vermilion  county, 
Illinois.  Here  he  was  first  engaged  in  school-teaching,  and  was  the 
first  regular  school-teacher.  He  organized  the  first  singing-class  in 
that  neighborhood  which  is  now  Catlin  township.  lie  taught  school 
until  1840.  He  married  Harriet  J.  Rodgers,  of  Butler  county,  Ohio, 
the  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Annie  Rodgers.  They  have  eleven  chil- 
dren. Mr.  Davidson  has  held  the  office  of  school-director  for  a  num- 
ber of  years.  He  had  one  son  in  the  late  war,  John  G.,  who  enlisted 
in  the  125th  111.  Vol.  Inf.  (a  history  of  which  regiment  appears  in  this 
work) ;  he,  after  serving  about  eight  months,  took  sick,  and  was  honor- 
ably discharged. 

George  Dillon,  Danville,  clerk  of  the  circuit  court.  This  gentle- 
man was  born  in  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  near  Georgetown,  on  the 
16th  of  January,  1837,  and  is  the  son  of  Luke  and  Charity  (Wright) 
Dillon.  His  father  was  born  in  North  Carolina  in  1790,  and  moved  at 
an  early  day  to  Ohio,  where  he  married  Miss  Charity  Wright,  who 
died  in  Vermilion  county.  Illinois,  in  1838.  She  was  the  mother  of 
ten  children.  From  Ohio  Mr.  Luke  Dillon  moved  and  located  in  Ver- 
milion county,  Illinois,  in  1830,  on  a  farm  near  Georgetown,  where  he 
was  engaged  in  farming.  He  married  the  second  wife,  Miss  Sarah 
Haworth.  He  died  in  1852,  and  was  interred  in  the  cemetery  of  the 
Friends,  near  Georgetown,  where  rest  the  remains  of  his  first  wife, 
thev  both  having  been  connected  during  life  with  this  religious  order. 
Mr.  Dillon,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  engaged  in  farming  until 


DANVILLE    TOWNSHIP.  387 

the  breaking  out  of  the  late  war.  Ue  enlisted  a>  private  in  Oo.  I). 
125th  111.  Vol.  Tni'.,  tor  throe  years;  he  did  good  service,  and  partici- 
pated in  some  of  the  most  prominent  battles.  He  was  wounded  June, 
1804,  in  a  skirmish  after  night  near  Dallas,  Georgia,  and  from  the 
effects  of  this  he  lost  his  right  arm  ;  he  was  first  sent  to  the  hospital  at 
Chattanooga,  then  to  Nashville,  Tennessee,  and  finally  to  Mound  City, 
Illinois,  where  he  received  his  final  discharge  in  1865.  He  returned 
to  Vermilion  county,  and  in  1866  he  moved  to  Georgetown.  Mr.  Dil- 
lon has  held  several  offices  of  public  trust.  In  1866  he  was  elected 
town  clerk  of  Georgetown  township;  in  1867  he  was  elected  assessor 
and  collector  of  the  same  township,  and  in  1868  reelected  to  the  same 
office;  in  the  fall  of  1868  he  was  elected  to  the  office  he  now  fills,  and 
in  which  he  has  served  since  he  was  first  elected.  lie  has  ably  and 
punctually  discharged  the  duties  of  these 'offices,  and  shares,  as  a  result, 
a  gratifying  degree  of  popularity.  The  officers  of  Vermilion  county, 
more  than  any  other  gathering  of  county  officers  in  the  state,  are  sol- 
diers, and  to  their  honor  be  it  said  they  are.  without  exception,  soldiers 
who  earned  their  spurs  by  the  faithful  performance  of  duty,  their  cour- 
age in  action  and  their  meritorious  conduct.  No  higher  tribute  could 
be  paid  to  the  people  of  Vermilion  county  than  to  take  a  stranger  into 
the  court-house,  and  point  out  the  maimed  heroes  of  the  war  busily 
filling  the  positions  that  the  people  of  Vermilion  county  have  be- 
stowed upon  them.  Mr.  Dillon  married  in  Vermilion  county,  on  the 
7th  of  March,  1861.  Miss  Desdamona  Martin,  the  daughter  of  Henry 
and  Mary  I  Morgan)  Martin,  who  made  their  homes  in  Vermilion 
county  in  about  1818.  By  this  marriage  they  have  had  seven  children, 
live  living. 

William  Handy,  Danville,  money-broker.  This  subject  is  one  of 
the  old  pioneers  of  Vermilion  county,  lie  was  born  in  Bedford  county, 
Virginia,  on  the  22d  of  July,  1812,  and  is  the  son  of  James  and  Nancy 
i  Brown)  Bandy,  both  natives  of  Virginia.  His  father  was  a  farmer, 
and  about  L820  he  moved  to  Tennessee,  near  Nashville.  Mr.  Bandy 
remained  in  Virginia,  working  on  the  farm,  until  1828,  and  then,  with 
his  brother,  Washington  Bandy,  who  died  in  about  1837,  and  Samuel 
Howell  and  wife,  he  came  by  wagon  and  team  to  Illinois,  and  located 
in  Vermilion  county,  taking  about  forty  days  to  make  the  journey. 
Mr.  Bandy  came  here  very  poor.  He  first  was  engaged  in  clerking  in 
an  Indian  store,  which  was  a  trading-point  for  Gurdon  S.  Hubbard. 
When  he  came  here  he  located  on  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land, 
but  his  brother  married,  and  moved  on  the  place  and  improved  it.  Mr. 
Bandy  was  also  clerking  for  Dr.  W.  Fithian  in  a  general  store.  About 
this  time  the  Blackhawk  war  broke  out,  and  he  enlisted  as  a  volun- 


388  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

teer  under  Colonel  Moore;  with  a  command  of  about  four  hundred 
men  went  to  Joliet  and  built  the  fort  at  that  place.  Here  was  where 
the  first  man  was  killed  by  the  Indians  out  of  this  regiment.  From 
Joliet  the  regiment  reported  at  Ottawa,  and  from  there  they  returned 
home.  He  enlisted  the  second  time,  after  making  two  applications, 
and  did  service  in  Illinois  and  "Wisconsin.  During  this  time  the  sol- 
diers suffered  very  much  from  cholera  in  Wisconsin.  All  returned 
home  except  sixteen  men  who  remained  there  until  the  time  expired. 
Mr.  Bandy  was  one  of  the  sixteen  men.  He  returned  to  Danville,  and 
was  made  marshal  of  this  district.  He  read  medicine  for  a  short  time. 
On  the  16th  of  October,  1833,  he  married  Harriet  J.  Murphy,  daugh- 
ter of  William  Murphy,  who  was  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Edgar 
county,  Illinois,  having  moved  there  about  1818.  Mrs.  Bandy  was 
born  in  Virginia  on  the  27th  of  July,  1812;  came  to  Edgar  county, 
Illinois,  with  her  parents.  By  this  union  they  have  had  seven  chil- 
dren, five  boys  and  two  girls.  They  had  two  sons  in  the  late  war, 
William  M.  and  Samuel  J.,  and  both  did  good  service.  Mr.  Bandy, 
at  the  breaking  out  of  the  late  war,  took  an  active  part  in  raising  a 
company  of  cavalry,  but  on  account  of  the  quota  being  tilled  he  was 
rejected.  Many  are  the  interesting  stories  of  the  good  old  times  in 
Vermilion  county  that  Mr.  Bandy  can  relate. 

The  Giddings  family.  There  is  probably  not  an  old  settler  in  the 
city  of  Danville  or  Vermilion  county  but  who,  if  he  were  asked 
who  the  Giddings  family  are,  would  answer  without  any  hesitation, 
"  One  among  the  first  and  most  honorable  families  of  the  county/' 
Mr.  William  Giddings,  the  father  of  the  family,  and  whose  portrait 
appears  in  this  history,  was  born  in  Silso,  Bedfordshire,  England,  on 
the  8th  of  January,  1813;  his  death  occurred  on  the  20th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1875,  the  superscription  upon  the  silver  tablet  of  his  metallic 
burial-case  being  as  follows:  "William  Giddings.  Died  September 
20,  1875.  Aged  62  years,  8  months  and  12  days."  His  wife,  who 
died  on  the  25th  of  May,  1874,  was  also  a  native  of  England.  She 
was  born  on  the  29th  of  July,  1811.  They  were  married  on  the  3d  of 
December,  183-1.  They  came  to  the  United  States  in  1837,  coming 
direct  to  Danville,  where  they  arrived  on  the  21st  day  of  April  of  the 
year  above  mentioned.  At  the  date  of  their  deaths  they  were  both 
consistent  members  of  the  North  Street  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
They  came  to  Danville  during  the  pioneer  days  of  the  county,  and 
were  obliged  to  put  up  with  many  of  the  hardships  and  privations 
incident  to  pioneer  life.  Mr.  Giddings  was  a  manufacturer  of  wagons, 
carriages  and  plows,  and  began  business  in  Danville  when  it  was  nec- 
essary to  go  to  the  timber  to  find  a  tree  whose  crooked  growth  was  of 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  389 

the  proper  shape  for  the  manufacture  of  mold-boards,  which  he  used  in 
the  construction  of  plows  of  that  date.  Beginning  business  in  this 
manner,  he,  by  a  life  of  energy,  honest  industry  and  a  close  attention 
to  his  business,  accumulated  a  property  of  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  thousand  dollars.  Danville,  at  his  death,  mourned  the  loss  of  one 
of  her  best  citizens.  The  citizens,  in  respect  for  him,  closed  their  busi- 
ness houses  during  the  funeral  services.  His  four  sons,  to  whom  the 
following  .sketch  relates,  are  among  the  honorable  business  men  of  the 
city,  and  have  not  thus  far  disgraced  the  teachings  of  their  father  in  a 
single  instance.  J.  W.  Giddings,  the  eldest  of  the  four  sons,  was  born 
in  Danville  on  the  21st  of  April,  1842.  His  early  life  was  spent  with 
his  father,  with  whom  he  learned  the  trade  of  manufacturing  wagons 
and  carriages.  In  1863  he  entered  the  Union  army  in  the  war  of 
1861-65,  enlisting  first  in  Co.  A,  71st  Regiment,  three-months  ser- 
vice. Upon  the  completion  of  this  term  of  service  he  again  enlisted, 
this  time  in  the  135th  111.  Yol.  Inf..  Co.  K.  On  returning  from  the 
army  he  again  became  a  resident  of  Danville,  and  in  1879  began  busi- 
ness in  his  present  line  (that  of  heav}'  hardware),  his  partner  being 
Mr.  J.  A.  Patterson,  and  the  firm  name  being  Giddings  &  Patterson. 
They  are  located  on  the  corner  of  Main  and  Franklin  streets.  They 
are  the  only  dealers  in  this  line  of  goods  in  the  city.  Though  they 
have  been  engaged  in  the  business  but  a  short  time  they  have  every 
prospect  of  success.  Charles  H.  Giddings,  the  second  eldest  of  the 
brothers,  is  also  a  native  of  Danville.  He  was  born  on  the  11th  of 
March,  1844.  He  also  learned  the  trade  of  his  father,  and  for  some 
time  after  his  father  retired  from  the  business  in  1865,  was,  in  com- 
pany with  his  brother,  John  W.,  and  O.  S.  Stewart,  engaged  in  the 
same  line  of  manufacture  under  the  firm  name  of  Giddino-s,  Stewart  & 
Co.  They  were  together  about  nine  years,  when  the  brothers  bought 
the  interest  of  Mr.  Stewart,  and  continued  the  business  together  for 
about  one  and  one-half  years.  He  then  sold  out  to  his  brother,  John 
W.  He,  Mr.  I.  IT.  Philips,  and  his  brother,  John  W.,  were  the  exec- 
utors of  his  father's  large  estate.  This  business  they  settled  to  the  sat- 
isfaction of  all  parties  interested,  and  without  any  of  the  wrangling 
which  so  often  occurs  in  the  division  of  a  large  property.  One  request 
in  the  will  of  Wm.  Giddings  was  that  all  his  children  might  be  pleased 
and  satisfied  with  his  apportionment  of  the  property.  Charles  H.  was 
appointed  receiver  of  the  Vermilion  County  Grange,  when  that  insti- 
tution collapsed.  This  business  he  also  settled  up  satisfactorily.  He 
has  recently  engaged,  in  company  with  Mr.  Ganor,  in  the  ice  trade; 
they  have  begun  only  on  a  small  scale,  but  they  have  commenced  with 
a  view  of  increasing  the  business  as  they  become  familiar  with  it. 


390  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Thev  began  business  in  1879.      lie.  like  the  rest  of  the  brothers,  is  a 
good  financier,  and  there  is  but  little  doubt  of  bis  success  in  this  under- 
taking.    George  E.  G-iddings,  the  third  son,  is  now  junior  member  of 
the  firm  of  Smith  &  Giddings,  proprietors  of  the  Lustro  Mills.     He 
was  born  in  Danville  on  the  20th  of  July.  1848.     His  early  life  having 
been  spent  at  home,  he  very  naturally  learned  the  business  of  his  father. 
For  rive  years  previous  to  his  engaging  in  the  milling  business,  he  had 
been  engaged  in  the  hardware  trade.    Closing  out  business  in  this  line, 
he,  in  March.  1875.  became  a  partner  of  Mr.  Smith  in  the  Lustro  Mills. 
Though  not  a  practical  miller  by  trade,  he  has  already  become  quite 
familiar  with  the  business.     He.  like  the  others,  seems  to  have  chosen 
a  business  that,  with   proper  energy  and  industry,  can  only  bring  him 
success.     Albert   Giddings,  the  youngest   of  the  four  sons,  was  born 
in  Danville  on  the  3d  of  December,  1850.     He.  like  his  brothers,  has 
received  a  good  education,  and  like  them  also  the  early  part  of  his  life 
was  spent  at  the  business  in  which  his  father  was  engaged.     He  is  now 
junior  member  of  the  firm  of  Johns  &  Giddings.  dealers  in  groceries, 
the  partnership  having  been  formed  in  September  of  1870.     The  build- 
ing thev  occupy  belongs  to  him,  and  is  located  on  the  corner  of  Main 
and  Hazel  streets.     It  is  a  fine  brick  structure,  built  by  his  father  in 
1866.     In  size  it  is  21  feet  front  by  85  feet  deep,  two  stories  and  base- 
ment, and  is  known  as  the  Giddings  block.     Here  he  may  be  found 
during  business  hours  engaged  in  a  business  that,  if  one  may  judge  by 
his  pleasant  and  courteous  treatment  of  friends  and  customers,  is  both 
pleasant  and  profitable.     In  conclusion,  we  may  say  it  has  seldom  been 
our  good  fortune  to  meet  a  family  of  brothers  situated  similar  to  these 
four,  who  seem  each  to  have  the  friendship  for  the  other  that  existed 
in  the  times  gone  by  when   thev  were  four  bovs  under  the  care  and 
guidance  of  their  parents.     TVe  can  only  add  that  there  are  three  sis- 
ters, whom  we  hope  will  be  pleased  with  our  sketch  of  the  Giddings 
family,  and   our  only  apology  for  its  being  less  complete  than  they 
might  wish,  is  an  ignorance  of  the  necessary  facts  relative  to  themselves. 
E.  W.  Eakin,  Danville,  county  treasurer,  was  born  in  what  was  then 
known  as  Wythe  county,  Virginia,  on  the  12th  of  August,  1S28,  and 
is  the  son  of  Samuel  and  Sarah  (Lockett)  Eakin.     His  mother  was  a 
native  of  Virginia,  and  his  father  of  Georgia.     He  was  a  tanner.     In 
L838  Mr.  Eakin.  with  his  parents,  moved  to  Vermilion  county.  Illinois, 
and  located  on  a  farm  in  Georgetown  township.     Here  Mr.  Eakin  was 
brought   up.  engaged   in  farming  in  the  summer  and   in  the  winter 
months  attending  school.     He  received  his  principal  education  in  the 
Georgetown  Seminary,  then  one  of  the  leading  institutions  of  learning 
in  eastern  Illinois.     He,  when  twenty  years  old.  was  engaged  in  teach- 


DAXYILLE    TOWNSHIP.  .f{<ll 

ing  school.  The  first  school  which  he  taught  was  in  Coles  county,  and 
of  that  county  he  was  afterward  appointed  assistant  county  surveyor. 
From  there  he  was  engaged  in  stock-trading  and  fanning.  In  1859  he 
was  married  in  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  to  Miss  Ellen  M.  Fairbank, 
of  Vermont.  He  then  moved  to  a  farm  in  Carroll  township,  this 
countv,  where  he  was  engaged  until  18ti2.  when  he  enlisted  for  three 
years  in  the  125th  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  Co.  D.,  as  fourth  sergeant.  He  did 
good  service,  and  participated  in  some  of  the  most  prominent  battles 
during  the  war.  He  was  in  the  battle  of  Perrysville,  Chickasaw 
Mountain,  siege  of  Atlanta  and  Jonesborough.  Georgia.  Here  Mr. 
Eakin  received  a  very  painful  wound  in  the  face  while  his  company 
was  making  an  assault  on  the  enemy's  works.  He  was  honorably  mus- 
tered out  at  Louisville,  Kentucky,  in  1865,  when  he  returned  home  to 
Vermilion  county,  where  he  was  engaged  in  farming.  In  1877  he  was 
nominated  and  elected  by  the  republican  party  treasurer  of  Vermilion 
county,  which  office  he  now  holds.  Mr.  Eakin  is  a  strong  republican 
in  politics,  and  has  been  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
for  the  last  forty  years. 

Joseph  Smith,  Danville,  miller.  The  Lustro  Mills,  which  are  now 
so  well  known  to  the  people  of  Vermilion  county,  were  built  in  1870 
bv  Knight  &  Fairchild,  the  firm  making  several  changes  before  the 
present  pi^prietors,  Smith  &  Giddings,  took  it.  This  firm  was  estab- 
lished in  1875,  though  Mr.  Smith,  the  senior  member  of  the  firm,  was 
connected  with  the  mills  as  early  as  1874.  The  mills  have  three  run 
of  stone  and  a  capacity  of  flouring  about  forty  barrels  per  day.  Their 
trade  is  both  merchant  and  custom  milling. 

Mr.  Joseph  Smith  was  born  on  the  1st  of  August,  1819,  in  Oxford- 
shire, England.  In  1834  he  came  to  the  United  States  with  his  people, 
they  locating  in  Herkimer  county,  New  York.  He  came  to  Vermilion 
county  as  early  as  1838,  though  he  only  remained  about  one  year.  In 
1840  he  began  learning  the  trade  of  a  miller  in  Elmira,  New  York. 
He  remained  milling  in  that  state  about  ten  years,  then  came  to 
Indiana  and  began  in  the  same  business  at  La  Fayette.  From  there  he 
went  to  Lebanon,  Boone  county,  Indiana,  where  he  purchased  an 
interest  in  a  mill  and  continued  the  business  until  about  1855,  when 
he  came  to  Vermilion  countv  and  located  at  Myersville,  still  in  the 
same  line.  From  there  he  came  to  Danville,  and  was  for  one  year 
connected  with  M.  M.  Wright.  About  this  time  he  was  unfortunate 
enough  to  have  a  team  run  away  with  him,  and  by  this  accident  was 
crippled  for  five  years.  There  seemed  sometimes  to  him  to  be  but 
little  chance  of  recovery,  but  he  did  recover,  and  at  present  may  be 
found  almost  any  time  at  the  Lustro  Mills  or  on  his  farm,  which  is 


392  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

located  close  to  the  city,  a  pleasant,  genial  gentleman  as  well  as  a  good 
financier. 

E.  J.  Draper,  Danville,  grocer,  was  born  in  Vermilion  county  in 
1S38,  and  is  the  son  of  Jonathan  and  Filena  (Galnsha)  Draper,  his 
mother  being  the  daughter  of  Governor  Galnsha.  When  he  was  five 
years  old  his  people  moved  to  the  State  of  Vermont,  and  there  E.  J. 
remained  until  the  age  of  nineteen  years,  receiving  his  education  at 
North  Bennington.  In  1857  he  came  west,  stopping  at  Sidney,  where 
he  engaged  in  business,  and  from  that  time  until  thirteen  years  ago, 
when  he  began  business  in  Danville,  in  the  grocery  trade,  was  engaged 
in  different  kinds-  of  business  and  in  different  localities.  In  Septem- 
ber of  1862  he  entered  the  Union  army  in  the  war  of  the  rebellion, 
enlisting  in  Co.  C,  125th  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  three-years  service,  Captain 
Wm.  W.  Fellows.  He  participated  in  many  of  the  heavy  battles, 
among  which  may  be  mentioned  the  battle  of  Perrysville,  siege  of 
Chattanooga,  and  the  Atlanta  campaign.  During  this  campaign,  for 
about  three  months,  there  was  fighting  nearly  all  the  time.  During 
his  service  he  was  a  part  of  the  time  engaged  as  adjutant's  clerk  and 
some  of  the  time  as  hospital  steward.  When  he  returned  from  the 
war,  in  1865,  he  was  for  a  time  employed  in  the  office  of  J.  C.  Short, 
county  clerk.  After  engaging  in  the  grocery  trade,  he  was  for  eight 
years  located  on  Main  street,  but  is  now  at  No.  62  Vermilion,  where  he 
has  an  establishment  20  x  110,  well  stocked  with  everything  pertaining 
to  the  grocery  business. 

Samuel  G.  Craig,  Danville  (deceased),  was  one  of  the  old  pioneers 
of  Danville.  He  was  born  in  the  state  of  Kentucky  in  1812.  From 
that  state  he  moved  to  Indiana,  and  from  there  to  Danville  in  1838. 
For  twelve  years  he  filled  the  office  of  circuit  clerk.  He  then  engaged 
in  the  dry-goods  trade,  which  he  followed  for  many  years.  For  a  time 
he  represented  Vermilion  county  in  the  state  legislature.  His  death 
occurred  in  1871.  In  1856  Mr.  Craig  was  married  to  Mrs.  Gilbert. 
She  is  the  daughter  of  Henry  Klien,  and  a  native  of  the  state  of  Penn- 
sylvania.    Her  home  is  still  in  Danville. 

Frank  M.  Riley,  farmer,  lives  in  Indiana,  was  born  in  Vermilion 
county,  Indiana,  on  the  14th  of  April,  1844,  and  is  the  son  of  Jacob 
and  Elizabeth  (Nichols)  Riley.  Mr.  Riley's  father,  Jacob  Riley,  was 
born  in  Hardin  county,  Kentucky,  on  the  10th  of  February,  1803.  In 
1S27  he  came  to  Perrysville,  Vermilion  county,  Indiana,  and  was  en- 
gaged in  the  saddle  and  harness  business  for  about  twelve  years.  He 
was  married  in  Perrysville,  in  1831,  to  Elizabeth  Nichols,  of  Virginia. 
From  Perrysville  they  moved  to  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  some  forty 
vears  agro.     Here  Mr.  Rilev  has  been  a  resident  ever  since.     His  first 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  393 

wife  died  on  the  old  homestead.  He  then  married  the  second  time  to 
Catharine  Blunk,  of  Kentucky.  He  is  the  father  of  five  children,  liv- 
ing, all  by  his  first  wife.  Mr.  Frank  M.  Riley  was  brought  up  on  the 
farm,  engaged  in  farming.  He,  in  1861,  at  the  first  call,  enlisted  in  the 
hundred-day  service  in  the  71st  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  Co.  H,  and  did  good 
service.  He  was  honorably  mustered  out.  Mr.  Riley  is  a  member  of 
the  Perrysville,  No.  344,  Masonic  society.  He  is  a  republican  in  poli- 
tics. He  was  married  in  1877,  to  Miss  Martha  W.  Rodgers,  of  Warren 
county,  Indiana,  daughter  of  Elisha  and  Mary  Ann  Rodgers.  Mr. 
Riley  is  flagman  for  the  Evansville,  Terre  Haute  &  Chicago  Railroad, 
which  makes  it  convenient  for  any  one  to  get  on  the  cars  at  his  farm, 
as  it  is  a  flag  station.  He  also  took  an  active  part  in  helping  to  get 
the  right  of  way  for  this  railroad  in  this  vicinity.  Mr.  Riley  was  in 
Wayne  county,  Illinois,  one  and  one-half  years,  in  the  stock  business. 

R.  M.  Price  &  Bro.,  Danville,  livery  stable.  These  gentlemen  were 
both  born  in  Vermilion  county,  Illinois.  R.  M.  Price  was  born  on  the 
9th  of  April,  1840,  on  his  father's  farm,  where  he  remained  until  he 
became  of  age.  He  then  commenced  school-teaching,  and  from  that 
he  commenced  the  practice  of  law  in  Danville.  In  1863  he  enlisted  in 
the  late  war,  in  Jacksonville,  Illinois,  in  the  61st  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  Co.  A. 
He  was  detailed  as  clerk  in  the  quartermaster's  department,  and  then 
in  the  United  States  arsenal  at  Little  Rock,  Arkansas,  and  from  there 
he  went  to  Franklin,  Tennessee.  He  then  went  to  Nashville,  where 
he  acted  as  clerk  for  the  government.  He  remained  in  service  until 
the  close  of  the  war.  His  brother,  Thomas  J.  Price,  was  born  in  1842, 
and  was  raised  on  a  farm.  In  1861  he  enlisted  in  the  late  war,  in  the 
125th  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  Co.  B,  for  three  years,  but  after  serving  about  nine 
months,  he  took  sick  and  was  discharged,  returning  to  Vermilion 
county.  These  gentlemen  to-day  own  one  of  the  leading  livery  stables 
of  Danville.  They  keep  on  hand  twelve  horses,  with  a  good  stock  of 
carriages  and  buggies.  Their  father,  Lloyd  H.  Price,  was  born  in  Pike 
county,  Ohio,  in  1812,  and  is  the  son  of  Robert  G.  Price,  who,  with  a 
family,  came  to  Illinois  and  located  in  Vermilion  county,  near  Den- 
mark, in  1835.  Here  Robert  G.  Price  died  in  1850,  and  he  and  his 
wife  were  buried  on  the  farm  near  Denmark.  Lloyd  H.  Price  remained 
on  his  father's  farm  until  he  was  about  twenty-three  years  of  age,  when 
he  married  Minerva  Howard,  who  was  born  in  Pike  county,  Ohio,  in 
1817.  Bv  this  union  they  had  nine  children,  four  of  whom  are  living. 
Lloyd  H.  Price  commenced  farming,  a  poor  boy,  but  with  hard  work 
and  good  management  had  accumulated  considerable  property,  and  was 
recognized  as  one  of  the  most  successful  farmers  of  Vermilion  county. 
He  owned  sixteen  hundred  acres  of  fine  land,  and  other  valuable  prop- 


394  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

erty.  He  died  a  christian,  being  a  member  of  the  Christian  Church. 
He  departed  this  life  in  1876,  respected  and  honored,  and  was  buried 
at  Newell  Grove,  in  Newell  township,  in  the  graveyard  where  his  wife 
■was  buried  in  1864. 

Oliver  L.  Davis,  Danville,  judge  of  the  circuit  court,  was  born  in 
New  York  city  on  the  20th  of  December,  1819,  and  is  the  son  of  Wm. 
and  Olivia  (Thompson)  Davis.  His  father  was  a  native  of  New  York, 
and  was  born  near  Saratoga  Springs.  He  was  a  commission  merchant 
in  New  York  city.  Judge  Davis  received  his  principal  education  at 
an  academy  in  New  York  state.  He  was  in  the  employ  of  the  Amer- 
ican Fur  Company  as  clerk  for  seven  years.  In  1841,  in  company  with 
J.  G.  Leverich,  Esq.,  he  came  west  and  located  in  Danville,  Illinois, 
where  he  has  made  his  home  ever  since.  Here  he  commenced  the 
study  of  law  with  Isaac  P.  Walker  in  December,  1842,  and  was  ad- 
mitted to  practice  law  at  the  Illinois  state  bar.  While  at  his  profession 
he  associated  himself  as  law  partner  with  Colonel  O.  F.  Harmon  and 
J.  B.  Mann,  Esq.  In  1S51  Judge  Davis  was  elected  by  the  democratic 
.party  a  member  of  the  legislature.  In  1857  he  was  elected  to  the 
same  office  by  the  republican  party.  In  1861  he  was  made  judge  of 
the  twenty -seventh  circuit.  In  1861,  when  the  new  circuit  was  formed, 
he  was  reelected.  This  office  he  filled  until  1866,  when  he  resigned. 
In  1873  he  was  elected  judge  of  the  fifteenth  circuit.  In  1877  he  was 
made  a  member  of  the  appellate  court,  third  district.  By  the  consoli- 
dation of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  circuits  the  fourth  judicial  circuit 
was  formed,  and  Mr.  Davis  has  been  judge  of  this  circuit  ever  since  it 
was  organized.  Jud^e  Davis  was  married  on  the  5th  of  December, 
1844.  in  Danville,  Illinois,  to  Miss  Sarah  M.  Cunningham,  who  was 
born  in  Illinois  on  the  3d  of  September,  1827.  She  is  the  daughter  of 
Hezekiah  Cunningham,  one  of  the  pioneers  of  Vermilion  county,  Illi- 
nois.    By  this  union  they  have  six  children. 

John  G.  Leverich,  Danville,  master  in  chancery,  whose  portrait 
appears  in  this  work,  is  a  fair  example  of  what  may  be  attained  by  per- 
severance, industry  and  energy.  He  was  born  on  the  10th  of  October, 
1819,  in  Newtown,  Queens  county,  New  York,  a  suburb  of  New  York 
city,  and  is  the  son  of  John  and  Alletta  (Berrien)  Leverich,  both 
natives  of  New  York.  John  Leverich,  the  father  of  Mr.  Leverich,  was 
a  blacksmith  by  trade,  and  followed  farming.  He  was  a  sergeant  in  a 
company  of  New  York  militia  in  the  war  of  1S12.  '  Both  parents  died 
on  Long  Island,  New  York.  At  fourteen  years  of  age  Mr.  Leverich 
accepted  a  clerkship  in  New  York  city,  where  he  remained  until  1841. 
This  year,  in  company  with  Judge  O.  L.  Davis,  he  set  out  for  the  far 
west,  arriving  and  locating  the  same  year  in  Danville,  which  has  been 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  395 

his  home  ever  since.  Here  he  commenced  clerking  in  a  store,  and  from 
that  he  entered  the  mercantile  business  in  company  with  his  brother, 
R.  T.  Leverich,  keeping  a  general  stock  of  merchandise.  He  continued 
in  business  with  his  brother  about  five  years.  In  1860  he  was  appoint- 
ed master  in  chancery,  which  office  he  has  held  ever  since,  and  to-day 
is  perhaps  the  oldest  master  in  chancery  in  the  state  of  Illinois.  He 
has  ably  and  punctually  discharged  his  official  duties,  and  shares  as  a 
result  a  gratifying  degree  of  popularity.  In  1847  Mr.  Leverich  mar- 
ried Miss  Sarah  Tilton,  by  whom  they  have  had  five  children,  two  de- 
ceased. In  politics  he  is  a  republican,  of  which  party  he  has  been  a 
member  ever  since  its  organization. 

Francis  M.  Allhands,  Danville,  ex-county  treasurer,  was  born  in 
Montgomery  county,  Indiana,  on  the  17th  of  January,  1832,  and  is  the 
son  of  Andrew  and  Margaret  (Swank)  Allhands.  His  father,  a  native 
of  Ohio,  was  engaged  in  farming.  He  moved,  with  his  wife,  from  Ohio 
to  Indiana,  where  she  died.  He  then  married  Mrs.  Martha  Campbell, 
formerly  Miss  Willhite.  By  these  two  companions  he  raised  a  family 
of  nine  children, —  five  by  the  first  and  four  by  the  second.  Mr. 
Allhands  can  trace  his  family  through  the  paternal  line  back  to  Ger- 
many, when  his  great-grandfather  came  over  from  that  country  to 
America.  In  1842  Mr.  Allhands,  with  his  parents,  moved  to  Vermilion 
county,  Illinois,  and  located  in  what  is  now  Catlin  township.  Here 
they  set  out  in  farming,  and  here,  also,  his  father,  born  in  1806, 
died  in  1851.  Mr.  Allhands  learned  the  carpenter  and  joiner's  trade, 
which  business  he  engaged  in  until  the  breaking  out  of  the  war.  In 
the  fall  of  1861  he  enlisted  as  a  recruit  in  Co.  E,  35th  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  and 
participated  in  some  of  the  most  severe  battles.  In  the  engagement  at 
Pea  Ridge,  Arkansas,  he  was  struck  three  times  with  grape  and  musket 
balls.  One  very  painful  wound  was  in  the  big  toe,  by  which  he  was 
temporarily  disabled,  and  fell  a  prisoner  into  the  enemy's  hands.  He 
was  taken  to  the  hospital  with  the  rest  of  the  wounded,  and  there 
bound  up  his  own  wound,  which  bled  quite  freely,  thus  making  it  look 
more  severe  than  it  really  was.  The  next  day  they  received  orders 
that  all  who  could  walk  would  be  obliged  to  move  forward;  but  seeing 
Mr.  Allhands'  foot  bandaged  and  bloody,  they  allowed  him  to  remain 
with  a  rear  guard,  who  left  him  in  a  farm-house  by  the  roadside.  He 
managed  to  get  hold  of  an  old  broken-down  mule,  which  he  rode  back 
to  the  Union  lines,  and  rejoined  his  regiment.  He  was  afterward  en- 
gaged in  the  battles  of  Stone  River,  Chickamauga,  Mission  Ridge 
and  other  battles.  He  was  again  wounded  at  Tunnel  Hill,  or  Rocky 
Face,  Georgia,  from  the  effects  of  which  Jt  became  necessary  to  ampu- 
tate his  right  foot,  which  was  done  at  Nashville,  Tennessee,  on  the  18th 


396  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

of  July,  1864.  Mr.  Allhands  entered  the  army  as  a  private,  but  on  his 
soldierly  qualities  he  was  promoted  to  second,  and  afterward  to  first, 
lieutenant.  He  was  honorably  mustered  out  of  the  service  at  Nash- 
ville, Tennessee.  Mr.  Allhands  has  held  several  offices  of  public  trust, 
and  has  proven  himself  a  man  of  acknowledged  ability.  In  1865  he 
was  elected  assessor  and  collector  of  Catlin  township.  In  1867  he  was 
elected  treasurer  of  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  and  held  the  office  for 
ten  years.  On  the  1th  of  March,  1858,  he  married  Mary  J.  Hilliary, 
daughter  of  George  and  Sarah  Hilliary,  who  were  among  the  early 
settlers  of  Vermilion  county.  Mr.  Allhands  is  the  father  of  seven  chil- 
dren ;   three  died  with  scarlet  fever. 

William  H.  Newlin,  Danville,  deputy  circuit  clerk,  was  born  in 
Georgetown,  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  4th  of  September, 
1842,  and  is  the  son  of  John  and  A.  (Henderson)  Newlin.  His  father 
was  born  in  North  Carolina.  He  was  a  saddler  by  trade,  and  coming 
west  located  in  Indiana  about  1830.  In  1832  he  came  to  Illinois,  and 
was  for  a  number  of  years  a  justice  of  the  peace.  Mr.  William  H. 
Newlin  received  his  principal  education  at  Georgetown.  He  was  a 
soldier  in  the  late  civil  war.  He  enlisted  July,  1862,  as  a  private  in 
Co.  C,  73d  111.  Vol.  Inf.  (a  history  of  which  regiment  appears  in  this 
work).  He  participated  in  some  severe  battles,  and  was  taken  prisoner 
by  the  enemy  in  the  battle  of  Chickamauga,  Georgia,  on  the  20th  of 
September,  1863.  He  was  taken  to  Richmond,  Virginia,  where  he 
remained  until  the  14th  of  November,  1863,  when  the  prisoners  were 
moved  to  Danville,  Virginia.  Here  the  small-pox  had  made  its  ap- 
pearance among  the  prisoners,  and  on  the  14th  of  December  Mr.  New- 
lin  was  taken  sick  with  that  disease,  and  was  sent  to  the  hospital, 
where,  after  receiving  sufficient  strength,  on  the  night  of  the  19th  of 
February,  1864,  with  five  other  Union  soldiers,  he  made  his  escape  and 
set  out  for  the  Union  lines.  Mr.  Newlin  has  written  and  published  a 
very  interesting  work  of  one  hundred  and  twelve  pages,  relating  their 
escape  to  the  Federal  camp.  Of  the  six  that  made  their  escape  only 
four  are  known  to  have  ever  reached  the  Union  lines,  and  they  arrived 
there  on  the  20th  of  March,  1864,  and  on  the  29th  of  March  they 
reported  at  post-headcpiarters  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  where  they  received 
a  furlough.  Mr.  Newlin  arrived  home  on  the  3d  of  April.  His  visit 
was  unexpected,  and  the  first  intimation  his  parents  had  received  for 
many  weeks  that  he  was  yet  alive  was  when  he  entered  the  old  home. 
Mr.  Newlin  rejoined  his  regiment,  and  served  until  the  close  of  the 
war,  being  made  first  lieutenant  of  his  company.  At  the  close  of  the 
war  he  returned  to  Georgetown,  where  he  was  engaged  in  the  mercan- 
tile business  about  three  vears.     Mr.  Newlin  has  held  several  offices  of 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  397 

public  trust.  He  was  collector  and  assessor,  township  clerk  and  school- 
director  ;  he  rilled  each  of  these  offices  for  several  years  with  marked 
ability,  giving  entire  satisfaction.  In  1876  he  was  made  deputy  circuit 
clerk,  which  office  he  has  filled  ever  since.  Mr.  Newlin  was  married 
in  1S68  to  Miss  Amanda  Ann  Hawes,  of  Georgetown,  daughter  of  Dr. 
A.  Hawes,  one  of  the  pioneers  of  Vermilion  county.  By  this  marriage 
they  have  three  children. 

G.  W.  Hooton,  Danville,  lumber  dealer,  is  a  native  of  Clermont 
county,  Ohio,  though  he  came  to  Vermilion  county  with  his  people 
when  he  was  but  seven  years  old.  This  was  in  1842,  and  he  has  since 
remained  a  resident  of  the  county.  During  his  early  life  he  had  not 
the  advantages  of  getting  an  education  that  are  enjoyed  by  the  present 
generation,  though  he  improved  all  opportunities  and  became  a  fair 
scholar.  lie  did  some  farming ;  learned  the  trade  of  a  carpenter  and 
joiner,  at  which  he  did  some  work,  and  taught  several  terms  of  school, 
as  well  as  spending  about  three  years  on  the  road,  though  this  was 
in  later  years.  The  firm  of  Hankey  &  Hooton  has  been  familiar  to 
the  people  since  1876,  the  Mr.  Hankey  being  a  brother  of  his  present 
partner,  Mr.  C.  F.  Hankey,  who  became  a  member  of  the  firm  on  the 
1st  of  January,  1879.  Mr.  Hooton  has  dabbled  a  little  in  political 
affairs,  having  been  a  member  of  the  city  council  during  the  years 
1873,  1871-  and  1875.  He  is  also  W.  M.  of  the  Olive  Branch  Lodge  of 
A.  F.  and  A.  M.  In  business  affairs  they  have  established  a  good 
trade  and  reputation,  their  trade  now  amounting  to  about  twenty-five 
thousand  dollars  per  year. 

William  Cast,  Danville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Clinton  county,  Ohio, 
on  the  17th  of  April,  1821,  and  is  the  son  of  A.  and  Mary  (Villars) 
Cast.  His  father  was  a  farmer,  and  a  native  of  Kentucky,  having 
moved  to  Ohio  at  an  early  day,  and  died  there  in  about  1831.  Mr. 
Cast  was  brought  up  on  his  father's  farm.  He  was  married  in  1843  to 
Miss  Rachael  Villars,  of  Ohio,  and  the  same  year  they  came  to  Illinois 
and  located  in  Vermilion  county.  Flere  they  have  remained  ever 
since  on  the  present  farm.  Mr.  Cast  came  to  Vermilion  county  worth 
about  five  hundred  dollars;  he  invested  in  one  hundred  and  forty 
acres  of  land,  and  commenced  farming ;  to-day  he  owns  three  hundred 
and  twenty  acres  of  fine  improved  land,  which  he  has  accumulated  by 
his  own  industry.     They  have  had  four  children,  three  living. 

George  F.  Coburn,  Danville,  attorney  at  law,  is  one  of  the  success- 
ful attorneys  of  Vermilion  county.  He  was  born  in  Brown  county, 
Ohio,  on  the  29th  of  December,  1841,  and  is  the  son  of  Francis  D.  Co- 
burn,  a  native  of  New  Hampshire,  who,  with  a  wife  and  three  children, 
moved  to  Illinois  and  located  on  a  farm  in  Danville  township,  Vermil- 


398  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

ion  county,  in  1843.  Here  he  was  engaged  in  farming  until  1871, 
when  he  departed  this  life,  an  honored  and  respected  man.  Here,  on 
the  farm,  Mr.  Coburn  grew  into  manhood  ;  engaged  in  farming  from 
the  time  he  was  able  to  hold  the  hoe  or  handle  the  plow,  and  in  the 
winter  months  attending  the  district  schools  of  the  period.  When 
nineteen  years  old  he  commenced  teaching  school,  and  taught  five 
winters  and  one  summer.  He  was  also  engaged  in  the  study  of  law. 
He  came  to  Danville  and  commenced  reading  law  under  Judge  O.  L. 
Davis,  where  he  remained  about  one  year.  In  1867  he  was  admitted 
to  practice  law  at  the  Illinois  bar.  Here  he  has  been  engaged  in  Dan- 
ville in  the  practice  of  law  ever  since,  with  the  exception  of  one  year. 
Mr.  Coburn  has  formed  a  partnership  with  Joseph  W.  Jones  and  Daniel 
W.  Limder,  now  law  partner  of  "W.  H.  Mallory,  which  was  formed  in 
the  fall  of  1878.  Mr.  Mallory  was  born  in  Cortland  county,  New 
York,  on  the  14th  of  December,  1812.  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in 
1837.  He  came  west  in  1841,  first  locating  in  Fountain  county,  Indi- 
ana, thence  (1867)  to  Du  Page  county,  Illinois,  and  in  1870  came  to 
Danville.  Mr.  Mallory  is  one  of  the  oldest  practicing  attorneys  of  the 
Vermilion  county  bar. 

Hiram  W.  Ross,  Danville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Vermilion  county, 
Illinois,  on  the  8th  of  November,  1843,  and  is  the  son  of  Joseph  T. 
Ross,  whose  biography  appears  in  this  work.  Mr.  Ross  was  raised  on 
the  farm.  In  1862  he  enlisted  in  the  125th  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  Co.  B.  He 
participated  in  the  battle  of  Perrysville.  He  was  taken  sick  and  moved 
to  the  hospital  at  Nashville,  Tennessee,  where  he  remained  until  1863, 
and  on  account  of  sickness  he  was  honorably  discharged.  He  returned 
home,  and  in  1872  he  married  Tilda  Ann  Smith,  daughter  of  Abraham 
Smith,  who  was  an  early  settler  of  this  county.  They  have  one  child. 
The  following  appropriate  tribute  to  the  memory  of  Hon.  John  L. 
Tincher  has  been  prepared  and  kindly  furnished  us  by  A.  G.  Smith  : 
John  L.  Tincher  was  born  in  Kentucky  in  1821.  Eight  years  later 
his  parents  removed  to  Vermilion  comity,  Indiana.  When  the  subject 
of  this  sketch  had  arrived  at  the  age  of  seventeen  years  his  parents  had 
died,  and  then  he  addressed  himself  to  acquiring  an  education.  He 
attended  school  for  about  three  vears  in  Coles  countv,  Illinois,  and  then 
took  service  in  the  store  of  Jones  &  Culbertson,  at  Newport,  Indiana. 
In  1843  he  came  with  J.  M.  Culbertson  to  Danville,  and  was  a  clerk  in 
his  store  until  1853,  when  the  notable  firm  of  Tincher  &  English  was 
organized — first  as  merchants  and  afterward  as  bankers.  The  First 
National  Bank  of  Danville  stands  as  a  monument  of  their  united 
energy,  labor  and  prudence.  Mr.  Tincher  acquired  a  handsome  prop- 
erty, to  which  his  wife  and  children  became  heirs  without  the  interfer- 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  399 

ence  of  a  will.  In  1804  Mr.  Tincher  was  elected  a  member  of  the 
lower  house  of  the  general  assembly  of  the  state.  In  1867  he  was 
transferred  to  the  senate,  to  membership  in  which  he  was  re-elected  in 
1870.  He  was  also,  in  1870,  a  member  of  the  convention  that  revised 
the  fundamental  law  of  the  state.  For  many  years  Mr.  Tincher's  busi- 
ness affairs  were  very  exacting,  and  in  the  later  years  of  his  life  official 
trusts  increased  the  demands  upon  his  energies,  and  added  -to  these 
were  clmrchly  and  social  obligations,  in  all,  making  the  demands  upon 
him  exceedingly  onerous;  the  unceasing  strain  upon  his  mind  and  body 
may  be  supposed  to  have  shortened  his  life.  In  1845  Mr.  Tincher 
united  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  soon  afterward  was 
chosen  to  occupy  a  subordinate  clerical  relation  to  the  church,  which 
relation  he  maintained  until  his  death.  He  was  frequently  called  upon 
to  preach.  Though  without  classical  education  or  technical  theological 
training,  he  was  a  forcible,  logical  and  acceptable  preacher.  It  would 
be  impossible  for  one  not  endowed  with  superior  powers  of  mind  to 
meet  the  degree  of  success  in  business,  in  politics  and  in  social  life  that 
attended  Mr.  Tincher.  It  is  not  an  extravagance  of  language  to  say 
that  he  was  a  gifted  man.  The  Hon.  John  L.  Tincher  died  at  the 
Revere  House,  Springfield,  Illinois,  at  half-past  six  o'clock,  on  Sunday 
evening,  the  17th  of  December,  1871.  His  disease  was  pleuro-pneu- 
monia.  During  the  greater  part  of  his  life  he  had  been  in  delicate 
health,  and  as  far  back  as  1855  it  was  thought  that  his  career  would  be 
terminated  by  consumption.  In  the  summer  of  1869  he  was  attacked 
by  apoplexy,  and  thenceforward  he  complained  of  cerebral  irregulari- 
ties, and  was  never  without  apprehensions  of  a  return  of  apoplexy. 
His  attack  came  upon  him  while  sitting  in  the  office  of  his  bank.  The 
Rev.  James  P.  Dimmitt  observed  his  drooping  head  and  pallid  counte- 
nance. Upon  being  spoken  to,  Mr.  Tincher  said  he  was  sick  and 
thought  he  would  die;  and  then  starting  witli  a  couple  of  friends  to 
walk  home,  no  carriage  being  convenient,  he  sank  down  after  walking 
about  a  square,  named  Eben  H.  Palmer  to  settle  his  estate,  and  passed 
into  unconsciousness.  He  recovered,  however,  and  was  restored  to  the 
degree  of  health  above  spoken  of.  At  the  time  of  his  death  Mr. 
Tincher  was  in  Springfield  attending  to  his  duties  as  senator.  He  was 
surrounded  in  his  dying  hour  by  bis  wife  and  children ;  Mr.  C.  L.  Eng- 
lish, Mr.  C.  B.  Holloway,  Mrs.  J.  G.  English,  the  Rev.  James  Coe  and 
the  writer  of  these  lines  were  also  with  him.  On  the  morning  follow- 
ing, Mr.  Tincher's  remains  were  brought  to  Danville  for  burial.  An 
immense  throng  of  two  or  three  thousand  people  were  at  the  depot, 
shivering  in  the  bitter  winter  air,  waiting  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  the 
casket  that  contained  the  mortal  parts  of  their  old  friend  and  neighbor. 


-KM  I  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUXTT. 

Funeral  services  were  conducted  in  Kimber  Church,  of  which  Mr. 
Tincher  was  a  member,  on  the  Thursday  following  his  death.  A  me- 
morial address  was  read  by  the  Hon.  O.  L.  Davis,  and  a  discourse  was 
preached  by  the  Rev.  George  Stevens.  Rev.  A.  L.  Brooks,  Rev.  W. 
1ST.  McElroy  and  Rev.  P.  Woods  assisted  in  conducting  the  service. 
Pall-bearers  were  chosen  from  a  list  of  Mr.  Tincher's  oldest  acquaint- 
ances, namely:  Dr.  W.  H.  H.  Scott,  Hon.  Alvan  Gilbert,  John  W. 
Mires,  Samuel  Frazier  and  Victor  Leseure.  By  common  consent,  Mr. 
Tincher  was  recognized  as  the  controlling  spirit  of  this  community. 
He  made  the  poor  man's  cause  his  cause;  he  left  no  one  to  charge  him 
with  circumvention ;  he  left  no  taint  upon  his  name  and  memory. 

"  How  populous,  how  vital  is  the  grave  ! 
This  is  creation's  melancholy  vault. 
The  veil  funereal,  the  sad  cypress  gloom  ; 
The  land  of  apparitions,  empty  shades  ; 
All,  all  on  earth,  is  shadow  ;  all  beyond 
Is  substance  ;  the  reverse  is  Folly's  creed  : 
How  solid  all,  where  change  shall  be  no  more  !  " 

We  hope  in  God's  good  time  to  meet  our  dear  friend  in  the  vernal 

fields  of  paradise,  and  to  engage  with  him  in  the  rapturous  exercises 

that  fane}7  paints   as   belonging  to  them  who  enter  the  kingdom  of 

eternal  rest.     Farewell !   dear  friend,  brother,  farewell !     As  we  march 

down  life's  uneven  main,  we  are  cheered  by  sweet  memories  that  come 

unbidden,  but  ever  welcome,  hopefully  trusting  that  in  the  realms  of 

the  blest,  where  are  no  aching  brains,  nor  weary  limits,  nor  congested 

lungs,  we  may  enjoy  in  perennial  day  the  abiding  friendship  begun 

below.     Farewell,  Tincher!  once  more,  farewell ! 

W.  H.  Johns.  Danville,  grocer,  is  a  native  of  Vermilion  county, 
Blount,  being  his  native  township.  He  had  the  advantage  of  free 
schools,  and  received  a  good  education.  In  1S62  he  entered  the  army 
in  the  rebellion  of  1861-5,  enlisting  first  in  Co.  A,  "1st  111.  Vol. 
Inf.,  three-months  service,  under  Colonel  Gilbert,  who  was  elected 
captain  at  Springfield  and  made  colonel  at  Chicago.  After  this  term 
of  service  he  reonlisted,  in  1864,  this  time  in  Co.  K,  135th  111.  Vol.  Inf.. 
hundred-day  service,  under  Colonel  Wolf.  The  first  time  he  was  mus- 
tered in  at  Camp  Butler,  Springfield,  and  the  last  time  at  Mattoon, 
Illinois,  the  135th  being  mustered  in  at  that  place.  Previous  to  his 
engaging  in  his  present  business  he  had  been  in  the  mercantile  busi- 
ness, three  years  in  the  dry -goods  and  grocery  trade,  and  five  years  in 
the  lumber  business.  He  is  one  of  the  natives  of  the  county,  who,  by 
an  honorable  treatment  of  his  friends  and  customers,  has  won  for  him- 
self a  good  name  and  reputation. 

John  Charles  Black  was  bom  on  the  27th  of  Januarv,  1839.     His 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  401 

father,  John  Black,  of  Pennsylvania,  was  born  on  the  19th  of  July, 
1809,  and  was  married  to  Josephine  L.  Cnlbertson,  of  the  old  Penn- 
sylvania family  of  that  name,  on  the  9th  of  September,  1834.     From 
this  marriage  four  children  grew  up,  three  of  whom  still  survive.    The 
father  entered  the  Presbyterian  ministry,  and  went  south  when  twenty- 
three  years  of  age,  remaining  there  until  about  a  year  prior  to  his  death, 
which  occurred  on  the  13th  of  February,  1847.     The  mother  still  sur- 
vives, and  is  now  the  wife  of  Dr.  Wra.  Fithian,  of  Danville,  to  which 
place  Mrs.  Black  removed  in  the  spring  of  1847,  after  the  death  of  her 
husband,  above  referred  to,  taking  with  her  her  four  children.  Before  his 
death  the  father  obtained  a  wide  repute  as  a  preacher  of  unusual  power, 
eloquence  and  fervor,  and  was  made  a  Doctor  of  Divinity  when  thirty- 
six  years  of  age.     At  the  time  of  his  death  he  was  the  pastor  of  the 
Fifth  Presbyterian  Church  of  Alleghany  City,  Pennsylvania.     Since 
her  removal  to  Danville,  in  1847,  General   Black's  mother  has  been 
continuously  a  resident  of  that  place,  and  there,  too,  General  Black  has 
resided  during  the  greater  part  of  this  interval,  so  that  they  class  among 
the  old  residents  of  Yermilion  county.     In  1858  J.  C.  Black  entered 
Wabash  College,  at  Crawfordsville,  Indiana,  remaining  there  until  he 
abandoned  "the  groves  of  the  academy"  for  the  tented  field,  in  April, 
1861.    On  the  very  day  on  which  Fort  Sumter  was  attacked  he  enlisted 
as  a  private  soldier  in  the  "  Montgomery  Guards,"  of  Crawfordsville, 
which  company  was,  a  few  days  later,  mustered  into  the  three-months 
service  as  Co.  I,  11th  Ind.  Inf.  Zouaves,  Colonel  (afterward  Major-Gen- 
eral )  Lew  Wallace  commanding.     Upon  the  organization  of  this  regi- 
ment J.  0.  Black  was  made  its  sergeant-major,  which  position  he  occu- 
pied until  the  muster  out  of  the  regiment,  some  four  months  afterward. 
Immediately  thereafter  he  returned  to  Danville,  and  engaged  in  Re- 
cruiting a  company  for  the  three-years  service,  which  was  mustered  in 
as  Co.  K,  37th  111.  Inf.,  Colonel  (afterward  Major-General)  Julius  White 
commanding.    In  the  organization  of  this  regiment  General  Black  was 
chosen  and  commissioned  its  major.     From  this  position  he  fought  his 
way  up,  being  commissioned  lieutenant-colonel  and  colonel,  and  finally 
brigadier-general,  by  brevet,  for  gallant  services  on  the  field  of  battle. 
Each  commission  issued  to  him  by  the  state  and  national  authorities 
was  by  them  marked  as  for  gallantry  in  some  special  engagement,  or  for 
meritorious  conduct.     General  Black  remained  in  the  military  service 
until  after  the  last  battle  was  fought,  commanding  a  brigade,  of  which 
the  37th  Illinois,  which  "veteranized"  in  1864,  formed  a  part,  and  par- 
ticipated in  the  storming  of  "  The  Blakeleys  "  and  the  capture  of  Mo- 
bile, as  well  as  in  the  subsequent  military  events  in  Alabama  and 
Texas  which  formed  the  closing  scenes  of  the  rebellion.     Then,  in  the 
26 


402  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

summer  of  1865,  he  returned  to  civil  life,  in  which  lie  has  since  been 
engaged,  taking  a  very  active  and  prominent  part  in  the  political  affairs 
of  his  district  and  state.     On  coming  out  of  the  army  he  studied  law 
in  Chicago  with  the  firm  of  Gookins  and  Roberts,  and  commenced  the 
practice  of  his  profession  in  the  early  part  of  1867  in  Danville,  but  he 
shortly  thereafter  removed  to  Champaign,  where  he  resided  until  about 
June,  1874,  since  which  time  he  has  resumed  residence  in  Danville, 
which  is  now  his  home.     As  souvenirs  of  his  service  General  Black 
bears  two  wounds.     The  first  was  received  in  the  battle  of  Pea  Ridge, 
"Arkansas,  on  the  7th  of  March,  1862,  being  a  gun-shot  through  the 
right  arm.     The  second  wound  was  received  in  the  battle  of  Prairie 
Grove,  Arkansas,  on  the  7th  of  December,  1862.     He  has  suffered  in- 
tensely, and  for  years,  from  these  wounds  and  the  surgical  operations 
necessitated  thereby,  his  life  being  several  times  despaired  of  and  his 
death  currently  reported.     But  a  strong  constitution  has  enabled  him 
to  maintain  the  struggle  for  life,  and  he  survives,  in  the  full  vigor  of 
intellect  and  with  fair  general  health,  although  crippled  in  both  arms. 
Upon  returning  to  civil  life  General  Black  became  identified  with  the 
democratic  party,  in  a  state  and  congressional  district  which  were  alike 
strongly  republican.    Twice  since  then  has  he  been  selected  by  his  party 
as  its  candidate  for  congress,  and  once  by  the  democracy  of  the  state  as 
candidate  for  lieutenant-governor.     While  unsuccessful  in  these  con- 
tests, yet  in  them  all  General  Black  has  run  largely  ahead  of  his  ticket, 
reducing  the  majority  in  his  district  when  a  candidate  for  congress,  and 
running  many  thousands  ahead  of  his  ticket  when  a  candidate  for  lieu- 
tenant-governor. Finally,  General  Black  received  the  entire  democratic 
vote  for  the  office  of  United   States  senator  in  1878,  when  General 
Logan  was  elected  to  that  office.     He  is  the  senior  partner  in  the  pros- 
perous and  successful  law  firm  of  Black  &  Blackburn.    He  is  enjoying 
a  large  practice  in  the  state  and  federal  courts,  and  is  paying  earnest 
attention  to  his  business  affairs. 

R.  B.  Leverich,  Danville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Danville,  Vermilion 
county,  Illinois,  on  the  17th  of  October,  1847,  and  is  the  son  of  Richard 
T.  and  Lydia  F.  (Gilbert)  Leverich.  Mr.  Leverich  was  raised  in  Dan- 
ville; he  clerked  in  his  father's  store;  in  April,  1865,  he  came  on  the  farm, 
where  he  has  remained  ever  since  engaged  in  farming.  He  married  on 
the  24th  of  December,  1868,  to  Miss  Hannah  M.  Silliven,  who  was 
born  on  the  1st  of  August,  1848.  She  is  the  daughter  of  Andrew  and 
Frances  Silliven.  By  this  marriage  they  have  had  six  children,  four  of 
whom  are  living  (Conrad  R.,  born  on  the  19th  of  May,  1S70;  Richard 
A.,  born  on  the  10th  of  January,  1873;  Othniel  G.,  born  on  the  17th 
of  September,  1874;  Charles  E.,  born  on  the  4th  of  September,  1S76). 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  403 

Two  are  deceased ;  Lydia,  born  on  the  15th  of  September,  1869,  died 
on  the  19th  of  September,  1870,  and  Lulu,  born  on  the  7th  of  March) 
1878,  and  died  on  the  7th  of  May,  1878. 

R.  L.  Porter,  Danville,  physician,  is  a  native  of  Pittsburgh,  Penn- 
sylvania, and  a  physician  of  about  forty  years'  practice.  He  is  one  of 
the  early  settlers  of  Danville,  having  been  a  resident  of  the  place  since 
1848.  His  wife  is  also  a  graduate  of  medicine,  and  while  a  resident 
of  Danville  has  sometimes  done  a  practice  of  several  thousand  dollars 
per  year.  In  1871  the  Doctor  and  his  wife  went  to  England,  his  object 
being  to  have  a  very  difficult  surgical  operation  performed  upon  him- 
self by  the  celebrated  Sir  Henry  Thompson,  of  London,  one  of  the 
finest  physicians  and  surgeons  of  Europe.  The  operation  was  per- 
formed successfully,  Sir  Henry  refusing  any  remuneration,  though  his 
usual  price  was  $500  for  similar  service.  Dr.  Porter  has  not  only 
proven  himself  a  success  professionally,  but  also  as  a  financier.  Be- 
sides his  property  in  Danville  he  has  a  splendid  farm  of  eight  hundred 
acres,  located  on  sections  28,  29  and  32  of  Sidell  township,  this  county. 
He  can  very  truthfully  be  called  one  of  the  successful  men  of  the  county. 

C.  V.  Baldwin,  Danville,  dentist,  is  a  native  of  Henry  county,  In- 
diana, his  people  being  among  the  early  and  prominent  pioneers  of 
that  county.  His  father  was  the  representative  of  Henry  county  in 
1817.  In  1819  Dr.  Baldwin  came  to  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  with 
his  people,  he  being  at  that  time  fifteen  years  old.  He  has  since 
remained  a  resident  of  the  county.  In  1866  he  began  the  study  of 
dentistry.  On  account  of  ill-health  for  the  past  ten  years  the  Doctor 
has  spent  the  winters  in  Franklin,  Louisiana.  There  he  has  established 
a  fine  business  in  his  line,  the  people  waiting  patiently  his  return  for 
the  execution  of  dental  work  at  hisjiands. 

M.  Ganor,  Danville,  dealer  in  lime,  cement,  etc.  There  is  probably 
not  a  resident  of  Danville  who  has  been  more  observing  of  the  changes 
that  have  been  made  during  his  time  than  Mr.  Ganor.  He  is  a  native 
of  Ireland,  coming  to  the  United  States  in  1844  with  his  parents.  They 
located  on  Long  Island,  he  being  at  that  time  about  four  years  old. 
Here  they  remained  about  five  years,  and  then  came  west,  and  on  the 
20th  of  September,  1849,  arrived  at  the  then  village  of  Danville.  They 
made  the  journey  from  Chicago  in  wagons,  hiring  a  man  to  bring  them 
and  their  goods  from  that  point  to  Danville  for  $15.  Mr.  Ganor's 
father,  who  died  on  the  14th  of  October,  1S61,  aged  sixty-one  years 
and  four  months,  probably  did  more  toward  clearing  up  the  land  where 
Danville  now  stands  than  any  of  the  old  pioneers.  For  years  he  carried 
on  farming  on  the  land  now  known  as  Tinchertown.  Mr.  Ganor  tells 
us  that  he  and  his  dogs  have  spent  many  hours  of  lively  sport  chasing 


404  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

rabbits  over  what  is  now  the  eastern  part  of  the  city,  and  is  yet  known 
as  Rabbittown.  He  began  business' for  himself  in  1859,  and  is  now 
located  corner  of  Main  and  Hazel  streets,  where  he  is  carrying  on  quite 
an  extensive  business  in  lime,  cement,  hay,  oats,  corn,  etc.,  and  is  also 
interested  with  Mr.  C.  H.  Giddings  in  the  ice  trade.  He  is  a  lively, 
energetic  business  man  ;  in  the  habit  of  looking  out  for  ~No.  1,  and 
managing:  his  own  business  affairs. 

Victor  Leseure,  Danville,  merchant,  was  born  in  France,  on  the 
25th  December,  1816,  and  is  the  son  of  Peter  and  Ann  Leseure,  both 
natives  of  France.  In  1832  Mr.  Leseure  immigrated  to  America,  and 
located  in  Covington,  Kentucky,  where  he  was  engaged  in  farming; 
from  thence  he  went  to  Clarke  county,  Indiana,  and  from  thence  he 
came  to  Illinois.  He  first  embarked  in  the  mercantile  business  in 
Georgetown,  Vermilion  county.  In  1849  he  came  to  Danville,  Illinois, 
where  he  remained  for  several  years,  when  he  returned  to  Georgetown. 
In  1851  he  returned  to  Danville,  which  he  has  made  his  home  ever 
since  he  entered  the  mercantile  business,  which  he  has  followed  princi- 
pally from  that  time.  In  1876  he  entered  the  hardware  business. 
Mr.  Leseure  has  held  several  offices  of  public  trust.  He  was  mayor  of 
the  city  of  Danville  one  term,  and  was  commissioner  of  highways  three 
terms.  He  is  a  republican  in  politics.  He  married,  in  1849,  Caroline 
B.  McDonald,  daughter  of  Alexander  McDonald,  one  of  the  old  pioneers 
of  Vermilion  county.  She  died;  he  then  married  Mrs.  Mary  J. 
McDonald,  nee  Smith.  Mr.  Leseure  is  treasurer,  secretary  and  super- 
intendent of  the  Danville  Gas-Light  Company. 

W.  R.  Lawrence,  Danville,  attorney-at-law,  was  born  in  Blooming- 
ton,  Monroe  county,  Indiana,  on  the  14th  of  January,  1840,  and  is  the 
son  of  John  Lawrence,  a  native  of  New  York,  who  was  a  mechanic 
and  farmer.  He  moved  to  Indiana,  and  located  in  Bloomington, 
Monroe  county,  about  1836,  being  among  the  early  settlers.  In  1849 
Mr.  W.  R.  Lawrence,  with  his  parents,  moved  to  Vermilion  county, 
Illinois,  and  located  in  Georgetown,  where  he  received  his  principal 
education  at  the  Georgetown  Seminary.  In  1862  he  enlisted,  for  three 
years,  as  private,  in  Co.  C,  "73d  111.  Vol.  Inf.  (of  which  a  history  appears 
in  this  work).  He  participated  in  a  number  of  engagements:  Perrys- 
ville,  Stone  River  and  Chickamauga,  at  which  battle  he  received  a 
wound  in  the  face.  At  Stone  River  he  was  captured,  and  taken  as  a 
prisoner  of  war  to  Libby  prison,  but  was  exchanged,  and  rejoined  his 
regiment.  Mr.  Lawrence,  from  private,  was  first  made  sergeant,  and 
then  second  lieutenant,  and  afterward  first  lieutenant.  In  1864  he 
resigned,  and  came  home  to  Vermilion  county.  He  went  to  Bloom- 
ington, McLean  county,  Illinois,  where  he  commenced  the  study  of  law 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  405 

with  Tipton  &  Benjamin,  and,  in  1865,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar. 
He  commenced  the  practice  of  law  at  Boonesborongh,  Iowa,  where  he 
remained  until  1873,  when  he  came  to  Danville,  and  has  here  been 
engaged  at  his  chosen  profession  ever  since,  ranking  among  the  leading- 
lawyers  of  the  Vermilion  county  bar.  Mr.  Lawrence's  political  opinions 
are  republican.  He  married,  in  1867,  Miss  Josephine  Frazier,  daughter 
of  John  Frazier,  one  of  the  old  settlers  of  Vermilion  county;  by  this 
marriage  they  have  two  children. 

O.  Leseure,  Danville,  physician  and  surgeon,  is  a  native  of  Danville, 
Vermilion  county,  where,  in  1869,  he  began  reading  medicine  under 
Dr.  Morse.  He  later  studied  with  Dr.  Lemon,  and  became  a  graduate 
of  medicine  at  the  University  of  Michigan,  at  Ann  Arbor,  in  1873. 
For  a  time  succeeding  this  he  was  in  the  United  States  Hospital  at 
Detroit,  Michigan,  where  he  remained  but  a  short  time,  and  then  went 
to  New  York,  and  in  1874  became  a  graduate  of  the  Bellevue  Medical 
Hospital,  and  the  same  year  began  his  practice  in  Danville,  where  he 
has  since  resided,  giving  his  time  fully  and  exclusively  to  the  practice 
of  his  profession.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Homoeopathic  Physicians 
and  Surgeons  of  the  Wabash,  and  though  he  has  practiced  in  Danville 
but  since  1874,  he  has  already  established  a  name  and  reputation  pro- 
fessionally of  which  he  need  not  be  ashamed. 

Charles  Moran,  Danville,  groceries  and  provisions,  is  a  native  of 
County  Antrim,  Ireland.  Before  leaving  his  native  country  he  had 
learned  the  trade  of  a  brick  and  stone  mason,  the  latter  being  worked 
by  him  the  most.  In  September  of  1850  he  landed  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  where  he  remained  a  resident  for  nearly  two  years ;  then,  in 
1S52,  he  came  to  Danville,  where  he  has  since  resided.  On  the  18th 
of  March,  1855,  he  married  Miss  Catharine  O'Conner,  who  is  also  a 
native  of  Ireland.  Until  five  and  a  half  years  ago,  when  he  engaged 
in  the  grocery  trade,  Mr.  Moran  had  been  following  his  trade.  There 
is  probably  not  a  single  resident  of  the  city  of  Danville  who  has  made 
as  many  changes  in  the  mechanical  work  of  the  city  as  himself.  Lie 
used  to  employ  a  large  number  of  men,  and  hardly  a  building  of  any 
importance  in  the  city  but  of  what  he  did  the  stone-work.  Among 
them  may  be  mentioned  the  residence  of  Mr.  L.  T.  Palmer,  the  Dan- 
ville Mills,  the  Danville  high-school  building,  H.  W.  Beekwith's  resi- 
dence, and  many  others.  His  last  job  of  stone-work  was  for  the  city, 
being  a  curbing  contract  of  four  thousand  dollars,  which  he  executed 
satisfactorily.  His  present  place  of  business  is  No.  151  East  Main  street. 
His  store  is  22x80,  and  stocked  with  a  nice  fresh  line  of  everything 
pertaining  to  the  grocery  trade. 

James  H.  Miller,  Danville,  tax-collector,  is  one  of  the  self-made  men 


406  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

of  Danville.  lie  was  born  in  Jefferson  comity,  Virginia,  on  the  20th 
of  December,  1S23.  Plis  mother  died  when  he  was  four  years  old  ;  he 
then  resided  with  his  grandmother  until  he  was  ten  years  of  age,  and 
since  then  has  been  dependent  upon  his  own  resources.  In  the  early 
part  of  his  life  he  had  hut  little  opportunity  of  securing  an  education, 
but  by  his  own  efforts  he  became  a  fair  scholar.  In  1846  he  went 
from  Virginia  to  Pickaway  county,  Ohio,  and  there  remained  about  six 
years.  In  1852  he  came  to  Danville,  where  he  has  since  resided.  He 
has  built  two  residences  and  one  business-house.  He,  by  energy  and 
good  financiering,  has  accumulated  a  good  property.  For  the  last 
twenty  years  he  has  held  the  office  of  tax-collector,  except  during  the 
year  1874,  when  Mr.  Thos.  Parks  held  the  office  one  term;  he  is  also 
assessor  of  Danville  township,  the  entire  revenue  derived  from  taxation 
passing  through  his  hands.  Any  man  who,  being  left  an  orphan,  as  he 
was,  and  beginning  work  for  himself  as  he  did,  at  a  salary  of  seventy- 
five  cents  per  week,  and  paying  his  own  expenses  out  of  this,  and  who, 
by  an  honest  and  legitimate  business,  has  accumulated  a  good  property, 
is  certainly  worth}^  the  respect  of  the  better  class  of  citizens  of  any 
community.  He  has  not  only  won,  but  enjoys,  and  he  is  surely  entitled 
to,  the  confidence  of  the  citizens  of  Danville. 

Colonel  O.  F.  Harmon  (deceased),  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  and 
whose  portrait  appears  in  this  history,  was  born  in  the  year  1827,  in 
Monroe  county,  New  York.  But  little  of  the  surroundings  of  his  early 
life  are  known.  In  1853  lie  came  west,  and  shortly  after  began  the 
practice  of  law,  this  being  his  profession,  subsequently  becoming  the 
partner  of  Judge  O.  L.  Davis,  with  whom  he  practiced  for  many  years, 
being  well  known  as  one  of  the  leading  attorneys  of  the  county.  In 
1857  he  served  the  people  of  Vermilion  county  as  their  representative 
in  the  state  legislature.  During  the  war  of  the  rebellion  of  1861-5 
he,  in  August  of  1862,  entered  the  Union  army  as  colonel  of  the  125th 
111.  Vol.  Inf.  This  regiment  was  made  up  almost  entirely  of  Vermilion 
county  men,  a  complete  history  of  which  is  given  in  this  work,  written 
by  William  Mann,  adjutant  of  the  regiment.  Colonel  Harmon  was 
much  above  the  average  height,  being  six  feet  three  inches,  and  well 
proportioned  mentally,  morally  and  physically.  No  better  man  of  the 
regiment  could  be  found  to  be  their  commander.  This  regiment,  with 
Colonel  Harmon  at  its  head,  participated  in  many  of  the  hard  battles, 
among  which  may  be  mentioned  the  battles  of  Perrysville,  Chicka- 
niauga,  Mission  Ridge  and  the  Atlanta  campaign,  during  which,  while 
making  a  charge  at  the  head  of  his  regiment  at  the  battle  of  Kenesaw 
Mountain,  Georgia,  on  the  27th  of  June,  1864,  he  was  shot  and  almost 
instantly  killed.     In  his  death  the  125th  mourned  the  loss  of  a  brave 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  407 

and  honest  commander,  a  family  in  the  far  north  the  loss  of  a  father 
and  husband's  kind  care  and  protection,  and  old  neighbors  and  associ- 
ates the  loss  of  a  true  and  honest  friend.  Colonel  Harmon  was  mar- 
ried in  1854  to  Mrs.  E.  C.  Hill,  her  maiden  name  being  McDonald. 
Her  father  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Vermilion  county,  and  this 
is  Mrs.  Harmon's  native  county.  She  still  resides  in  Danville,  one  of 
the  honored  and  respected  ladies  of  the  city. 

J.  M.  Sirpless,  Danville,  as  a  grocer  of  Danville,  requires  more  than 
a  passing  notice.  He  is  a  native  of  this  county.  His  parents,  James 
and  Catharine  (Wright)  Sirpless  came  to  the  county  as  early  as  1852, 
entering  government  land  at  that  date.  The  name  is  of  Irish  origin. 
J.  M.  is  a  printer  by  trade.  He  first  began  learning  the  trade  in  Homer, 
Illinois.  Previous  to  his  engaging  in  the  grocery  trade,  in  March  of 
1878,  he  had  for  five  years  been  at  work  in  the  office  of  the  Danville 
"  Times."  He  has  been  dependent  upon  his  own  resources  in  the  ac- 
cumulation of  property.  The  grocery  business,  when  he  began  it  in 
1878,  was  entirely  new  to  him,  though  he  soon  made  himself  thoroughly 
familiar  with  the  business,  and  has  already  built  up  a  good  trade,  run- 
ning a  free  delivery  wagon  in  connection  with  his  business.  He  is  still 
a  young  man,  but  by  his  own  efforts  has  acquired  a  fair  property. 
Should  he  succeed  financially  in  the  future  as  well  as  he  has  in  the 
past  he  will  soon  have  established  a  business  of  which  he  may  well  be 
proud. 

A.  G.  "Webster,  Danville,  grocer,  was  born  in  St.  Albans,  Franklin 
count}*,  Vermont,  in  1822.  Leaving  there  with  his  people  in  1S36  he 
went  to  Saline,  Michigan,  remaining  there  eight  years,  and  then  re- 
moved to  Lafayette,  Indiana,  where  he  remained  also  eight  years,  dur- 
ing which  time  he  was  employed  in  the  capacity  of  clerk.  From  there 
he  came  to  Danville  in  1853,  bringing  with  him  a  small  stock  of  dry 
goods.  Here  he  was  engaged  in  the  diw-goods  trade  for  about  two 
years,  and  in  1856,  after  having  closed  out  his  stock  of  dry  goods,  he 
began  in  the  grocery  business,  which  he  has  principally  been  engaged 
in  since,  having  for  the  past  ten  years  been  doing  business  in  the  build- 
ing he  now  occupies.  He  is  now  the  oldest  groceryman  in  the  city, 
there  being  none  other  now  engaged  in  the  business  who  began  as 
early  as  1856.  He  is  a  man  who  has  always  been  interested  in  any 
matters  pertaining  to  the  public  good,  and  has  done  his  share  toward 
the  development  and  improvement  of  Danville  and  Vermilion  county, 
of  which  he  has  now  been  a  resident  twenty-six  years. 

C.  D.  Henton,  Danville,  physician  and  surgeon,  has  been  a  resident 
of  Vermilion  county  since  1853.  He  was  located  at  Marysville  until 
May  of  1872,  when  he  removed  to  Danville,  where  he  has  since  resided. 


408  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

He  is  a  native  of  Fountain  county,  Indiana.  At  the  age  of  six  hie 
people  took  him  to  Hillsborough,  Ohio,  where  the  early  part  of  hi>  life 
was  spent.  In  1861  he  became  a  graduate  of  the  Rush  Medical  Col- 
lege, of  Chicago.  After  graduating  he  located  at  Marysville,  and  began 
the  practice  of  his  profession,  which  he  has  since  followed.  The  doctor 
is  a  man  who  has  been  wholly  dependent  upon  his  own  resources  both 
for  his  literary  and  medical  education,  having  when  only  sixteen  years 
old  taught  his  first  term  of  dav-school.  He  is  now  a  member  of  the 
Vermilion  County  Association  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  and  a  man 
whose  standing  is  high  in  the  community,  both  in  professional  and 
private  life. 

Charles  V.  Guy,  Danville,  superintendent  of  public  schools,  was 
born  in  South  Charleston,  Clark  county,  Ohio,  on  the  28th  of  June, 
1850,  and  is  the  son  of  Asa  H.  and  Ruth  (lams)  Guy,  natives  of  Ohio. 
A.  H.  Guy  was  born  in  Ross  county,  Ohio,  on  the  16th  of  March, 
1823,  and  is  the  son  of  Willis  and  Jane  (Hawkins)  Guy,  of  Virginia, 
they  having  moved  to  Ohio  about  1808  or  1810.  When  Mr.  Guv  was 
young,  his  parents  moved  to  Madison  county,  Ohio,  where  Mr.  Guy 
was  brought  up  on  a  farm.  He  entered  the  Ohio  Wesleyan  University, 
of  Delaware,  Ohio,  and  graduated  in  1849.  He  then  was  engaged  in 
teaching  school  in  Ohio,  where  he  remained  until  1853.  when  he  came 
to  Yermilion  county,  Illinois,  where  he  taught  school  in  Georgetown, 
and  other  parts  of  Vermilion  county.  In  1855  Mr.  Guy  was  elected 
by  the  republican  party  surveyor  of  Vermilion  county.  This  office  he 
has  held  off  and  on  for  the  last  twenty-four  years.  Mr.  Guy.  in  his 
official  duties,  has  given  entire  satisfaction.  He  lias  laid  out  and  sur- 
veyed the  villages  of  Fairmount,  Catlin,  Paxton  (Ford  county),  part  of 
Hoopeston,  and  other  towns.  In  1862  Mr.  Guy  was  appointed  assistant 
revenue  assessor,  which  office  he  filled  until  1865.  Mr.  Guy  married 
Miss  Ruth  lams,  of  Licking  county,  Ohio,  daughter  of  William  and 
Lydia  (Foster)  lams,  of  Pennsylvania.  By  this  marriage  they  have 
had  seven  children,  five  living.  Mr.  Guy  is  a  republican  in  politics, 
and  has  been  a  member  of  the  M.  E.  Church  for  the  last  thirty-eight 
years.  Charles  V.  Guy,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  with  his  parents, 
came  to  Vermilion  count}7  when  he  was  three  years  old.  He  received 
his  principal  education  at  Georgetown.  When  sixteen  years  old  he 
commenced  teaching  school,  his  first  school  being  near  Fairmount. 
Mr.  Guv  remained  teaching  school  until  he  was  nineteen  years  old. 
He  then  entered  the  State  Normal  School,  at  Normal,  Illinois,  where 
he  received  a  good  normal  education.  He  returned  to  Vermilion 
countv  and  was  appointed  deputy  clerk,  which  office  he  filled  for  one 
and  a-half  years.     In  November,  1873,  he  was  elected  superintendent 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  409 

of  the  county  schools,  to  which  office  he  was  reelected  in  1877,  and 
still  holds.  In  this  office  Mr.  Guy  has  given  entire  satisfaction,  having 
proved  himself  a  gentleman  of  acknowledged  ability.  Mr.  Guy  was 
also  principal  of  the  high  school  of  Hoopeston,  with  his  wife  as  assistant. 
He  married  Miss  Ellen  Bales,  of  Georgetown,  Illinois,  daughter  of 
Elwood  Bales,  who  was  one  of  the  early  settlers.  They  have  two  chil- 
dren. Mr.  Gny  is  engaged  in  conducting  a  Normal  Summer  Institute, 
which  is  meeting  with  good  success. 

Joseph  G.  English,  Danville,  president  First  National  Bank  of 
Danville,  began  his  career  a  poor  boy,  and  has  by  his  own  effort  risen 
to  an  honorable  position  both  in  business  and  social  life.  He  was  born 
in  Ohio  county,  Indiana,  on  the  17th  of  December,  1820,  and  is  the 
son  of  Charles  and  Nancy  (Wright)  English.  His  mother  was  a  native 
of  England  and  his  father  of  Connecticut.  Mr.  Charles  English  was  a 
blacksmith  by  trade,  and  followed  it  for  a  time  at  the  Washington  navy 
yard,  but  in  his  latter  days  lie  was  engaged  in  keeping  tavern.  In  1829 
Mr.  J.  G.  English,  with  his  parents,  moved  from  Ohio  county,  Indiana, 
to  the  Wabash  valley,  and  located  at  Perrysville,  Vermilion  county, 
Indiana.  Here  his  father  was  engaged  in  keeping  tavern  (the  first 
tavern  in  Perrysville),  which  he  did  until  his  death,  which  occurred  in 
1856.  Mr.  English  is  a  lineal  descendant  of  the  old  Mayflower  stock. 
The  subject  of  this  sketch  at  nine  years  of  age  entered  the  "district 
school  of  the  period"  here  in  Perrysville.  He  remained  until  1834. 
finishing  and  receiving  a  common  education  in  a  log  cabin  with  a 
puncheon  floor.  In  1834  he  first  embarked  for  himself  by  engaging 
himself  as  a  clerk  in  a  prominent  dry-goods  store  in  Lafayette,  Indiana, 
where  he  remained  until  1839,  working  for  his  board  and  clothes.  He 
returned  to  Perrysville  and  again  filled  the  capacity  of  clerk  until  1843, 
In  the  fall  of  that  year  he  married  Miss  Mary  Hicks,  who  was  born  in 
Perrysville  on  the  13th  of  June,  1824,  and  is  the  daughter  of  George 
and  Mary  (Curtis)  Hicks,  who  had  located  in  Perrysville  in  about  1820. 
In  1844,  in  connection  with  his  father-in-law  (George  Hicks),  Mr. 
English  opened  an  extensive  general  store  in  Perrysville,  which  occu- 
pied his  attention  until  1852.  During  this  time  they  traded  very 
extensively  in  produce,  which  they  sold  at  the  New  Orleans  market. 
They  would  build  a  fiat-bottom  boat  on  the  shores  of  the  Wabash,  load 
it  with  their  produce,  etc., 'and  with  assistance,  and  Mr.  Joseph  G. 
English  acting  as  bow-hand,  would  float  down  to  New  Orleans;  the 
voyage  being  long  and  tedious,  taking  them  sometimes  twenty-five 
days  in  making  the  trip.  There  they  would  sell  their  stock  and  return 
by  steamboat  to  Evansville,  Indiana,  and  travel  from  there  to  Perrys- 
ville by  wagon.     In  this  business  Mr.  English  made  some  four  or  five 


410  HISTOKY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

trips,  all  being-  very  profitable.  In  1853,  with  his  wife  and  four  chil- 
dren, he  came  to  Danville,  where  he  entered  the  dry-goods  business 
with  John  L.  Tincher  (whose  biography  and  portrait  appear  in  this 
work).  They  continued  in  the  dry-goods  business  in  a  frame  house 
on  the  corner  of  the  alley  on  Main  street,  above  the  present  bank,  until 
1856.  In  1856  they  became  assignee  of  the  Stock  Security  Bank, 
which  had  failed.  This  bank  was  owned  and  operated  by  Daniel 
Olapp.  They  then  commenced  a  general  brokerage  and  banking  busi- 
ness, doing  business  as  private  bankers  until  1864.  During  this  year  the 
" National  Banking  Act"  was  passed  and  they  were  among  the  first  to 
organize  a  national  bank  in  the  state.  The  "First  National  Bank"  of 
Danville  being  established,  Mr.  English,  at  its  first  meeting,  was  duly 
elected  as  president,  which  position  he  holds  to-day.  This  bank  was 
owned  by  Messrs.  English  and  Tincher,  with  the  exception  of  three 
thousand  dollars,  which  was  owned  by  William  I.  Moore,  Benjamin 
Orane  and  E.  H.  Palmer.  Under  Mr.  English's  management  and  con- 
trol  the  "  First  National  Bank "  has  increased  steadily  from  year  to 
year,  until  now  its  business  exceeds  that  of  any  national  bank  in  the 
state  outside  of  Chicago.  Mr.  English,  in  1870  and  1871,  was  elected 
mayor  of  the  city  of  Danville.  He  also  was  alderman  of  his  ward. 
To  these  respective  offices  he  was  elected  by  the  temperance  people  of 
Danville.  In  1865  Mr.  English  was  one  of  six  who  laid  out  the  Spring 
Hill  cemetery.  In  1863  he  had  charge  of  the  subscription  list  for  till- 
ing the  quota  of  men  for  the  late  war  from  Danville  township.  This 
money  was  raised  without  tax.  He  is  one  of  the  original  stock-owners 
of  the  Danville  Gas  Works,  of  which  he  has  been  president  almost  ever 
since  its  organization.  Mr.  English's  political  opinions  are  republican. 
He  is  a  member  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  of  which  church  he  has  been  a 
member  since  1856,  being  superintendent  of  the  Sabbath-school  for 
a  number  of  years.  He,  in  1871,  was  selected  by  the  lay  delegates  of 
the  Illinois  Conference  of  the  M.  E.  Church  to  represent  them  in  their 
general  conference  in  Brooklyn,  held  in  1872.  Messrs.  English  and 
Tincher  were  perhaps  the  largest  real  estate  dealers  in  town  lots  and 
plats  in  Danville.  They  bought  land  cheap.  Where  the  lair  grounds 
are  they  paid  $16  per  acre.  Where  the  junction  now  is  they  obtained  for 
$10  per  acre.  In  1864  the  wife  of  Mr.  English  died.  By  this  marriage 
they  had  eight  children  ;  six  living.  In  the  spring  of  1865  he  married  his 
second  wife,  Mrs.  Maria  L.  Partlow,  nee  Casseday,  who  was  born  in  Paris, 
Illinois,  on  the  10th  of  November,  1S28,  and  is  the  daughter  of  George 
W.  and  Delilah  ( Murphy)  Casseday,  who  were  married  in  1824.  George 
W.  Casseday  was  born  in  Bedford  county,  Virginia,  on  the  1st  of  De- 
cember, 1803.     In  1825,  with  his  wife,  he  moved  to  Vermilion  county, 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  411 

Illinois,  where  lie  engaged  in  farming.  In  1827  he  went  to  Edgar 
county,  Illinois,  and  from  there  he  moved  to  Paris,  of  the  same  county. 
In  1834  he  returned  to  Vermilion  county,  and  in  1S51  went  to  Joliet, 
where  he  died  on  the  23d  of  July,  1803.  Thus  passed  away  one  of  the 
old  and  prominent  settlers  of  Illinois,  and  so,  one  by  one,  they  are 
passing  beyond  the  shores  of  the  unknown  river,  and  in  a  few  years 
not  one  will  be  left  of  the  noble  band  of  pioneers  who  made  their 
homes  in  what  was  then  a  wilderness,  inhabited  by  red  men.  How- 
ever, their  descendants,  and  those  who  come  after  them,  will  live  to 
enjoy  the  full  measure  of  happiness  and  prosperity  built  upon  the  solid 
foundations  laid  by  the  old  settlers. 

F.  C.  Hacker  &  Bro.,  Danville,  dry  goods  and  groceries.  In  1873 
the  above  named  gentlemen  opened  their  present  business,  and  since 
then  no  men  have  been  more  uniformly  successful  than  they.  In  the 
first  place  they  rank  among  the  shrewdest  and  hardest  working  citizens 
of  Danville,  while  their  complete  knowledge  of  the  business  in  which 
they  are  engaged,  and  their  geniality  to  customers  and  all  with  whom 
the}7  come  in  contact,  give  them  many  advantages  of  which  all  business 
men  have  not  possession.  These  gentlemen  were  both  born  in  Prussia. 
They  emigrated  to  America  with  their  parents,  John  and  Dorthy  (Lev- 
erence)  Hacker,  and  came  west  to  Illinois,  locating  in  Chicago  in  1852. 
In  1853  they  came  to  Vermilion  county,  in  which  place  they  have 
made  their  home  ever  since.  F.  C.  Hacker  was  for  a  short  time  en- 
gaged in  farming,  and  from  that  was  engaged  in  the  woolen  mills  of 
Danville.  He  was  also  for  a  number  of  years  clerking  in  Charles 
Palmer's  store.  In  this  way  he  saved  enough  money  to  embark  in  the 
mercantile  business  in  1872.  Then,  in  1873,  he  took  in  as  a  partner  his 
brother,  C.  F.  W.  Hacker,  which  forms  the  well  known  firm  of  F.  C. 
Hacker  &  Bro.  Mr.  C.  F.  W.  Hacker  was  engaged  for  a  number  of 
years  working  for  Peter  Beyer,  in  the  boot  and  shoe  business.  These 
gentlemen  own  one  of  the  leading  dry  goods  and  grocery  houses  of 
Danville;  the  size  of  grocery  store  is  20x75  and  the  dry  goods  22x85. 
They  have  eight  or  nine  clerks,  and  are  doing  a  good  business. 

Peter  Beyer,  Danville,  boot  and  shoe  dealer,  is  one  of  the  old  set- 
tlers of  this  county.  He  is  a  native  of  Germany,  and  at  the  age  of 
eighteen  years  came  to  the  United  States,  and  located  first  at  Rochester, 
New  York,  where  he  learned  the  trade  of  manufacturing  boots  and 
shoes.  In  1854  he  came  west  and  expected  to  buy  land  or  engage  in  the 
mercantile  business,  but  unfortunately  for  him  the  bank  where  he  had  his 
money  on  deposit,  like  the  majority  of  other  banks  of  that  time,  failed,  and 
he  was  obliged  to  begin  at  the  beginning  once  more,  which  he  did  by 
going  back  to  the  cobbler's  bench.     From  this  humble  beginning,  in 


412  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

1854.  Mr.  Beyer  has  accumulated  his  fine  property.  His  store  is 
located  at  No.  73  West  Main  street,  and  is  thirty  feet  front  by  one 
hundred  deep,  stocked  with  everything  pertaining  to  a  full  and  well 
selected  stock  of  boots  and  shoes.  The  basement,  which  is  the  same 
size,  has  been  remodeled  and  stocked  with  a  fine  line  of  fresh  groceries. 
In  this  later  enterprise  he  engaged  in  the  spring  of  1879.  Thus  far 
it  has  proved  a  success,  and  is  only  in  keeping  with  his  other  move- 
ments, which  are  those  of  a  first-class  financier. 

John  McMahan,  Danville,  police-justice,  was  born  in  Harrison 
county,  Indiana,  on  the  18th  of  November,  1822.  In  1833  he  went  to 
Clermont  county,  where  he  remained  until  1840.  He  has  been  de- 
pendent upon  his  own  resources  since  the  age  of  fourteen.  He  began 
learning  the  trade  of  a  blacksmith  in  Clermont  county,  and  in  1840 
went  to  Cincinnati,  where  he  completed  his  trade  and  followed  it 
many  years  as  a  business.  In  1854  he  came  to  Danville,  and  began 
business  for  himself  by  opening  a  blacksmith-shop  and  following  his 
trade  until  about  1870.  In  1&69  he  was  elected  mayor  of  the  city, 
and  in  1872  he  was  elected  justice  of  the  peace  and  police-magistrate, 
both  of  which  offices  he  has  held  since.  He  is  one  of  the  honorable 
and  well-respected  citizens  of  the  city.  Whatever  he  may  have  accom- 
plished during  life  has  been  the  result  of  his  own  enterprise,  as  during 
his  early  life  he  had  no  opportunities  for  schooling,  there  being  nothing 
but  the  old  subscription  system,  and  the  old  log  school-houses  with 
puncheon  floors  and  seats  and  greased  paper  for  windows.  With  these 
few  remarks  we  close  our  sketch  in  regard  to  the  man  known  so  well 
to  the  citizens  as  'Squire  McMahan. 

James  T.  Amis,  Danville,  tile  manufacturer  and  farmer,  was  born 
in  Hardin  county,  Kentucky,  on  the  18th  of  June,  1831.  and  his  par- 
ents are  Wilburn  and  Frances  (Davis)  Amis,  both  natives  of  Tennessee. 
His  father  was  a  farmer.  Mr.  Amis,  with  his  parents,  moved  to  Ver- 
milion county,  Indiana,  when  he  was  about  two  years  of  age,  and  here 
remained  on  the  farm  until  1854.  when  he  moved  to  Vermilion  county. 
Illinois,  and  located  near  Pilot  Grove,  there  working  by  the  month  on 
a  farm.  In  1869  he  came  to  Danville  township,  which  has  been  his 
home  ever  since.  In  1S77  Mr.  Amis  commenced  the  manufacture  of 
tile  on  his  place,  putting  up  a  first-class  factory  with  great  facilities  for 
manufacturing  a  large  amount  of  tile,  and  having  a  capacity  for  manu- 
facturing from  ten  to  twelve  thousand  per  day.  He  manufactures  all 
the  sizes  needed  by  the  tanner:  2+,  3,  3*.  4.  5,  6.  Mr.  Amis  owns 
two  hundred  and  twelve  acres  of  land.  He  was  married  in  Vermilion 
county  in  1855  to  Nancy  Hessey,  of  Nelson  county.  Kentucky.  By 
this  union  they  have  had  ten  children,  four  of  whom  are  living.     Mr. 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  413 

Amis  has  held  several  offices  of  public  trust  in  his  township;  that  of 
school-treasurer,  trustee  and  road-overseer,  and  in  these  offices  he  has 
given  entire  satisfaction.  He  is  a  democrat  in  politics,  and  a  member 
of  the  United  Brethren  Church.  His  father  died  in  Iowa  and  his 
mother  in  Indiana. 

John  Kilborn,  Danville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Hamilton  count}7, 
Ohio,  on  the  17th  of  April,  1S17,  and  is  the  son  of  Joseph  and  Rebecca 
(Howe)  Kilborn,  both  natives  of  Virginia.  His  father  was  a  comb 
maker  by  trade,  but  principally  followed  farming.  Both  parents  died 
when  Mr.  Kilborn  was  very  young.  He  set  out  in  the  world  and  com- 
menced farming  in  the  summer  time  and  in  the  winters  attended  the 
district  schools  of  the  period.  When  about  nineteen  years  old  he  com- 
menced teaching  school,  and  taught  until  he  was  twenty-two.  He 
then  entered  the  mercantile  business  at  Venice,  Ohio,  which  he  fol- 
lowed some  eight  years.  In  1850  he  was  chosen  and  elected  by  the 
democratic  party  as  representative  of  Butler  and  Warren  counties, 
Ohio.  He  was  "reelected  to  the  same  office  in  1852,  which  he  held  un- 
til 1854.  He  was  a  member  of  several  very  important  committees; 
he  was  a  member  of  the  committee  on  militia,  and  chairman  of  the 
committee  on  canals.  This  office  Mr.  Kilborn  tilled  with  honor  and 
credit,  having  proven  himself  a  gentleman  of  acknowledged  ability. 
In  1854:  he  came  to  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  and  located  in  Danville. 
Here  he  was  engaged  in  bind  speculation.  He  built  and  improved  the 
brick  residence,  east  of  Danville,  now  owned  by  R.  Hooton.  In  1862 
Mr.  Kilborn  moved  on  the  present  farm  on  which  he  has  been  ever  since 
he  commenced  to  farm.  He  has  on  his  place  a  steam  saw-mill.  Mr. 
Kilborn  was  married  in  Ohio  in  1841  to  Miss  Susan  M.  Lutes,  who  was 
born  near  the  birthplace  of  Mr.  Kilborn.  They  have  had  nine  chil- 
dren, six  of  whom  are  living. 

George  F.  Tincher,  Danville,  attorn ey-at-law,  was  born  in  Danville, 
Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  14th  of  June,  1854,  and  is  the  son 
of  John  L.  and  Caroline  R.  Tincher.  Mr.  Tincher  received  his  princi- 
pal education  at  the  Northwestern  University  at  Evanston,  Illinois; 
he  also  attended  the  Michigan  University  at  Ann  Arbor,  Michigan, 
and  was  admitted  to  practice  law  at  the  Illinois  bar  in  1875.  No 
young  attorney  at  the  Vermilion  county  bar  stands  higher  in  the  esti- 
mation of  his  colleagues  than  Geo.  F.  Tincher.  In  1879  Mr.  Tincher 
was  elected  city  attorney,  which  office  he  is  filling  with  entire  satisfac- 
tion. 

Ephraim  Burroughs,  Danville,  blacksmith,  is  a  native  of  Marion 
county,  Ohio.  He  was  born  on  the  4th  of  January,  1815,  and  when 
but  a  child  his  people  removed  to  Dearborn  county,  Indiana.     Here 


414  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION"    COUXTY. 

the  early  part  of  his  life  was  spent,  having  but  few  opportunities  for 
gaining  an  education.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  years  he  went  to  the 
city  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  and  began  an  apprenticeship  of  three  years 
with  Mr.  C.  Cassatt  at  the  trade  of  manufacturing  edged  tools.  He 
remained  in  Cincinnati  for  about  fourteen  years,  and  then  went  south 
for  a  rear  or  so.  Returning  to  Indiana  he  married  Miss  Emeline  Ran- 
dall,  a  native  of  Trumbull  county.  Ohio.  They  had  one  son  in  the 
army  in  the  war  of  1861-65.  Mr.  B.  came  to  Vermilion  county  first 
in  the  spring  of  1855,  and  located  in  the  city  of  Danville  in  1861. 
Since  his  residence  here  he  has  been  engaged  in  the  blacksmithing 
business,  which  he  learned  very  readily  after  having  learned  and 
worked  at  the  trade  of  manufacturing  ed^ed  tools.  Mr.  Burrouo-hs' 
people  are  of  Scotch  origin.  He  is  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Vermil- 
ion county,  and  has  witnessed  many  of  the  changes  from  a  new  region 
to  a  well-improved  country. 

Charles  L.  English,  Danville,  timber  merchant,  of  the  firm  of  Dick- 
ason  &  English,  is  a  native  of  Vermilion  county,  Indiana.  He  was 
born  in  1847.  and  at  the  age  of  eight  years  came  with  his  people  to 
Vermilion  county,  Illinois.  Erom  this  time  until  the  age  of  twenty  he 
was  kept  at  school,  receiving  a  very  liberal  education.  For  about  six 
years  after  leaving  school  he  was  employed  in  the  Fir>t  National  Bank 
of  Danville,  of  which  his  father  is  president,  and  in  1872  began,  in 
company  with  Mr.  L.  T.  Dickason,  the  grain  trade.  This  they  are  still 
engaged  in,  though  not  so  extensively  as  formerly,  their  business  being 
now  principally  the  timber  trade,  in  which  they  have  become  quite 
extensively  engaged,  giving  employment  to  from  three  to  five  hundred 
men.  Their  business  now  extends  over  several  different  states.  The 
firm  of  Dickason  tfc  English  has  become  well  and  favorably  known,  not 
only  in  Vermilion  county,  where  during  the  winter  they  are  engaged 
extensively  in  mining  coal,  but  among  prominent  railroad  men  outside 
of.  the  State  of  Illinois. 

Peter  "Walsh,  attorney-at-law,  Danville,  was  born  in  1845  in  Xew 
York  city,  and  is  the  son  of  John  and  Mary  (Warren)  Walsh,  who  were 
natives  of  Ireland.  Mr.  Walsh  in  1855  came  west  to  Illinois,  and 
located  in  Danville,  which  place  he  has  made  his  home  ever  since.  In 
1861  he  enlisted  in  the  Union  army,  and  served  for  three  years  in  Co.  K, 
37th  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  and  participated  in  some  of  the  most  prominent  bat- 
tles during  the  war — Pea  Ridge,  Perry  Grove,  etc.  He  did  good  service, 
and  was  honorably  mustered  out.  At  the  close  of  his  war  experience  he 
returned  to  Danville,  and  commenced  the  study  of  law.  He  attended 
the  law  school  at  Ann  Arbor,  Michigan,  and  in  1867  was  admitted  to 
practice  law  at  the  Illinois  state  bar.     Mr.  Walsh,  when  studying  for 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  415 

the  bar,  was  under  the  instruction  of  Mark  Hawes,  who  is  now  a  prom- 
inent preacher.  Mr.  Walsh  has  held  several  offices  of  public  trust: 
city  attorney  for  the  city  of  Danville  for  five  terms,  and  state's  attorney 
for  one  term.  In  these  offices  he  has  given  entire  satisfaction,  having 
proven  himself  a  gentleman  of  acknowledged  ability,  whose  duties  have 
been  performed  in  a  faithful  manner.  Mr.  Walsh's  political  opinions 
are  republican. 

Spencer  N.  Monroe,  Danville,  jeweler,  is  one  of  the  oldest  merchants 
of  Danville.  He  was  born  in  Vernon,  Oneida  county,  New  York,  in 
September,  1820,  and  is  the  son  of  William  and  Elmira  (Willard) 
Monroe,  natives  of  Virginia.  His  father  was  a  glass  manufacturer. 
Mr.  Monroe  remained  at  his  native  home  until  he  was  eighteen  years 
old.  He  then  went  to  Syracuse,  New  York,  and  commenced  to  learn 
the  jewelry  trade.  In  1853  he  came  west  to  Indiana  and  worked  at  his 
trade  in  Attica  and  Oxford  until  1855,  when  he  came  to  Danville  and 
opened  a  jewelry  store  in  a  small  frame  house  on  the  corner  where 
Short's  block  now  stands.  From  there  he  moved  to  a  frame  building 
on  the  ground  where  he  is  now  located,  67  Main  street.  Here  he  has 
remained  ever  since,  with  the  exception  of  a  short  time  when  he  occu- 
pied a  room  across  the  street  until  the  old  frame  building  was  torn 
down  and  the  present  building  erected.  Mr.  Monroe  is  to-day  the 
owner  of  one  of  the  leading  jewelry  stores  of  this  part  of  Illinois.  He 
employs  two  men.  In  1861  he  married  Miss  Matilda  Boyce,  of  Ohio, 
she  having;  made  her  home  in  Danville  about  the  same  time  Mr.  Mon- 
roe  did.  They  have  two  children.  Mr.  Monroe  has  represented  with 
credit  the  city  of  Danville  for  two  terms  as  alderman  of  the  third 
ward. 

William  Craig,  Danville,  livery,  was  born  in  Montgomery  county, 
Indiana,  in  1848,  and  is  the  son  of  Samuel  G.  and  Catharine  A. 
(McCrea)  Craig,  whose  history  appears  in  this  work.  Mr.  Craig,  our 
subject,  was  raised  in  Danville.  His  first  business  in  life  was  clerking 
for  his  father  in  a  dry-goods  and  shoe  store.  In  1875  he  entered  the 
livery  business  with  Wm.  and  Jacob  Kuykendall,  and  formed  the  firm 
of  Kuykendall  Bros.  &  Craig,  which  is  the  leading  livery  firm  in  Dan- 
ville. These  gentlemen  own  two  first-class  stables,  one  located  in  the 
rear  of  the  yEtna  House,  on  North  street,  and  the  other  on  Hazel,  be- 
tween North  and  Main  streets. 

Joseph  Bauer,  Danville,  miller,  was  born  in  Baden,  Germany,  on 
the  2d  of  February,  1831.  The  early  part  of  his  life  was  spent  in  his 
native  land.  In  1854  he  came  to  the  United  States,  though  not  before 
he  had  received  a  good  education  and  had  learned  the  trade  of  a  miller. 
He  first  spent  a  couple  of  years  in  the  eastern  states,  and  in  1856  came 


416  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

to  Danville.  Upon  his  arrival  here  he  helped  to  organize  the  German 
M.  E.  Church,  of  which  he  has  since  been  one  of  the  leading  members. 
A  more  complete  history  of  this  church  is  given  elsewhere.  Mr.  Bauer 
is  something  of  a  genius,  having  mastered  the  different  trades  of  milling, 
carpentering,  cabinet  making  and  engineering,  though  milling  lias  been 
his  principal  business,  having  followed  this  for  about  twenty-four  years. 
At  present  we  find  him  filling  the  capacity  of  head  miller  in  the  City 
Mills.  He  is  well  known  in  Danville  as  a  stead}',  sober  and  upright 
citizen. 

William  Morgan,  Danville,  justice  of  the  peace  and  insurance  agent, 
is  one  of  the  old  settlers  of  this  county.  He  is  a  native  of  Jefferson 
county,  Virginia,  where  the  early  part  of  his  life  was  spent.  He  had 
but  few  advantages  in  the  way  of  schooling,  there  being  nothing  but 
the  old  subscription  system,  schools  being  so  few  and  far  apart  that  he, 
at  the  age  of  seven  years,  was  obliged  to  walk  four  miles  in  his  daily 
attendance.  At  the  age  of  twenty-three  he  wTas  called  upon  to  take 
charge  of  the  farm  bv  the  death  of  his  father.  This  he  did  until  1856, 
when  he  came  to  Vermilion  county,  where  he  has  since  resided.  Dur- 
ing his  first  summer  he  followed  teaming,  and  in  the  winter  did  some- 
thing of  a  coal  business.  In  the  spring  of  1858  he  was  elected  constable 
and  deputy  county  sheriff.  He  also  held  the  office  of  deputy  collector 
of  revenue  under  W.  T.  Cunningham,  his  territory  or  district  being 
Iroquois,  Ford  and  Vermilion  counties.  After  this  he  again  farmed 
for  three  years,  and  then  took  the  post-office  under  Andrew  Johnson's 
administration  for  two  years  and  a  half.  Following  this  he  was  in  the 
insurance  and  mercantile  trade  until  1877,  when  he  was  elected  justice. 
In  connection  with  his  official  duties  he  does  quite  an  extensive  insur- 
ance business.  He  is  well  known  to  the  citizens  of  Danville  as  a  man 
whose  word  is  as  good  as  his  bond. 

J.  E.  Tuttle,  Danville,  physician,  was  born  in  Fountain  county, 
Indiana,  in  1811.  In  1856  he  became  a  resident  of  Vermilion  county, 
locating  at  Marysville.  He  there  began  the  study  of  medicine  with 
Dr.  C.  D.  Henton  in  1862,  and  in  1865  became  a  graduate  of  the  Rush 
Medical  College,  of  Chicago.  After  graduating  he  returned  to  Ver- 
milion county,  and  continued  his  practice  at  Blue  Grass,  where  he  had 
doiie  some  practice  before  graduating.  He  remained  there  until  1869. 
He  then  went  to  Marysville,  and  there  was  engaged  in  practice  until 
1874.  At  this  date  he  removed  to  Danville,  where  he  has  become 
firmly  established  and  is  already  known  as  one  of  the  thoroughly  reli- 
able M.D.'s  of  the  city. 

H.  M.  Kimball,  Danville,  grocer,  may  be  classed  among  the  old 
settlers  of  Danville.     He  is  a  native  of  New  Hampshire,  spending  the 


a 


DAN  VI  LLE. 


\.^C1\J^ 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  417 

early  part  of  his  life  and  receiving  his  education  in  that  state.  He 
came  to  Danville  in  1856,  after  having  spent  some  time  in  contracting 
and  doing  stone-work  on  some  of  the  different  railroads  which  at  that 
date  were  being  constructed  throughout  the  middle  states.  Among 
other  jobs  under  his  supervision  was  the  stone  piers  and  abutments  of 
the  Wabash  railroad  bridge  across  the  Vermilion  river  at  Danville. 
He  also  started  the  first  marble  works  at  Danville.  He  has  never 
sought  public  offices,  though  he  held  the  office  of  supervisor  of  Danville 
township  in  1872.  He  has  now  been  engaged  in  the  grocery  trade 
about  twelve  years.  During  this  time  he  has  some  years  done  a  busi- 
ness of  $40,000  per  year.  He  is  now  located  on  North  Vermilion 
street,  where  he  is  doing  a  fair  business,  giving  employment  to  two 
men. 

J.  H.  Palmer,  Danville,  was  born  in  Queen's  county,  New  York. 
His  parents  are  Samuel  and  Elizabeth  (Hyde)  Palmer.  His  father 
was  a  farmer.  Mr.  Palmer  was  partially  brought  up  on  the  farm. 
In  1856  he  came  west  to  Illinois  and  located  in  Danville,  Ver- 
milion county,  which  has  been  his  home  ever  since.  In  1862  he 
enlisted  for  three  years  in  the  37th  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  Co.  K.,  as  a  private, 
and  was  on  detached  duty  with  the  General  Department  of  the  Gulf. 
He  served  full  time  and  was  honorably  mustered  out  in  1865.  When 
he  returned  to  Danville  he  commenced  farming.  He  was  in  Short's 
bank  for  a  time,  and  from  that  he  entered  the  dry-goods  trade.  In 
1877  the  firm  of  J.  H.  Palmer  &  Co.  was  formed,  which  continued 
until  May  of  1879,  when  he  sold  his  interest  to  the  coal  company. 
Since  then  Mr.  Palmer  has  been  engaged  with  the  company. 

Xaver  Miller,  Danville,  was  born  in  Germany  on  the  25th  of  No- 
vember, 1838.  In  September,  1856,  he  emigrated  to  America,  and 
landed  in  New  York  city.  He  then  came  direct  to  Illinois,  and  located 
in  Danville,  where  he  has  been  a  resident  since  with  the  exception  of 
two  years.  While  here  in  Danville  Mr.  Miller  was  in  the  hotel  busi- 
ness, and  afterward  started  a  sample  and  billiard  room.  This  he  has 
now.  Mr.  Miller  came  to  America  a  poor  man,  but,  with  hard  labor 
and  good  management,  he  has  been  quite  successful  in  life,  and  ranks 
among  Danville's  prominent  Germans.  He  was  married  in  Danville 
to  Abelina  Uhlein,  of  Baden,  Germany,  by  whom  they  have  seven 
children. 

John  Beard,  Danville,  grocer,  corner  of  South  and  College  streets, 
is  a  native  of  Brooklyn,  New  York,  though  he  has  been  a  resident  of 
Danville  twenty-two  years,  being  but  a  child  when  he  was  brought  to 
this  place.  For  the  last  eight  years  he  has  been  engaged  in  the  gro- 
cery trade  on  his  own  account.  He  is  a  much  larger  dealer  than  at 
27 


418  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

first  might  he  supposed,  his  trade  reaching  about  s25,000  per  year. 
In  connection  with  groceries  he  handles  a  line  of  queensware  and 
tinware.  He  gives  employment  to  two  men.  His  store  is  twenty 
feet  front  by  fifty  feet  deep.  By  good  financiering  and  careful  man- 
agement he  has  established  a  good  trade  and  permanent  business. 

Joseph  McClure,  Danville,  miller,  was  born  in  Augusta  county,  Vir- 
ginia, on  the  23d  of  January,  1819,  and  at  ten  years  of  age  came  to  Greene 
county,  Ohio,  where  he  served  an  apprenticeship  as  a  miller,  which 
trade  he  completed  at  twenty-one  years  of  age.  In  185T  he  came 
west  and  located  in  Danville,  Illinois,  where  he  has  been  one  of  the 
foremost  in  his  trade.  He  ground  the  first  grist  in  Henderson  & 
Kyger's  mill.  He  has  been  engaged  with  the  firm  now  known  as  M. 
M.  Wright  for  fifteen  years  as  manager.  He  has  been  twice  married. 
The  name  of  his  present  wife  was  Margaret  Sanders,  a  native  of  Vir- 
ginia. He  has  a  family  of  five  children  by  his  former  wife,  Elizabeth 
Charles:    Walter,  Lether,  Albert.  Harvey  and  Mary. 

A.  C.  Daniel,  Danville,  coal  operator,  whose  portrait  appears  in  this 
history,  was  born  in  Roxbury,  Delaware  county,  New  York,  in  1835. 
During  his  early  life  he  had  but  little  opportunity  of  attending  school, 
but,  being  of  that  peculiar  class  of  men  who  do  not  seem  to  be  de- 
pendent upon  anybody  except  themselves,  he  "  helped  himself"  to  a 
good  business  education.  In  1857  he  came  to  Danville,  arriving  at  the 
place  in  the  spring.  His  whole  "stock  and  store"  at  that  time  was 
an  ordinary  suit  of  clothes  and  82.50  in  monev.  Beginning  work  in 
the  mines,  at  whatever  they  had  for  him  to  do,  he  gradually  worked 
his  way  up,  until  now  he  is  the  principal  stockholder  in  the  Ellsworth 
Coal  Company,  and  its  general  manager.  As  general  manager  of  this 
company  he  has  done  more  to  develop  the  mining  resources  of  Ver- 
milion county  than  any  of  the  operators  who,  from  time  to  time, 
have  been  interested  in  this  line  of  business.  We  do  not  design  giv- 
ing a  history  of  the  mines  here,  as  a  more  complete  sketch  will 
be  found  elsewhere  in  this  work.  Mr.  Daniel  is  a  man  who  has  not 
thus  far  become  mixed  up  in  political  affairs  or  "public  wranglings," 
further  than  to  help  forward  any  enterprise  for  the  improvement  of  the 
city  or  the  public  good  generally.  He  has  provided  himself  with  an 
elegant  home  on  West  North  street,  and  is  satisfied  in  attending  to  his 
'  own  business.  By  his  own  exertions  he  has  changed  his  position  and 
station  in  life  from  a  poor  boy's  to  that  of  one  of  the  wealthy,  influen- 
tial and  prominent  citizens  of  the  community.  On  the  3d  of  January. 
1865,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Jane  C.  Palmer,  daughter  of  L.  T. 
Palmer,  one  of  the  early  and  prominent  pioneers  of  Vermilion  county. 
Thev  have  one  daughter,  Gertrude,  who  was  born  in  1865. 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  41  !* 

Esmond  W.  Hanford,  Danville,  judge  of  the  Vermilion  county 
court,  was  born  in  Middlebury,  Summit  county,  Ohio,  on  the  24th  of 
June,  1829,  and  is  the  son  of  John  and  Sarah  E.  (Noble)  Hanford. 
His  father  was  born  in  Vermont  on  the  16th  of  April,  1792;  he  was  a 
hatter  by  trade,  but  followed  farming  for  the  last  twenty  years  of  his 
life.  Judge  Hanford  left  home  when  he  was  about  fifteen  years  old  to 
learn  the  printer's  trade;  he  entered  a  printing-office  in  Portage 
county,  Ohio,  where  he  remained  until  he  learned  his  trade  as  a 
printer.  By  working  at  his  trade  he  managed  to  save  money  and 
school  himself,  his  father  not  being  a  man  of  means.  He  entered  Ken- 
yon  College  at  Gambier,  Ohio,  where  he  graduated  in  1855.  He  re- 
turned to  his  trade,  and  was  afterward  editor  of  the  "Ashtabula  Tele- 
graph,'' of  Ashtabula,  Ohio,  and  the  "  Vermilion  County  Press,"  of 
this  county.  In  185T  he  arrived  in  Danville  very  poor.  Here  he  fin- 
ished his  legal  studies  under  John  M.  Lesley,  and  was  duly  admitted 
to  the  bar  in  1859.  In  1861  he  entered  the  United  States  service  (12th 
111.  Vol.  Inf.,  Co.  C)  in  response  to  the  first  call  of  the  government  for 
troops  for  a  term  of  three  months.  At  the  expiration  of  his  term  he 
immediately  reenlisted  for  three  years  in  the  4th  111.  Cav.,  Co.  F,  and 
was  elected  second,  and  in  a  short  time  afterward  first,  lieutenant  of 
his  company.  He  was,  on  the  organization  of  his  regiment,  detailed 
as  quartermaster  of  the  second  battalion.  In  1862  he  was  detailed  as 
regimental  quartermaster,  and  in  December  of  the  same  year  he  was 
again  detailed  as  post-quartermaster  at  Trenton,  Tennessee,  serving 
afterward  in  same  capacity  at  Benton  Barracks,  St.  Louis.  He  after- 
ward returned  with  his  regiment,  and  continued  with  it  till  the  expi- 
ration of  his  term  of  enlistment.  Judge  Hanford  was  captured  by 
General  Forrest  at  Trenton,  Tennessee,  and  was  immediately  paroled. 
In  1864  he  returned  to  Danville  and  commenced  the  practice  of  law 
with  H.  W.  Beckwith,  which  continued  as  a  law-firm  until  the  1st  of 
December,  1868.  In  1868  he  was  elected  to  the  office  of  county  judge, 
filling  the  unexpired  term  caused  by  the  resignation  of  Daniel  Clapp ; 
he  was  reelected  in  1869,  and  again  in  1873  and  1877.  Judge  Han- 
ford was  married  on  the  5th  of  November,  1866,  to  Miss  Henrietta  M. 
Prince,  by  whom  they  had  two  children,  one  living:  Henrietta  N. 
Mr.  Hanford  is  a  republican  in  politics,  and  a  member  of  the  Episcopal 
Church. 

James  H.  Wells,  Danville,  was  born  near  Indianapolis,  Indiana,  on 
the  28th  of  March,  1836,  and  is  the  son  of  Robert  and  Emily  Wells,  of 
Nicholas  county,  Kentucky.  Mr.  Wells  was  raised  on  the  farm  until 
he  was  about  fourteen  years  of  age;  he  then  went  to  Indianapolis  and 
commenced  to  learn  the  trade  of  a  harness-maker,  which  business  he 


420  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

has  followed  principally  ever  since.  From  Indianapolis  Mr.  Wells 
went  to  Kokoino,  Indiana,  and  in  1857  lie  came  to  Illinois  and  located 
in  Danville,  Vermilion  county.  From  Danville  he  went  to  Indianola, 
Vermilion  county,  where  he  remained  about  ten  years.  While  a  resi- 
dent of  Indianola  Mr.  Wells  enlisted  in  Co.  E,  150th  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  on 
the  11th  of  February,  1865,  as  first  lieutenant.  The  150th  was  organ- 
ized at  Camp  Butler  on  the  14th  of  February,  1865.  for  one  years 
service.  A  full  sketch  of  the  movements  of  this  regiment  appears  in 
the  War  History  of  this  volume.  Mr.  Wells  resigned  and  came  home 
in  July.  1S65.  In  1875  he  returned  to  Danville  and  was  engaged  as 
traveling  salesman  for  D.  K.  Woodbury  in  the  harness  business  for  one 
year.  He  then  went  to  Marysville,  Vermilion  county,  and  remained 
there  until  August,  1878,  when  he  came  back  to  Danville  and  entered 
Messrs.  Good  &  Cowan's  saddlery  and  harness  establishment.  Mr. 
Wells  held  the  office  of  township  clerk  in  Carroll  township  of  this 
county.  Fie  was  married  in  Peru,  Indiana,  to  Mis"s  Rebecca  E.  Kimble. 
They  have  had  seven  children,  of  whom  two  are  deceased. 

William  Mann,  Danville,  dry  goods,  was  born  in  Somerville,  Som- 
erset county,  Xew  Jersey,  on  the  3d  of  February,  1836,  and  is  the  son 
of  John  M.  and  Eliza  (Bonnell)  Mann.  His  mother  was  a  native  of 
New  Jersey,  and  his  father  a  very  prominent  attorney  of  Pennsylvania. 
When  Mr.  Mann  was  only  fourteen  years  old  he  entered  a  leading  dry- 
goods  house  in  Somerville  as  clerk.  From  there  he  went  to  Philadel- 
phia and  entered  a  prominent  wholesale  house,  and  from  thence  came 
west  to  Illinois  and  located  in  Danville.  In  1861  he  entered  the  ser- 
vice and  participated  in  the  late  war.  He  enlisted  in  the  12th  111.  Vol. 
Inf.,  Co.  C,  as  first  lieutenant  for  three  months.  After  serving  his 
time  out  he  reenlisted  in  the  125th  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  and  was  made  adju- 
tant of  the  regiment.  Here  he  served  until  the  close  of  the  war,  wKen 
he  returned  to  Danville  and  embarked  in  the  dry -goods  business,  and 
to-day  ranks  as  one  of  the  leading  dry-goods  merchants  of  Danville. 
Mr.  Mann  married  Miss  Kate  E.  Harmon,  daughter  of  Sylvester  Har- 
mon ;  they  are  the  parents  of  two  children,  one  boy  and  one  girl. 

Leonard  Myers,  Danville,  city-marshal.  It  is  something  cpiite  com- 
mon to  meet  old  citizens  who  have  held  an  office  for  several  terms,  but 
we  do  not  remember  having  met  anv  who  have  held  one  office,  and  so 
difficult  a  one  through  which  the  people  may  be  pleased,  so  long  as  Mr. 
Leonard  Myers,  who,  for  nine  years,  has  been  marshal  of  the  city  of 
Danville,  having  been  elected  to  the  office  eight  different  times  and 
appointed  once.  He  is  a  native  of  Lancaster  county,  Pennsylvania. 
The  early  portion  of  his  life  was  spent  in  his  native  county  and  Fair- 
field county,  Ohio.     In  1858  he  came  to  Vermilion  county,  and  began 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  421 

farming  and  dealing  in  stock.  This  he  followed  for  about  five  years, 
when  he  moved  to  Danville  and  began  the  butchering  business,  and 
at  the  same  time  bought  and  shipped  stock,  horses  being  his  principal 
line  of  stock-trade,  of  which  he  bought  and  shipped  many  a  car-load  to 
the  east.  He  is  one  of  the  old  residents  of  Danville  and  Vermilion 
county,  and  as  an  officer  has  probably  traveled  more  miles,  made  more 
arrests,  and  sent  more  criminals  to  the  penitentiary,  than  any  officer 
of  the  law  in  eastern  Illinois.  He  also  has  the  supervision  of  the 
police  department,  and  has  been  an  officer  so  long  that  lie  seems  to  be 
recognized  as  authority  in  almost  any  of  the  city  offices  and  under  any 
circumstances. 

Joseph  Shipner,  Danville,  grocer,  of  the  firm  of  J.  Shipner  &  Son, 
grocerymen,  No.  67  North  Vermilion  street,  is  a  native  of  Prussia,  Ger- 
many. He  came  to  the  United  States  in  1846,  and  for  a  number  of 
years  was  located  in  Detroit,  Michigan.  He  afterward  came  to  Chicago, 
where  he  remained  a  short  time,  and  in  1858  came  to  Danville.  He  is 
one  of  the  old  soldiers  of  the  rebellion  of  1861-5,  having  first  enlisted 
in  Co.  C,  12th  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  three-months  service.  At  the  expiration 
of  this  term  of  service  he  again  enlisted  in  the  same  company  and  in 
the  same  regiment,  three-years  service.  After  this  service  he  again 
enlisted,  this  time  also  in  the  same  company.  He  served  a  longer  time 
and  saw  more  hard  fighting  than  the  average  soldier.  Among  some 
of  the  hard  battles  in  which  he  was  engaged  are  the  following :  the 
sieges  of  Fort  Henry,  Donelson  and  Corinth,  the  battle  of  Shiloh  and 
the  Atlanta  campaign,  which  was  a  succession  of  hard-fought  battles. 
Returning  from  the  war,  he  again  became  a  resident  of  Danville,  and 
for  eleven  years  was  superintendent  in  the  mills  of  Samuel  Bowers. 
He,  in  company  with  his  son,  as  above  stated,  is  now  engaged  in  the 
grocery  trade,  in  which  they  have  already  established  a  good  trade,  in 
connection  with  which  they  run  a  free  delivery  wagon. 

A.  H.  Van  Allen,  Danville,  car  inspector  of  the  Wabash  Railroad. 
When  speaking  of  the  railroad  men  of  Danville  we  wish-  to  make  a 
personal  mention  of  Mr.  A.  H.  Van  Allen,  who  is  a  native  of  Paterson 
county,  New  Jersey.  When  he  first  left  Paterson  county  he  went  to 
New  York,  and  from  there  to  Ontario  county,  New  York.  He  re- 
mained there  about  eighteen  years.  In  the  spring  of  1 858  he  came 
west  and  located  at  State  Line,  where  for  about  three  years  he  was 
engaged  at  the  carpenter's  trade.  He  then  began  work  for  the  then 
Great  Western  Railroad  Company,  but  what  is  now  known  as  the 
Wabash  road.  In  1865  he  came  to  Danville,  still  acting  in  the  same 
capacity,  that  is,  car  inspector  for  the  Wabash  Railroad  Company  at 
this  point.     He  has  usually  about  three  men  in  his  department  subject 


422  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

to  his  instructions.  They  have  in  all  about  four  hundred  ears  on  an 
average  to  inspect  daily.  Mr.  Van  Allen  has  been  at  this  business  so 
long  that  it  is  common  for  new  men  that  he  employs  to  come  to  the 
conclusion  that  he  can  smell  a  flaw  or  break  in  the  mechanism  of  a  car 
if  bv  chance  he  should  happen  not  to  see  it.  He  is  a  man  possessing 
the  confidence  of  both  the  company  and  the  citizens  of  Danville,  and 
has  done  his  share  of  improving  by  providing  himself  with  a  good 
home  on  South  Vermilion  street. 

Carl  Leverenz,  Danville,  No.  69  Vermilion  street,  dealer  in  and 
manufacturer  of  boots  and  shoes,  is  a  native  of  Prussia,  Germany.  He 
is  now  a  man  fifty-one  years  old.  He  came  to  Danville  twenty-one 
years  ago,  after  having  spent  a  short  time  in  Toledo,  Ohio,  when  he 
first  came  from  the  old  country.  He  has  been  a  man  of  energy  and 
hard  work.  For  many  years  he  had  nothing  to  depend  upon  except 
the  earnings  of  his  day  labor;  but  by  this  he  finally  earned  and  saved 
enough  to  engage  in  the  boot  and  shoe  trade  —  fourteen  years  ago. 
This  he  has  followed  quietly,  doing  a  strictly  cash  business,  until  now 
he  has  a  nice  trade  established,  doing  a  business  of  about  ss.imio  per 
year.    This  has  been  the  result  of  his  own  efforts,  energy  and  industry. 

There  are  probably  few  people  in  Danville  or  vicinity  who  are  not 
acquainted  with  T.  H.  Myers,  "  the  express  agent.''  He  is  a  native  of 
Jefferson  countv,  Virginia,  but  left  that  county  when  fourteen  years 
old,  and  in  1858  came  to  Danville.  During  his  early  life  he  had  the 
advantages  of  none  but  the  old  subscription  system  of  schools.  When 
he  came  to  Danville  he  opened  a  grocery  store,  and  has  been  engaged 
in  this  business  since  in  connection  with  his  business  as  express  agent. 
He  has  now  been  agent  for  the  United  States  Express  Company  for 
twenty  years,  and  for  the  American  Express  Company  two  years. 
Under  his  management  the  people  have  all  the  advantages  that  can 
possibly  be  given  them  by  this  method  of  transportation.  His  ex- 
press business  in  Danville  requires  the  employing  of  five  men;  two 
wagons  are  also  kept  busy.  This,  in  connection  with  his  grocery  busi- 
ness, does  not  leave  much  idle  time  on  his  hands.  We  may  also  men- 
tion that  recently  he  has  taken  a  partner  in  the  grocery  business,  the 
firm  now  being  Myers  &  Hessey.  Their  business  house  is  located  at 
No.  6$  Main  street,  and  is  20  feet  front  by  80  feet  deep,  with  base- 
ment. This  is  stocked  with  everything  pertaining  to  the  grocery 
line. 

Fred  Buy,  Danville,  grocer,  of  the  firm  of  E.  B.  Martin  &  Co.,  is  a 
native  of  Prussia.  He  came  to  the  United  States  in  1857  with  his 
parents,  they  locating  in  York  state,  where  he  was  for  about  one  year. 
He  then  came  to  Danville.     For  five  years  he  was  engaged  at  work  in 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  423 

the  Danville  woolen  factory.  He  then  began  clerking  in  a  dry-goods 
store,  where  he  remained  about  one  year,  and  then  began  as  a  grocery 
clerk.  He  is  now  junior  partner  in  a  firm  that  does  a  business  of  about 
$30,000  per  annum.  During  the  war  of  1861-5  he  entered  the  Union 
army,  enlisting  in  135th  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  Co.  K,  a  history  of  which  regi- 
ment is  found  in  this  work.  This  was  the  hundred-day  service  in  which 
he  enlisted.  After  serving  his  time  he  again  enlisted — this  time  in  the 
149th  regiment,  under  Colonel  Kefner.  His  wife,  who  is  also  a  native 
of  Germany,  was  a  Miss  Mary  Stuebe  previous  to  their  marriage.  They 
have  a  family  of  four  children — three  boys  and  one  girl.  Mr.  Buy  is  a 
man  who  has  been  dependent  upon  his  own  resources,  and  by  energy 
and  industry  has  accumulated  a  nice  property,  and  is  now  one  of  the 
honorable  business  men  of  the  city. 

Dr.  A.  H.  Kimbrough,  Danville,  physician  and  surgeon,  one  of  the 
successful  men  of  Yermilion  county,  is  a  native  of  Hardin  county, 
Kentucky.  He  was  born  in  1822,  and  at  the  age  of  three  years  came 
to  Illinois  with  his  people,  locating  in  Edgar  county,  about  nine  miles 
southeast  of  the  city  of  Paris.  They  were  among  the  early  pioneers 
of  that  county,  it  having  been  organized  but  a  few  years  previous  to 
their  coming.  Here  the  Doctor  spent  his  early  life,  and  in  1854  began 
the  study  of  medicine  with  Dr.  Ten  Brook,  of  Paris.  In  1857  he  became 
a  graduate  of  the  Jefferson  Medical  College,  of  Philadelphia.  He  has 
since  that  period  given  his  time  and  attention  almost  exclusively  to  his 
profession.  In  1858  he  located  at  Georgetown,  Yermilion  county,  where 
he  remained  until  1873,  when  he  removed  to  Danville.  The  Doctor  is 
a  man  who  has  not  only  made  a  success  of  life  professionally,  but  also 
financially.  He  is  one  of  the  old  residents  of  the  county,  having  long 
ago  established  a  name  and  reputation  of  which  any  man  might  justly 
feel  proud. 

E.  R.  E.  Kimbrough,  Danville,  attorney-at-law,  was  born  in  Stratton 
township,  Edgar  county,  on  the  28th  of  March,  1851,  and  is  the  son  of 
Dr.  Andrew  II.  Kimbrough,  whose  biography  appears  in  this  work. 
In  1858  Mr.  Kimbrough  moved  with  his  parents  to  Vermilion  county, 
and  located  in  Georgetown,  where  Mr.  Kimbrough  received  a  common- 
school  education.  He  entered  the  Normal  University,  of  Illinois,  and 
graduated  from  this  school  in  the  class  of  1873.  From  there  he 
entered  school  in  Chicago.  In  1873  Mr.  Kimbrough  commenced  the 
reading  of  law  with  Judge  Elias  S.  Terry.  Then  lie  commenced  the 
practice  of  law  with  Wm.  D.  Lindsey,  Esq.  Messrs.  Lindsey  and  Kim- 
brough rank  among  the  prominent  attorneys  of  the  Vermilion  county 
bar.  Mr.  Kimbrough  was  married  on  the  14th  of  September,  1876,  to 
Miss  Julia  Tincher,  of  Danville,  Illinois,  daughter  of  the  Hon.  John 


424  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION"    COUNTY. 

L.  Tincher,  whose  portrait  and  biography  appear  in  tliis  history.     By 
this  union  they  have  one  child, —  a  son. 

Win.  E.  Fithian,  Danville,  was  born  in  Vermilion  conntv,  Illinois, 
on  the  20th  of  July,  1S5S,  and  is  the  son  of  George  and  Edwilda  An- 
derson (Cromwell)  Fithian.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  received  a 
common-school  education  at  the  Danville  public  schools.  He  in  1877 
entered  the  Mayhew  Business  College,  of  Detroit,  Michigan,  from  which 
he  graduated.  In  1878  he  returned  to  Danville,  and  entered  the  ..Etna 
House  office  as  bookkeeper,  and  by  his  accommodating  ways  won 
a  host  of  friends,  and  was  considered  by  the  traveling  public  to  have 
been  the  right  man  in  the  right  place. 

George  Rust,  Danville,  was  born  in  the  city  of  Hanover,  Germany, 
on  the  22d  of  January,  1827;  came  to  America  on  the  16th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1858:  landed  in  New  York;  came  west  and  located  in  Vermilion 
county.  Illinois,  near  Rossville.  He  came  here  poor;  was  engaged  in 
working  on  a  farm  for  six  years.  In  1S64  he  entered  the  saw-mill 
business,  and  followed  this  some  six  years.  This  business  was  very 
profitable  to  Mr.  Rust.  In  1872  he  married  Louisa  Blankenburg,  of 
Germany.  They  have  two  children, — one  boy  and  one  girl.  Mr.  Rust 
has  held  several  offices  of  public  trust.  He  was  commissioner  of  high- 
ways for  three  years,  and  trustee  of  Germantown  from  its  organization 
until  1879.  In  these  offices  he  acquitted  himself  in  a  very  creditable 
and  efficient  manner.  Mr.  Rust  ranks  as  one  of  the  leading  German 
citizens  of  Danville  township. 

Joseph  E.  Tincher,  Danville,  dealer  in  hats  and  caps,  was  born  in 
Danville,  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  1st  of  April,  1858,  and  is 
the  son  of  John  L.  and  Caroline  R.  Tincher.  Mr.  Joe  Tincher  com- 
menced in  the  business  of  hats  and  caps  in  1878.  This  house  has  the 
largest  and  most  complete  stock  in  the  city.  Since  Mr.  Tincher's  com- 
mencement in  business  he  has  exhibited  unusual  energy  and  enterprise, 
and  from  time  to  time  has  increased  his  trade  until  now  he  has  one  of 
the  finest  trades  in  Danville.     His  store  is  located  on  Main  street. 

H.  Raimer,  the  oldest  merchant  tailor  in  Danville,  was  born  in  Miff- 
lin county,  Pennsylvania,  in  1S33.  "When  fourteen  years  of  age  he 
learned  the  trade  of  a  merchant  tailor  in  Lewistown,  Pennsylvania, 
and  served  his  apprenticeship  until  he  was  twenty-one.  In  1856  he 
came  west  and  located  in  Logansport,  Indiana,  where  he  remained  but 
a  short  time,  when  he  returned  east,  and  then  went  to  La  Fayette, 
Indiana.  He  was  at  Attica  for  a  short  time,  and  from  there  he  came  to 
Danville  in  185S  and  commenced  to  work  at  his  trade,  which  business 
he  has  been  engaged  in  ever  since,  and  to-day  is  recognized  as  one  of  the 
leading  merchant  tailors  of  this  vicinity.    He  employs  some  eight  hands. 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  425 


o 


N.  A.  Kimball,  undertaker,  No.  59  West  Main  street,  Danville,  is  a 
native  of  Grafton  county,  New  Hampshire.  There  the  early  part  of 
his  life  was  spent  and  his  education  received.  In  1858,  when  he  was 
nineteen  years  old,  he  came  west,  and  until  the  spring  of  1859  was  a 
resident  of  Kendall  county,  Illinois.  In  the  spring  of  1859  he  came 
to  Danville,  coming  first  to  accept  the  position  of  weighmaster  with 
Colonel  Chandler,  who  at  that  time  was  operating  quite  extensively  in 
the  coal  mines.  This  he  followed  for  a  short  time,  and  then  for  three 
years  was  farming,  and  after  this  he  engaged  in  different  business  en- 
terprises until  1872.  when,  in  company  with  Charles  W.  Morrison,  he 
engaged  in  the  furniture  trade.  They  did  business  together  until  1874, 
when  they  dissolved  partnership,  or  rather  he  sold  out,  in  August,  and 
in  December  took  the  stock  of  coffins,  which  had  been  one  branch  of 
their  business,  and  since  then  has  been  engaged  in  the  business  of  un- 
dertaking, and,  as  before  stated,  is  now  located  at  No.  59  West  Main 
street. 

After  many  years  of  experience  people  now  see  clearly  the  impor- 
tance of  insuring  their  property.  A  leading  newspaper,  while  com- 
menting on  the  business  of  insurance,  says :  "  Insurance  distributes 
over  the  multitude  a  loss  that  would  crush  the  individual.  Many  who 
read  these  lines  will  be  able  to  recall  the  time  when  men  argued  that  if 
it  was  a  profitable  business  for  companies  it  might  be  the  same  for  indi- 
viduals, forgetting  that  the  company's  risks  are  widely  scattered,  that 
the  average  could  be  predicted  with  tolerable  certainty,  and  that  the 
individual  had  no  means  of  calculating  chances,  while  his  loss  would 
in  all  probability  prove  his  utter  ruin."  Persons  engaged  in  the  business 
of  insurance  calculate  the  losses  by  fire  with  the  greatest  accuracy,  and 
govern  their  rates  for  premiums  accordingly.  An  active  competition 
keeps  the  premiums  as  low  as  safety  allows.  Great  care  should  be  taken 
never  to  take  a  policy  from  a  company  which  insures  too  cheaply,  for 
exceeding  low  rates  indicate  either  that  a  first-class  swindle  is  intended 
or  that  the  company  taking  such  policies  is  now  doing  business  on  a 
safe  basis.  Peter  Wilber,  who  was  born  in  Germany  in  1832,  came  to 
America  with  his  parents  when  very  young.  In  1862  he  entered  the 
insurance  business,  and  has  perhaps  had  as  much  experience  both  in  life 
and  fire  insurance  as  any  man  in  eastern  Illinois.  He  has  been  gen- 
eral agent  for  the  State  of  Illinois  for  two  leading  companies  of  the 
United  States.  Mr.  Wilber  has  been  a  resident  of  Danville  first  in 
1859,  when  he  remained  about  three  years;  whence  he  went  to  Kanka- 
kee, Illinois,  and  in  1806  returned  to  Danville,  which  has  been  his 
home  ever  since.  In  1877  he  was  elected  justice  of  the  peace,  which 
office  he  now  holds.     Mr.  Wilber  has  held   the  office  of  city  clerk  of 


4-JtJ  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Danville  tor  three  terms.  Mr.  Wilber  represents  some  of  the  leading 
insurance  companies  of  America:  Continental,  of  New  York;  Phoe- 
nix, of  Brooklyn,  New  York;  North  British  and  Mercantile,  London 
and  Edinburgh  ;  Queen,  of  England  ;  Howard,  New  York  ;  Travelers' 
Life  and  Accident,  of  Hartford,  Connecticut,  with  a  total  of  assets  of 
over  $25,000,000.  These  companies  are  all  old  and  reliable.  Mr. 
Wilber  is  also  engaged  in  the  real  estate  and  collecting  business.  He 
is  agent  for  several  mail  steamship  lines  running  to  and  from  all  Euro- 
pean and  continental  ports.  Persons  dealing  with  Peter  Wilber  may 
be  sure  of  honorable  treatment. 

Miss  Minerva  Watson,  Danville,  teacher,  was  born  in  Vermilion 
county,  near  Danville.  Her  father  is  John  R.  Watson,  of  Danville. 
Miss  W.  is  one  of  the  young  lady  teachers  of  the  county.  She  taught 
in  the  summer  of  1879  in  the  west  end  of  Pilot.  Her  father  provided 
not  only  for  his  sons,  but  gave  his  daughter  a  good  dowry.  Miss  W. 
is  amiable,  intelligent,  and  a  good  exponent  of  the  profession  which  she 
honors. 

Gustav  Klingenspor,  the  leading  florist  of  Danville,  is  a  native  of 
Brunswick,  Germany,  where  he  was  born,  on  the  13th  of  May,  1831. 
He  came  to  the  United  States  in  1856,  and  stopped  at  Baltimore  about 
two  years  and  a  half  before  he  was  able  to  send  for  his  family.  Wish- 
ing to  come  west,  he  was  obliged  to  pawn  some  of  his  clothing  to  buy 
a  ticket  to  Chicago.  There  he  remained  about  two  years,  at  work  to 
raise  money  to  bring  his  family  west;  and  to  add  to  his  misfortunes,  he 
was  cheated  out  of  some  of  his  earnings.  In  1861  he  came  to  Danville, 
and  worked  one  year  to  raise  money  to  bring  his  family  to  this  place. 
His  friends  finally  made  up  a  purse  of  $25  for  him,  with  which  he  brought 
his  family  to  the  place  which  has  since  been  his  home.  Before  begin- 
ning his  present  business  he  had  learned  the  trade  of  a  painter,  which 
he  followed  for  some  time,  gradually  growing  into  his  present  line  of 
business.  He  now  has  a  fine  place  of  business  located  near  the  east 
end  of  Main  street,  and  seems  to  have  established  a  trade  that  is  satis- 
factoiw  to  himself.  As  will  be  seen  above,  he  has  been  dependent  upon 
his  own  resources  in  the  accumulation  of  property.  He  has  probably 
seen  as  hard  times  as  any  one  who  came  to  the  city  in  an  early  day ; 
but  by  hard  work  and  economy  he  has  provided  for  himself  a  good 
business  and  a  good  home. 

Alexander  Pollock,  Danville,  physician  and  surgeon.  Before  en- 
gaging in  any  profession  it  would  be  well  for  any  person  to  thoroughly 
study  his  adaptability  for  that  profession  of  which  he  proposes  to  make 
a  life-study.  No  physician  or  attorney,  from  the  time  he  begins  his 
studies  with  Blackstone  or  Gray's  Anatomy,  can   lay  aside  his  books 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  427 

and  say  his  days  of  study  are  over.  It  is  the  study  of  a  lifetime.  This 
Dr.  Alex.  Pollock,  the  subject  of  our  sketch,  and  a  leading  physician 
and  surgeon  of  Danville,  seemed  to  comprehend  when  he  began  the 
study  of  medicine.  He  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania,  on 
the  27th  of  May,  1829,  being  of  Scotch-Irish  parentage.  In  the  fall  of 
1852  he  came  west,  locating  at  Springfield,  Illinois,  where,  for  a  time, 
he  was  engaged  in  teaching.  Deciding  to  study  medicine,  he  began 
with  Dr.  R.  E.  W.  Adams,  of  Springfield.  .  In  1860  he  became  a  gradu- 
ate of  the  Homoeopathic  Medical  College  of  Missouri,  at  St.  Louis.  In 
the  fall  of  the  same  year  he  came  to  Vermilion  county,  and  began  the 
practice  of  his  profession,  which  he  followed  until  1862,  when  he  en- 
tered the  army  in  the  war  of  the  rebellion  of  1861-65.  He  enlisted  in 
Co.  C,  125th  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  as  first  lieutenant.  When  he  entered  the 
service  he  carried  with  him  a  private  store  of  medicines,  prescribing 
and  filling  his  prescriptions  free  of  charge  so  long  as  his  store  lasted. 
For  this  act  of  kindness  he  made  more  than  one  life-long  friend  who  is 
now  residing  in  Vermilion  county.  In  1864  he  resigned  his  commission 
and  returned  to  Illinois,  locating  at  Decatur  for  about  nine  months, 
and  then  returning  to  Danville,  where  he  has  since  resided,  engaging 
in  the  practice  of  his  profession.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Wabash  Val- 
ley Homceopathic  Medical  Society,  and  is  the  physician  who  first  intro- 
duced the  practice  of  Homoeopathy  in  Vermilion  county  in  1860.  He 
not  only  had  the  ignorance  of  the  people  to  fight  against,  but  the  pre- 
judice of  the  allopathic  school  of  physicians  to  overcome,  both  of  which 
he  has  succeeded  so  well  in  doing  that  to-day  his  practice  is  so  large 
that  there  is  no  room  left  for  doubt.  He  is  a  citizen  standing  among 
the  first  in  the  community,  and  whose  name  and  reputation  are  above 
reproach. 

Dr.  J.  C.  Winslow,  Danville,  dentist,  a  lineal  descendant  of  the  old 
Mayflower  stock,  is  a  native  of  Barnard,  Windsor  county,  Vermont. 
He  was  born  in  1819,  and  remained  a  resident  of  the  old  home  until 
fourteen  years  of  age.  His  first  occupation  after  leaving  home  was  at 
the  trade  of  manufacturing  musical  irstruments.  In  a  short  time  he 
began  teaching  music,  and  in  1846  began  railroading,  first  with  the 
Saratoga  &  Schenectady  Railroad.  Later  he  became  master  mechanic 
of  the  New  York  &  New  Haven  Railroad,  and  in  1856  came  west  and 
accepted  the  position  of  assistant  master  mechanic  of  the  then  Great 
Western  Railroad,  but  what  is  now  known  as  the  Wabash.  This  he 
followed  until  1859,  when  he  decided  to  give  up  railroading  altogether, 
though  he  was  offered  full  charge  of  the  road  as  master  mechanic  if  he 
would  stay.  But  his  decision  to  do  no  more  of  this  kind  of  work  could 
not  be  changed  by  these  offers.     In  1846-7  the  Doctor  had  begun  the 


428  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

study  of  dentistry,  and  in  1859,  when  he  left  the  road,  he  went  to 
Springfield,  Illinois,  and  spent  six  months  more  in  the  study  of  his  pro- 
fession. In  1860  he  came  to  Danville  and  began  practice,  where  he  has 
since  resided.  B>T  his  own  efforts  the  Doctor  lias  also  become  a  geologist 
of  so  much  note  as  to  be  quoted  as  authority  in  some  scientific  discoveries 
that  he  has  made,  not  only  among  scientists  of  this  country  but  also  in 
Europe.  We  may  also  mention  a  very  complete  article  upon  the  geol- 
ogy of  Vermilion  county,  compiled  by  himself  and  Prof.  Wm.  Gurley. 
To  the  Doctor  must  also  be  given  the  credit  of  agitating  the  movement 
which  resulted  in  the  organization  of  the  Vermilion  County  Historical 
Society,  of  which  he  is  the  curator.  He  was  the  first  mayor  of  the  city 
of  Danville,  to  which  office  he  was  elected  in  May  of  1868.  He  is  a 
man  who  has  been  identified  with  public  improvements  of  almost  every 
kind,  and  is  so  well  known  to  the  people  that  any  compliments  of  the 
press  are  wholly  unneeded  on  his  part. 

John  W.  Dale,  Danville,  county  clerk,  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
was  born  in  South  Charleston,  Clarke  county,  Ohio,  on  the  15th  of 
January,  1842,  and  is  the  son  of  John  J.  and  Elizabeth  (Davison)  Dale. 
His  mother  was  a  native  of  Ohio,  and  his  father,  who  was  born  in  1809, 
of  Maryland.  Mr.  John  J.  Dale  moved  to  Clarke  county,  Ohio,  and 
there  married,  and  raised  a  family  of  eight  children.  In  1856  the  fam- 
ily moved  to  Warren  county,  Indiana,  and  remained  until  1860,  when 
they  moved  to  Vermilion  county  and  located  about  six  miles  south  of 
Rossville.  Mr.  J.  W.  was  brought  up  on  the  farm.  At  the  breaking 
out  of  the  late  war  he  enlisted  as  private  in  Co.  B,  25th  111.  Vol.  Inf., 
for  three  years.  He  participated  in  some  of  the  most  prominent  bat- 
tles of  the  war,  such  as  Pea  Ridge,  siege  of  Corinth,  Perryville,  Stone 
River  and  Chickamauga.  At  the  battle  of  Chickamauga,  on  Sunday 
afternoon,  September  20,  1863,  he  received  a  wound  in  the  left  elbow, 
and  was  then  sent  to  the  hospital  at  Nashville,  Tennessee,  where  he  had 
his  arm  amputated.  He  remained  in  the  hospital  until  1864,  when  he 
was  finally  mustered  out.  He  returned  to  his  home  in  Vermilion 
county,  and  from  there  he  went  to  Greencastle,  Indiana,  and  attended 
college.  Mr.  Dale  has  held  several  offices  of  public  trust  in  Vermil- 
ion county.  He  was  elected  assessor  and  collector  of  Ross  township, 
which  office  he  held  for  two  years.  In  1869  he  was  nominated  by  the 
republican  party  and  elected  clerk  of  Vermilion  county,  and  to  this 
office  he  was  reelected  in  1873  and  1877,  and  is  the  present  incumbent. 
The  war  history  of  Mr.  Dale  is  that  he  did  his  duty.  So  might  it  be 
said  in  regard  to  his  serving  the  people  of  Vermilion  county  as  a 
county  officer.     Mr.  Dale  was  married  on  the  26th  of  June,  1873,  to 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  429 

Harriet  I.  Hicks,  of  Perryville,  Indiana,  daughter  of  Georg  Hicks. 
They  have  two  children. 

John  H.  Long,  Danville,  saloon-keeper,  was  born  in  Center  county, 
Pennsylvania,  on  the  31st  of  March,  1838.  While  in  Pennsylvania 
Mr.  Long  was  engaged  in  teaching  school.  He,  in  1860,  came  west  to 
Illinois,  and  joined  a  circus  at  Freeport.  He  remained  with  the  circus 
but  a  short  time,  and  in  1860  he  came  to  Danville,  where  he  has  been 
a  resident  ever  since.  When  he  first  came  here  he  was  engaged  in 
teaching  school  in  South  Danville,  thence  as  superintendent  of  the 
Carbon  coal  mines,  which  was  a  very  extensive  mine,  employing  as  high 
as  two  hundred  and  fifty  hands,  with  the  capacity  of  mining  five  hun- 
dred tons  of  coal  daily.  He  remained  with  the  coal  company  for  four 
or  rive  years.  He  then  entered  the  grocery  business,  which  he  con- 
tinued for  about  one  year.  Then  he  opened  a  billiard-room,  where  he 
was  very  successful.  Then  in  the  saloon  business,  and  this  he  has 
carried  on  in  a  very  orderly  manner.  He  is  now  improving  his  room 
to  enter  into  the  theater  business,  and  will  be  known  as  Long's  Gaiety 
Theater.  Mr.  Long  represented  the  first  ward  as  alderman  for  four 
years,  in  a  faithful  manner.  He  was  married  in  Columbia  City,  Indiana, 
to  Phcebia  Shavey,  a  native  of  Paris,  France,  by  whom  they  had  two 
children.  She  died  on  the  15th  of  February,  1879,  of  consumption, 
after  suffering  many  weary  months. 

We  do  not  expect  to  give  a  history  or  biography  of  the  life  of  the 
detective,  T.  E.  Halls,  of  Danville,  for  a  detailed  sketch  of  some  of  his 
exploits  alone  would  make  a  good-sized  book,  a  number  of  which  have 
already  been  written  by  sensational  writers.  He  is  a  native  of  Enfield, 
Middlesex  county,  England,  and  is  a  man  now  about  thirty-fonr  years 
old.  At  the  age  of  twelve  years  he  came  to  the  United  States,  and 
became  a  resident  of  Warren  county,  Indiana,  where  he  remained  until 
1861 ;  then  came  to  Danville.  In  1865,  while  filling  the  office  of  dep- 
uty sheriff,  under  Joseph  M.  Paj'ton,  his  ability  in  arresting  and  hand- 
ling criminals  was  first  taken  particular  notice  of  by  the  people.  In 
1865  there  was  an  old  man  by  the  name  of  Ball  living  on  the  banks  of 
the  Vermilion,  near  Dallas,  Vermilion  county,  called  out  of  his  door 
after  night  and  shot  by  some  unseen  person  or  persons.  Six  persons 
were  charged  with  this  murder,  warrants  issued  for  their  arrest,  and 
placed  in  the  hands  of  T.  E.  Halls.  A  posse  of  men  was  offered  him 
to  help  make  the  arrests,  but  this  he  refused  and  started  after  them 
alone.  It  is  not  necessary  to  detail  the  manner  in  which  he  made 
these  arrests,  but  enough  to  say  that  the  next  day  after  starting  after 
them  he  came  into  Danville  on  horseback,  driving  the  six  prisoners 
before  him.     This  starting  out  alone  to  arrest  a  lot  of  men  seems  to  be 


f:>0  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

a  peculiarity  with  him.  Whether  this  method  of  making  arrests  is 
common  among  detectives  we  do  not  know.  In  the  fifteen  years'  ex- 
perience he  lias  had  as  a  detective  he  has  been  shot  several  times,  though 
no  time  dangerously  hurt  or  crippled.  Since  1873  he  has  been  in  the 
employ  of  the  I.  B.  &  W.  railroad,  and  for  C.  &  E.  I.  road  has  been 
detective  since  1879.  On  the  former  road,  in  1875,  he  made  ninety 
arrests  for  car  robbery,  placing  obstructions  on  the  track,  and  for  other 
offenses.  His  services  have  been  appreciated  by  these  roads.  Besides 
being  well  paid,  he  has  received  many  valuable  presents,  presented  by 
the  officers  and  employes.  He  has  recently  learned  telegraphy,  and 
now  has  an  instrument  in  his  own  residence,  the  wires  being  connected 
.with  the  main  lines.  We  might  add  to  this  short  sketch  many  pages 
of  interesting  matter  relative  to  himself  and  his  business.  Though  we 
may  add  that  it  is  one  thing  to  be  a  detective  in  name,  and  another 
thing  by  nature,  his  record  will  certainly  entitle  him  to  claim  the  lat- 
ter. His  ability  has  already  been  recognized  by  some  of  the  governors, 
who  have  given  him  important  and  dangerous  work  to  do.  Should  no 
misfortune  befall  him,  we  hope  yet  to  see  the  name  of  T.  E.  Halls 
among  the  list  of  noted  detectives  of  the  west. 

A  grocery  establishment  recently  opened  in  the  city  of  Danville, 
and  one  which  bids  fair  to  do  its  share  of  the  business  in  this  line,  is 
that  of  W.  M.  Carnahan.  He  is  a  native  of  Attica,  Indiana,  though  he 
has  been  a  resident  of  Vermilion  county  for  about  eighteen  years.  He 
began  business  in  his  present  line  in  April  of  1879.  His  first  years 
business  will  probably  aggregate  about  fifteen  thousand  dollars,  a  spe- 
cialty with  him  being  the  miners'  trade.  To  supply  this  he  is  located 
near  the  North  Fork  bridge,  which  is  as  convenient  as  possible  to  the 
Moss  Bank  mines.  His  store  is  twenty-four  feet  front  by  eighty  deep, 
and  well  stocked  with  everything  pertaining  to  the  grocery  trade. 

Among  the  stirring  business  firms  of  the  city  of  Danville  we  may 
mention  the  Glindmeier  Bros.,  manufacturing  coopers.  They  are  both 
natives  of  Prussia.  Chris,  the  elder  brother,  came  to  the  states  one 
year  ahead  of  his  brother  of  whom  we  write.  Henry,  the  younger  of 
the  two,  came  to  the  United  States  in  1860.  He  was  born  in  Prussia 
in  1842,  and  before  leaving  his  native  country  had  received  a  good  edu- 
cation. In  1861,  when  they  came  to  Danville,  he,  with  his  brother, 
engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  coopers'  work,  a  more  detailed  account 
of  the  extent  of  which  business  is  given  elsewhere.  They  have  two 
establishments,  one  located  near  the  Wabash  Depot  in  Danville,  and 
the  other  a  short  way  in  the  country.  The  one  in  Danville  comes 
directly  under  the  supervision  of  himself,  and  being  a  practical  cooper 
by  trade,  he  has  little  trouble   in   managing   the  work  at  this  point, 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  431 

though  there  is  a  large  force  of  men  who  look  to  him  for  orders  in  the 
execution  of  their  work.  He  is  still  a  young  man,  and  by  his  sober, 
steady  habits  and  close  attention  to  business,  has  already  accumulated 
a  good  property  and  established  a  good  name  and  reputation  among 
his  fellow-citizens. 

For  the  past  five  years  Mr.  A.  C.  Freeman  has  held  the  office  of 
city  clerk  of  the  city  of  Danville.  He  is  a  native  of  Washington 
county,  Pennsylvania,  where  he  was  born  in  August,  1834.  For  the 
past  eighteen  years  he  has  been  a  resident  of  Vermilion  county,  though 
not  located  at  Danville  all  this  time.  In  1861  he  was  employed  by  the 
Great  "Western  Railroad  Company  of  Illinois,  being  stationed  at  Fair- 
mount.  Later  he  went  to  State  Line,  where  the  division  shops  used  to 
be.  In  1866  he  was  stationed  at  Danville,  where  he  remained  in  the 
employ  of  the  company  until  1872;  thus  spending  more  of  his  life  in 
the  railroad  business  than  the  average  railroad  man,  viz:  seven  }?ears. 
He  is  still  located  where  he  can  hear  the  whistles  blow,  and  probably 
the  most  notable  feature  of  his  change  of  occupation  is  the  absence  of 
the  "pay-car." 

W.  T.  Myers,  Danville,  livery-keeper,  is  the  son  of  Elias  and  Ann 
Myers,  who  were  of  German  descent,  and  formerly  of  Fairfield  county, 
Ohio,  where  W.  T.  Myers  was  born,  on  the  17th  of  February,  1846. 
In  1862  the  family  removed  to  Danville,  where  they  now  reside,  and 
where  of  late  W.  T.  has  been  engaged  in  the  livery  business.  He,  by 
his  gentlemanly  and  courteous  treatment  of  his  many  customers,  now 
has  a  business  equal  to  that  of  anj^one  else  in  the  same  business. 

S.  B.  Holloway,  Danville,  proprietor  of  the  omnibus  line,  was  born 
in  Guernsey  county,  Ohio,  on  the  5th  of  April,  1831,  and  at  eight  years 
of  age  his  parents  removed  to  Morgan  county,  Ohio,  where  Mr.  Hollo- 
way  remained  until  grown  to  be  a  man,  and  had  married.  His  choice 
was  Miss  A.  Plummer,  a  native  of  Morgan  county,  Ohio.  In  the  fall 
of  1854  he  removed  to  Henry  county,  Indiana,  and  engaged  in  the 
saw-mill  business.  In  1856  he  removed  and  purchased  a  steam 
saw-mill,  which  he  run  until  1858.  He  then  removed  to  Kniffhtstown, 
where  he  was  engaged  in  the  same  business,  which  he  continued  to  do 
for  eighteen  months,  and  in  1859  purchased  a  saw-mill  in  Rush  county, 
Indiana,  which  he  run  for  a  short  time.  In  1860  he  went  to  Hancock 
county,  Indiana,  and  bought  a  mill,  which  he  run  for  one  year,  and  in 

1861  he  went  to  Indianapolis  and  engaged  in  the  grocery  business.    In 

1862  he  came  to  Danville,  where  he  has  been  doing  a  successful  livery 
and  omnibus  business. 

W.  H.  Taylor,  the  present  chief  of  the  fire  department  of  the  city 
of  Danville,  was  born  in  Perry  county,  Ohio,  in  1831.    He  removed  to 


432  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Hancock  county.  <  )hio,  in  1844,  and  to  Illinois  in  1851,  arriving  at 
Decatur,  Macon  county,  on  the  4th  of  June  of  that  year.  He  settled 
in  Sullivan  in  August,  1851,  and  removed  to  Mount  Pleasant  (now 
Farmer  City),  Dewitt  county,  in  1856,  and  then  to  Danville  in  1862. 
The  same  vear  he  volunteered  in  the  107th  111.  Inf.,  and  served  until 
the  close  of  the  war.  He  was  in  the  siege  at  Knoxville  and  in  all  the 
battles  from  Rocky  Face  to  Atlanta.  He  was  wounded  at  Franklin, 
Tennessee.  He  commanded  the  company  through  most  of  the  Georgia 
campaign,  though  a  non-commissioned  officer;  the  officers  of  his  com- 
pany being  (an  exception  to  the  rule)  home  on  furlough,  in  hospital,  or 
absent  on  long  marches  and  during  engagements.  After  the  war  he 
located  at  Danville,  Illinois,  and  was  elected  alderman  of  the  fourth 
ward  in  1871  and  served  two  years.  He  was  reelected  from  the  second 
ward  in  1874  and  served  two  years,  during  which  time  he  was  chair- 
man of  the  committee  on  fire  and  water,  and  always  evinced  a  great 
interest  in  the  welfare  of  the  city.  To  him  the  city  is  probably  more 
indebted  for  the  efficiency  of  the  fire  department  than  to  any  other 
citizen  of  Danville. 

J.  A.  Lewis,  Danville,  contractor  and  builder,  is  a  native  of  the  Isle 
of  Wight.  England.  In  1858  he  went  to  Toronto,  Canada,  where  he 
remained  only  one  year,  and  then  removed  to  St.  Louis,  Missouri, 
remaining  a  resident  of  that  city  and  vicinity  until  1S61,  when  he 
entered  the  Federal  army  from  St.  Clair  county,  Missouri,  enlisting  in 
the  7th  Mo.  Inf.,  Co.  D,  as  company  bugler.  He  first  enlisted  for  a 
three-months  term  of  service,  but  afterward  joined  the  7th  Mo.,  which 
was  for  three  years.  In  1S62,  while  his  command  was  marching  from 
Kansas  City  to  Independence,  he,  with  a  couple  other  members  of  his 
company,  stopped  at  a  farm-house  for  refreshments.  The  command 
had  got  some  way  in  advance,  when  they  stepped  out  at  the  door  and 
were  ordered  to  surrender  by  the  notorious  guerrilla  Quantrell.  As 
there  was  but  little  use  of  fighting  and  no  use  of  running,  he  and  one 
comrade  quietly  surrendered.  The  third  broke  and  ran,  having  been 
the  last  and  somewhat  the  latest  one  out  of  the  house.  The  rebels  im- 
mediately tired  upon  him,  killing  him  instantly.  Mr.  Lewis  was  kept 
until  the  next  day,  when,  for  some  reason,  he  and  his  fellow-prisoner 
were  quietly  required  to  swear  never  to  again  take  up  arms  against  the 
Confederate  cause,  instead,  as  was  the  usual  custom,  of  putting  pris- 
oners to  death.  This  was  the  end  of  his  army  life.  In  1862  he  came 
to  Danville  and  began  work  at  his  trade  of  a  brick  and  stone  mason, 
having  learned  this  trade  before  leaving  England.  In  1876.  when  the 
Danville  Contracting  and  Building  Company  was  organized,  he  became 
interested  in  it,  and  was  elected  president,  which  office  he  held  until 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  t33 

1878,  when  he  bought  the  property  and  interests  of  the  company,  and 
has  since  been  contracting  and  building  on  his  own  account.  He  is 
now  doing  a  large  business  in  his  line,  employing  from  fifteen  to  twenty 
men  most  of  the  time.  He  has  been  a  resident  of  Danville  seventeen 
years,  and  is  well  known  to  the  people  as  an  honorable  and  upright 
citizen. 

L.  B.  Wolf,  Danville,  grocer,  proprietor  of  the  Cottage  Bakery, 
located  on  the  southwest  corner  of  Pine  and  Madison  streets,  is  a  native 
of  Wyandotte  connty,  Ohio.  He  came  to  Vermilion  county  in  1862, 
and  since  1867  has  been  a  resident  of  Danville.  In  1877  he  engaged 
in  his  present  business.  The  Cottage  Bakery  has  already  become  well 
known.  Mr.  Wolf  now  gives  employment  to  two  men,  and  runs  a 
delivery  wagon  in  connection  with  his  business.  He  has  already  estab- 
lished a  trade  that  in  1879  will  aggregate  about  $15,000.  This  he  has 
done  by  energy,  industry,  and  a  close  attention  to  business. 

The  gardening  business,  if  properly  managed,  seems  to  be  both 
pleasant  and  profitable, —  at  least  Mr.  G.  L.  Ilolton,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  seems  to  have  brought  the  business  to  this  state  by  his  good 
management.  He  is  a  native  of  Bracken  county,  Kentucky,  and  is  a 
man  now  thirty-eight  years  old.  In  1851  he  went  to  Crawfordsville, 
Indiana,  with  his  people.  He  has  now  been  a  resident  of  this  place 
for  about  seventeen  years.  In  1869  he  began  as  a  gardener  and  florist, 
but  for  three  years  ran  behind  at  the  business,  though  as  he  became 
more  familiar  with  the  business  he  met  with  better  success.  His  hot- 
house which  he  has  now  leased  is  in  size  36  x  50,  with  an  addition  of 
12  x  35.  The  front  is  used  as  an  office,  packing-room,  etc.  He  has 
brought  the  land  up  from  a  wild  state  to  what  it  now  is.  Most  of  his 
seeds  he  buys  in  New  York,  though  he  uses  some  imported  seeds.  In 
connection  with  his  business  he  runs  a  fine  market-wagon,  gotten  up 
expressly  for  the  purpose.  During  the  winter  he  is  engaged  as  a  coal 
operator,  his  farm,  like  the  balance  of  land  in  the  vicinity,  being  under- 
laid with  a  fine  six-foot  vein  of  coal,  besides  a  smaller  one  underneath. 
He  both  in  the  summer  and  winter  gives  employment  to  several  men, 
his  method  of  mining  being  what  is  known  as  drift  mining. 

Dr.  I.  M.  Gillam,  physician  and  surgeon,  is  a  native  of  Warren 
county,  Ohio.  In  1862,  when  he  was  twenty  years  old,  his  people 
moved  to  this  county,  locating  at  Oakwood.  In  1866  the  Doctor  began 
the  study  of  medicine  with  Dr.  R.  B.  Ray,  of  Fairmount,  a  man  who 
is  wrell  known  throughout  this  county.  He  afterward  came  to  Dan- 
ville, and  finished  his  studies  with  Dr.  Fithian.  He  in  procuring 
his  education  has  been  dependent  upon  his  own  resources.  Not  only 
this,  but  he  had  the  care  of  his  parents  also  upon  his  hands.  He  has 
28 


4:'>4  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

been  practicing  in  Danville  since  1867.  His  office  is  located  at  69 
Main  street  and  bis  residence  at  105  Hazel.  He  is  a  very  quiet,  un- 
demonstrative kind  of  a  man,  and  still  possessed  of  a  good,  firm  will, 
that  seldom  fails  to  carry  him  through  any  difficulty. 

Christian  Glindmeier,  Danville,  cooper,  was  born  in  Prussia,  Ger- 
many, on  the  19th  of  November,  1827.  He  came  to  America  in  1857, 
with  his  sister,  coming  directly  west  and  stopping  in  Vermilion  county, 
Indiana,  where  the  first  winter  he  was  engaged  in  working  in  a  pork- 
house.  He  then  went  to  Terre  Hante.  where  he  worked  at  the  cooper's 
trade,  which  he  had  learned  in  Germany.  He  remained  in  Terre  Haute 
about  six  months,  and  then  returned  to  Vermilion  county,  Indiana, 
where  he  married  Elizabeth  Aspelmeire,  a  playmate  of  his  boyhood 
davs  in  Prussia,  Germany,  and  a  passenger  on  the  same  ship  in  which 
he  came  to  America.  He  moved  to  Fountain  county  and  remained 
there  about  eighteen  months,  and  then  went  to  farming.  In  1862  he 
came  to  Vermilion  county.  Illinois,  and  located  on  the  present  farm, 
where  he  commenced  his  cooper  business.  He  first  worked  two  hands, 
and  from  that  he  gradually  built  up  a  very  large  trade.  In  1874  he 
and  his  brother  built  a  cooper  shop  in  Danville,  which  was  destroyed 
by  fire.  They  then  rebuilt,  and  to-day  do  an  immense  business,  em- 
ploying some  sixty  hands  on  the  farm  and  in  the  cooper  department. 
Their  pay-roll  amounts  to  8250  to  $300  per  week.  They  manufacture 
about  twelve  thousand  lard  and  pork  barrels  per  year,  finding  sales  for 
their  barrels  principally  in  St.  Louis  and  Chicago.  Mr.  Glindmeier 
started  from  his  native  home  with  $800 ;  when  he  arrived  at  his  des- 
tination he  was  worth,  perhaps,  about  $400,  and  from  this  start  he  has 
made  what  he  is  worth  to-day.  He  owns  seven  hundred  and  forty-four 
acres  of  land,  which  has  been  made  by  industry  and  good  management. 
He  is  the  father  of  five  children  :  Mary  E.,  Louisa  C,  Kissie  Alice, 
Minnie  May  and  Henry  Franklin. 

James  Jones,  Danville,  civil  engineer,  of  the  Ellsworth  Coal  Com- 
pany, is  a  native  of  Liverpool,  England.  He  was  born  in  1843,  and  at 
the  aare  of  thirteen  years  left  home  and  went  to  sea  for  about  six  and  a 
half  years.  In  1862  he  joined  the  American  navy,  in  the  war  of  1861-5, 
remaining  in  the  service  until  April  of  1863.  During  this  time  he  was 
in  the  battles  of  Fort  Pillow,  Memphis,  and  White  Eiver.  At  the 
latter  place  he  was  one  of  a  crew  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  men.  The 
boat  "  blew  up,''  and  of  this  number  only  twenty  came  out  alive,  and 
some  of  these  were  crippled.  Besides  receiving  several  bad  wounds, 
he  was  shot  through  the  calf  of  the  leg  with  the  rib  of  some  poor  fellow 
who  was  blown  to  pieces.  This  mishap  kept  him  in  the  hospital  for 
eight  months.    During  his  six  and  a  half  years  of  life  on  the  sea  he  had 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  435 

learned  marine  engineering.  This  varies  quite  materially  from  his 
present  work.  He  has  been  dependent  wholly  upon  his  own  resources 
in  fitting  himself  for  the  work  of  civil  engineering.  Since  he  has  been 
with  the  Ellsworth  Coal  Company  he  has  executed  some  very  neat  and 
difficult  work,  having  made  the  surveys  for  the  three  connections  in 
the  mine,  varying  from  seven  hundred  to  eleven  hundred  and  fifty 
yards.  He  has  now  been  with  this  company  for  eight  years,  though  in 
all  he  has  had  about  sixteen  years'  experience  in  mining,  having  begun 
the  business  in  the  Kirkland  carbon  mines.  He  has  been  so  long  with 
the  company,  and  by  his  suggestions  so  many  changes  and  improvements 
have  been  made,  that  now  the  whole,  or  nearly  the  whole,  supervision 
of  the  mines  is  left  to  him.  If  he  says  everything  is  "all  right,"  Mr. 
Daniel,  the  manager,  pays  no  more  attention  to  it. 

R.  H.  Mater,  Danville,  contractor  and  builder,  whose  office  is  found 
at  88  Vermilion  street,  is  a  native  of  Indiana,  and  was  born  in  Febru- 
ary of  1839.  He  began  learning  the  trade  of  carpenter  and  joiner  in 
1859.  In  1863  he  went  to  Fairmount,  this  county,  where  he  remained 
about  four  years,  and  then  removed  to  Terre  Haute,  Indiana.  He 
remained  there  but  about  one  year,  and  then  returned  to  this  county, 
locating  at  Danville,  where  he  has  established  a  good  business,  some- 
times  giving  employment  to  as  many  as  twenty-two  men  at  one  time. 
Among  some  of  the  prominent  buildings  which  he  has  built  may  be 
mentioned  the  Vermilion-street  Opera  House,  the  residences  of  E.  B. 
Martin  and  B.  Brittenhouse.  These  buildings  will,  no  doubt,  for  many 
years  after  his  death,  be  known  as  monuments  of  his  workmanship. 

Win.  J.  Moore,  M.D.,  Danville,  physician  and  surgeon,  is  a  native 
of  Champaign  county,  Illinois,  where  he  was  born  in  1846.  When 
seventeen  years  old  he  began  the  study  of  medicine  with  Dr.  W.  W. 
R.  Woodbury,  of  Danville,  and  graduated  at  the  Rush  Medical  College 
in  1870.  At  the  age  of  twenty-four  years  he  began  practice  at  Car- 
thage, Hancock  county,  Illinois,  where  he  remained  about  two  years, 
and  then  came  to  Danville,  where  he  has  since  resided  engaged  in  the 
practice  of  his  profession.  On  the  23d  of  March,  1863,  he  enlisted  in 
Co.  L,  16th  111.  Cavalry,  in  the  three-years  service,  remaining  in  the 
service  until  the  close  of  the  war  and  participating  in  many  of  the 
heavy  battles,  among  which  may  be  mentioned  those  of  the  Atlanta 
campaign,  the  battle  of  Nashville  and  at  Jonesville,  Virginia,  where  he 
was  wounded  and  taken  prisoner,  lying  for  seven  weeks  at  a  farm-house, 
and  finally  making  his  escape.  The  Doctor  is  what  is  termed  one  of 
the  regular  physicians,  and  is  a  member  of  the  Association  of  Physicians 
and  Surgeons  of  Vermilion  county,  and  also  of  the  Illinois  State  Med- 
ical Association.     By  his  close  attention  to  business  he  has  established 


4-lt3  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

a  good  name  and  reputation,  these  being  two  of  the  important  things 
necessary  to  the  success  of  any  physician. 

David  A.  Smith,  Danville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Warren  county, 
Ohio,  on  the  2d  of  September,  1812,  and  is  the  son  of  John  and  Eliz- 
abeth (Harmon)  Smith.  His  father  was  a  paper-maker  by  trade.  He 
was  married  in  Virginia,  and  with  his  wife  moved  to  Ohio,  where  he 
followed  his  trade,  and  there  remained  until  1863,  when  he  moved  to 
Vermilion  county.  He  died  in  Indiana,  but  was  buried  here ;  his  wife 
also  died,  and  was  buried  in  Vermilion  countv.     Mr.  Smith,  the  sub- 

a/ 

ject  of  this  sketch,  learned  the  paper-maker's  trade,  then  the  trade  of  a 
millwright,  and  afterward  that  of  a  miller.  He  was  married  to  Martha 
J.  Parker,  of  North  Carolina,  who  came  to  Indiana  when  she  was 
quite  young.  Mr.  Smith  was  a  resident  of  Richmond,  Indiana,  but 
went  to  La  Fayette,  where  he  remained  some  five  or  six  years  in  the 
mill  business;  thence  to  Warren  county,  and  remained  therein  same 
business  about  five  }rears.  Mr.  Smith  was  very  successful  in  the  mill 
business,  having  retired  in  good  circumstances.  In  1853  he  came  to 
Vermilion  countv,  Illinois,  and  purchased  land,  and  also  the  present 
homestead.  He  returned  to  Indiana,  and  in  1855  he  moved  on  the 
present  farm,  where  he  has  remained  since.  Here  his  first  wife,  who 
was  a  good  and  kind  mother  and  loving  wife,  died.  He  then  married 
Mrs.  Hannah  Brant  Lee.  Mr.  Smith  had  three  sons  in  the  late  war, 
who  did  good  service.  William  H.  enlisted  in  the  125th  111.  Vol.  Inf., 
and  on  account  of  sickness  was  honorably  discharged  after  serving  over 
two  years.  David  J.  enlisted  at  the  first  call.  After  his  time  was  up 
he  reenlisted  in  a  battery,  and  did  good  service.  Samuel  P.  enlisted  in  the 
one-hundred-days  service.  He,  after  his  time  was  up,  tried  to  reenlist 
in  the  three-years  service,  but,  on  account  of  being  too  young,  was  re- 
fused. There  are  six  children  living,  all  by  the  first  wife:  William 
H.,  David  J.,  Samuel  P.,  Andrew  J.,  Casius  Wilson  and  Sarah  Jane. 

Anton  Schatz,  Danville,  saloon-keeper,  was  born  in  Baden,  Ger- 
many, on  the  6th  of  April,  1840,  and  came  to  Danville,  Illinois,  in 
1864,  where  he  engaged  with  Samuel  Craig  for  seven  years  and  accu- 
mulated money  enough  to  start  in  his  present  business.  On  the  1st  of 
March,  1870,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Theresia  Loffler.  They  have 
seven  children :  Columbus,  John,  Anton,  Caroline,  Anna,  Louisa  and 
Stacy.  Mr.  Schatz  is  a  member  of  the  I.O.O.F.,  No.  499,  and  has 
rilled  all  the  chairs.  He  is  also  a  member  of  the  Turner  Society.  In 
politics  he  is  a  democrat. 

Jno.  C.  Mengle,  Danville,  butcher,  is  a  native  of  Berks  county, 
Pennsylvania.  He  came  west  in  1864  and  located  in  Danville.  He 
learned  the  butcher  business  with  his  father.     He  is  now  located  on 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  4:17 

the  corner  of  Yermilion  and  North  streets,  and  is  doing  the  leading 
business  in  his  line  in  the  city.  In  all  he  gives  employment  to  about 
three  men  on  an  average.  He  kills  annually  about  1,000  head  of 
stock.  For  this  he  pays  to  the  farmers  about  $10,000.  Everything 
about  his  place  is  neat  and  clean.  This,  coupled  with  his  pleasant  and 
courteous  treatment  of  customers,  must]  insure  him  success  in  the 
future,  as  it  has  already  done  in  the  past. 

Messrs.  T.  and  J.  Donnelly  have  been  in  the  grocery  business  in 
Danville  for  fifteen  years,  and  may  truly  be  classed  among  the  old 
grocerymen  of  the  city.  They  are  both  natives  of  County  Cavan,  Ire- 
land. They  are  located  corner  of  Jackson  and  South  streets.  The 
store  they  occupy  is  20x40,  but  they  have  warehouse  room  outside  of 
this.  Besides  doing  a  general  grocery  business,  during  the  winter  they 
buy  dressed  pork  and  other  produce.  Probably  one  secret  of  their 
success  is  that  they  have  both  been  farmers,  and  know  better  how  to 
supply  the  wants  of  this  class  of  custom,  and  know  also  what  the  loss 
of  a  crop  is,  and  how  hard  it  is  sometimes  for  farmers  to  pay  without 
a  sacrifice  of  property.  Mr.  J.  Donnelly  was  fourteen  years  old  when 
he  came  to  the  United  States  in  1851.  For  one  year  he  was  in  Troy, 
New  York.  He  then  came  west  and  located  at  Attica,  Fountain 
county,  Indiana,  and  there,  in  1855.  in  company  with  his  brother, 
began  farming.  This  they  followed  until  1864,  when  they  began  busi- 
ness in  the  grocery  trade  in  Danville.  In  1867  he  was  elected  to  the 
council  from  the  first  ward,  and  is  now  holding  the  office  of  assistant 
supervisor  of  Danville  township.  They  have  done  more  toward  the 
improvement  of  Danville  than  many  citizens  who  are  much  older  resi- 
dents, as  they  have  built  twelve  new  buildings  and  repaired  six  others, 
making  them  good  residences. 

L.  C.  Hovey,  Danville,  yardmaster,  was  born  in  Tolland  county, 
Connecticut,  in  1825.  During  his  early  life  he  had  the  advantages  of 
good  schools,  and  received  a  good  business  education.  About  1853  he 
began  railroading,  having  been  at  the  business  now  about  twenty-six 
years.  He  was  first  connected  with  what  used  to  be  the  Cincinnati  & 
Chicago  Short  Line,  but  was  afterward  with  the  New  London  &  North- 
ern, and  fifteen  years  ago  began  with  what  is  now  the  Wabash  road, 
with  which  he  has  since  remained,  excepting  three  years  spent  on  the 
I.  C.  &  L.,  being  engaged  most  of  the  time  while  on  the  road  as  an  en- 
gineer. He  now  has  charge  of  the  "Wabash  yard  at  this  point.  Dan- 
ville being  the  joint  station  between  the  eastern  and  western  divisions 
of  the  road,  requires  a  yard  five  miles  in  length.  All  trains  from  either 
division  when  run  into  this  yard  are  in  his  charge.  He  also  has  the 
supervision  of  about  twenty  men  ;  but  being  an   old  railroad  man  he 


438  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

has  become  so  used  to  doing  his  duty  as  regularly  as  clock-work,  that 
seldom  any  errors  or  blunders  creep  into  his  management,  either  of  the 
men  or  other  matters  pertaining  to  his  department.  He  is  probably 
the  oldest  railroad  man  residing  in  Danville.  His  record  as  such  is 
certainly  as  free  from  errors  or  accidents  as  any  who  follow  railroading 
as  a  business. 

W.  A.  Brown,  Danville,  physician  and  surgeon,  was  born  in  Knox 
county,  Tennessee,  in  1830,  and  at  the  age  of  seven  years  went  with 
his  people  to  Macoupin  county,  Illinois.  He  became  a  graduate  of  the 
McDowell  College  of  Medicine,  of  St.  Louis,  in  1857;  after  graduating 
he  went  to  Iowa,  where  he  remained  but  a  short  time,  removing  to 
Missouri  in  1859,  where  he  was  engaged  in  practice  for  three  years. 
In  1862  he  entered  the  army  as  assistant  surgeon  of  the  1st  Missouri 
Militia,  serving  two  years,  and  upon  leaving  the  army  he  came  to  Dan- 
ville and  began  his  practice  in  July  of  1861.  He  has  since  given  his 
time  exclusively  to  his  profession.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Vermilion 
County  Association  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons,  and  a  man  whose 
name  and  reputation  are  above  reproach. 

D.  D.  Evans,  Danville,  attorney-at-law,  is  a  native  of  the  old  Key- 
stone State,  was  born  in  Cambria  county,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  17th 
of  April,  1829,  and  is  the  son  of  David  and  Anna  (Lloyd)  Evans,  both 
natives  of  England,  having  emigrated  to  America  when  they  were 
children.  Mr.  Evans'  father  was  a  stonemason  and  contractor,  but  in 
his'latter  days  was  engaged  in  farming  here.  Mr.  Evans  remained  un- 
til he  was  about  twenty-four  years  of  age,  engaged  in  farming  in  the 
summer,  and  in  the  winter  months  attending  the  district  schools,  where 
he  received  sufficient  education  to  enable  him  to  teach  school  for  sev- 
eral years  in  his  native  county.  He  then  entered  the  Eclectic  Institute 
of  Ohio,  which  at  that  time  was  one  of  the  leading  institutions  of  learn- 
ing in  that  state.  General  James  A.  Garfield,  who  afterward  became 
president  of  the  institution,  was  a  pupil  of  this  school  at  this  time.  At 
about  thirty  years  of  age  Mr.  Evans  commenced  the  study  of  law,  and 
in  1861  he  entered  the  Michigan  University  at  Ann  Arbor,  graduating 
from  the  law  school  in  the  spring  of  1863.  He  returned  to  Ohio,  and 
in  the  summer  of  the  same  year  enlisted  in  the  one-hundred-days  ser- 
vice as  orderly.in  Co.  E,  167th  Ohio  National  Guards,  and  served  for  four 
months.  The  following  year  he  came  to  Danville,  and  was  for  a  short 
time  engaged  in  school  teaching.  Mr.  Evans,  for  some  time,  was  editor 
of  the  Vermilion  county  "  Plaindealer,"  which  at  that  time  was  one  of 
the  leading  republican  newspapers  of  this  vicinity,  and  the  only  paper 
published  in  the  county.  Since  Mr.  Evans  began  the  practice  of  law 
in    Danville   he    has    had    associated  with  him,  as  partners,  John  A. 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  439 

Kumler,  Mark  D.  Hawes  and  Charles  M.  Swallow,  the  two  former  of 
whom  are  now  ministers  of  the  gospel,  and  the  latter  a  prominent  at- 
torney of  the  Vermilion  county  bar.  Mr.  Evans'  political  opinions  are 
republican.  In  1876  he  was  a  delegate  to  the  republican  presidential 
convention  which  was  held  in  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  and  was  one  of  the 
five  delegates  who  worked  so  hard  for  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Bristow. 
Mr.  Evans  married  Mrs.  Edwilda  Anderson  (Cromwell)  Fithian.  By 
this  marriage  thev  have  had  three  children  —  two  deceased. 

Oliver  P.  Kistler,  Danville,  firmer,  was  born  in  Fairfield  county, 
Ohio,  on  the  20th  of  January,  1837,  and  is  the  son  of  Samuel  and 
Elizabeth  (King)  Kistler.  His  father  was  a  farmer  and  a  native  of 
Pennsylvania,  he  moving  to  Ohio  at  an  early  day.  Here  Mr.  Kist- 
ler, the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  brought  up  on  the  farm,  and  en- 
gaged in  farming  from  the  time  he  was  able  to  hold  the  plow.  In 
1864  he  came  to  Vermilion  county  and  located  on  the  present  home- 
stead, which  has  been  his  home  ever  since.  He  was  married  in 
Ohio  to  Miss  Mary  C.  Lake.  They  have  four  children.  He  owns 
four  hundred  and  eighty-eight  acres  of  fine  improved  land.  His  father 
and  mother  died  in  Ohio ;  his  father  being  seventy-four  years,  nine 
months  and  thirteen  days  old,  and  his  mother  about  sixty-nine  years 
old,  when  they  died. 

Robert  D.  McDonald,  Danville,  attorney-at-law,  was  born  near  Co- 
lumbia, Tennessee,  on  the  23d  of  June,  1834,  and  is  the  son  of  C.  P. 
and  Nancy  (Baldrich)  McDonald,  of  South  Carolina.  His  father  was 
a  tanner  by  trade,  and  followed  farming.  Here,  on  the  farm,  Mr. 
McDonald  remained  until  he  was  about  thirteen  years  of  age.  He 
then  came  to  Danville  and  clerked  in  a  store,  where  he  remained  about 
six  years.  He  then  went  to  Pontiac,  Livingston  county,  and  entered 
the  mercantile  business,  where  he  remained  about  five  }^ears.  He  then 
returned  to  Danville,  where  he  was  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business 
for  about  four  years  longer,  and  afterward  in  the  real-estate  business. 
In  1870  Mr.  McDonald  commenced  the  study  of  law,  and  in  1872  he 
was  admitted  to  practice  law  at  the  Illinois  bar,  and  began  business  in 
Danville.  To-day  he  ranks  among  the  prominent  attorneys  of  the  Ver- 
milion county  bar. 

The  dry-goods  store  in  Schmitt's  new  marble  block,  75  Main  street, 
and  managed  by  Mr.  Albert  Oberdorfer,  of  Danville,  is  an  institution 
that  takes  rank  with  the  very  leading  ones  of  Danville,  and  one  that 
does  an  extensive  business,  and  which  has  been  in  successful  existence 
during  the  past  fifteen  years.  Mr.  Oberdorfer  is  a  gentleman  full  of 
vim,  enterprise  and  business  capacity,  and  thoroughly  alive  to  the 
wants  of  his  patrons  and  the  necessities  of  the  trade.     Mr.  Oberdorfer 


440  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION*    COUNTY. 

was  born  in  Austria  on  the  15th  of  September,  1838,  and  is  the  son  of 
Moses  and  Thresa  (Bernheimer)  Oberdorfer.  His  mother  was  a  native 
of  Prussia,  and  his  father  of  Bavaria.  Mr.  Oberdorfer  came  to  Amer- 
ica in  1859,  and  first  located  in  Louisville,  Kentucky,  where  he  was 
engaged  in  the  dry-goods  business.  Since  then  he  has  been  engaged 
in  the  same  business  in  Tennessee,  and  Versailles,  Kentucky.  From 
there,  in  1864,  he  came  to  Danville,  where  he  entered  the  dry-goods 
business  on  Main  street.  He  then  removed  to  the  present  stand,  which 
consists  of  two  floors,  each  22x100.  Here  may  be  found  a  full  line  of 
dry  goods  and  carpets,  and  patrons  will  be  well  treated  by  his  four 
accommodating  clerks. 

Da}'ton  C.  Moorehouse,  Danville,  county  sheriff,  was  born  in  War- 
ren count}*,  Ohio,  on  the  1st  of  September,  1818.  His  parents  were 
Nathan  B.  and  Mary  (Potter)  Moorehouse,  natives  of  New  Jersey, 
they  moving  to  Ohio  at  an  early  day.  His  father  was  in  the  war  of 
1812.  Mr.  Moorehouse  was  brought  up  on  his  father's  farm,  where  he 
remained  until  he  was  about  fourteen  years  old.  He  then  went  to 
Greenville,  Ohio,  and  was  engaged  in  his  uncle's  store  as  a  clerk,  where 
he  remained  about  six  years.  In  1837  he  went  to  Covington,  Indiana, 
and  here  was  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business.  He  remained  until 
1856,  when  he  moved  to  Galesburg,  Illinois,  and  there  staid  about  three 
and  a  half  years,  when  he  returned  to  Covington,  Indiana.  Here,  in  1861, 
he  enlisted  in  a  company  as  first  lieutenant  which  went  to  Washington 
city  and  finally  disbanded.  Mr.  Moorehouse  then  entered  the  govern- 
ment department  in  Washington  city,  and  remained  in  service  until 
1864.  He  then  returned  to  Covington,  Indiana,  and  in  December  of 
1864,  with  his  family,  came  to  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  and  located 
in  Danville,  where  he  has  remained.  Since  Mr.  Moorehouse  has  been 
a  resident  of  Vermilion  county  he  has  held  several  offices  of  public 
trust;  that  of  deputy  county  sheriff  for  four  years  under  J.  W.  Myers, 
and  the  same  office  for  four  years  under  E.  S.  Gregory.  He  then,  in 
1878,  was  elected  sheriff  of  the  county  by  the  republican  party,  which 
office  he  still  holds.  Mr.  Moorehouse  has  given  entire  satisfaction, 
having  proven  himself  a  gentleman  of  acknowledged  ability.  He  is  a 
republican  in  politics.  He  was  married  in  1S41  to  Miss  J.  W.  Bils- 
land.     They  have  three  children  living. 

Alexander  Bowman,  Danville,  civil  engineer,  was  born  in  New 
York  city  on  the  26th  of  November,  1826,  and  is  the  son  of  Alexander 
and  Catharine  Bowman.  His  father  was  a  native  of  Georgia,  and  was 
a  captain  on  the  sea ;  he  died  in  Savannah.  His  mother,  a  native  of 
New  York,  died  in  Florida.  Mr.  Cowman,  when  a  young  man,  was 
engaged   in   teaching  school   in   New  York   state,  and  while  east  was 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  441 

there  engaged  in  his  profession.  In  1864  he  came  to  Danville,  Illinois, 
where  he  has  been  engaged  principally  at  his  vocation.  He  has  drawn 
the  plan  of  a  number  of  prominent  buildings:  the  court-house  of 
Champaign  county,  Illinois,  the  plan  of  the  Episcopal  church,  Short's 
block,  and  the  city  building  of  Danville,  Illinois.  He  has  drawn  and 
published  two  maps  of  Danville  and  one  map  of  Vermilion  county, 
Illinois,  which  are  pronounced  the  best  maps  yet  published.  Mr. 
Bowman  has  held  several  public  offices.  He  was  county  surveyor 
four  years  and  city  engineer  of  Danville  three  terms.  Mr.  Bowman 
has  surveyed  and  laid  out  perhaps  more  villages  in  Vermilion  county 
than  any  other  one  man.  He  laid  out  Rankin,  Pellsville,  East  Lynn, 
Marysville,  Alvin,  Bismark  and  a  portion  of  Hoopeston,  Ridge  Farm, 
Danville,  and  other  places  in  the  county. 

George  Walz,  Danville,  furniture  dealer  and  undertaker,  was  born 
in  Wurtemburg,  Germany,  on  the  1st  of  October,  1830,  and  is  the  son 
of  Martin  Walz,  who  was  a  farmer.  Here,  on  the  farm,  Mr.  Walz  re- 
mained until  he  was  sixteen  years  of  age.  He  then  learned  the  cabi- 
net-maker's trade  near  his  native  home.  At  twent}'-one  years  of  age 
he  enlisted  in  the  German  army  and  served  for  three  years.  In  1854 
he  emigrated  to  America,  and  landed  in  New  York  city  with  but  little 
money.  He  worked  at  his  trade  in  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Mauch 
Chunk,  St.  Louis  and  Pike  county,  Illinois.  In  Williamsport  he  first 
embarked  for  himself  in  the  furniture  business.  He  came  to  Danville 
and  commenced  business  in  1864,  and  here  he  has  gradually  improved 
his  stock  so  that  to-day  he  ranks  among  the  leading  houses  of  this 
vicinity.  He  occupies  two  rooms  and  has  in  his  employ  four  men. 
Mr.  Walz  is  also  doing  a  very  extensive  business  in  the  undertaking 
line,  owning  a  tine  hearse,  and  he  is  now  prepared  to  do  this  business 
at  any  time.  Mr.  Walz  was  married  in  Danville,  in  1864,  to  Miss  Fred- 
ericka  Steebe,  of  Germany,  who  came  to  America  when  she  was  a  child. 
By  this  marriage  they  have  live  children. 

C.  F.  Hankey,  who  has  been  for  many  years  engaged  in  Danville 
in  the  business  of  contracting  and  building,  and  now  in  the  lumber 
trade,  is  a  native  of  Germany.  At  the  age  of  ten  years  he  was  brought 
to  the  United  States  by  his  parents,  they  locating  in  Washtenaw  coun- 
tv,  Michigan.  For  the  following  sixteen  years  this  and  Jackson  county 
were  his  home.  It  was  in  the  latter  that  he  learned  the  trade  of  a  car- 
penter and  joiner.  In  1861  he  was  on  a  trip  through  Illinois,  and  when 
he  reached  Galesburg  he  enlisted  in  the  federal  army.  He  first  entered 
company  C,  10th  111.  Inf.,  three-years  service.  He  served  most  of  his 
term  of  enlistment  as  sergeant.  As  the  expiration  of  their  term  of  en- 
listment drew  nigh,  he,  with   most  of  the  regiment,  reenlisted,  they 


442  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION"    COUNTY. 

being  granted  a  short  deduction  of  time  of  service  for  so  doing.  This 
last  enlistment  was  for  three  years,  or  during  the  war,  he  still  being 
connected  with  the  same  company  and  regiment.  During  the  last  six 
months  of  his  service  he  held  the  commission  of  second  lieutenant.  In 
all,  he  was  in  seventy-four  different  engagements,  the  first  being  at 
Island  Xo.  10,  which  is  said  to  have  been  one  among  the  sharpest  en- 
gagements of  the  war.  Following  this  was  the  siege  of  Corinth,  Mur- 
freesborough,  Mission  Ridge,  the  Atlanta  campaign,  and  Sherman's 
march  to  the  sea.  He  was  finally  mustered  out  of  service  in  Chicago 
in  1865.  This  same  year  he  came  to  Danville,  and  in  company  with 
his  brother,  began  contracting  and  building.  He  later  sold  out  to  his 
brother,  and  has  since  entered  into  a  partnership  with  Mr.  G.  TV  Hoo- 
ton  in  the  lumber  trade.  Mr.  Hankey  deserves  much  credit  for  the 
introduction  of  a  superior  style  of  architecture  in  and  around  Danville. 
The  firm  sometimes  employs  as  many  as  fifty  men.  Among  some  of 
the  buildings  designed  by  him  and  constructed  by  the  firm  may  be 
mentioned  the  Arlington  Hotel,  Byers'  block,  Chas.  Palmer's  residence 
and  that  of  O.  F.  Maxon. 

M.  D.  L.  Adams,  Danville,  butcher,  was  born  in  Berks  county, 
Pennsylvania,  on  the  3d  of  June,  1841,  and  came  to  Freeport,  Illinois, 
in  1865.  He  thence  came  to  Danville  in  the  same  year,  where  he  has 
been  in  his  present  business  ever  since.  In  I860  he  married  Miss  Ame- 
lia Lubt.  She  was  born  in  Berks  countv,  Pennsvlvania,  in  1842.  Thev 
have  eight  children :  Chas.,  Victory,  Alice,  William,  John,  U.  S.  A., 
Flora,  Elizabeth.  Mr.  Adams  served  in  the  late  rebellion,  in  the  69th 
Penn.  Yol.  Inf.,  in  company  A.  He  is  a  member  of  the  I.O.O.F.,  499, 
and  of  the  K.P.,  of  which  he  has  passed  all  the  chairs. 

Geo.  W.  English,  agent  of  the  C.  &  E.  I.  railroad,  is  a  native  of 
Vermilion  county,  Indiana.  He  is  a  man  who  is  well  known  to  the 
people  of  Vermilion  county,  Indiana,  as  from  1856  to  1860  he  filled 
the  office  of  county  treasurer,  and  was  auditor  of  the  county  from  1860 
to  1864.  Previous  to  filling  the  office  of  county  treasurer  he  had  been 
in  the  mercantile  trade  in  Perrysville  for  about  six  years.  His  father 
was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  that  county,  having  come  there  from 
Rising  Sun,  Indiana,  in  1S30.  It  was  he  who  built  the  first  rolling 
mill  west  of  the  mountains.  Mr.  English  came  to  Danville  in  1865, 
and  began  in  the  furniture  trade,  but  lost  in  this  business,  by  fire,  about 
six  thousand  dollars.  Later  he  was  elected  police  magistrate,  and  in 
1870  began  railroading  with  what  was  then  the  C.  D.  &  V.  railway, 
but  in  1877  the  name  was  changed  to  C.  &  E.  I.  railroad.  He  has  also 
been  ticket  agent  for  the  E.  T.  II.  *$:  C.  railroad  since  1872.     He  is  a 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  443 

man  who  has  met  with  a  good  many  adversities  financially,  both  by 
tire  and  the  failures  of  other  firms. 

Dr.  J.  A.  Hall,  Danville,  physician  and  druggist,  of  68  Yermilion 
street,  is  a  native  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  though  his  people  left  there  when 
he  was  quite  small.  Later  in  life  he  returned  to  Cincinnati  and 
began  the  study  of  medicine  with  Dr.  Kelly.  He  began  his  studies 
in  1844,  and  in  1847  became  a  graduate  of  the  Nashville  University  of 
Medicine,  of  Nashville,  Tennessee.  He  has  also  given  much  study  to 
the  eclectic  theory  and  practice  of  medicine,  and  is  at  present  a  member 
of  the  Illinois  State  Eclectic  Medical  Society  and  of  the  National  Eclec- 
tic Medical  Association.  In  1861  he  entered  the  army,  remaining  in 
the  service  four  and  one-half  years.  He  is  now  located  at  68  Vermilion 
street,  where  he  has  fitted  up  one  of  the  finest  drug  establishments  in 
the  city,  the  firm  name  being  J.  A.  Hall  &  Son.  Their  store  is  twenty- 
two  feet  front  by  eighty-seven  and  one-half  deep,  three  stories  and  base- 
ment. Here  they  have  everything  pertaining  to  a  full  and  complete 
line  of  drugs  and  druggists'  sundries.  The  Doctor  has  been  a  resident 
of  Danville  since  1865,  and  is  well  known  to  the  people. 

There  are  many  men  in  every  city  who  are  known  and  honored  by 
the  title  of  M.D.  from  the  fact  of  a  diploma  having  been  granted  them  ; 
there  are  others  who  have  earned  the  title  by  years  of  hard  study  and 
a  close  attention  to  business.  Among  this  latter  class  we  find  Dr.  Geo. 
Wheeler  Jones,  of  Danville,  the  subject  of  this  brief  notice.  He  was 
born  in  Steuben  county,  New  York,  in  1839.  At  the  age  of  nine  years 
his  people  moved  west,  locating  at  Covington,  Indiana,  where  his  father 
began  the  practice  of  his  profession,  that  of  an  M.D.  Here  Geo.  W. 
received  his  literary  education  and  began  the  study  of  medicine  with 
his  father.  In  1861  he  became  a  graduate  of  the  Northwestern  Med- 
ical College,  of  Chicago.  The  same  year  he  began  practice  in  Terre 
Haute,  Indiana,  where  he  remained  but  about  three  months,  wdien  he 
entered  the  army  of  the  war  of  1861-65  as  a  volunteer  surgeon,  being 
among  the  first  to  enlist.  He  was  consigned  to  the  26th  111.  At  Pitts- 
burg Landing  he  was  attacked  by  yellow  fever.  His  term  of  enlistment 
being  but  for  three  months,  upon  recovering  from  the  fever  he  returned 
to  the  north,  and  again  in  1862  entered  the  army ;  this  time  with  the 
63d  Ind.  Vol.  Inf.,  as  senior  assistant  surgeon,  remaining  with  this 
regiment  until  the  close  of  the  war.  He  did  a  great  deal  of  extra  and 
detached  duty  in  the  field  hospital  and  on  the  operating  board,  doing 
the  duty  of  the  latter  for  two  years  in  connection  with  the  third  division 
of  the  23d  army  corps.  In  1865,  after  the  close  of  the  war,  the  Doctor 
came  to  Danville  and  began  his  practice.  Here,  by  a  close  attention 
to  business,  he  has  become  the  most  popular  of  the  allopath  physicians, 


444 


HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 


his  practice  being  large  and  increasing  gradually.  He  is  a  member  of 
the  American  Medical  Association  and  State  Medical  Society ;  has 
been  Burgeon  of  the  Chicago,  Danville  &  Vincennes  railroad;  is  con- 
nected  with  the  Vermilion  County  Medical  Society,  and  is  vice-president 
of  the  State  Medical  Society  ;  also  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Prac- 
tice of  Medicine. 

One  of  the  leading  business  men  of  Danville  is  Mr.  E.  A.  Leonard, 
president  of  the  Danville  Lumber  and  Manufacturing  Company.  He 
was  born  in  St.  Lawrence  county,  New  York,  in  1828.  During  his 
early  life  he  had  the  advantage  of  none  but  common  schools,  yet  by  his 
own  efforts  he  has  acquired  a  good  business  education.  About  1853 
he  went  to  California,  where  he  spent  five  years  and  a  half  mining, 
prospecting,  etc.     Returning  in  1858,  he  located  in  Defiance  county, 


DANVILLE    PLANING    MILL. 


Ohio,  where  he  remained  until  1865,  when  he  came  to  Danville  and 
began  in  the  lumber  trade  with  Mr.  Holden,  the  firm  name  being 
Leonard  &  Holden.  In  one  year  he  bought  Mr.  Holden's  interest,  and 
conducted  the  business  alone  until  1871,  when  the  firm  became  Leonard 
&  Yeomans.  In  1873  there  was  a  change  made  again,  which  resulted 
in  the  establishing  of  the  present  company,  with  Mr.  Leonard  as  presi- 
dent, which  position  he  still  holds.  They  employ  from  fifteen  to 
twenty  men,  and  do  a  business  aggregating  from  875.000  to  $80,000 
per  annum.  In  1872  there  were  consigned  to  them  at  this  point  258 
cars  of  lumber  and  building  materials;  in  1873,  194;  in  1874.  202;  in 
1875,  195 ;  in  1876,  133.  They  are  the  leading  business  firm  of  Dan- 
ville in  this  line  of  manufacturing,  their  facilities  for  furnishing  good 
stock  at  low  prices  being  unequaled. 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  445 

Edward  S.  Gregory,  Danville,  deputy  county  sheriff,  was  born  in 
Broome  county,  New  York,  on  the  29th  of  July,  1843,  and  is  the  son  of 
Henry  W.  and  Phrelove  (Seanion)  Gregory,  who  were  the  parents  of 
eleven  children — seven  sons  and  four  daughters.  Mr.  Gregory's  grand- 
fathers were  Continental  soldiers  in  the  Revolutionary  war.  His 
ancestors  were  in  this  country  very  early  during  the  colonial  period  of 
the  nation's  history.  In  May,  1865,  Mr.  Gregory  came  to  Danville 
and  entered  the  drug  business  with  J.  Partlow,  and  remained  in  this 
business  about  five  years.  In  1869  he  was  elected  marshal  of  the  city 
of  Danville,  which  position  he  filled  some  six  years.  He  was  then 
elected  sheriff  of  Vermilion  county,  which  position  he  held  until  1878. 
He  is  now  filling  the  office  of  deputy  county  sheriff.  Mr.  Gregory  was 
married  on  the  16th  of  June,  1868,  to  Miss  Anna  M.  Maxon,  of  Dan- 
ville.    They  have  one  child. 

William  A.  Young,  Danville,  attorn ey-at-1  aw,  was  born  in  Dan- 
ville, Hendricks  county,  Indiana,  on  the  9th  of  December,  1839,  and 
is  the  son  of  John  A.  and  Mary  B.  (Blair)  Young.  His  father  was  a 
native  of  Kentucky  and  followed  farming.  Mr.  Young  made  his  home 
on  the  farm  with  his  parents  until  about  1859  ;  he  went  to  Martinsville, 
Clark  county,  Illinois,  where  he  was  engaged  in  teaching  school.  From 
here  he  went  to  Charleston,  and  in  this  vicinity  he  was  engaged  in 
teaching  school  and  practicing  law  before  a  justice  of  the  peace.  In 
1861,  at  the  first  call,  he  enlisted  as  private  in  the  8th  111.  Vol.  Inf., 
Co.  C,  for  three  months.  He  served  until  the  expiration  of  this  time 
and  was  honorably  mustered  out  in  1862.  He  then  reenlisted  for  three 
years,  but  on  account  of  disability  was  rejected.  He  then  went  to 
Indianapolis,  Indiana,  and  was  engaged  in  recruiting  soldiers.  Here 
he  remained  until  1865,  when  he  came  to  Vermilion  county.  He  lo- 
cated at  State  Line,  where  he  was  engaged  for  the  first  three  months 
in  teaching  school.  From  this  he  entered  the  drug  business.  In  1868 
Mr.  Young  was  admitted  to  practice  law  at  the  Illinois  state  bar,  and 
commenced  his  practice  at  State  Line.  In  1870  he  moved  to  Danville, 
where  he  has  been  engaged  at  his  profession  ever  since.  In  October, 
1877,  he  entered  as  law  partner  with  Frank  W.  Penwell,  Esq.  (whose 
biography  appears  in  this  work),  and  formed  the  present  law  firm  of 
Young  &  Penwell,  who  stand  high  among  the  leading  attorneys  of 
the  Vermilion  county  bar.  Mr.  Young  was  elected  alderman  from  the 
third  ward  in  the  spring  of  1878.  In  1879  the  temperance  people  of 
Danville  nominated  and  placed  him  on  their  ticket  for  mayor  of  Dan- 
ville, but  he  was  defeated  on  account  of  the  city  being  strongly  anti- 
temperance.  He  married  Miss  Elizabeth  Maddox,  who  was  born  in 
Danville,  Illinois,  daughter  of   the  Rev.   Nelson  Maddox,  who  was 


446  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

among  the  first  settlers  of  Danville.     By  this  union  they  have  one 
child. 

James  Bracewell,  Danville,  justice  of  the  peace,  was  born  in  what 
was  then  Mason  county,  Virginia,  on  the  29th  of  January,  1838;  his 
parents  are  John  and  Minerva  (Lewis)  Bracewell ;  his  father  was  from 
England,  and  was  engaged  in  working  in  the  coal  mines.  When  Mr. 
Bracewell  was  very  young  his  parents  moved  to  Ohio,  and  here,  when 
he  was  but  seven  years  old,  he  entered  the  mines  with  his  father.  He 
remained  in  Ohio  until  1865,  when  he  came  to  Illinois  and  located  in 
Danville.  He  first  commenced  to  work  in  the  mines  of  Chandler  & 
Donlan.  In  1873  he  was  elected  justice  of  the  peace,  and  in  1877  re- 
elected to  the  same  office,  which  he  still  holds ;  he  is  also  commissioner 
of  highways,  to  which  office  he  was  elected  the  same  year.  Mr.  Brace- 
well  also  holds  the  very  important  office  of  inspector  of  mines  of  Ver- 
milion county,  having  been  appointed  in  1878.  He  married  in  Stark 
county,  Ohio,  on  the  18th  of  May,  1857,  Miss  Mary  Jones,  of  England. 
They  have  five  children.  Mr.  Bracewell  is  agent  for  the  Inman  line 
of  steamships. 

Adolph  Rudolph,  Danville,  saloon-keeper,  was  born  in  Hesse-Cassel, 
Germany,  on  the  17th  of  August,  1840  ;  coming  to  America  in  1865, 
direct  to  Illinois,  and  locating  in  Danville,  where  he  has  been  a  resi- 
dent ever  since.  He  married  Martha  E.  Lingner,  of  Hesse-Cassel,  Ger- 
many, who  came  over  at  the  same  time  that  Mr.  Rudolph  did.  They 
have  three  children.  When  he  first  came  here  he  commenced  to  work 
in  a  brickyard,  and  followed  this  business  about  three  years;  then  he 
was  engaged  by  Mr.  John  Long  in  attending  bar,  and  from  there  he 
entered  into  business  for  himself,  which  he  has  continued  since.  Mr. 
Rudolph  was  alderman  of  Germantown,  and  filled  that  office  with 
credit,  In  1872  he  made  a  trip  to  Germany,  to  see  his  old  friends. 
Mr.  Rudolph  keeps  a  model  saloon  and  restaurant,  and  a  first-class 
stock  of  wines  and  liquors. 

John  E.  Davis,  Danville,  proprietor  of  J.  E.  Davis'  coal  mines,  was 
born  in  South  Wales  on  the  15th  of  April,  1826  ;  his  father  was  William 
Davis,  a  coal  miner  in  South  Wales.  Mr.  Davis  commenced  work  in 
the  coal  mines  when  he  was  about  eight  years  old,  working  with  his 
father.  In  1838  he  sailed  on  the  ship  "  Tobarious  "  for  America,  and 
landed  in  Baltimore,  Maryland.  He  was  first  engaged  in  working  in 
the  coal  mines  in  that  state,  and  remained  there  some  four  or  five 
years,  his  father  then  moving  on  a  farm  where  he  was  part  of  the  time 
engaged  in  farming,  and  part  of  the  time  working  in  the  coal  mines. 
He  went  to  Ohio,  and  was  working  in  the  coal  mines  near  Youngs- 
town,  and  after  this  he  worked  in  the  coal  mines  in  different  parts  of  the 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  447 

country,  on  the  Alleghany  and  Ohio  rivers,  where  he  remained  until 
1865.  When  he  came  to  Danville  he  worked  for  A.  C.  Daniel  some 
seven  years,  and  then  purchased  ground  and  commenced  mining  for 
himself.  He  owns  eight  acres  of  land  where  his  coal  shaft  is,  which 
was  sunk  in  1878 ;  employs  from  six  to  seven  men,  and  is  able  to  mine 
from  ten  to  twelve  tons  per  day,  for  which  he  finds  sale  in  Danville  and 
vicinity.  Mr.  Davis  was  in  the  late  war  and  did  good  service,  enlist- 
ing in  the  97th  Ohio  Vol.  Inf.,  as  private  in  Co.  F,  for  three  years; 
participating  in  the  battle  of  Murfreesborough  and  several  skirmishes. 
He  was  detailed  to  carry  the  wounded  from  the  battlefield,  and  in 
carrying  one  of  his  wounded  comrades  he  slipped  and  strained  the 
main  artery  of  his  stomach,  which  was  very  painful  to  him,  and  he 
states  that  to-day  he  suffers  from  the  effects  of  it.  He  was  then  trans- 
ferred to  the  1st  Battalion  7th  Veterans,  Co.  B,  and  stationed  at  Wash- 
ington, D.  C,  and  was  honorably  mustered  out  in  1865.  He  married 
Martha  McNabb,  of  Coshocton  county,  Ohio.  Mr.  Davis  has  been 
treasurer  and  a  member  of  the  board  of  trustees  of  South  Danville. 

Alexander  Moore,  Danville,  was  born  in  the  county  of  Kildare,  Ire- 
land, on  the  19th  of  December,  1843,  and  is  the  son  of  Richard  and 
Mary  Ann  (Hannagen)  Moore,  of  Ireland.  His  father  was  a  farmer, 
and  here  Mr.  Moore  spent  his  boyhood  days.  In  about  1852  his 
parents  sailed  for  America,  and  located  in  Brazil,  Indiana.  Here  his 
father  died  in  1875.  His  mother  is  still  living  at  Brazil.  Mr.  Moore 
remained  in  Ireland  until  1865,  when  he  emigrated  to  America,  came 
west  and  located  at  Danville,  in  which  place  he  has  been  a  resident 
ever  since.  When  he  first  came  here  he  was  engaged  in  weighing'  coal 
for  Chandler  &  Don'lon  for  about  two  years.  He  was  then  bookkeeper 
for  Patrick  Carey  for  some  five  or  six  years.  He  then  started  a  sample 
and  billiard  room,  which  business  he  has  carried  on  ever  since.  Mr. 
Moore  was  married  in  Danville,  in  1872,  to  Miss  Mary  Doyle,  of 
County  Clare,  Ireland.  The}'  have  two  children.  Mr.  Moore  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  city  board  of  education  in  1877,  and  still 
retains  the  office. 

J.  G.  Holden,  Danville,  lumber  dealer,  was  born  in  Charlestown, 
Sullivan  county,  New  Hampshire,  on  the  3d  of  June,  1835,  and  is  the 
son  of  Richard  Holden,  a  native  of  New  Hampshire,  who  was  engaged 
in  the  dry-goods  business  in  Charlestown.  His  mother  was  Sophia 
(Allen)  Holden,  also  a  native  of  New  Hampshire.  In  1851  Mr. 
Holden,  with  his  parents,  came  west  to  Illinois,  and  located  in  Winne- 
bago county.  His  parents  moved  then  to  Kane  county,  and  from  there 
to  Chicago.  Mr.  Holden  entered  a  dry-goods  store  in  Winnebago 
county  and  filled  the  position  of  clerk  about  four   years.      He  was 


448  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

also  a  clerk  in  a  grocery  store  in  New  York  state.  In  1861  he  went 
to  Dayton,  Ohio,  and  was  married  to  Edena  Vanburen,  of  Genesee 
county,  New  York.  By  this  marriage  they  have  had  four  children,  one 
deceased.  After  his  marriage  he  returned  to  New  York  state,  and  then 
went  to  Defiance,  Ohio,  where  he  entered  the  grocery  business.  He 
remained  there  about  four  years,  and  in  1865  came  to  Danville,  and 
has  been  a  resident  here  ever  since.  In  1865  he  entered  the  lumber 
business,  and  to-day  is  one  of  the  leading  lumber  merchants  of  this 
vicinity.  We  may  say  here,  he  has  represented  the  people  in  Danville 
in  a  great  many  public  offices,  and  has  always  proven  himself  a  man 
of  acknowledged  ability.  He  was  a  member  of  the  city  council  two 
years.  In  1872  the  people  of  Danville  township  elected  him  super- 
visor of  Danville  township,  which  office  he  has  held  ever  since.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  city  board  of  education  for  two  years.  He  has  held 
all  the  prominent  offices  of  the  Agricultural  Society.  In  1878  he  was 
elected  by  the  republican  party  a  member  of  the  state  legislature.  He 
was  appointed  one  of  the  committee  on  finance,  insurance  and  drain- 
age. Mr.  Holden,  when  supervisor,  was  chairman  of  the  building 
committee  that  built  the  new  court-house  and  jail  of  Vermilion  county. 
Mr.  Holden's  political  opinions  are  republican. 

George  Dudenhofer,  Danville,  cigar  manufacturer,  was  born  in 
Hesse  Providence,  Germany,  in  1834.  He  learned  the  trade  of  a 
cigar-maker  in  Germany.  In  1856,  with  his  parents,  he  emigrated  to 
America  and  landed  in  New  York  city.  He  came  west  to  Indiana, 
and  located  in  Fort  Wayne,  where  he  remained  about  two  years,  when 
he  went  to  La  Fayette,  and  there  he  remained  about  one  year.  Here 
he  was  married  to  Elizabeth  Burkley,  of  Germany,  who  came  to  America 
when  she  about  eleven  years  old.  By  this  union  they  have  five  chil- 
dren. In  1859  they  went  to  Alton,  and  there  remained  one  year  and 
then  returned  to  La  Fayette,  and  in  1865  came  to  Danville.  Here  Mr. 
Dudenhofer  has  remained  ever  since.  He  employs  four  hands  in  the 
manufacture  of  cigars,  and  has  made  as  high  as  twenty  thousand  in  one 
year,  and  paid  to  the  government  $14,000  taxes  on  cigars  for  the  same 
length  of  time.  He  finds  sale  for  his  goods  in  this  vicinity.  Mr.  Du- 
denhofer enlisted  in  the  76th  Indiana,  and  was  in  the  campaign  after 
the  guerrilla  John  Morgan.  His  parents  were  George  and  Eliza  Duden- 
hofer. His  father  died  in  Germany  and  his  mother  died  in  Fort 
Wayne,  Indiana. 

J.  L.  Hill,  Danville,  contractor  and  builder,  for  about  twenty-three 
years  a  resident  of  Edgar  and  this  county,  is  a  native  of  Washington 
county,  Pennsylvania.  During  his  early  life  he  had  but  little  opportu- 
nity of  getting  an  education,  there  being  nothing  but  the  old  subscrip- 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  449 

tion  school  system  then  in  vogue,  and  he  not  having  the  advantage  of 
even  this  but  about  nine  months  altogether.  He,  for  some  time  before 
coming  west,  was  engaged  in  the  mercantile  trade.  This  he  gave  up 
on  account  of  ill  health.  In  1856  he  located  in  Edgar  county,  Illinois, 
in  what  is  now  Ross  township,  where  for  about  ten  years  he  was 
engaged  in  farming.  While  a  resident  of  Edgar  he  was  drafted  for  the 
army  of  the  war  of  1861-65,  but  on  account  of  disability  was  rejected, 
very  much  against  his  wishes,  as  the  entreaty  of  his  family  and  friends 
had  only  kept  him  from  enlisting  long  before.  While  a  resident  of 
Pennsylvania  he  had  learned  the  trade  of  a  carpenter  and  joiner.  This 
for  several  years  has  been  of  advantage  to  him,  though  it  is  but  for  the 
past  year  or  two  that  he  has  built  much  for  other  parties,  most  of  his 
time  being  occupied  by  building  residences  upon  his  own  city  property, 
of  which  he  owns  considerable.  This,  as  well  as  all  his  property,  has 
been  the  result  of  his  own  energ}'  and  good  financiering. 

S.  EL.  Riggs,  Danville,  of  the  firm  of  Riggs  &  Menig,  woolen  man- 
ufacturers, is  now  about  thirty-five  years  old,  and  a  wide-awake,  shrewd 
business  man.  His  native  place  is  Gallipolis,  Ohio.  He  has  been 
a  resident  of  this  place  for  about  thirteen  years,  and  has  thus  far  been 
dependent  upon  his  own  resources  in  the  accumulating  of  property,  of 
which,  if  we  may  judge  by  appearances  and  reports,  he  has  succeeded 
very  well.  He  is  a  thoroughly  practical  man  in  the  manufacture  of 
woolen  goods,  having  had  about  ten  years'  experience  in  the  business. 
Previous  to  becoming  interested  in  the  Danville  mills  he  was  in  a  mill 
at  Perrysville,  Indiana.  He  first  became  interested  in  this  mill  in  con- 
nection with  a  brother,  in  1875,  they  renting  the  mill  and  running  it 
together  for  aboiLLpne  year.  He  then  managed  it  alone  for  one  year, 
and  then  formed  the  partnership  now  existing.  Mr.  Riggs  spends  the 
most  of  his  time  at  the  factory  which  he  superintends.  In  connection 
with  the  factory  they  have  two  well-stocked  stores,  one  located  near 
the  mill  and  the  other  on  West  Main  street.  These  come  more  par- 
ticularly under  the  care  of  Mr.  Menig.  Their  soap  business  is  probably 
of  more  importance  than  many  of  the  citizens  of  Danville  are  aware  of. 
They  are  manufacturing  four  different  brands,  and  shipping  quite  large 
quantities  to  Indiana,  Ohio  and  through  Illinois.  They  have  also 
shipped  some  as  far  as  Colorado.  They  are  already  classed  among  the 
leading  business  houses  of  Danville.  By  their  energy,  industry  and 
good  financiering  they  have  established  a  business  of  which  they  may 
well  be  proud. 

J.  W.  Elliott,  Danville,  bookkeeper,  Vermilion   County  Bank,  is  a 
native  of  Chester  county,  Pennsylvania,  though  when  he  was  one  year 
old  his  people  moved  to  Warren  county,  Ohio.     This  was  in  1831.    In 
29 


450  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

184:2  he  went  to  Shelby  county,  Indiana,  and  from  there  to  Indianapo- 
lis, where  he  learned  the  trade  of  a  printer  with  Messrs.  G.  A.  and  J. 
P.  Chapman,  state  printers,  and  publishers  of  the  "  Sentinel."  In  1861 
he  entered  the  army  as  chief  clerk  of  Captain  H.  H.  Boggess,  A.  Q.  M. 
In  1861  he  was  appointed  paymaster,  which  position  he  held  until  he 
was  mustered  out  of  the  service,  in  August  of  1865.  In  1866  he 
engaged  in  the  dry -goods  trade  in  Danville,  which  he  followed  until 
1S71,  when  he  went  to  the  village  of  Hoopeston,  Vermilion  county, 
which  was  then  just  being  founded.  Mr.  Elliott  erected  the  third  house 
ever  built  in  that  city.  He  remained  there  but  about  one  year,  when 
he  returned  to  Danville  and  engaged  in  the  grocery  trade,  which  he 
followed  until  December  of  1878.  He  then  sold  out  and  accepted  the 
position  of  book-keeper  in  the  Vermilion  County  Bank,  where  we  at 
present  find  him,  a  man  whose  reputation  is  above  reproach,  and  whose 
word  is  as  good  as  his  bond. 

John  W.  Lowell,  of  Danville,  Illinois,  although  a  young  man  at  this 
time,  has  an  extensive  and  valuable  experience.  He  was  born  at 
Noblesville,  Indiana,  on  the  16th  of  January,  1846.  His  parents 
(Andrew  J.  and  Nancy  Lowell)  soon  afterward  removed  from  thence 
to  their  old  home  in  Brown  county,  Ohio,  four  miles  north  of  the  city 
of  Maysville,  Kentucky,  where  the  family  resided  but  a  short  time,  again 
removing  to  Benton ville,  Adams  county,  Ohio,  for  a  permanent  home. 
John  was  about  three  years  old  at  this  time.  The  most  of  his  boyhood 
years  were  spent  in  school,  where  he  learned  rapidly,  always  being 
among  the  first  in  his  class.  When  the  cloud  of  war  burst  upon  the 
country  he  was  eager  to  join  the  LTnion  forces ;  but,  being  young  and 
delicate,  did  not  find  an  opportunity  to  get  into  the  ranks  until  in  1863, 
when  he  joined  the  4th  Ohio  Battalion  of  Cavalry,  under  Col.  Wheeler. 
He  served  in  Kentucky  and  east  Tennessee  in  scouting  expeditions 
until  mustered  out  in  1864,  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio.  He  was  home  only  a 
few  weeks  when  he  again  enlisted  in  the  173d  O.  Vol.  Inf.,  and  Sep- 
tember, 1864,  the  regiment  encamped  at  Xash ville,  Tennessee.  Here 
he  was  soon  detailed  by  Gen.  Miller,  commanding  the  post,  as  a  clerk 
in  his  headquarters.  His  regiment  was  afterward  ordered  to  Johnson- 
ville,  on  the  Tennessee  river;  he  therefore  resigned  his  position  at 
headquarters  and  went  with  the  regiment,  where  he  received  a  respon- 
sible position  at  the  hands  of  Col.  Hurd,  which  he  held  until  discharged, 
after  the  close  of  the  war.  at  Camp  Dennison,  Ohio,  in  July,  1S65. 
After  his  discharge  he  spent  a  few  weeks  among  his  friends  in  Adams 
county,  and  then  bid  adieu  to  the  scenes  of  childhood,  for  a  home  in 
the  west,  landing  in  September  of  that  year  in  Lafayette,  Indiana, 
where  he  taught  a  winter  school.      He  arrived  in  Danville  on  the  1st 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  451 

of  March,  1866,  and  on  the  same  day  John  C.  Short,  county  clerk,  en- 
gaged his  services.  The  first  work  he  did  for  Mr.  Short  was  to  prepare 
a  set  of  abstract  records  of  the  lands  in  Vermilion  county,  and  which 
are  now  owned  by  A.  Martin,  after  which  Mr.  Short  appointed  him 
deputy  county  clerk.  He  remained  in  the  county  clerk's  office  for 
nearly  three  years,  afterward  serving  with  Mr.  Dillon  as  his  deputy 
circuit  clerk  from  the  1st  of  February,  1869,  to  the  1st  of  December, 
1876.  He  was  a  very  efficient  and  accommodating  officer,  a  splendid 
penman,  quick  and  accurate  in  his  work.  Thus  has  Mr.  Lowell  served 
not  only  his  country  well,  but  also  the  people  of  his  county,  devoting 
to  them  the  most  valuable  period  of  a  young  man's  life  (that  from 
seventeen  to  thirty).  After  leaving  the  clerk's  office  he  read  law  in  the 
office  of  Mr.  Townsend,  of  this  city,  and  was  admitted  to  practice  law 
at  Springfield,  in  January  of  1878.  In  politics  Mr.  Lowell  is  a  repub- 
lican, and  he  cast  his  first  vote  for  Lincoln,  while  in  the  army.  He  has 
been  a  member  of  the  M.  E.  Church  since  he  was  nine  years  of  age. 
Certain  it  is  that  so  far  Mr.  Lowell's  life  has  been  full  of  labor  and  use- 
fulness, and  the  prospects  in  the  future  are  bright,  and  we  wish  him  all 
the  success  which  a  young  man  of  talents,  character  and  energy  deserves 
to  have.  At  present  he  has  a  law  and  abstract  office  opposite  the  First 
National  Bank,  Danville,  Illinois. 

There  are  employed  in  the  coal  mines  of  Vermilion  county  about 
six  hundred  men,  and  John  Timm  used  to  be  one  of  this  kind  of  work- 
men, but  by  economy  and  good  management  he  saved  money  enough 
to  engage  in  business.  He  now  has  a  neat  little  grocery  store  located 
on  College  street,  between  South  and  Main,  where  he  is  doing  a  fair 
business,  in  connection  with  which  he  runs  a  delivery  wagon.  He  is  a 
native  of  Prussia.  He  came  to  the  United  States  in  1866,  and  stopped 
at  New  York  for  a  short  time,  and  then  came  west  and  located  at  Dan- 
ville, where  he  began  working  in  the  coal  mines,  which  business  he 
followed  for  eleven  years,  being  "laid  up "  one  year  with  the  rheu- 
matism. Nine  years  of  the  time  he  was  engaged  in  laying  track  in  the 
mines,  and  the  last  two  years  he  enjoyed  the  responsibilities  of  boss. 
He  was  married  in  1870.  His  wife,  whose  name  previous  to  their  mar- 
riage was  Dora  Wanderlich,  is  a  native  of  Germany  also. 

E.  C.  Abdill,  of  the  firm  of  Abdill  Bros.,  hardware  dealers,  Dan- 
ville, is  a  native  of  Vermilion  county,  Indiana,  his  old  home  being 
Perrysville,  where  he  was  born  on  the  14th  of  May,  1840.  In  1861, 
when  he  was  twenty-one  years  old,  he  entered  the  Federal  army  of  the 
war  of  1861-65.  He  enlisted  in  Co.  B,  11th  Ind.  Inf.,  Col.  L.  Wal- 
lace. For  eighteen  months  he  was  with  Gen.  Grant,  he  and  three 
other  parties  having  charge  of  the  dispatches  and  mail.     After  serving 


452  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

this  length  of  time  he  was  appointed  assistant  adjutant-general  of  the 
23d  army  corps.  During  his  service  he  passed  through  many  of  the 
heavy  battles,  among  which  may  be  mentioned  the  battle  of  Fort  Don- 
elson  and  those  of  Vicksburg,  Dalton,  Buzzard's  Roost,  Peachtree 
Creek,  Lost  Mountain  and  Kenesaw  Mountain,  and  many  others  of  the 
Atlanta  campaign.  He  remained  in  the  service  a  little  over  three 
years,  when  he  resigned  on  account  of  ill-health.  Upon  returning 
from  the  army  he  became  a  resident  of  Danville  for  a  short  time,  being 
engaged  in  the  provost  marshal's  office.  In  1S66  he  went  to  Fair- 
mount,  and  engaged  in  the  hardware  trade.  This  he  continued  until 
1868,  when  he  came  to  Danville,  and  engaged  in  business  with  his 
brother.  His  wife,  who  was  a  Miss  Peters,  was  the  daughter  of  Judge 
Peters,  one  of  the  first  judges  and  early  settlers  of  Yermilion  county. 

James  C.  Thompson,  Danville,  machinist,  is  a  native  of  Wayne 
county.  Indiana,  and  was  born  in  1836.  He  has  had  twenty-five  years' 
experience  as  a  machinist,  having  learned  the  trade  in  Logansport.  In- 
diana, serving  a  three  years'  apprenticeship.  He  first  came  to  Yermil- 
ion county  in  1866,  coming  to  accept  the  position  of  foreman,  which 
he  filled  for  five  years.  He  then  was  engaged  in  the  business  of  gas- 
fitting  for  about  the  same  length  of  time,  and  in  1877  bought  an  inter- 
est in  the  Great  Western  Machine  Works.  Some  time  afterward  Mr. 
Pollard  became  a  partner.  They  are  now  one  of  the  leading  manu- 
facturing firms  of  the  city.  They  are  still  doing  an  extensive  business 
in  the  gas-fitting  line,  though  their  specialty  is  steam  engines  and  mill 
machinery.  Their  engine  is  about  forty-horse  power,  and  in  all  they 
employ  about  fourteen  men.  Mr.  Thompson  is  one  of  the  honorable 
business  men  of  the  city,  who.  by  a  just  and  fair  treatment  of  all  men, 
has  won  for  himself  a  name  and  reputation  that  perhaps  may  outlive 
him  in  the  memory  of  the  better  class  of  citizens  of  Danville  and  Ver- 
milion county. 

There  is  probably  no  man  engaged  in  the  milling  trade  in  Vermil- 
ion county  who  is  better  or  more  favorably  known  in  connection  with 
the  milling  trade  than  Mr.  Samuel  Bowers,  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
Since  his  residence  in  Danville  he  has  erected  two  large  flouring-mills, 
known  as  the  Amber  and  City  Mills,  an  illustration  of  each  appearing 
in  this  work.  He  is  a  native  of  Cumberland  county,  Pennsylvania, 
though  he  left  there  at  the  age  of  seven  years  and  went  with  his  people 
to  Eichland  county,  Ohio.  This  was  in  1846.  He  remained  a  resi- 
dent of  Ohio  until  after  he  had  arrived  at  man's  estate.  While  there 
he  learned  the  miller's  trade.  He  has  made  two  trips  to  California, 
going  first  by  water  about  the  year  1865,  and  returning  via  the  Platte 
Piver  route.     He  went  back  to  Ohio,  where  he  again  engaged  in  the 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  453 

mill  business  for  a  time,  and  in  1866  came  to  Danville,  where  he  has 
since  resided,  except  a  short  time  in  1874,  when  he,  with  his  family, 
made  a  second  trip  to  California,  returning  the  same  year.  He  fin- 
ished building  the  City  Mills,  which  he  is  now  running,  in  1875. 
During  the  four  years  since  it  has  been  completed  it  has  never  stood 
idle  a  single  day  for  want  of  work.  The  mill  has  four  run  of  stone, 
with  a  capacity  of  five  barrels  per  hour.  He  gives  employment  to 
about  six  men.  He  has  also  built  two  very  fine  residence  buildings  in 
the  city :  one  corner  of  Depot  and  North,  and  the  other  where  he  now 
resides,  corner  Franklin  and  Harrison  streets.  During  the  war  of 
1861-65  he  entered  the  Federal  army,  enlisting  the  first  time  in  the 
32d  Ohio  Inf. ;  the  second  time  in  the  82d. 

J.  B.  Mann,  Danville,  attorney-at-law,  is  perhaps  known  throughout 
this  vicinity  as  well  as  any  attorney  of  the  Vermilion  county  bar.  He 
was  born  in  Somerville,  New  Jersey,  on  the  9th  of  November,  1843, 
and  is  the  son  of  John  M.  Mann,  who  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  a  prominent  attorney  of  Somerville,  New  Jersey,  where  he  was 
elected  to  the  legislature  for  two  terms  and  refused  the  nomination  for 
congress.  His  mother,  Eliza  (Bonnell)  Mann,  was  a  native  of  New 
Jersey.  Mr.  Mann,  the  subject  of  our  sketch,  received  his  principal 
education  in  New  Jersey,  where  he  graduated  from  one  of  the  leading 
colleges  of  that  state.  In  1865  he  entered  the  Michigan  University  of 
Ann  Arbor,  and  graduated  from  the  law-school  in  1866.  He  then  came 
to  Danville,  and  here  entered  the  office  of  Judge  O.  L.  Davis.  In 
1867  he  was  admitted  to  practice  law  at  the  Illinois  state  bar.  He  asso- 
ciated himself  with  Judge  E.  S.  Terry.  When  this  firm  dissolved  Mr. 
Mann  formed  a  partnership  with  Judge  O.  L.  Davis,  and  since  then 
he  has  formed  a  partnership  with  W.  J.  Calhoun  and  D.  C.  Frazier, 
forming  the  law-firm  of  Mann,  Calhoun  &  Frazier,  which  is  one  of  the 
strongest  of  Vermilion  county.  Mr.  Mann,  in  1867,  was  elected  city 
attorney  of  Danville,  and  was  the  first  that  Danville  had.  His  political 
opinions  are  democratic.  Mr.  Mann  was  married  in  1874,  to  Miss 
Lucy  A.  Davis,  daughter  of  Judge  O.  L.  Davis,  and  by  this  union  they 
have  two  children. 

David  Mayer,  Danville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Wedenburg,  Germany, 
on  the  7th  of  March,  1826.  He  came  to  America  in  1851  and  went  to 
Sandusky,  Ohio,  where  he  met  a  sister.  He  was  married  in  Sandusky, 
to  Annie  Shroder,  of  Hanover,  Germany.  With  his  wife  and  sister  he 
went  to  St.  Louis,  Missouri,  where  his  wife  died.  He  then  went  to 
Illinois,  and  worked  at  the  carpenter's  trade.  From  there  he  went  to 
Missouri,  locating  on  two  hundred  acres  of  land.  He  returned  to  Illi- 
nois, and  then  went  to  Kansas  and  located  in  Anderson  county,  near 


454  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Greeley.  Mr.  Mayer  was  in  the  late  war,  and  did  good  service.  He 
enlisted  in  the  2d  Kansas  Battery  as  bugler,  and  served  for  three  years. 
This  battery  did  noble  service.  He  remained  in  Kansas  some  fifteen 
and  a  half  years,  and  had  some  experience  with  the  grasshoppers,  which 
caused  such  havoc  in  Kansas.  Mr.  Mayer  states,  however,  that  the 
grasshoppers  bothered  him  but  little.  Mr.  Mayer  was  engaged  in  farming 
three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land.  He  was  married  the  second 
time,  to  Rosie  Fritz,  of  Wedenburg,  Germany.  They  have  five  chil- 
dren :  Rosie,  Caroline,  Fredericka,  David  and  Annie.  Mr.  Mayer  is 
bugler  of  Battery  A,  1st  Brigade  Illinois  National  Guards. 

Charles  Hesse,  Danville,  proprietor  of  the  Hesse  House,  was  born 
in  Germany  on  the  18th  of  March,  1833,  and  came  to  America  and 
landed  in  New  York  city  in  1855.  Mr.  Hesse  was  engaged  in  farming 
in  Germany.  His  father,  Trangott  Hesse,  was  a  very  prominent  man 
in  Germany.  He  was  assessor  and  collector.  Mr.  Hesse  came  to  Amer- 
ica with  about  §500,  and  came  west  to  Illinois,  locating  in  Scott  county, 
wdiere  he  had  a  brother  in  the  confectionerv  business.  Here  Mr.  Hesse 
remained  about  six  }7ears,  engaged  at  work  in  a  brickyard,  and  also 
learning  the  trade  of  a  brick-mason.  In  1861  he  enlisted  in  the  army, 
and  participated  in  the  late  war.  He  enlisted  for  three  years  in  the 
4th  Mo.  Cav.,  Co.  C,  as  orderly-sergeant.  He  participated  in  twenty- 
six  severe  battles,  such  as  Pea  Ridge,  Lookout  Mountain,  Chattanooga, 
siege  of  Corinth,  Iuka,  Dallas,  Resaca,  Farmingtown,  etc.  He  never 
received  a  wound,  but  had  two  horses  shot  from  under  him.  His 
brother,  Fred  Hesse,  was  a  brave  soldier.  He  enlisted  in  the  129th  111. 
Yol.  Inf.,  and  was  in  the  battle  of  Resaca  when  the  129th  was  making 
a  charge  on  the  rebels'  intrench  men  ts.  He  was  planting  the  Union 
flag  on  the  fortifications,  and  was  shot  dead.  Mr.  Hesse,  our  subject, 
was  honorably  mustered  out  of  service.  He  then  went  to  St.  Louis,  and 
at  that  place  and  Lincoln,  Logan  county,  Illinois,  was  engaged  at  his 
trade  of  brickmaker  and  contractor.  He  then  came  to  Danville,  where 
he  was  engaged  at  his  trade  and  contracting.  He  has  contracted  and 
built  some  of  the  finest  buildings  in  Danville.  Mr.  Hesse  was  made  a 
member  of  the  I.O.O.F.  in  1864  at  Lincoln,  Illinois,  and  to-day  is  one 
of  the  leading  Odd-Fellows  of  Illinois.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Grand 
Lodge  of  the  state.  He  was  married  in  St.  Louis,  to  Lena  Dhuernan, 
of  Germany.     By  this  union  they  have  six  children. 

Mr.  A.  C.  Garland,  Danville,  proprieter  of  the  Stone  Steam  Saw- 
Mill  and  Tile  Factory,  was  born  in  New  Hampshire,  where  he  learned 
the  trade  of  a  stone-mason.  He  was  engaged  east  at  his  trade  and  was 
a  large  bridge  contractor  on  the  Erie  railroad.  He  also  superintended 
the  stonework  in  the  erection  of  the  water-works  reservoir  at  Brook- 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  455 

lyn,  New  York.  Mr.  Garland  came  to  Danville  in  1866,  and  since  his 
residence  here  has  built  and  contracted  for  stonework  on  some  of  the 
prominent  bridges  in  Vermilion  county.  He  in  1S75  erected  the  pres- 
ent steam  stone  saw-mill,  and  since  then  most  of  the  best  business 
houses  and  private  residences  in  this  vicinity  have  been  furnished  with 
stone  from  his  establishment.  Recently  Mr.  Garland  has  established  a 
tile  factory,  size  210  x  20,  where  he  is  able  to  turn  out  the  finest  quality 
of  tile  at  from  two  to  eight  inches  in  size.  His  capacity  in  the  manu- 
facture of  tile  is  six  thousand  per  day.  He  has  all  the  latest  improve- 
ments, and  when  in  full  blast  emplo#ys  ten  men.  He  is  also  engaged 
in  the  manufacture  of  brick  of  a  superior  quality.  Mr.  Garland's  son, 
Ira,  is  engineer  of  the  steam  saw-mill. 

August  Blankenburg,  Danville,  jeweler,  was  born  in  Prussia,  Ger- 
many, on  the  12th  of  October,  1S45,  and  is  the  son  of  Frederick  W. 
and  Catharine  (Torge)  Blankenburg,  of  Germany.  When  Mr.  Blank- 
enburg was  fourteen  years  old  he  commenced  to  learn  the  jewelry  trade 
in  Stettin,  Germany,  and  served  an  apprenticeship  of  four  years.  He 
followed  his  profession  up  to  1866,  when  he  embarked  for  America. 
He  came  direct  to  Danville,  Illinois,  and  commenced  work  in  the  em- 
ploy of  S.  N.  Monroe.  He  then  went  to  Kansas  and  worked  about  six 
years  at  his  trade  in  Baxter  Springs.  He  returned  to  Danville  in  1874 
and  commenced  the  jewelry  business  in  the  present  establishment, 
which  is  located  at  60  Vermilion  street,  where  may  be  found  a  full  line 
of  watches,  clocks  and  jewelry. 

In  the  line  of  sporting  goods  Mr.  John  Schario,  the  gunsmith  of 
Danville,  is  the  principal  dealer.  His  establishment  is  located  at  No. 
124  East  Main  street.  Here  he  has  on  hand  a  full  line  of  guns  of  all 
descriptions  (except  cannon),  ammunition,  fishing  tackle,  and  in  fact 
everything  pertaining  to  his  line  of  trade.  He  is  a  native  of  Dansville, 
New  York.  The  early  part  of  his  life,  or  until  he  had  become  a  man, 
was  spent  in  different  parts  of  the  United  States  and  Canada.  It  was 
at  Waterloo,  Canada,  that  he  learned  the  trade  of  a  locksmith.  This 
being  so  closely  related  to  the  gunsmith  trade  he  very  readily  mastered 
the  latter.  In  1867  he  became  a  resident  of  Danville,  and  engaged  in 
the  manufacture  and  sale  of  sporting  goods.  His  sales  will  probably  ag- 
gregate $3,000  or  $3,500  per  year.  In  1876  he  was  elected  a  member  ( if 
the  city  council,  and  again  in  1878  he  was  called  upon  to  fill  the  same 
office.  This  is  the  second  term  and  third  year  that  he  has  been  a  coun- 
cilman. He  is  one  of  that  class  of  men  who  do  not  make  so  much  fuss 
and  noise  over  their  affairs,  but  go  quietly  about  their  own  business 
but  nevertheless  a  citizen  whose  word  may  be  depended  upon  and 
whose  influence  is  felt. 


4:56  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

A.  J.  Cox,  the  leading  blacksmith  of  Danville,  is  a  native  of  La 
Fayette,  Indiana,  where  he  was  born  on  the  12th  of  February,  1839. 
At  the  age  of  .sixteen  years  he  began  learning  the  trade  of  a  blacksmith 
and  wagon  manufacturer.  This  he  followed  as  a  business  until  1863, 
when  he  entered  the  army,  enlisting  in  Co.  A,  76th  Ind.  Yol.  Inf., 
three-years  service.  In  1865  he  veteranized,  which  connected  him  with 
Co.  B,  37th  regiment.  He  remained  in  the  service  until  the  close  of 
the  war.  He  was  in  many  heavy  battles,  among  which  we  mention 
the  siege  of  Yicksburg,  battle  of  Jackson,  Mississippi,  and  that  of  Mo- 
bile, Alabama.  After  the  close  of  the  war  he  came  to  Danville,  where 
he  has  since  remained. 

The  Amber  mills  were  built  in  1866  by  Bowers  &  Shellebarger,  burned 
in  1875,  and  were  rebuilt  by  S.  Bowers  &  Co.  In  1878,  when  it  came 
into  the  hands  of  the  present  proprietor,  Mr.  D.  Gregg,  it  was  what  is 
known  as  a  four-run  mill.  Mr.  Gregg  has  remodeled  and  changed  the 
mill  to  six  run  of  stone,  and  to  what  is  known  as  the  patent  process  of 
manufacturing  flour.  This  patent  process  is  to  make  as  large  a  quantity  of 
middlings  as  possible,  and  these,  after  regrinding  and  passing  through 
several  processes  of  purifying,  furnish  a  much  finer  grade  of  flour  than 
that  obtained  by  the  first  grinding.  Mr.  Gregg  is  also  engaged  quite  ex- 
tensively in  the  grain  trade,  bivying  about  250,000  bushels  per  year. 
In  all  he  gives  emplo}7ment  to  about  twenty  men  regularly,  sometimes 
there  being  more  than  this  number.  He  pays  out  to  these  about  $15,000 
per  annum.  Since  his  residence  in  Danville  he  has  invested  about 
$20,000  in  buildings,  the  ^Etna  House  block  being  one  which  he  built. 
He  was  born  in  the  north  of  Ireland  in  1831.  There  he  received  a  good 
education,  and  in  1850.  when  nineteen  years  old,  came  to  the  United 
States.  From  this  date  until  1867  he  was  engaged  in  different  kinds 
of  business  enterprises,  and  in  different  states.  From  1853  to  1866  he 
was  engaged  in  the  dry-goods  trade  in  Bluff  ton,  Ohio.  In  1867  he 
came  to  Danville  and  began  buying  grain,  and  has  now  been  running 
the  Amber  mills  about  one  year.  He  is  one  of  the  self-made  men  of 
Danville,  having  been  dependent  upon  his  own  resources  in  the  accu- 
mulation of  property,  and  is  now  well  known  as  one  of  the  substantial 
men  of  Danville. 

D.  M.  Gurley,  Danville,  retired,  was  born  in  Bennington  county, 
Vermont,  in  1808.  When  he  was  twelve  years  old  his  people  moved 
to  what  they  then  termed  the  western  frontier  —  Oswego  county,  New 
York.  Here  the  early  part  of  his  life  was  spent.  His  chances  for 
schooling  were  very  poor,  though  by  close  attention  he  acquired  a  good 
education.  In  1853  he  moved  to  Quincv,  Michigan.  He  remained  a 
resident  of  that  place  until  coming  to  Danville  in  1867.     During  his 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  457 

residence  in  Oswego  comity  he  became  the  first  abolitionist  of  the 
county,  but  becoming  somewhat  disgusted  with  the  political  move- 
ments of  the  day,  he  for  eleven  years  refused  to  cast  a  vote.  His  busi- 
ness for  many  years  was  that  of  a  hide  and  leather  dealer.  He  continued 
in  this  until  the  change  in  the  financial  prospects  of  the  country,  in 
1873,  when  he  closed  out,  and  has  not  since  been  actively  engaged  in 
business. 

Judge  J.  W.  Stansbury,  Danville,  justice,  was  born  in  the  city  of 
New  York  in  1808,  where  he  remained  a  resident  until  twelve  years 
old.  Then  he  became  a  resident  of  New  Haven,  and  afterward  became 
a  graduate  of  the  schools  at  Schenectady.  At  the  age  of  twenty-five 
years  he  began  reading  law  at  Geneva;  went  to  New  York  city  to  be 
examined,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  after  which  he  went  back  to 
Geneva  and  practiced  his  profession  for  three  years.  From  there  he 
went  to  Detroit,  Michigan,  where  he  remained  but  a  short  time,  and 
then  went  to  Livingston  county,  Michigan,  where  he  remained  a  resi- 
dent for  about  sixteen  years.  While  a  resident  of  this  county  he  was 
elected  to  the  office  of  probate  judge,  which  office  he  filled  for  four 
years.  From  Livingston  county  he  went  to  New  York  again,  locating 
at  Ithaca,  where  he  resided  about  fifteen  years,  and  in  1867  came  to 
Danville.  Two  years  after  he  came  he  was  elected  justice  of  the  peace, 
which  office  he  has  now  held  for  ten  years.  In  1838  he  was  married  to 
Miss  L.  Dudgeon,  of  New  Hartford,  New  York.  By  this  union  they 
have  had  a  family  of  five  children. 

In  1867  Mr.  A.  L.  Webster,  of  Danville,  in  company  with  G.  B. 
Yeomans,  engaged  in  the  hardware  trade  in  Danville.  They  remained 
in  business  together  about  four  years,  when  G.  B.  sold  his  interest  in  the 
business  to  his  brother,  Charles  T.  Yeomans.  This  firm  continued  to  do 
business  together  about  three  years,  when  they  dissolved  partnership,  Mr. 
Yeomans  taking  the  light  and  shelf  hardware,  and  Mr.  Webster  retain- 
ing the  heavy.  From  this  time  until  February  of  1879  he  was  engaged 
in  the  heav}^  hardware  trade,  which  is  almost  entirely  a  jobbing  trade. 
At  the  date  above  mentioned  he  sold  out  to  the  firm  of  Giddings  & 
Patterson,  they  becoming  his  successors  and  occupying  a  new  building 
which  he  has  just  completed,  located  at  the  corner  of  Main  and  Frank- 
lin streets.  Mr.  Webster  is  a  native  of  Ashtabula  county,  Ohio.  For 
sixteen  years  he  has  been  engaged  in  the  hardware  trade,  a  part  of  this 
time  in  Ohio  and  at  Aurora,  Illinois.  At  present  he  is  engaged  in'  set- 
tling up  old  accounts  relating  to  his  business  in  Danville. 

L.  T.  Dickason,  the  present  mayor  of  the  city  of  Danville,  is  a  native 
of  Marion  county,  Ohio,  where  most  of  his  early  life  was  spent.  In  18<il 
he  entered  the  Federal  army,  in  the  war  of  1861-5,  enlisting  in  Co.  H, 


458  HISTOKY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

4th  Ohio,  three-months  service.  After  serving  this  term  he  reenlisted 
in  Co.  D,  64th  Ohio,  three-years  service.  He  participated  in  many  of 
the  heavy  battles,  being  engaged  at  the  battles  of  Shiloh,  Perryville, 
Stone  River,  the  siege  of  Corinth  and  the  battle  of  Chiekamauga,  being 
severely  wounded  at  the  battle  of  Chiekamauga,  on  account  of  which  he 
was  discharged  from  further  service,  though  he  had  served  nearly  his 
full  term  of  enlistment.  In  1867  he  came  to  Vermilion  county,  where 
he  has  since  resided,  being  one  among  the  most  active  business  men  of 
the  county.  For  a  time  he  was  engaged  in  buying  and  shipping  grain, 
being  located  at  Fairmount.  Moving  from  there  to  Danville,  he  soon 
became  very  popular  politically,  and  is  now  enjoying  his  "third  term" 
of  mayorship.  He  is  also  very  extensively  engaged  in  the  coal  and 
timber  trade,  in  company  with  Charles  L.  English.  They  give  in  all 
employment  to  about  four  hundred  men,  their  timber  contracts  with 
the  different  railroad  companies  amounting  to  hundreds  of  thousands 
per  year,  and  extending  over  several  different  states. 

Charles  W.  Gregory,  postmaster  of  Danville,  is  a  native  of  Bloom- 
ville,  Delaware  county,  New  York.  He  was  born  on  the  11th  of  No- 
vember, 1833.  His  father,  Henry  W.  Gregory,  was  born  in  New 
Bedford,  Westchester  county,  New  York,  where  he  served  for  many 
years  at  the  trade  of  a  blacksmith  and  carriage-maker.  He  made  the 
first  blister-steel  axes  in  New  York  state.  These  celebrated  Max- 
well &  Gregory  axes,  are  known  all  over  the  country.  He  followed 
farming  in  his  latter  days.  He  was  in  the  war  of  1812  as  fife-major. 
He  died  in  Danville,  Yermilion  county,  on  the  18th  of  September, 
1873,  at  the  age  of  seventy-nine.  When  Mr.  Gregory,  our  subject,  was 
but  ten  years  old  his  father  moved  on  a  farm,  where  he  remained  until 
he  was  about  seventeen  years  old,  when  he  was  connected  with  a  sur- 
veying party  as  roadsman,  in  surveying  the  New  York  &  Erie  railroad. 
He  followed  surveying  about  four  years;  he  lost  one  eye  from  this. 
Mr.  Gregory  gave  up  surveying,  and  then  commenced  to  learn  tele- 
graphing. He  went  to  Canada  and  served  the  Great  Western  railroad 
as  telegraph  operator  about  three  years  and  a  half,  and  then,  in  1856, 
he  came  to  Illinois  and  went  to  Springfield,  where  he  was  engaged  in 
helping  to  erect  a  telegraph  line  from  Tolono  to  Danville.  He  then 
received  an  appointment  as  telegraph  operator  at  Danville,  also  acting  / 
as  express  and  ticket  agent.  Here  he  remained  about  one  year,  and 
then  accepted  a  similar  position  at  State  Line,  where  he  remained  until 
1862,  when  he  received  from  Abraham  Lincoln  an  appointment  as  mail  ? 
agent  on  the  Toledo  &  Wabash  railroad,  running  from  State  Line  to 
Springfield.  He  held  this  position  about  five  years  and  a  half,  when 
he  came  to  Danville  and  entered  the  mercantile  business,  which  he 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  459 

continued  up  to  1878.  In  1S75  he  was  appointed  by  Gen.  IT.  S.  Grant 
postmaster  of  Danville.  This  position  he  has  held  ever  since.  Mr. 
Gregory  was  married  in  1805,  to  Miss  Charlotte  A.  Neher,  of  New 
York,  daughter  of  Anther  Neher.  By  this  marriage  they  have  had 
three  children,  one  of  whom  is  deceased. 

William  C.  McReynolds,  Danville,  book-keeper  in  the  Danville 
Mills,  wras  born  in  Edgar  county,  Illinois,  on  the  16th  of  September, 
1825,  and  is  the  son  of  the  Rev.  John  W.  and  Lean  (Morgan)  McRey- 
nolds. His  father  was  a  Methodist  preacher,  and  was  born  in  Culpepper 
county,  Virginia.  From  there  he  moved  to  Allen  county,  Kentucky, 
and  then  to  Indiana.  He  then  removed  to  Edgar  county,  Illinois, 
where  he  was  among  the  first  settlers  of  that  county.  When  Mr.  Mc- 
Reynolds was  but  a  few  months  old  his  parents  moved  to  Indiana  and 
remained  there  until  he  was  ten  years  old,  when  they  returned  to  Edgar 
county.  Here  he  remained  until  he  was  about  twenty-four  years  old, 
when  he  embarked  in  the  mercantile  business  in  Paris,  Illinois,  and 
Terre  Haute,  Indiana.  He  then  went  to  Rushville,  where  he  was 
made  cashier  of  the  Rushville  Bank,  a  branch  of  the  Indiana  State 
Bank.  Here  he  remained  about  seven  }7ears.  He  then  went  to  Chicago, 
where  he  embarked  in  the  commission  business,  which  he  followed 
about  one  year,  when  he  came  to  Danville,  in  1867,  and  here  entered 
the  coal  business.  He  then  went  into  the  mill  business,  in  which  he  is 
now  engaged  as  book-keeper  in  the  Danville  Mills.  This  is  one  of  the 
largest  flour  mills  in  this  vicinity,  and  was  erected  by  Daniel  Kyger. 
N.  Henderson  &  Sons  commenced  building  it  in  1854,  and  it  was  com- 
pleted in  1856;  this  was  the  first  steam  flour  mill  in  Danville,  and  the 
second  one  in  Vermilion  county.  Mr.  McReynolds  is  a  democrat  in 
politics.  He  was  elected  alderman  in  1875,  and  reelected  in  1877-79. 
He  married  in  Danville  to  Miss  Elizabeth  M.  Pearson,  of  New  York, 
daughter  of  the  Hon.  John  Pearson.  By  this  marriage  they  have 
nine  children — five  boys  and  four  girls. 

Mary  Gattermann,  Danville,  proprietor  of  the  garden  on  the  Cov- 
ington road,  was  born  in  Germany,  on  the  25th  of  August,  1845,  and  is 
the  wife  of  the  late  William  Gattermann,  who  was  born  in  German}7  in 
1835,  came  to  America  in  1857  and  landed  in  New  York.  He  was  en- 
gaged in  the  manufacture  of  soda-water.  In  1867  he  came  west  with 
his  wife  and  located  in  Danville.  Here  they  remained  until  1871, 
when  they  went  to  New  York,  and  afterward  returned  to  Danville  and 
purchased  the  present  place,  where  lie  commenced  to  make  improve- 
ments. He  first  paid  some  three  hundred  dollars  for  the  property; 
since  then  he  made  all  the  improvements,  amounting  to  some  five  or 
six  thousand  dollars.     He  was  a  soldier  in  the  late  war,  and  did  good 


460  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

service;  he  was  also  a  soldier  of  the  New  York  state  militia,  being  a 
member  of  the  3d  New  York  Militia ;  he  was  also  a  member  of  the 
German  Aid  Societ}7  and  a  member  of  the  Turn  Yerein  Society.  He 
died  in  1878,  and  was  buried  on  the  1st  of  January. 

Ernest  and  L.  Blankenburg,  Danville,  proprietors  of  the  ^Etna 
House  saloon  and  billiard  room,  were  born  in  Germain-.  Ernest 
Blankenburg  was  born  on  the  6th  ol  October,  1813.  He  emigrated  to 
America  and  landed  in  New  York  in  1867,  and  came  direct  to  Dan- 
ville, first  commencing  work  as  a  clerk  in  a  dry-goods  store.  Here  he 
remained  about  four  years,  when  he  entered  the  saloon  business.  L. 
Blankenburg  was  born  on  the  11th  of  July,  1853,  and  emigrated  to 
America  in  1867.  He  came  direct  to  Danville  and  commenced  clerk- 
ing in  a  retail  grocery  store,  and  afterward  in  a  wholesale  grocery  house. 
From  there  he  entered  the  saloon  business  in  company  with  his  brother. 
These  gentlemen  keep  one  of  the  leading  saloons  and  billiard  rooms  in 
the  cit}r,  located  in  the  basement  of  the  ^Etna  House. 

H.  A.  Coffeen,  the  enterprising  bookseller  of  Danville,  was  born  in 
Gallia  county,  Ohio,  on  the  11th  of  February,  1811,  being  now  thirty- 
eight  years  old.  His  parents,  Alvah  P.  and  Olive  Coffeen,  have  lived 
in  Champaign  county,  Illinois,  on  a  farm  near  Homer,  since  1852. 
They  gave  their  children  a  good  collegiate  education,  and  this,  with 
good  habits  and  character,  was  the  stock  with  which  they  started  in  life. 
Henry  A.  Coffeen,  the  second  son,  whose  portrait  appears  in  this 
work,  started  for  himself  at  the  age  of  eighteen  as  a  school  teacher, 
using  such  means  as  he  could  thus  earn  in  furnishing  his  scien- 
tiiic  course,  receiving  his  diploma  at  the  age  of  twenty-two.  He  con- 
tinued teaching,  at  constantly  advancing  salaries,  until  he  was  twenty- 
seven  years  old,  lastly  at  Hiram  College,  in  Ohio,  as  teacher  of  natural 
sciences,  and  at  Bement,  Illinois,  as  superintendent  of  a  fine  graded 
school  that  he  developed  at  that  place.  AYe  extract  the  following 
reference  to  Mr.  Coffeen' s  singular  abilities  as  an  educator  from  Jud^e 
Speare's  "History  of  Bement"  :  "  Mr.  Coffeen  was  a  superior  instructor 
for  young  men  and  young  ladies.  The  course  of  study  was  most  thor- 
ough and  diversified.  All  his  plans  of  inculcation  were  of  a  character 
to  lead  the  student  of  abstruse  science  interestingly  on,  affording  a  wide 
range  of  thought,  giving  strength  and  vigor  to  mind,  and  with  his 
pleasant,  forcible  and  peculiar  faculty  drove  the  roots  of  moral  and  sci- 
entific subjects  so  deeply  into  the  minds  of  the  most  stupid,  that  the 
same  could  not  be  eradicated ;  but  to-day  his  reflex  influence  is  most 
strikingly  apparent,  and  will  reach  far  down  into  the  future.  Such 
teachers  are  rectifiers  of  society,  like  a  fountain  of  pure  water  sending 
limpid  streams  through  fertile  fields,  from  which  many  parched  tongues 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  461 

of  the  thirsty  world  may  be  slaked."  This  brief  extract  from  Judge 
Speare's  eulogy  upon  the  character  and  abilities  of  Mr.  Coffeen  serves 
also  to  show  the  thoroughness  and  spirit  with  which  he  engages  in  what- 
ever work  there  is  before  him.  In  an  earnest,  unflinching  manner  he 
stands  by  the  convictions  of  a  clear  head  and  pure  purpose  in  every 
department  of  life,  and  considering  this  his  success  as  a  merchant  has 
been  somewhat  singular,  for  he  turns  neither  to  the  right  nor  the  left 
either  for  men  or  parties,  in  his  pursuance  of  what  he  believes  to  be  right. 
It  is  generally  found  that  less  decided  minds  succeed  best  as  merchants. 
Besides  building  up  one  of  the  finest  bookstores  in  the  country,  he  has 
accumulated  some  additional  property,  and  is  developing  a  fine  fruit 
farm,  or  garden,  on  the  north  side  of  the  city.  He  takes  a  lively  inter- 
est in  the  political  movements  of  the  times,  but  from  an  independent 
standpoint  rather  than  as  a  partisan.  He  has  been  a  member  of  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Illinois  Knights  of  Honor  ever  since  it  was  organized, 
and  has  for  two  years  represented  his  state  in  the  Supreme  Lodge 
meetings  at  Nashville  and  Boston,  commanding  the  respect  and  confi- 
dence of  the  supreme  assemblage  as  well  as  that  of  his  own  state.  The 
first  history  of  Vermilion  county,  a  little  book  of  considerable  merit, 
published  in  1871,  owes  its  publication  to  the  pen  and  enterprise  of 
Mr.  Coffeen.  Charles  A.  Pollock  is  now  associated  with  him  in  the 
book  business,  and  their  store  is  one  of  the  finest  in  the  city,  as  will  be 
seen  by  reference  to  an  interior  view  of  their  store,  given  on  another 
page  of  this  work. 

A.  H.  Doane,  Danville,  freight  and  ticket  agent  for  the  Wabash 
road,  is  a  native  of  the  State  of  Wisconsin.  He  has  now  been  engaged 
at  the  railroad  business  since  1862.  His  parents,  F.  W.  and  Angeline 
(Holmes)  Doane,  were  natives  of  the  State  of  New  York.  His  father 
was  a  railroad  man,  having  first  begun  the  business  when  roads  were 
built  with  the  old  strap  rail.  He  was  killed  while  running  a  passenger 
train  over  the  same  road  with  which  A.  H.  is  now  connected,  though 
at  that  time  it  was  known  as  the  Great  Western  road.  A.  H.  first 
began  the  business  at  Tolono,  Illinois,  in  the  employ  of  the  Illinois 
Central  road.  For  a  time  he  was  on  a  switch-engine,  and  then  did 
office  work  for  awhile.  From  Tolono  he  went  to  State  Line,  and  there 
was  check  clerk  in  the  employ  of  what  was  then  the  Toledo,  Wabash  & 
Western  road.  After  a  time  he  again  entered  the  employ  of  the  Illi- 
nois Central  road,  though  he  remained  with  them  but  about  one  year. 
Quitting  the  business  of  railroading,  he  tried  hotel  keeping,  but  in  May, 
1868,  he  accepted  a  position  with  the  then  Toledo,  Wabash  &  Western. 
For  eleven  years  he  has  filled  the  position  of  ticket  agent.    In  addition 


4ti2  HISTORY   OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

to  this  he  also  does  the  freight  business,  his  ticket  receipts  amounting  to 
about  $30,000  per  year;  the  total  receipts  are  about  $180,000. 

H.  K.  Gregory,  Danville,  dealer  in  railroad  timber,  though  a  young 
man,  has  probably  been  as  extensively  engaged  in  contracting  as  any 
man  of  his  age  in  Vermilion  county.  He  is  a  native  of  Broome  county, 
New  York.  In  1868  he,  with  his  people,  came  west,  locating  at 
Danville.  His  father  died  in  1871,  aged  seventy-nine  years.  His 
mother  now  resides  with  him,  and  is  now  eighty-four  years  old.  H.  K. 
and  his  brother,  C.  W.  Gregory,  were  for  several  years  associated  to- 
gether in  furnishing  large  supplies  of  ties,  posts,  bridge  timbers,  etc.,  to 
the  different  lines  of  railroad  in  progress  of  construction.  Among 
them  was  a  contract  for  supplying  the  Indianapolis,  Bloomington  & 
Western  road,  between  Crawfordsville  and  Urbana.  They  dissolved 
partnership  in  1872.  Afterward  Mr.  H.  K.  Gregory  became  associated 
with  J.  Knight  for  three  years  in  the  same  line  of  business.  During 
this  time  they  put  out  about  six  hundred  thousand  ties.  This  was  on 
a  contract  in  the  construction  of  the  L.  B.  &  M.  R.R.  He  then  did 
business  alone  until  the  winter  of  1879,  when  Mr.  W.  H.  Alexander 
became  his  partner.  Mr.  Gregory  is  now  a  man  but  little  past  thirty 
years  of  age.  His  standing  in  the  community  as  a  business  man  and  an 
honorable  citizen  cannot  be  questioned  by  any. 

George  W.  Abdill,  Danville,  hardware,  was  born  in  Warsaw,  Ken- 
tucky, in  February,  of  1838.  When  two  years  old  he  was  taken  by  his 
people  to  Perrysville,  Indiana,  and  there  he  remained  a  resident  until  he 
came  to  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  in  1868.  His  father,  I.  Abdill,  who  is 
now  a  resident  of  Danville,  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Perrysville. 
For  many  years  he  was  engaged  in  the  hardware  trade  and  in  the  man- 
ufacture of  tinware,  at  which  he  used  to  do  a  large  business,  supplying 
about  thirty-two  points  between  Terre  Haute  and  La  Fayette,  and  em- 
ploying about  ten  men  in  the  manufacture  of  this  line  of  goods. 
George  W.  has  been  familiar  with  the  hardware  trade,  as  he  says, 
"  since  he  has  been  large  enough  to  black  a  stove."  In  later  years  he 
became  a  partner  with  his  father  in  the  business,  the  firm  being  known 
as  I.  Abdill  &  Son  ;  this  partnership  lasting  about  ten  years,  or  until 
the  firm  of  Abdill  Bros,  began  business  in  Danville  in  1868.  The 
firm  is  composed  of  George  W.  and  E.  C.  Abdill,  and  they  located  at 
No.  57  Vermilion  street  where  they  have  erected  a  fine  building  twenty- 
three  feet  front  by  one  hundred  deep,  two  floors  and  basement,  all 
well  stocked  with  goods  in  the  line  of  hardware,  stoves,  tinware,  oils, 
glass,  paints,  etc.  etc.  George  W.  is  a  very  active  member  of  society, 
giving  liberally  to  any  enterprise  pertaining  to  the  public  good  and 
especially  to  the  churches,  he  being  a  very  active  member  of  the  M.  E. 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  463 

Church,  and   a  man   who  has  hosts  of  friends  among  all   classes  of 
people. 

Anselm  Sieferman,  Danville,  cigar  manufacturer,  was  born  in 
Baden,  Germany,  on  the  10th  of  November,  1836,  and  is  the  son  of 
Joseph  and  Mary  Ann  (Adam)  Sieferman,  of  Germany.  In  1853  he 
started  for  America,  and  landed  in  New  York  on  the  15th  of  August 
of  the  same  year.  He  came  direct  west  and  located  in  Cincinnati, 
Ohio,  where  he  first  commenced  to  work  in  a  machine-shop,  remaining 
some  three  years,  when  the  shops  closed.  In  1861  he  commenced  in 
the  tobacco  business  in  Cincinnati,  and  followed  this  there  until  1868, 
when  he  came  to  Danville,  which  has  been  his  home  ever  since.  He 
here  commenced  the  tobacco  business,  and  has  in  his  employ  three 
hands.  In  1879  he  was  elected  alderman  of  the  first  ward,  which  office 
he  still  holds.  He  was  married  on  the  1st  of  September,  1859,  to 
Agatha  Kreuzburg,  of  Hesse-Darmstadt,  Germany.  They  have  one 
child.  Mr.  Sieferman  'has  taken  a  very  active  part  in  the  welfare  of 
the  city  of  Danville,  and  ranks  as  one  of  its  leading  German  citizens. 

W.  E.  Shedd,  Danville,  hardware  merchant,  of  the  firm  of  Yeomans 
ifc  Shedd,  is  a  native  of  Ohio,  and  has  now  been  in  the  hardware  trade 
about  ten  years,  most  of  which  time  has  been  spent  in  Danville.  He 
was  three  years  with  the  firm  of  Webster  &  Yeomans ;  two  years  with 
the  hardware-jobbing  house  of  Pratt  &  Co.,  of  Buffalo,  New  York, 
and  the  present  firm  was  organized  in  January,  1875.  During  the  war 
of  1861-5  he,  at  the  age  of  sixteen  years,  entered  the  Union  army,  en- 
listing in  Co.  C,  15th  Ohio  Vol.  Inf.,  three-years  service.  Like  many 
another  Union  soldier  he  has  a  tale  to  tell  of  southern  prisons,  he  hav- 
ing with  others  spent  five  months  in  the  famous  Anderson ville  prison. 
Yeomans  &  Shedd's  business  house  is  located  on  West  Main  street, 
and  is  twenty  feet  front  by  one  hundred  deep,  and  stocked  with  a  gen- 
eral line  of  hardware.  They  do  not  seem  to  complain  of  hard  times  or 
poor  trade,  and  the  indications  are  that  they  are  doing  their  share  of 
the  business  that  is  done  in  Danville. 

C.  B.  D wight,  Danville,  dentist,  though  not  the  oldest  of  the 
ci t j ,  is  certainly  one  of  the  leading  and  most  popular.  His  popu- 
larity  has  been  earned  by  a  straightforward,  honorable  course  in  his 
professional  life  and  lyy  his  pleasant  and  courteous  treatment  of  his  now 
large  circle  of  friends.  He  is  a  native  of  Cattaraugus  county,  New 
York,  though  he  left  there  when  quite  small,  and  came  west  with 
his  people,  they  locating  in  Peoria  county,  Illinois.  This  was  as  early 
as  1839.  In  1858  he  began  the  study  of  dentistry,  but  gave  it  up 
to  enter  the  Federal  army  in  the  war  of  1861-5,  enlisting  in  Co.  B, 
92d  111.  Inf.,  three-years   service,  from    Byron,  Illinois.      He   served 


464  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

his  full  term  of  enlistment,  and  returned  to  Illinois  somewhat  broken 
down  on  account  of  long  and  hard  marching.  Regaining  his  health, 
he  again  took  up  and  finished  the  study  of  his  profession  at  Rockford, 
Illinois.  He  first  began  his  practice  in  Rochelle,  Illinois,  in  186T,  re- 
maining there  two  years,  when  he  removed  again,  locating  permanently 
in  Danville.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Illinois  State  Dental  Society,  and 
has  made  frequent  contributions  to  the  different  journals  of  the  day, 
treating  upon  his  profession.  Though  he  has  been  a  resident  of  the 
city  of  Danville  but  about  ten  years,  he  has  probably  as  few  enemies 
and  as  many  friends  as  any  man  in  the  city. 

John  Lane,  Danville,  was  born  in  Eugene,  Yermilion  county,  Indi- 
ana, on  the  3d  of  November,  1839,  and  is  the  son  of  Enoch  W.  and 
Christina  (Washburn)  Lane.  His  mother  died  at  Eugene  on  the  15th 
of  January,  1841,  being  but  twenty-eight  years  of  age.  His  father, 
John  Lane,  was  born  on  the  21st  of  May,  1798.  He  was  raised  in 
Pickaway  county,  Ohio,  and  in  1S29  moved  to  Eugene.  Yermilion 
county,  Indiana,  where  he  was  engaged  at  his  trade  as  cabinet-maker. 
He  died  in  Eugene  on  the  12th  of  December,  1875.  Mr.  Lane,  the 
subject  of  our  sketch,  was  raised  and  received  his  schooling  at  Eugene. 
On  the  17th  of  May,  1869,  he  left  the  scenes  of  his  boyhood.  At  that 
time  there  were  no  railroads  from  Eugene  to  Danville,  so  he  started  on 
foot  and  walked  from  Eugene  to  Danville,  where  he  has  remained  ever 
since.  He  was  married  to  Miss  Julia  Davis  on  the  1st  of  November, 
187<>,  by  whom  they  have  had  three  children. 

The  firm  of  C.  B.  &  J.  R.  Holloway,  Danville,  is  one  of  the  leading 
dry-goods  and  carpet  houses  in  this  vicinity.  It  is  located  on  the  north- 
west corner  of  Main  and  Walnut  streets.  These  gentlemen  commenced 
business  in  Danville  in  1869,  and  ever  since  have  constantly  improved 
in  trade.  Cornelius  B.  Holloway  was  born  in  Belmont  county,  Ohio, 
in  1826.  His  experience  in  the  dry-goods  business  has  been  very  ex- 
tensive, having  entered  a  dry -goods  store  with  his  father  in  Smyrna, 
Harrison  county,  Ohio,  when  he  was  a  boy.  He  came  to  Danville  in 
1862,  where  he  has  resided  ever  since.  Jesse  R.  Holloway  was  born 
in  Winchester,  Virginia,  and  moved  to  Yermilion  countv  with  his 
parents  at  an  early  day.  He  settled  near  Georgetown,  where  he  was 
engaged  in  the  dry-goods  business  for  some  twenty  years,  being  among 
the  first  dry-goods  merchants  of  that  place.  He  came  to  Danville  and 
was  connected  with  the  Yermilion  County  Bank  for  several  years,  and 
then  returned  to  the  dry -goods  business,  which  business  he  has  con- 
tinued in  ever  since.  They  erected  their  present  store  at  a  cost  of  some 
$18,000,  and  are  doing  a  business  amounting  to  some  §50,000  per  year. 

The  leading  house  in  the  manufacture  of  boots  and  shoes  is  that  of 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  165 

E.  P.  Doll,  No.  121  East  Main  street,  Danville.  He  lias  now  been 
engaged  in  this  business  about  two  years.  When  he  began  business  in 
1877  he  was  in  company  with  Mr.  Smith,  but  later  he  purchased  Mr. 
Smith's  interest  in  the  business  and  has  since  been  conducting  it  alone. 
He  gives  employment  to  about  live  men,  on  an  average,  and  manufactures 
per  annum  about  $5,000  worth  of  goods.  His  style  and  manufacture 
of  goods  has  gained  so  much  of  a  reputation  that  he  is  not  troubled 
with  any  old  or  dry  stock  on  hand.  Pie  is  a  man  who  has  had  nearlv 
twenty  years'  experience  in  the  boot  and  shoe  trade.  His  trade  h as- 
increased  so  much  now  as  to  warrant  him  in  the  use  of  machinery  so 
far  as  can  be  done  without  the  durability  of  the  goods  being-  lessened. 
He  is  a  native  of  Ashland  county,  Ohio,  and  has  the  energy  and  enter- 
prise about  him  that  we  usually  find  about  a  man  who  has  been  de- 
pendent upon  his  own  resources.  Should  no  misfortune  befall  him  he 
will  yet  be  known  as  one  of  the  largest  manufacturers  and  dealers  in 
his  line. 

Edward  Jones,  Danville,  engineer,  who  is  holding  quite  a  responsi- 
ble position  with  the  Ellsworth  Mining  Company,  is  a  native  of  Bri- 
erley  Hill,  South  Staffordshire,  England.  He  was  born  in  1842.  The 
early  part  of  his  life  was  spent  and  his  education  received  in  that  country. 
He  also  learned  the  trade  of  an  engineer  with  the  British  Iron  Com- 
pany. In  1868  he  came  to  the  United  States  and  stopped  at  Pittsburgh^ 
Pennsylvania,  for  six  months,  where  he  was  engaged  with  Marshall,  Graft 
&  Co.  Then  he  went  to  Sharon,  Pennsylvania,  for  about  a  year  and  a 
half,  and  in  1870  came  to  Danville,  and  in  January,  1876,  began  work  for 
A.  C.  Daniel,  who  is  manager  of  the  Ellsworth  company.  Mr.  Daniel  tells- 
us  that  for  over  three  years  Mr.  Jones  has  never  but  once  failed  to  blow 
the  whistle  regularly  at  6.40  and  7.00  o'clock  a.m.,  and  that  once  was- 
forgetful n ess,  as  he  was  at  his  post  as  regular  as  at  any  time.  He  does 
his  own  firing,  and  keeps  the  machinery  in  order  himself,  and  is  a 
healthy,  robust  "  Johnny  Bull,"  free  from  intemperate  and  other  bad 
habits;  a  man  always  ready  for  duty  and  competent  to  attend  to  it. 
This  fact  is  apparent  to  Mr.  Daniel,  who  has  concluded  in  this  instance 
that  he  has  the  right  man  in  the  right  place. 

George  W.  Daines,  Danville,  real  estate  agent,  though  not  so  old  a 
resident  as  many  of  the  citizens  of  Danville,  is  yet  a  man  well  known 
in  the  city  and  in  the  county.  He  is  a  native  of  Miami  county,  Indiana. 
His  home  has  been  in  Danville  since  187<».  From  1870  to  1876  he 
was  general  western  agent  for  the  American  Lubricating  Oil  Company. 
Leaving  the  road  in  1876,  he  opened  a  real  estate  office  in  Danville, 
his  office  being  in  Gernand's  block,  on  Vermilion  street.     Here  he  is 

preparing  to  do  a  more  extensive  business  in    the  real   estate  trade, 
30 


lt;»i 


HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 


which  lie  lias  already  pretty  well  worked  up.  This,  in  connection  with 
his  insurance  business  and  his  own  real  estate  which  is  on  the  market, 
warrants  us  in  classing  him  among  the  leading  business  men  of  the  city. 
In  the  fall  of  1878  he  added  to  the  city  plat  what  is  known  as  Daines' 
addition.  He  has  already  built  a  number  of  new  residence  buildings. 
He  is  constantly  improving  property  in  different  parts  of  the  city,  and 
were  all  the  real  estate  holders  of  Danville  equal  to  him  in  enterprise 
and  improvement,  the  city  would  soon  outstrip  herself. 

William  Whitehill,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  a  cut  of  whose  establish- 
ment appears  in  this  work,  is  the  leading  manufacturer  of  buggies  and 
carriages  in  the  city.  He  began  business  in  Danville  in  1871,  under 
circumstances  that  would  have  made  many  men  hesitate  before  invest- 
ing money,  the  competition  being  more  than  commonly  strong ;  but 
understanding  that  "opposition  is  the  life  of  trade,"  he  opened  his  fac- 
tor}- with  a  full  understanding  of 
the  difficulties  to  be  surmounted. 
The  result  has  been  success;  this 
has  been  accomplished  by  giving 
to  his  patrons  the  very  best  line  of 
goods  possible  for  the  money  in- 
vested. He  has  acquired  for  his 
work  now  such  a  reputation  as 
any  dealer  or  manufacturer  may 
well  feel  proud  of.  He  is  a  native 
of  Summit  county,  Ohio.  In  1856 
he  came  to  Attica,  Indiana,  and 
there  began  learning  his  trade, 
serving  a  regular  apprenticeship,  and  remaining  until  1859,  when 
he  went  back  to  Ohio  and  located  at  Akron,  where  for  a  time  he  did 
"jour"  work.  In  1862  he  began  business  there  on  his  own  account, 
continuing  (excepting  time  spent  in  the  army)  until  1870  ;  he  then 
came  to  Danville.  During  the  war  of  1861-5,  he  in  1863  entered  the 
Union  army,  serving  in  the  124th  O.  Vol.  Inf.,  Co.  I.  During  this 
service  he  was  wounded  so  badly  as  to  be  discharged.  At  present  we 
find  him  one  of  the  honorable  citizens  of  Danville. 

C.  B.  Fenton,  Danville,  hardware  dealer,  who  for  twenty-three  years 
has  been  familiar  with  the  hardware  business,  and  is  now  one  among 
the  leading  hardware  dealers  of  Danville,  is  a  native  of  Pennsylvania, 
though  at  the  age  of  four  years  he  went  with  his  people  to  the  state  of 
( )hio.  The  early  part  of  his  life  was  spent,  and  his  education  received, 
in  that  state.  He  is  also  a  practical  tinner  by  trade,  having  learned 
this  branch  of  his  present  business  at  Conneaut,  Ohio.     In  1861,  at  the 


WHITEHILL  S    CARRIAGE   SHOPS. 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  4( 


)/ 


breaking  out  of  the  war  of  the  rebellion,  he  became  a  volunteer  in  the 
Union  army,  joining-  the  2d  Independent  Battery  of  Ohio  troops, 
three-years  service.  He  remained  in  the  service  about  fourteen 
months,  when,  on  account  of  disability  caused  by  hard  marching  and 
sickness,  he  was  discharged  at  Helena,  Arkansas.  During  his  service 
he  saw  some  hard  fighting,  the  battle  of  Pea  Ridge  being  one  of  the 
engagements  in  which  he  participated.  Returning  from  the  army,  he 
again  became  a  resident  of  Ohio,  subsequently  removing  to  Danville, 
where  from  1870  until  1876  he  was  engaged  in  business  alone;  he  now 
has  a  partner,  the  firm  being  C.  B.  Fenton  &  Co.  They  are  now 
located  on  East  Main  street,  in  what  is  known  as  Kelley's  new  block, 
and  are  occupying  a  space  20  feet  front  by  100  feet  deep,  second  story 
and  double  basement.  This  is  stocked  with  everything  pertaining  to  a 
general  hardware  business,  including  stoves  and  tinware.  In  addition 
to  this  he  has  some  novelties,  among  which  may  be  mentioned  the  new 
gasoline  stove,  the  advantages  of  which  are  very  apparent,  especially 
to  the  ladies. 

James  A.  Outland,  Danville,  attorney-at-law,  is,  perhaps,  respected 
and  known  as  well  as  any  man  of  the  Vermilion  county  bar.  He  was 
born  in  Northampton  county,  North  Carolina,  on  the  25th  of  February, 
1«48,  and  is  the  son  of  Thomas  J.  and  Asenath  (Prichard)  Outland, 
both  natives  of  North  Carolina  and  members  of  the  Quaker  Church. 
In  1858  the  subject  of  our  sketch,  with  his  parents,  came  to  Illinois, 
and  located  in  Ridge  Farm,  Yermilion  county.  His  father  was  a  farmer, 
and  here  on  the  farm  Mr.  Outland  remained  until  1862.  When  only 
fourteen  years  of  age  he  entered  the  army  and  participated  in  the  late 
war.  He  enlisted  for  three  years  in  the  79th  111.  Yol.  Inf.,  a  private  in 
Company  A  (the  history  of  this  regiment,  written  by  Mr.  Outland, 
appears  in  this  work).  Mr.  Outland  participated  in  some  of  the  most 
severe  battles  —  Stone  River,  Liberty  Gap,  Chickasaw  Mountain,  Mis- 
sion Ridge,  Rocky  Face  Ridge,  Resaca,  Kenesaw  Mountain  and  the 
siege  of  Atlanta.  At  Franklin,  Tennessee,  on  the  30th  of  November, 
1864,  he  received  a  very  severe  musket-ball  wound  in  the  thigh,  from 
the  effects  of  which  he  is  a  cripple.  He  was  taken  prisoner  by  the 
enemy,  where  he  was  very  poorly  cared  for.  He  was  recaptured  by 
the  Union  army  and  sent  to  the  hospital  at  Nashville,  Tennessee,  where 
he.  remained  until  the  close  of  the  war.  He  then  entered  the  Illinois 
Soldiers'  College,  at  Fulton,  Illinois,  where  he  remained  for  five  years, 
and  from  which  he  graduated  in  1872.  He  then  was  enirasred  in  teach- 
ing  school  one  winter.  He  then  read  law  with  D.  D.  Evans,  Esq.  In 
1873  he  entered  the  Michigan  University,  at  Ann  Arbor,  Michigan, 
where  he  graduated  from  the  law  school  in  1S75.    He  then  returned  tc 


468  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Danville  and  commenced  the  practice  of  law.  In  1870  he  was  elected 
city  attorney  of  Danville,  which  office  he  filled  with  marked  ability  for 
two  terms.  Mrs.  Ontland's  maiden  name  was  Mary  S.  Peters.  She 
was  born  in  Licking  county,  Ohio,  on  the  13th  of  December,  1855,  and 
is  the  daughter  of  Oliver  E.  (a  physician,  now  residing  near  Bismarck, 
Vermilion  county,)  and  Margaret  ( Walcntt)  Peters. 

E.  Winter,  Danville,  deputy  clerk,  was  born  in  Kenton  county,  Ken- 
tucky, on  the  10th  of  July,  1847,  and  is  the  son  of  Charles  H.  and  E. 
A.  (Herod)  Winter.  His  father  was  a  native  of  London,  England,  and 
his  mother  of  Kentucky.  When  Mr.  Winter  was  very  young,  he,  with 
his  parents,  moved  to  Indiana,  where  they  were  engaged  in  farming 
about  four  years,  when  they  moved  to  Columbus,  Indiana,  and  entered 
the  mercantile  business.  In  March,  1804,  Mr.  Winter  enlisted  in  Bat- 
tery F,  1st  Indiana  Heavy  Artillery,  and  participated  in  several  severe 
engagements,  such  as  the  siege  of  Fort  Morgan,  siege  of  Mobile,  etc. 
He  did  duty  at  Fort  Darrancus  and  Fort  Pickens.  He  was  mustered 
out  on  the  15th  of  Januaiy,  1800,  when  he  returned  to  Indiana.  He 
entered  college  at  Moore's  Hill,  where  he  received  a  sufficient  education 
to  enable  him  to  teach  school  at  Versailles,  Indiana.  He  then  studied 
law  and  was  admitted  to  practice  in  1808.  He  went  to  Vermilion 
county,  Indiana,  and  remained  there  until  1870,  when  he  came  to  Dan- 
ville, and  in  1873  was  admitted  to  the  Illinois  bar.  In  1873  he  was 
appointed  deputy  county  clerk,  which  office  he  has  filled  ever  since, 
and  in  which  he  has  won  a  host  of  friends.  Mr.  Winter  was  married 
in  Versailles,  Indiana,  to  Miss  Belle  Wilson,  of  Indiana.  They  have 
two  children.  Mr.  Winter  is  captain  of  Battery  A,  1st  Illinois  National 
Guards. 

The  firm  of  Messrs.  Good  and  Cowan,  Danville,  saddle  and  harness 
makers,  which  has  been  established  since  the  year  1874,  is  one  of  the 
largest,  most  reputable  and  successful  in  the  city,  and  holds  a  position 
for  integrity  in  business  above  an  average  character,  and  has  gained  a 
popularity  of  which  it  ma}'  well  feel  proud.  The  members  of  the  firm 
stand  among  that  liberal  class  of  business  men  who  believe  in  the  vari- 
ous enterprises  of  the  city  being  pushed  forward.  Their  store  is  located 
at  No.  38  Vermilion  street.  They  employ  four  men.  The  proprietors 
have  attained  a  prominent  business  position,  and  socially  are  blessed 
with  a  large  number  of  friends.  Elias  Good  was  born  in  Pennsylvania 
in  1841.  He  learned  his  trade  —  that  of  a  harness-maker  —  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, where  he  followed  it  for  a  number  of  years.  He  came  to  Illinois 
in  1805.  Mr.  Good  was  a  soldier  in  the  late  war.  He  enlisted  in 
April,  1801,  in  Co.  C,  1st  Pa.  Vol.  Inf.,  and  did  good  service.  He  was 
honorably  mustered  out.  but  again   enlisted,  this  time  in  the  34th  Pa. 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  4<)'J 

Vol.  Inf.,  Co.  D,  for  three  years.  After  serving  about  sixteen  months, 
and  participating  in  some  very  prominent  battles,  lie  was  honorably 
discharged  on  account  of  sickness.  Amos  S.  Cowan  was  also  a  soldier 
of  the  late  war.  He  enlisted,  August,  1861,  in  Co.  G,  11th  111.  Vol. 
Inf.,  for  three  years.  He  enlisted  as  a  private,  doing  good  service,  and 
participating  in  a  number  of  the  most  prominent  battles  of  the  war. 
He  was  at  the  battles  of  Fort  Henry,  Fort  Donelson,  Shiloh,  Pittsburg 
Landing,  Champion  Hills,  siege  of  Vicksburg,  Jackson,  etc.  He  received 
two  slight  wounds  in  arm  and  leg  at  Champion  Hills.  He  was  first 
lieutenant  of  the  46th  U.  S.  Col.  Troops,  which  did  skirmishing  near 
Memphis,  Tennessee.  He  was  then  assistant  inspector-general  of  the 
2d  Brig.  1st  Div.  25th  Army  Corps;  was  mustered  out  at  Brownville, 
Texas,  1865,  and  was  finally  discharged  at  Little  Rock,  Arkansas.  He 
returned  to  Illinois,  and  entered  the  Normal  University,  where  he  re- 
mained one  year.  In  1870  he  came  to  Danville,  which  has  been  his 
home  ever  since.     Mr.  Cowan  is  major  of  the  9th  Bat.  111.  N.  G. 

J.  M.  Clark,  Danville,  merchant,  was  born  in  Waldo  county,  Maine, 
on  the  21st  of  April,  1824,  and  is  the  son  of  Stephen  and  Prudence 
(Martin)  Clark.  His  father,  a  native  of  Maine,  was  engaged  as  a  sea- 
faring man  until  he  reached  the  age  of  forty-five  ;  after  this  he  followed 
farming.  His  mother  was  a  native  of  Massachusetts.  Mr.  Clark  was 
raised  on  the  farm,  where  he  remained  until  he  was  twenty-one  years 
old.  He  then  went  to  West  Virginia,  where  he  remained  about  two 
years ;  from  there  located  in  the  southern  part  of  Ohio,  near  Gallipolis. 
Here  he  was  engaged  in  the  dry-goods  and  general  store  business  some 
twenty-two  years.  While  in  Gallia  county,  Ohio,  Mr.  Clark  held  the 
office  of  county  commissioner,  which  office  he  resigned  when  he  came 
to  Danville,  Illinois.  In  1861  Mr.  Clark  enlisted  in  the  36th  Ohio 
Vol.  Inf.,  Co.  I.  as  first  lieutenant.  He  was  with  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  and  participated  in  some  of  its  most  severe  battles.  Mr. 
Clark  was  in  the  battles  of  Bull  Run,  Antietam,  Lewisburg  and  several 
skirmishes.  In  1863  he  was  detailed  to  organize  militia,  and  was  made 
colonel  of  the  1st  Ohio  Vol.  Inf.,  which  regiment  helped  to  capture  the 
notorious  guerrilla,  John  Morgan,  during  his  raid  through  Indiana  and 
Ohio.  At  the  close  of  the  war  Mr.  Clark  returned  to  Gallia  county, 
Ohio.  He  married  Miss  Lucy  Chambers,  of  Marietta,  Ohio,  by  whom 
they  have  ten  children.  In  the  spring  of  1870  Mr.  Clark  came  to  Dan- 
ville and  commenced  the  dry-goods  business,  and  to-day  he  owns  one 
of  the  leading  dry-goods  and  carpet  stores  in  Danville.  He  is  located 
at  No.  66  Vermilion  street.  He  employs  five  salesmen,  doing  a  busi- 
ness amounting  to  as  high  as  £50,000  a  year.  Mr.  Clark  is  a  member 
of  the  school  board. 


470  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION"    COUNTY. 

James  Knight,  Danville,  boots  and  shoes,  was  born  in  Clinton 
county,  New  York,  on  the  12th  of  May,  1833,  and  is  the  son  of  James 
and  Alice  (Henderson)  Knight,  both  natives  of  Scotland.  His  father 
was  a  farmer  here,  and  Mr.  Knight  was  brought  up  on  the  farm  and 
there  remained  until  he  was  about  fifteen  years  old.  He  was  then  en- 
gaged in  helping  to  survey  the  Ogdenburg  railroad,  and  was  then 
clerk  in  a  hardware  store.  About  1813  he  came  west  to  Illinois  and 
located  in  Chicago.  He  then  returned  east  and  clerked  in  the  hardware 
business,  but  returned  to  Illinois  and  was  connected  with  the  Great 
Western  railroad,  running  a  train  to  Champaign.  He  followed  rail- 
roading about  thirteen  years;  but  was  in  Texas  a  short  rime  engaged 
in  trading  in  Texas  cattle.  In  1869  he  went  to  California  where  he 
remained  until  the  following  year,  seeking  for  his  brother  Robert.  He 
returned  to  Danville  and  has  been  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business 
principally  ever  since.  Mr.  Knight  was  married  on  the  15th  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1860,  to  Miss  Mary  E.  Probst,  of  Danville.  They  have  three 
children.  Mr.  Knight  is  now  filling  the  position  of  assistant  supervisor 
of  Danville  township,  which  office  he  has  held  for  the  last  six  years. 
He  is  a  republican  in  politics. 

Irad  Abdill,  Danville,  retired,  was  born  in  Cadiz,  Ohio,  on  the  29th 
of  October,  1812,  and  is  the  son  of  Connell  Abdill,  who  was  a  hotel- 
keeper  in  Cadiz.  Mr.  Abdill,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  remained  in 
his  native  place  until  he  was  about  seventeen  years  of  age,  when  he 
went  to  Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania,  and  learned  the  tinner's  trade.  In 
1830  he  went  to  Paris,  Kentucky,  where  he  engaged  in  work  at  his 
trade,  and  on  the  5th  of  September,  1833,  he  married,  near  Lexington, 
Kentucky,  Rebecca  Ann  Watson.  In  the  same  year  he  moved  to  Har- 
rodsburg,  Kentucky,  and  there  set  up  a  tinshop  and  carried  on  busi- 
ness until  1836,  when  he  moved  to  Indiana  and  located  in  Yincennes, 
where  he  was  also  engaged  in  the  tin  business!  In  April,  1839,  he 
moved  to  Perrysville,  Yennilion  county,  Indiana,  and  commenced  the 
tin  and  hardware  business  on  a  very  large  scale,  doing  an  extensive 
business  until  about  1869,  when  he  retired  from  business.  In  1862 
Mr.  Abdill  was  elected  a  member  of  the  legislature  by  the  republican 
party,  from  Vermilion  county,  Indiana.  On  the  1th  of  October,  1871, 
Mr.  Abdill  moved  to  Danville,  where  he  has  been  a  resident  ever  since. 
His  first  vote  cast  for  president  of  the  United  States  was  for  General 
Andrew  Jackson,  and  he  was  a  Jackson  democrat.  In  1860  he  voted 
for  President  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  since  then  he  has  been  a  republi- 
can in  politics. 

Matthias  Brandenberger,  Danville,  sign-painter,  was  born  in  Ger- 
many on  the  27th  of  January,  1810,  and  came  to  America  when  about 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  471 

fourteen  years  of  age,  first  locating  in  St.  Louis  in  1857.  He  went  to 
Leavenworth,  Kansas,  and  while  there  learned  his  present  trade.  The 
following  year  he  went  to  New  Orleans  where  he  remained  one  year, 
and  then  went  to  Baton  Rouge,  but  afterward  returned  to  St.  Louis 
and  enlisted,  in  1861,  in  Co.  A,  13th  Mo.  Vol.  Inf.,  and  served  until  the 
close  of  the  war,  engaging  in  some  of  the  prominent  battles,  such  as  Fort 
Donelson  and  Pittsburg  Landing,  where  he  was  wounded,  a  ball  passing 
through  his  right  arm,  which  caused  his  absence  from  the  regiment  for 
seventy  days.  He  afterward  participated  in  the  battles  of  Iuka  and 
Corinth,  and  was  engaged  in  the  three-months  siege  of  Vicksburg  and 
Little  Rock,  also  in  other  minor  engagements.  He  was  honorably 
discharged  at  the  close  of  the  war,  returned  to  St.  Louis,  and  from 
there  came  to  Springfield,  Illinois,  where  he  remained  until  1867.  He 
then  went  to  Kansas  City,  and  in  1871  came  to  Danville.  He  was 
married  in  1870  to  Miss  Julia  Getiser.  She  was  a  native  of  Switzer- 
land, and  was  born  in  1847. 

A.  J.  T.  Joslin,  Danville,  photographer,  was  born  in  Montgomery 
county,  New  York,  on  the  16th  of  June,  1839.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  years 
he  went  to  Osage,  and  from  there  to  Waukegan,  Illinois.  From  there 
he  moved  to  Oilman,  and  then  to  Danville,  where  he  has  made  his  home 
since.  At  Osage  he  built  the  third  log  house  of  the  place,  and  painted  the 
first  sign  ever  put  up  in  that  town.  He  remained  a  resident  of  that 
place  about  thirteen  years.  He  first  learned  the  trade  of  a  carriage 
and  sign-painter,  but  subsequently  took  up  photography,  and  now  has 
had  in  all  sixteen  years'  experience  in  this  business,  six  years  of  the  time 
in  Danville.  He  first  began  alone,  but  the  firm  afterward  became  Jos- 
lin &  Phillips.  They  continued  to  do  business  together  about  four 
years.  He  is  now  located  at  112  East  Main  street,  where,  by  close  atten- 
tion to  business,  and  keeping  pace  with  the  improvements  made  in  the 
art  of  photography,  he  has  established  a  good  business. 

E.  C.  Winslow,  Danville,  of  No.  107  Main  street,  dealer  in  drugs, 
is  a  native  of  Hampshire  county,  Massachusetts.  He  came  west  in 
1871  and  began  business  in  Danville,  after  having  spent  twelve  years 
in  the  drug  trade  in  Boston.  He  is  a  graduate  of  pharmacy  and  is  thor- 
oughly educated  in  all  the  details  of  the  drug  trade.  His  store  is 
twenty-five  feet  front  by  eighty  feet  deep,  two  stories  and  basement. 
He  has  it  thoroughly  stocked  in  everything  pertaining  to  a  full  and 
complete  line  of  drugs,  cigars,  tobacco,  perfumeries,  etc.  These  are  all 
conducive  to  his  success,  which  he  has  gained  and  earned  by  an  hon- 
orable and  upright  method  of  business. 

L.  James,  Danville,  contractor  and  builder,  is  a  native  of  Montgom- 
ery county,  Pennsylvania.     He  was  born   in  1840.     The  early  part  of 


472  HISTORY    OF    VKUMILION    COUNTY. 

his  life  was  spent  in  his  native  state,  where  he  learned  the  trade  of  a 
carpenter  and  joiner.  In  1861,  at  the  breaking  ont  of  the  war  of  the 
rebellion,  he  entered  the  army  and  enlisted  in  Co.  E,  45th  Pa.  Inf.,  three- 
years  service.  He  was  in  many  of  the  hard  fought  battles,  among 
which  may  be  mentioned  those  of  Stoner  Landing,  Antietam  and 
Fredericksburg.  At  both  of  the  latter  battles  he  was  wounded,  though  not 
crippled,  and  in  1864  was  mustered  out  at  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania. 
He  has  now  been  a  resident  of  Danville  for  eight  years,  most  of  which 
time  he  has  been  engaged  at  his  trade.  At  present  he  has  on  hand  the 
contract  of  doing  the  woodwork  on  the  Gernand  building.  By  honest 
work  he  has  won  for  himself  a  good  reputation,  both  as  a  workman  and  a 
citizen. 

Chas.  T.  Yeomans,  Danville,  hardware  dealer,  of  the  firm  of  Yeo- 
mans  &  Shedd,  is  a  native  of  Wyoming  county,  New  York.  He  has 
now  been  engaged  in  the  hardware  trade  about  eight  vears.  Previous 
to  his  entering  business  in  this  line  he  had  been  a  resident  of  Chicago, 
where  from  1866  until  1871  he  was  employed  at  keeping  books.  In 
1871  he  came  to  Danville,  and  in  partnership  with  Mr.  A.  L.  Webster 
engaged  in  the  hardware  trade  ;  they  continuing  to  do  business  together 
until  1875,  when  the  present  partnership  was  formed.  When  leaving 
Mr.  Webster,  he  took  the  shelf  and  general  hardware,  while  Mr.  W. 
kept  what  is  known  to  the  trade  as  the  heavy  hardware.  Under  the 
management  of  the  present  firm  they  have  established  quite  an  exten- 
sive business,  a  more  detailed  account  of  which  is  given  elsewhere. 
They  are  both  good  financiers,  and  are  known  as  one  of  the  solid,  sub- 
stantial business  firms  of  the  city. 

Every  business  man  dependent  upon  the^patronage  of  the  public 
for  success  must  endeavor  to  please  that  public.  This  Mr.  J.  A. 
Phillips,  the  photographer,  of  Danville,  and  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
lias  seemed  to  do,  if  we  may  judge  of  his  success  by  this  rule.  He 
first  began  the  business  of  photography  in  1864.  He  followed  it  for 
two  years,  then  quit  and  began  painting,  which  he  continued  for  about 
six  years.  In  the  spring  of  1871  he  began  business  in  Danville.  He 
has  kept  pace  with  the  progress  made  in  the  art  of  photography.  This 
assertion  may  be  very  easiW  proven  by  a  visit  to  his  parlors,  which  are 
located  at  the  southwest  corner  of  the  public  square.  He  is  a  native 
of  Fountain  county,  Indiana.  Though  not  a  resident  of  the  city  so 
long  as  many,  he  has  established  a  good  name  and  reputation. 

Chas.  M.  Swallow,  attorney-at-law,  Danville,  was  born  in  Luzerne 
county,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  8th  of  September,  1844,  and  is  the  son  of 
George  and  Sallie  (Thompson)  Swallow.  Mr.  Swallow's  father  was  a 
native  of  Pennsvlvania,  and  followed  farming.      Here  on  the  farm  Mr. 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  47o 

Swallow  remained  until  he  was  about  seventeen  years  old,  at  which 
time  he  went  to  Pittston,  and  from  there  to  Scranton,  where  he  entered 
a  printing-office  and  commenced  to  learn  his  trade.  This  he  followed 
for  several  years,  and  was  the  main  support  in  getting  money  to  school 
himself.  Mr.  Swallow  received  his  principal  education  at  Williamsport, 
Pennsylvania,  and  Cazenovia,  New  York.  In  1869  he  entered  the  law 
school  of  the  Michigan  University,  at  Ann  Arbor,  where  he  graduated 
in  1871.  In  April,  1871,  he  came  to  Danville  and  entered  the  office  of 
Messrs.  Davis  &  Mann,  and  remained  with  that  law  firm  until  1872. 
He  was  then  admitted  to  practice  law  at  the  Illinois  state  bar.  In  1874 
he  entered  partnership  with  D.  D.  Evans,  which  firm  continued  until 
January  of  1879.  Since  then  Mr.  Swallow  has  been  practicing  alone. 
He  held  the  office  of  city  attorney  for  one  term,  and  performed  his  duty 
in  a  faithful  manner.  Mr.  Swallow  was  married  on  the  15th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1874,  to  Miss  Clara  A.  Northup,  who  was  born  in  Luzerne  county, 
Pennsylvania,  on  the  30th  of  May,  1850.  She  died  on  the  7th  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1879.  He  is  the  father  of  one  child,  Howard  A.,  born  on  the 
18th  of  August,  1878. 

We  believe  that  many  people  fail  of  success  in  the  livery  business 
through  a  lack  of  attention  to  the  general  wants  of  the  public,  coupled 
with  a  disregard  for  proper  neatness  and  cleanliness.  Kuykendall 
Bros,  ik  Craig,  livery-men,  of  Danville,  own  two  livery  stables,  one 
located  east  side  of  Hazel,  between  North  and  Main  streets,  and  the 
other  on  North  street,  in  the  rear  of  the  ..Etna  House.  At  both  livery 
stables  is  kept  a  fine  lot  of  stock  and  a  number  of  vehicles  which, 
for  style  and  quality,  cannot  be  excelled  in  Danville.  The  firm  is  com- 
posed of  William  and  Jacob  Kuykendall,  who  were  born  in  Hampshire 
county,  Virginia.  With  their  parents  they  moved  to  Indiana,  and  from 
thence  to  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  and  located  on  a  farm  in  Middle 
Fork  township.  Here  they  were  engaged  in  tanning  until  1871,  when 
they  came  to  Danville  and  entered  the  livery  business.  In  1875  they 
entered  partnership  with  William  Craig,  and  thus  formed  the  above 
named  firm.  Mr.  Craig  was  born  in  Montgomery  county,  Indiana,  in 
1848.  These  gentlemen  are  courteous  and  gentlemanly  in  their  busi- 
ness, and  prompt  in  transactions,  all  of  which  has  made  them  popular 
and  successful  livery-men. 

The  Chicago  Store,  53  Vermilion  street,  Danville,  Illinois,  was  first 
opened  at  No.  41,  Vermilion  street,  on  the  22d  of  July,  1872,  and  on 
the  7th  of  August,  1872,  H.  B.  Villars,  the  youngest  son  of  the  Rev. 
John  Villars,  commenced  clerking  for  S.  T.  Kern  at  $1.50  per  week, 
and  remained  as  general  clerk  until  the  spring  of  1873,  when  Mr.  Rob- 
ison  left,  going  farther  west.    H.  B.  Villars,  beina'  the  oldest  clerk  with 


474  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

the  firm,  was  made  head  clerk,  and  manager  of  the  business  in  Mr. 
Kern's  absence,  holding  that  position  until  about  1871,  when  he  left, 
taking  a  rest  for  about  six  weeks.  He,  however,  returned  to  his  former 
position  as  manager  of  the  business  in  the  absence  of  Mr.  Kern,  this 
being  at  Mr.  Kern's  request.  About  two  years  after  opening  at  ]STo. 
41  Vermilion  street,  Mr.  Kern  moved  to  Xo.  53  Vermilion  street,  the 
present  location.  H.  B.  Villars  still  held  that  position  until  the  death 
of  Mr.  Kern,  on  the  18th  of  April,  1876,  after  which  the  store  was  left 
to  W.  T.  Kern,  the  business,  however,  being  still  in  the  charge  of  H. 
B.  Villars.  In  July,  1876,  Mr.  Kern  was  taken  sick  in  Logansport, 
and  lingered  until  the  13th  of  November,  1876,  when  he  died,  leaving 
the  store  to  his  sister,  the  firm  name  becoming  C.  J.  Kern  &  Sister. 
Mr.  C.  J.  Kern,  having  a  store  in  Logansport  to  look  after,  still  left  the 
Danville  store  in  charge  of  H.  B.  Villars  until  the  28th  of  March,  1877, 
when,  desiring  to  discontinue  the  business  in  Danville,  he  sold  the 
stock  to  the  firm  of  Villars  Bros.  6z  Co.,  who  are  now  doing  a  large  busi- 
ness in  the  same  room. 

B.  M.  Chaffee,  Danville,  freight  and  ticket  agent,  is  a  native  of 
Rochester,  Windsor  county,  Vermont.  He  came  west  in  1869,  and 
for  one  year  was  engaged  in  business  in  Chicago.  He  then  went  to 
Kentland,  Indiana,  where,  for  two  years,  he  was  located  in  the  employ 
of  the  Pan-Handle  railroad.  He  resigned  his  position  and  returned 
to  Chicago  with  the  intention  of  again  engaging  in  business  there,  but 
instead  he  came  to  Danville,  and  accepted  the  position  of  station-agent 
on  the  I.  B.  &  W.  R.  R.  He  is  now  also  doing  the  business  for  the 
P.  &  D.  road,  and  is  both  ticket  and  freight  agent  for  both  roads.  The 
receipts  and  shipments  of  the  I.  B.  tfc  TV",  are  much  greater  than  the 
P.  &  D.,  though  the  transferring  of  all  east  and  southward  bound 
freight  on  the  latter  road  is  necessary  at  this  point ;  this  also  comes 
under  his  charge.  He  has,  in  all,  six  men  under  his  supervision.  Mr. 
Chaffee  has  been  a  resident  of  Danville  only  since  1872,  but  is  already 
as  well  known  as  many  of  the  old  settlers. 

J.  A.  Patterson,  Danville,  hardware  dealer,  of  the  firm  of  Giddings 
ife  Patterson,  is  probably  the  most  thoroughly  educated  man  in  the 
hardware  line  of  any  dealer  in  this  line  of  goods  in  the  city,  he  having 
had  the  advantage  of  five  years'  experience  as  traveling-man  for  a  job- 
bing-house in  the  line  they  are  now  handling.     He  is  a  native  of  Vir- 

CD  ^  CD 

ginia,  his  early  life  being  spent  in  that  state,  Ohio  and  Indiana.  He 
has  now  been  a  resident  of  Danville  seven  years,  three  years  of  which 
time  he  was  with  the  firm  of  "Webster  6z  Veomans,  and  four  years  with 
A.  L.  Webster.  In  February  of  1879  he  engaged,  in  company  with 
Mr.  Jno.  TV.  Giddings,  in  the  heavy  hardware  trade,  they  being  sue- 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  475 

cessors  to  A.  L.  Webster.  Their  trade  extends  to  a  radius  of  about  one 
hundred  and  twenty-live  miles.  Mr.  Patterson,  being  used  to  the  road, 
does  this  part  of  the  work  when  necessary.  Though  they  have  been  in 
business  as  a  firm  but  a  short  time,  they  have  every  reason  to  hope  for 
success,  if  the  future  may  be  judged  by  the  past.  They  are  both  men 
of  that  caliber  who  seldom  fail  to  carry  any  enterprise  undertaken 
through  successfully,  and  in  this  undertaking  they  propose  to  stop  noth- 
ing short  of  success. 

Robert  Pollard,.  Danville,  gas-fitting  and  foundry,  of  the  firm  of 
Thompson  &  Pollard,  was  born  in  London,  England,  in  1848.  At  the 
age  of  twenty-two  he  came  to  the  United  States,  and  located  at  La  Fay- 
ette, Indiana,  where,  for  about  two  years,  he  was  engaged  in  the  busi- 
ness of  gas-fitting,  a  trade  which  he  learned  in  England.  In  November 
of  1872  he  came  to  Danville  and  began,  with  Mr.  Thompson,  in  the 
same  business.  He  first  began  as  a  "jour"  with  Mr.  Thompson,  but 
in  a  short  time  became  a  partner.  They  are  now  conducting  one  of 
the  largest  manufacturing  establishments  in  this  part  of  Illinois,  a  more 
complete  description  of  which  has  already  been  given. 

Watson  Bros.,  Danville,  butchers,  located  at  No.  45  Vermilion 
street,  have  a  very  neat,  well  arranged  meat  market,  which  they  con- 
duct and  own  ;  besides  which  they  have  a  fine  farm  in  Vermilion 
county,  where  they  raise  the  stock  for  their  market.  They  are 
practical  butchers  of  long  experience,  and  have  the  reputation  of 
exposing  for  sale  the  finest  quality  of  fresh  meat,  through  which  and 
their  fairness  of  prices  and  strict  probity  in  business  transactions  they 
have  secured  them  a  paying  business.  They  have,  in  connection  with 
their  meat  market,  a  steam  power  sausage  mill,  with  which  they  furnish 
the  surrounding  towns  with  sausage.  Alva  Watson  was  born  in  La 
Salle  county,  Illinois,  in  1845,  and  is  the  son  of  Stephen  Watson,  of 
Rhode  Island,  who  came  to  Illinois  about  1840,  and  was  engaged  in 
stock  raising  and  farming.  Mr.  Alva  Watson  remained  on  the  farm 
until  he  was  about  fourteen  years  old  and  then  entered  a  grist  mill  and 
learned  the  engineer's  trade,  which  he  followed  for  a  number  of  years. 
He  then  went  into  the  butcher  business  in  Danville.  He  has  also  been 
in  the  hotel  business,  managing  for  a  time  the  St.  James  Hotel  of  Dan- 
ville. Daniel  Watson,  a  brother  of  Alva,  is  with  these  two  gentle- 
men.    They  compose  the  oldest  butcher  firm  in  the  city. 

H.  P.  Blackburn,  Danville,  attorney-at-law,  was  born  in  Fountain 
county,  Indiana,  on  the  23d  of  August,  1850,  and  is  the  son  of  John 
T.  and  Mary  A.  (Powell)  Blackburn,  both  natives  of  Kentucky,  and 
early  settlers  of  Fountain  county,  Indiana.  Mr.  Blackburn  received 
his  principal  education  from  the  Wesley  Academy,  near  Crawfordsville, 


47(5  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Indiana,  Blooniingdale  Academy,  near  Annapolis,  Indiana,  and  the  Illi- 
nois State  University  at  Champaign.  He  then  entered  the  Michigan 
University  of  Ann  Arbor,  Michigan,  from  which  he  graduated  in  1872. 
He  then  came  to  Danville  and  commenced  the  practice  of  law.  Since 
he  began  here  he  has  associated  himself  as  partner  with  ¥m.  H.  Mal- 
lory,  B.  F.  Cook,  George  W.  Gere  and  General  J.  C.  Black. 

E.  R.  Danforth,  dealer  in  groceries  and  provisions,  No.  86  Ver- 
milion street,  is  a  native  of  Wabash,  Indiana.  He  began  business  in 
his  present  location  in  January,  1879,  by  buying  the  grocery  establish- 
ment of  J.  W.  Elliott.  He  began  his  mercantile  life  in  his  old  home, 
Wabash,  Indiana,  where  he  spent  several  years  as  a  clerk  in  a  general 
store.  In  1869  he  left  Wabash  and  located  in  Homer,  Illinois,  where 
he  spent  three  years  clerking  in  a  grocery  establishment.  In  1873  he 
accepted  a  situation  as  clerk  with  Mr.  Win,  Hesse}7,  dry-goods  mer- 
chant of  Danville.  He  remained  with  Mr.  Hessey  until  he  decided  to 
engage  in  business  on  his  own  account.  His  store  is  eighteen  feet  front 
by  one  hundred  feet  deep,  located  where  there  is  but  little  doubt  of 
success  and  stocked  with  a  line  class  of  groceries  and  provisions,  queens- 
ware,  crockery,  tinware,  and  many  other  useful  and  staple  lines  of  goods 
that  experience  and  good  judgment  have  taught  him  were  necessary  for 
success.  For  a  man  who  has  never  been  engaged  in  business  for  him- 
self, Mr.  Danforth  is  certainly  exhibiting  some  very  good  financiering 
qualities.  Should  his  business  in  the  future  be  conducted  as  carefully  as 
it  has  been  in  the  past,  there  is  but  little  doubt  of  his  ambition  for  suc- 
cess being  realized. 

C.  M.  Axtell,  Danville,  is  a  native  of  Washington  count}7,  Pennsyl- 
vania, though  at  the  age  of  four  years  he  was  brought  to  Iroquois 
county  by  his  parents,  they  coming  to  that  county  in  company  with 
eleven  other  families  from  Pennsylvania.  There  the  early  part  of  his 
life  was  spent,  and  an  education  received  from  such  facilities  as  the 
country  afforded  at  that  time.  He  remained  a  resident  of  that  county 
until  1873,  when  he  came  to  Danville.  For  some  time  before  leaving 
Iroquois  county  he  had  been  engaged  in  business  on  his  own  account : 
in  the  harness  trade  for  three  years,  and  in  the  livery  business  four 
years.  He  built  the  building  on  the  corner  of  Madison  and  Pine 
streets,  which  he  still  owns.  This  he  occupied  for  about  four  years, 
engaged  in  the  grocery  business,  Mr.  Sirpless  becoming  his  successor 
in  business.  In  1878  he  was  elected  a  member  of  the  police  force  of 
Danville,  but  failed  to  be  renominated  again  in  1879  on  account  of  not 
supporting  the  administration,  which  declared  in  favor  of  licensing  the 
sale  of  liquor. 

Gottlieb  Maier,  Danville,  leather  and  findings,  was  born  in  Wur- 


DANVILLE    TOWNSHIP.  477 

tembnrg,  Germany,  on  the  28th  of  April,  1840.  He  remained  a  resi- 
dent of  bis  native  country  until  be  bad  received  a  good  education,  and 
had  learned  the  trade  of  a  tanner.  In  1867  he  came  to  the  United 
States,  first  locating  at  Fort  Wayne,  Indiana,  where  be  remained  about 
one  and  a  half  years.  He  then  went  to  Loudon ville,  Ohio,  for  about 
the  same  length  of  time,  and  then  to  Augusta,  Kentucky,  where  he 
was  engaged  in  business  on  his  own  account  as  a  tanner.  He  re- 
mained in  Augusta  about  three  years,  and  in  1873  came  to  Danville. 
Where  he  is  now,  on  East  Main  street,  he  has  a  store  22  x  70,  with 
basement.  He  pays  out  annually  about  twenty  thousand  dollars  for 
hides,  furs,  tallow,  "sbeeps,"  etc.,  shipping  most  of  these  goods  to  Bos- 
ton, Mass.  He  also  carries  a  tine  stock  of  leather  and  findings.  He  is 
a  man  who  pays  little  attention  to  anybody's  business  except  bis  own, 
but  is  one  of  that  class  of  men  who  are  ranked  among  the  best  citizens 
of  any  community. 

G.  L.  Klugel,  Danville,  of  No.  17  West  Main  street,  dealer  in  and 
manufacturer  of  galvanized-iron  work,  is  probably  a  better  workman, 
and  is  engaged  more  extensively  in  this  business,  than  many  of  the 
citizens  of  Vermilion  county  are  aware  of.  He  has  had  sixteen  years' 
experience  in  this  line,  first  serving  an  apprenticeship  of  seven  years  with 
his  brother.  He  is  a  native  of  Berlin,  Prussia,  coming  to  the  United 
States  in  1859,  when  he  was  six  years  old,  becoming  a  resident  of  Day- 
ton, Ohio.  It  was  there  he  learned  his  trade.  He  has  traveled  over 
quite  a  number  of  the  states,  executing  large  contracts  in  his  line  of 
business.  Among  these  we  mention  a  few.  In  1870  he  first  came  to 
Danville,  and  did  the  iron-work  of  the  high-school  building:  in  1872 
he  did  the  cornice-work  on  Abe  Sandusky's  residence;  in  1877  he  did 
that  of  the  court-house  of  Washington,  Indiana,  and  in  1878  finished 
the  Ann  Arbor  court-house;  in  1879  he  finished  the  Wabash  court- 
house of  Indiana.  These  are  some  of  the  important  jobs  he  has  done, 
and  are  certainly  evidence  enough  of  his  ability  as  a  workman  and  con- 
tractor. In  1873  he  became  a  resident  of  Danville,  and  now  gives 
employment  to  about  four  men  regularly,  and  is  doing  a  business,  in 
point  of  execution,  equal  to  any  in  the  west. 

D.  C.  Vaughn,  Danville,  saw-mill,  is  a  native  of  the  state  of  Iowa, 
and  has  been  a  resident  of  Danville  since  1873.  He  was  for  five  years 
connected  with  the  'bus  line  of  S.  B.  Holloway  &  Co.,  the  last  two 
years  as  a  partner  in  the  business.  In  the  summer  of  1879  they  (he 
and  S.  B.  Holloway)  purchased  the  saw-mill  located  at  the  I.  B.  &  W. 
depot,  and  formerly  run  by  Noah  Wilkins.  This  business  now  comes 
directly  under  Mr.  Vaughn's  supervision.  Their  specialty  is  hardwood 
lumber,  of  which  they  have  a  manufacturing  capacity  of  about  6,000 


478  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION"    COUNTY. 

feet  per  day.  In  all  they  give  employment  to  about  twenty  men, 
seven  of  whom  are  at  work  in  the  mill.  Their  annual  pay-roll  amounts 
to  about  $4,000.  They  have  an  engine  of  forty-horse  power.  The  mill 
is  new.  Mr.  Yanghn  is  a  live,  energetic  business  man,  and  though  the 
enterprise  is  a  new  one  there  is  every  probability  of  their  success.  Mr. 
Holloway  is  an  old  mill  man. 

Among  the  few  large  grocery  and  bakery  establishments  of  Danville 
is  that  of  Bred  eh  oft  Bros.,  located  at  Xo.  135  East  Main  street.  The 
elder  of  the  two,  George  W.,  has  had  about  six  years'  experience  in  the 
business  in  Danville,  and  in  that  time  has  become  a  thoroughly  prac- 
tical business  man.  In  1873  he  engaged  in  the  trade  in  company  with 
Mr.  Charles  Stellner,  they  doing  business  together  until  the  present 
firm  was  organized.  Their  store-room  is  twenty-four  feet  front  by 
eighty  feet  deep,  with  basement.  In  addition  to  this  they  have  the 
Lossom  bakery,  built  in  the  rear  of  the  store.  This  is  20  x  24.  In  this 
line  they  have  acquired  a  reputation  that  keeps  them  very  busy  deliv- 
ering goods,  their  business  aggregating  now  about  $50,000  per  annum 
in  both  lines  of  trade.  They  give  employment  to  about  four  men  regu- 
larly, and  should  their  trade  increase  in  the  future  as  it  has  in  the  past 
they  will  shortly  be  the  leading  house  in  the  city  in  their  line.  Their 
business  is  a  fair  illustration  of  what  may  be  accomplished  by  pluck 
and  perseverance.  They  have  worked  for  the  trade  they  now  com- 
mand, both  by  means  of  a  pleasant  and  courteous  treatment  of  their 
customers,  supplying  them  with  nice  fresh  goods,  and  by  keeping  their 
place  of  business  neat  and  clean. 

The  largest  and  most  important  clothing  and  gents'  furnishing  es- 
tablishment in  the  city  of  Danville  is  that  of  H.  Kahn  &  Co.,  the 
members  of  the  firm  being  H.  Kahn  and  the  subject  of  our  sketch, 
Mr.  Isaac  Stern,  who  was  born  in  1846  in  Wurtemberg,  Germany. 
There  he  received  a  good  education,  and  had  six  years'  experience  in 
the  clothing  trade,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty  years  came  to  the  United 
States,  locating  at  Champaign,  Illinois,  where  for  four  years  he  was 
engaged  as  a  clerk  in  the  clothing  trade.  He  then  went  south  and 
located  near  Salem,  Alabama,  where  for  three  years  he  was  engaged  in 
the  mercantile  trade.  Returning  north  in  1873  he  located  at  Danville 
and  engaged  in  business,  where  we  now  find  him  one  of  the  most  suc- 
cessful merchants  of  the  city.  Their  establishment  is  located  at  No. 
51  Vermilion  street,  and  is  known  as  the  Arcade  Clothing  House.  The 
building  is  100  x  24  feet,  and  they  occupy  the  first  floor  and  basement 
with  a  stock  of  goods  not  equaled  in  the  city.  Mr.  Stern,  though  a 
resident  of  the  city  but  a  few  years,  is  already  well  and  favorably 
known  both  in  societv  and  business  circles. 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  479 

William  P.  Cannon,  Danville,  president  of  the  Vermilion  County 
Bank,  was  born  in  Morgan  county,  Indiana,  September  18,  1841,  and  is 
the  son  of  Horace  F.  Cannon,  who  was  born  in  North  Carolina,  and  was 
a  doctor  by  profession.  He  moved  to  Indiana  in  1840.  Mr.  W.  P.  Can- 
non, after  receiving  his  principal  education  at  the  Earlem  College  of  In- 
diana, commenced  the  study  of  law  with  his  brother,  Joseph  G.  Cannon. 
In  1862  he  was  admitted  to  practice  law  at  the  bar.  He  entered  partner- 
ship with  his  brother  and  commenced  practice  at  Tuscola,  Illinois.  In 
1865  he  entered  the  private  banking  business  with  Wyeth,  Cannon  & 
Co.,  and  remained  there,  acting  as  manager  until  1870,  when  he  organ- 
ized the  First  National  Bank  of  Tuscola,  and  was  made  president, 
maintaining  this  position  until  1873,  when  he  moved  to  Danville  and 
organized  the  Vermilion  County  Bank,  of  which  he  holds  the  position 
of  president.  The  other  officers  are :  Thos.  S.  Parks,  cashier ;  J.  W. 
Elliott,  book-keeper,  and  Chas.  Knight,  teller.  This  bank  is  doing  a 
general  banking  business,  and  is  in  a  very  flourishing  condition.  In 
1864  Mr.  Cannon  married  Miss  Anna  M.  Wamsley,  of  Indiana,  daugh- 
ter of  William  Wamsley,  and  by  this  union  they  have  three  children. 

Frank  W.  Penwell,  Danville,  attorney-at-lawr,  was  born  in  St.  Jo- 
seph county,  Indiana,  on  the  14th  of  September,  1843,  and  is  the  son 
of  Enos  and  Martha  (Holloway)  Penwell.  In  1853  he,  with  his  par- 
ents, moved  to  Illinois,  and  located  in  Shelbyville,  Shelby  county. 
Here  his  father  was  engaged  in  the  practice  of  medicine.  Mr.  Pen- 
well  received  a  common  school  education  at  Shelbyville.  He  then 
completed  his  studies  at  South  Bend,  Indiana.  He  was  a  soldier  in 
the  late  civil  war.  In  1862  he  enlisted  for  three  years  as  sergeant  in 
the  21st  Ind.  Battery,  Light  Artillery.  This  battery  did  service  with  the 
army  of  the  Cumberland,  participating  in  some  of  the  most  severe  bat- 
tles: Chickamauga,  Nashville,  etc.  At  the  close  of  the  war  Mr.  Pen- 
well  returned  home  and  commenced  the  study  of  law.  In  1867  he 
graduated  in  the  law-school  of  the  Michigan  Universit}^  of  Ann  Arbor. 
In  1867  he  commenced  the  practice  of  law.  In  1873  he  came  to  Dan- 
ville, and  associated  himself  with  W.  J.  Henry,  and  formed  the  law- 
firm  of  Henry  &  Penwell,  which  continued  until  1876,  when  the  pres- 
ent firm  was  formed  of  Young  &  Penwell.  His  political  opinions  are 
republican.     He  married  Miss  May  Bowman,  of  New  York. 

J.  E.  Field,  Danville,  merchant  tailor,  was  born  in  Litchfield  county, 
Connecticut,  on  the  28th  of  July,  1843.  He  learned  the  tailor's  trade 
in  Lorain  county,  Ohio,  in  1866  and  1867.  He  then  went  to  Michigan 
and  located  at  Three  Rivers,  where  he  worked  at  his  trade  until  1868, 
when  he  came  to  Illinois,  and  worked  at  his  trade  at  Rockford.  Here 
he  remained  until  1873,  when  he  came  to  Danville,  and  has  here  been 


480  BISTORT    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

engaged  at  his  trade  ever  since.  He  opened  his  present  merchant- 
tailor  establishment  in  1878.  He  is  one  of  the  leading  merchant  tailors 
of  Danville,  having  in  his  employ  six  hands.  Mr.  Field,  in  1861,  en- 
listed in  the  late  war.  He  entered,  from  Lorain  county.  Ohio,  the  2d 
Ohio  Cavalrv,  Co.  H. ;  he  enlisted  for  three  vears,  and  did  good  ser- 
vice,  being  in  a  number  of  battles  and  >kirmishes.  He  served  full 
time  and  was  honorably  mustered  out.  He  reenlisted  in  the  same 
regiment,  and  served  until  the  close  of  the  war.  lie  was  with  Gen. 
Grant,  on  his  eastern  campaign,  in  the  battles  of  Cold  Harbor,  the  bat- 
tle of  the  Wilderness,  St.  Mary's  Church,  Fairfax  Court  House,  and 
other  battles  and  skirmishes.  In  his  first  enlistment,  on  the  9th  of 
September  1861.  until  his  final  discharge,  on  the  20th  of  September, 
1  865,  he  was  sick  but  two  weeks,  and  during  these  two  weeks  he 
remained  with  his  regiment.  Xeither  he  nor  his  horse  received  the 
slightest  wound.  The  2d  Ohio  started  from  Lebanon.  Kentuckv,  on 
the  4th  of  July,  1863,  after  the  notorious  guerrilla  John  Morgan,  at 
the  time  he  made  his  raid  through  Kentuckv,  Indiana  and  Ohio.  The 
2d  Ohio  was  in  the  engagement  when  Morgan  was  captured  at  Colum- 
bus county,  Ohio.  The  2d  ( )hio,  during  its  service  in  the  war,  traveled 
over  thirty  thousand  miles  through  the  various  states.  This  was  the 
greatest  distance  traveled  by  any  regiment  during  the  war.  Mr.  Field 
has  a  medal  that  was  given  to  him  at  the  first  reunion  of  the  2d  Ohio 
( Javalry  at  Cleveland,  O.  Mr.  Field  is  first  lieutenant  of  Battery  A,  1st 
Brig.  111.  Nat.  G.,  of  which  he  has  been  a  member  for  over  three  years. 

Among  the  leading  merchants  of  Danville  may  be  mentioned  Win. 
Woods,  the  hatter,  who  was  born  in  London,  England.  A  number  of 
years  ago  he  came  to  America,  where  he  has  been  engaged  in  differ- 
ent pursuits.  He  has  had  a  wide  experience  in  the  shirt,  hosiery  and 
glove  business,  having  been  connected  with  one  of  the  leading  houses 
of  that  kind  in  the  country.  In  1873  Mr.  Woods  came  to  Danville  and 
entered  the  hat  and  cap  business  with  his  brother,  A.  Woods,  on  Main 
street.  Since  the  retirement  of  his  brother,  Mr.  Woods  has  continued 
in  the  business  alone,  and  to-day  is  the  oldest  hat  and  cap  merchant  in 
Danville.  His  present  new  store  on  Vermilion  street  is  one  of  the 
most  attractive  and  finest  stores  in  the  city.  Here  may  be  found  a  full 
line  of  bats,  caps,  furs  and  gents'  furnishing  goods. 

J.  C.  Helm,  Danville,  W.  IT.  telegraph  agent,  is  a  native  of  Marion 
county,  Indiana.  The  early  portion  of  his  life  was  spent  in  the  country, 
on  a  farm.  He  has  now  for  ten  years  been  engaged  at  telegraphing. 
Those  who  are  familiar  with  the  business  pronounce  him  a  fine  oper- 
ator. He  began  learning  telegraphy  at  Anderson.  Indiana,  in  1869.  In 
October.  1874.  he  took  charge  of  the  Western  LTnion  business  at  Dan- 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  481 

ville,  which  was  then  in  connection  with  the  railroad,  being  located  at 
the  Wabash  depot.  In  October  of  1878  they  moved  to  their  present 
quarters,  which  is  No.  108  East  Main.  Here  Mr.  Helm  has  a  ver\ 
neatly  arranged  office,  having  in  all  seven  wires,  viz:  three  of  the 
Wabash,  the  I.  B.  &  W.,  P.  &  D.,  E.  T.  IT.  &  C.  and  C.  &  E.  I.  The 
business  is  so  extensive  as  to  require  an  assistant,  this  gentleman  being 
Mr.  E.  C.  Dodge,  of  Erie  county,  New  York.  The  aggregate  business, 
strictly  commercial,  now  done  by  the  office  is  about  $250  per  month. 
Though  Mr.  Helm  has  been  a  resident  of  Danville  but  a  few  years,  he 
already  is  known  as  a  man  whose  word  and  promise  may  be  relied 
upon. 

The  Arkansas  &  Texas  Railway  Land  Company,  located  in  the 
"Times"  building,  is  probably  a  much  more  extensive  institution  than 
many  of  the  people  of  this  county  are  aware  of.  It  is  a  business,  too,  that 
would  well  repay  many  people  who  contemplate  buying  real  estate  to 
examine.  Mr.  E.  D.  Steen,  the  gentleman  in  charge  at  this  point,  is  a 
native  of  the  old  Keystone  State,  his  birth-place  being  near  the  city 
of  Pittsburgh.  He  has  been  a  resident  of  the  State  of  Illinois  for  about 
twenty-seven  years,  though  of  Danville  but  for  five  years.  When  he 
came  to  the  city  he  began  business  in  the  furniture  trade,  in  company 
with  Mr.  J.  W.  Dove,  the  firm  name  being  Dove  &  Steen.  This  they 
followed  until  1878,  when  Walker  &  Staymen  became  their  successors. 
The  land  office  of  the  company  named  was  located  in  Danville  in  the 
summer  of  1879.  They  have  in  Texas  3,000,000  acres  ;  Arkansas,  30,- 
000 ;  Kansas,  10,000  ;  and  Nebraska  10,000,  besides  a  large  number  of 
improved  farms  in  the  state  of  Missouri.  There  is  probably  no  real- 
estate  firm  in  the  west  that  otters  such  inducements  as  this  one.  Mr. 
Steen  is  treasurer  of  the  Vermilion  County  Historical  Society,  and  a 
man  having  the  respect  and  esteem  of  a  large  number  of  citizens. 

Win.  Stewart,  Danville,  machine  and  boiler  manufacturer,  successor 
to  the  firm  of  Reynolds  &  Stewart,  manufacturers  of  boilers  and  ma- 
chinerv,  is  a  native  of  Scotland,  where  he  was  born  on  the  26th  of 
January,  1840.  He  came  to  the  United  States  in  the  fall  of  1861. 
Before  leaving  his  native  country  he  had  acquired  a  good  education, 
and  had  learned  the  trade  of  a  machinist.  He  first  located  at  Fort 
Wayne,  Indiana,  where  for  eleven  years  he  was  employed  in  the  shops  of 
the  Wabash  Railway  Company.  On  the  first  of  January,  1874,  he  came 
to  Danville  and  took  charge  of  the  shops  of  the  C.  D.  &  V.  R.  R., 
where  he  remained  for  two  years,  then  in  1877  he  became  a  partner  of 
Mr.  Reynolds  in  the  foundry  and  machine  shops,  later  succeeding  Mr. 
Reynolds  in  the  business.  He  is  a  thorough  machinist,  having,  served 
a  five-years  apprenticeship  in  learning  the  trade  in  Scotland.  He  is 
31 


482  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

now  giving  employment  to  about  tifteen  men,  and  is  already  designing 
a  new  boiler  factory  in  addition  to  bis  present  works,  a  more  complete 
conception  of  which  may  be  bad  by  referring  to  bis  card  in  tbe  direc- 
tory of  tins  work.  Mr.  Stewart,  though  a  resident  of  Danville  but  a 
few  years,  has  already  establisbed  a  name  and  reputation  of  which  any 
man  who  is  a  native  of  a  foreign  land  may  well  be  proud. 

II.  L.  Dunham,  Danville,  was  born  on  the  12th  of  March,  1848,  at 
JNTorthfiehl.  Vermont.  When  he  was  about  fifteen  years  old  he  entered 
the  office  of  the  Pittsburgh,  Fort  Wayne  &  Chicago  railroad  as  clerk. 
Here  he  remained  for  a  number  of  years.  He  then  accepted  a  position 
with  the  Union  Pacific  railroad  as  superintendent's  clerk,  which  place 
he  filled  about  three  years.  Then,  for  a  time,  he  was  in  the  employ 
of  the  Southern  Minnesota  railroad.  On  the  17th  of  April,  1871,  Mr. 
Dunham  entered  the  service  of  the  Chicago  cv;  Eastern  Illinois  railroad. 
He  was  first  stationed  at  Momence  as  shop-clerk,  and  from  that  he  was 
appointed  superintendent's  clerk,  making  his  headquarters  at  Chicago. 
In  1872  he  was  made  paymaster  of  the  same  road,  which  place  he  filled 
until  1874,  when  the  company  adopted  the  plan  of  paying  off  by 
checks,  and  by  this  system  they  dispensed  with  the  paymaster.  In 
1874  Mr.  Dunham  came  to  Danville,  and  was  made  shop-clerk,  which 
position  he  has  filled  since. 

To  the  men  who  can  look  back  upon  the  trade  in  the  early  days  of 
Danville,  the  magnitude  of  some  of  the  present  business  establishments 
must  look  amazing.  A  few  of  them,  in  immensity  and  in  the  variety, 
quality  and  quantity  of  goods  offered  for  sale,  fully  equal  the  stores  in 
cities  of  fifty  thousand  inhabitants.  Among  them  the  establishment 
of  Messrs.  Hull  &  Hnlce  is  a  notable  example  of  the  progress  made  in 
the  past  few  years  in  the  agricultural  department.  Their  valuable  ex- 
perience in  all  matters  pertaining  to  this  business;  their  keen  apprecia- 
tion of  the  wants  of  the  farmer  ;  their  promptitude  and  the  completeness 
with  which  thev  meet  these  wants:  their  resources  and  extended  facili- 
ties  for  supplying  every  demand  of  the  farm,  together  with  the  careful 
and  systematic  methods  followed  in  the  management  of  their  affairs, 
afford  some  little  explanation  for  the  prosperity  which  has  attended 
their  business  career.  This,  the  largest  agricultural  establishment  in 
this  vicinity,  is  owned  by  James  G.  Hull  and  Martin  H.  Hulce.  The 
former,  James  G.  Hull,  was  born  in  St.  Lawrence  county,  Xew  York, 
in  1841.  He,  with  his  parents,  came  west  in  1851,  and  located  on  a 
farm  in  Marshall  county,  Illinois.  Here  Mr.  Hull  was  engaged  in 
farming  until  the  breaking  out  of  the  late  war.  He  enlisted  in  the 
11th  111.  Cav.,  Co.  H,  and  participated  in  some  of  the  most  severe  bat- 
tles of  the  western  campaign :    Shiloh,  Corinth,  siege  of  Yicksburg,  etc. ; 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  483 

was  with  the  noted  Garson  raid  through  to  the  Gulf.  For  six  months 
the  soldiers  of  the  11th  were  never  known  to  have  their  clothes  off. 
Mr.  Hull  has  had  two  horses  shot  from  under  him.  He  enlisted  in 
1861  as  private;  from  that  he  rose  first  to  corporal,  then  sergeant,  and 
then  to  first  lieutenant,  and  finally  to  captain  of  Co.  H.  He  served 
until  1805,  the  close  of  the  war,  when  he  returned  to  his  home,  and 
embarked  in  the  agricultural  husiness  in  Henry,  Marshall  comity,  Ill- 
inois. In  1868  Mr.  Martin  H.  Ilulce  entered  partnership.  This  gen- 
tleman was  born  in  New  Jersey,  having  come  west  when  a  young  man. 
He  is  a  carriage-maker  by  trade.  In  187-1  these  gentlemen  came  to 
Danville,  and  commenced  business  in  the  present  building:  size, 
18x132,  two  stories.  This  establishment  is  the  largest  in  this  section 
of  Illinois,  and  perhaps  sells  as  much  as  any  other  three  establishments 
of  the  kind  in  Danville.  Here  may  be  found  all  kinds  of  implements 
that  are  used  on  a  farm,  from  a  linch-pin  up  to  a  steam  threshing  ma- 
chine.    They  keep  constantly  on  hand  a  fine  stock  of  seeds. 

F.  W.  Button,  Danville,  manufacturer  of  boilers,  proprietor  of  the 
Button  Steam  Boiler  Factory,  is  a  native  of  the  state  of  New  York. 
Previous  to  his  engaging  in  the  manufacture  of  this  line  of  goods  in 
Danville,  he  had  for  some  time  had  charge  of  the  boiler  works  of  the 
Wabash  railroad,  at  Springfield.  He  is  a  thoroughlj-  practical  man  in 
his  line  of  trade  and  manufacture,  having  had  about  twenty  years'  ex- 
perience in  the  manufacture  of  boilers.  In  1866  he  came  west  as  far 
as  Chicago,  where  he  remained  but  a  short  time.  He  then  made  a  trip 
through  the  southern  states  during  the  same  year  and  1867.  Returning 
north,  he  spent  some  time  in  Galesburg  and  Springfield,  as  before  men- 
tioned, and  located  in  Danville  in  1875.  Here  he  has  established 
something  of  a  name  and  reputation,  and  has  a  trade  established  reaching 
about  forty  miles  around  the  city.  On  an  average  he  employs  about 
four  men,  and  is  doing  his  work  in  such  a  manner  that  his  trade  has 
been  gradually  increasing.  He  is  giving  his  customers  such  goods  as 
will  bear  inspection. 

C.  V.  Feldkamp,  Danville,  dealer  in  confectionery  and  fruits.  North 
Vermilion  street,  is  a  native  of  Germany,  where  he  remained  a  resi- 
dent until  nineteen  years  of  age.  There  he  received  a  good  education 
and  served  an  apprenticeship  of  three  years  learning  the  wholesale  and 
retail  grocery  business.  In  addition  to  working  three  years  he  was 
obliged  to  pay  the  firm  $125.  He  has  now  been  engaged  in  business 
in  Danville  about  four  years,  though  previous  to  this  he  had  spent 
three  years  in  Springfield,  Illinois,  in  the  same  line  of  trade.  When 
he  began  here  he  had  a  partner  in  the  business,  but  now  is  conducting 
it  alone.     His  place  of  business  is  neatly  fitted  up  and  well   stocked 


4S4  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

with  fresh  fruits  and  confectionery.  He  has  an  elegant  soda  fountain 
which  cost  him  $1,000.  By  a  pleasant  and  courteous  treatment  of  his 
customers  he  has  established  the  leading  business  in  the  city  in  his  line. 

Among  the  business  men  of  Danville  who  have  been  dependent 
upon  their  own  resources  we  mention  Mr.  W.  A.  Clements.  He  is  a 
native  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  was  born  in  1827,  and  while  yet  a 
child  became  a  resident  of  Maryland,  where  his  people  remained  but  a 
few  years,  he  coming  to  Shelbyville,  Illinois,  with  his  mother  in  1836. 
At  the  age  of  nine  years  he  began  to  support  himself.  He  first  worked 
about  four  years  on  a  farm,  and  then  began  carrying  the  United  States 
mail  between  Shelbyville  and  Vandalia,  a  distance  of  forty  miles.  This 
he  followed  for  seven  years,  and  then  entered  the  army  in  the  Mexican 
war,  enlisting  in  Co.  G,  1st  111.,  Col.  E.  W.  B.  New  by.  He  remained 
in  the  army  about  two  years,  most  of  the  time  on  detached  duty.  Re- 
turning from  the  war,  he  again  became  a  resident  of  Shelbvville,  where 
he  resided  until  1S75,  engaging  indifferent  lines  of  mercantile  business. 
In  January,  1875,  he  came  to  Danville  and  embarked  in  the  grocery 
trade,  in  which  business  he  is  still  engaged,  located  at  old  No.  54  Ver- 
milion street,  where  he  has  a  good  establishment,  well  stocked  with 
everything  pertaining  to  a  general  line  of  groceries.  This  has  been 
the  result  of  his  own  energy  and  industry.  He  can  certainly  be  classed 
among  the  self-made  men  of  Danville. 

Will.  Bahls,  Danville,  dealer  in  and  manufacturer  of  boots  and  shoes, 
is  a  native  of  Prussia,  and  came  to  the  United  States  in  1S54.  When 
he  was  seventeen  years  old  be  began  railroading,  which  he  followed  for 
a  time.  He  then  served  a  three  years'  apprenticeship  in  La  Fayette, 
Indiana,  in  learning  the  trade  of  a  boot  and  shoe  maker.  He  has  now 
been  in  the  business  about  ten  years,  the  last  four  of  which  have  been 
in  an  establishment  of  his  own.  His  specialty  is  fine  sewed  work. 
He  has  now  established  a  trade  that  requires  the  employment  of  three 
men;  and  in  connection  with  his  manufacturing,  he  carries  a  stock  of 
ready-made  goods,  and  has  a  trade  now  established  amounting  to  about 
$6,000  per  year.  Though  he  does  not  claim  to  do  the  largest  business 
in  the  city,  he  has  succeeded  in  doing  one  that  gives  satisfaction  to  his 
customers. 

C.  E.  Doyle,  railroad  agent  at  the  Danville  Junction,  is  a  native  of 
the  state  of  Florida,  and  is  a  man  now  about  twenty-eight  years  old. 
He  has  had  about  thirteen  years'  experience  in  the.  railroad  business. 
He  began  first  with  the  Iron  Mountain  road,  in  1866;  he  was  after- 
ward located  for  two  and  a  half  years  at  La  Fayette,  Indiana,  in  the 
employ  of  the  Wabash  road  ;  in  1875  he  came  to  Danville  and  accepted 
the  position  of  ticket  agent  at  the  Junction.     Here  he  has  the  ticket 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  485 

business  of  five  different  roads  to  which  to  attend.  In  1878  the  ticket 
sales  of  this  office  were  $50,000.  Daily,  he  has  about  eighteen  regular 
passenger  trains.  He  also  understands  telegraphy,  but  he  has  a  man 
to  attend  to  this  part  of  the  business.  Though  he  has  been  a  resident 
of  Danville  but  a  few  years,  he  has  already  won  the  respect  and  confi- 
dence of  the  better  class  of  the  citizens. 

George  Gordon  Mabin,  Danville,  attorney,  was  born  in  Memphis, 
Tennessee,  on  the  30th  of  March,  1853.  Through  the  misfortune  of 
his  parents,  he  was  thrown  upon  his  own  resources  at  the  early  age  of 
ten  years.  By  the  assistance  of  Prof.  H.  S.  Perrigo,  he  was  sent  to 
school  at  Mount  Carroll  Seminary,  of  Carroll  county,  Illinois.  There 
he  made  rapid  progress  in  the  common  branches,  and  in  1871  entered 
the  Illinois  Industrial  University,  and  began  a  literary  course  which  lie 
pursued  for  three  years.  He  then  left  college  without  completing  his 
collegiate  course,  and  began  the  study  of  law  with  T.  J.  Smith,  of 
Champaign,  Illinois.  In  1875  he  came  to  Danville  and  finished  his 
course  of  law  under  W.  R.  Lawrence  and  Young  &  Penwell.  In 
1877,  at  the  age  of  twenty-four,  he  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Ottawa, 
Illinois,  and  began  the  practice  of  law  in  Danville  the  same  year, 
where  he  has  since  resided,  engaged  in  the  practice  of  law. 

F.  G.  Irwin,  Danville,  druggist,  corner  Main  and  Hazel  streets,  is  a 
native  of  Bartholomew  county,  Indiana.  He  was  born  in  1846,  and 
remained  a  resident  of  that  county  until  1863,  when  he  removed  to 
Rnshville,  Indiana,  and  from  there  to  Eugene,  Vermilion  county,  of 
the  same  state,  where  he  was  engaged  in  the  drug  trade  from  1865  to 
1875;  he  then  removed  to  Danville  and  began  business  in  the  same 
line.  Many  men  with  less  enterprise  would  have  feared  to  engage  in 
a  business  which  was  already  so  well  represented  ;  but  understanding 
from  past  experience  that  ''opposition  is  the  life  of  trade,"  he  began 
with  a  full  understanding  of  the  difficulties  to  be  overcome.  His  store 
is  twenty-four  feet  front  by  seventy  deep,  and  stocked  with  a  full  line 
of  pure  drugs  and  medicines,  perfumeries,  cigars,  tobaccos,  etc.  etc. 
These,  with  a  neat  and  tastily  arranged  store,  are  all  conducive  to  his 
success;  but  no  more  so  than  a  tine  family  recipe  department,  over 
which  he  presides  personally.  He  is  a  thoroughly  educated  druggist 
of  sixteen  years'  experience.  By  his  close  attention  to  business,  and 
polite  and  courteous  treatment  of  customers,  he  has  already  established 
a  fine  business  in  Danville. 

W.  F.  Baum,  one  of  the  popular  druggists  of  Danville,  is  a  native 
of  Fountain  county,  Indiana.  He  has  had  ten  years'  experience  in  the 
drug  trade, —  beginning  in  the  business  first  in  Covington,  Indiana. 
From  there  he  went  to  Marshfield  in  August  of  1872,  where  he  spent 


486  .  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

three  years  in  the  business, —  one  year  of  this  time  he  managed  an  estab- 
lishment of  his  own.  Closing  out  in  business  there  lie  came  to  Dan- 
ville, where  he  now  has  one  of  the  neatest  and  most  centrally  located 
establishments  in  the  city.  He  was  first  located  on  Vermilion  street, 
but  in  December  of  1878  removed  to  his  present  quarters,  northwest 
corner  Vermilion  and  Main  streets.  Here  he  has  his  establishment 
stocked  with  a  nice  fresh  line  of  goods,  consisting  of  pure  drugs,  medi- 
cines, perfumeries,  paints,  oils,  cigars,  tobaccos,  etc.  etc.  He  lias  a  neat 
and  tastily  arranged  store,  and  is  enjoying  the  success  merited  by  his 
enterprise  and  close  attention  to  business. 

It  is  seldom  we  find  a  man  at  the  age  of  Mr.  John  Stein,  the  brewer 
of  Danville, — -he  being  twenty-eight  years  old,- — who  by  his  own 
efforts  has  accumulated  the  property  that  he  has.  He  is  a  native  of 
Germany ;  there  he  learned  the  trade  of  a  brewer  with  his  father,  who 
followed  the  brewery  business  in  Germany.  In  1868  he  came  to  the 
United  States.  For  a  time  he  was  located  near  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin, 
but  later  moved  to  Covington,  Indiana,  where  he  lived  for  a  time  en- 
gaged in  his  line,  and  in  1875  came  to  Danville  and  began  business  for 
himself.  Here,  by  a  close  attention  to  business,  he  has  accumulated  a 
fine  property  and  established  a  good  business.  He  built  the  brewery 
he  is  now  running,  and  though  he  at  one  time  lost  heavily  on  account 
of  not  having  ice  in  proper  time,  he  still  has  a  property  valued  at  near 
Si 2,000.  Some  idea  of  the  extent  of  his  business  may  be  gained  when 
it  is  known  that  he  manufactures  from  eighteen  to  nineteen  thousand 
barrels  of  beer  annually, —  his  business  aggregating  about  $18,000  per 
annum.  He  supplies  a  large  part  of  the  home  demand  and  does  some 
shipping.  Should  he  be  as  successful  in  the  future  as  he  has  been  in 
the  past,  he  may  yet  rank  among  the  large  brewers  of  the  west. 

Frield  Miller  &  Son,  Danville,  manufacturers  of  what  is  known  as 
the  Beethoven  organs,  is  one  of  the  most  enterprising  firms  of  the  city. 
Frield  Miller,  the  senior  member  of  the  firm,  is  a  native  of  Baden, 
Germany,  and  in  1830  came  to  the  United  States  with  his  parents,  he 
being  six  years  old.  His  parents  first  located  in  Lebanon  county,  Penn- 
sylvania, where  they  remained  about  seven  years,  and  then  removed  to 
Richland  county,  Ohio.  It  was  there,  while  Mr.  Miller  was  yet  a  boy, 
that  he  received  his  education  at  the  country  schools,  and  was  em- 
ployed for  a  long  time  when  the  feeder  of  the  canal  through  Mercer 
county  was  built,  using  his  earnings  in  the  support  of  his  parents. 
He  has  had  thirty-two  years'  experience  in  the  manufacture  of  organs. 
He  first  learned  the  trade  of  a  wagon-maker,  and  afterward  learned  the 
trade  of  manufacturer  of  organs  in  Williams  county,  Ohio.  From 
there  he  went  to  Canada,  locating  at  Woodstock,  after  having  spent 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  487 

about  three  vears  at  Tillsonburg  in  the  making  of  wagons  and 
carriages.  At  Woodstock  lie  began  the  manufacturing  of  organs,  re- 
maining there  about  eight  years,  when  he  went  to  Toronto,  where  he 
became  a  member  of  a  joint  stock  company  for  about  eighteen  months, 
during  which  time  he  had  charge  of  about  one  hundred  men.  In  1875 
he  came  to  Danville  and  began  the  making  of  the  Beethoven  organ.  At 
this  time  his  son,  J.  M.,  became  a  member  of  the  firm,  the  firm  name 
being  F.  Miller  &  Son.  They  first  began  their  work  in  what  was 
known  as  the  old  Schroder  building,  and  in  1  s 7 < ►  built  their  present 
factory  on  East  Main  street.  Here  they  have  a  capacity  for  manufac- 
turing ten  instruments  per  week.  They  have  in  all  three  different 
styles  of  organs.  Though  they  have  been  here  but  a  few  years,  their 
work  has  already  a  name  and  reputation  ranking  with  old  established 
houses. 

William  J.  Calhoun,  Danville,  attorn ey-at-1  aw,  was  born  in  Pitts- 
burgh, Pennsylvania,  on  the  5th  of  October,  1S47,  and  is  the  son  of 
llobert  and  Sarah  (Knox)  Calhoun.  II  is  mother  was  a  native  of  Penn- 
sylvania, and  his  father  a  native  of  Ireland,  having  emigrated  to  America 
when  he  was  about  ten  years  of  age,  and  engaged  in  the  mercantile  busi- 
ness in  Pittsburgh.  When  Mr.  Calhoun  was  about  two  years  old  he. 
with  his  parents,  moved  to  New  Castle,  Pennsylvania,  and  from  there 
they  moved  to  Mt.  Jackson,  the  same  state.  Here  his  mother  died  in 
1857,  at  about  thirty-two  years  of  age.  1 1  is  father  remarried  to  Mrs.  Sarah 
Taip,  of  New  Brighton,  Pennsylvania.  The  family  then  moved  to  Ohio, 
and  on  a  farm  Mr.  Calhoun  worked  until  18(54,  when  he  entered  the 
late  war  in  the  19th  Ohio  Vol.  Inf..  as  private  in  Co.  B,  for  three  years. 
He  participated  in  a  number  of  very  severe  battles  when  he  was  with 
General  Sherman  on  his  march  to  Atlanta.  He  returned  with  General 
Thomas  to  Nashville.  After  serving  until  the  close  of  the  war  he  was 
mustered  out  at  San  Antonio,  Texas,  and  received  his  final  discharge 
at  Columbus,  Ohio,  December,  1865.  He  then  entered  the  Polland 
Union  Seminary  of  Ohio,  where  he  graduated.  He  then  came  to  Illi- 
nois and  located  in  Areola.  Douglas  county.  Here  he  commenced 
the  studv  of  law  and  entered  the  law  school  of  Chicago.  He  came  to 
Danville  and  entered  the  office  of  J.  I>.  Mann,  Esq.,  and  in  1875  was 
admitted  to  the  Illinois  Bar.  The  same  year  he  entered  as  a  law 
partner  with  J.  B.  Mann,  Esq.,  and  to-day  it  is  the  firm  of  Mann,  Cal- 
houn &  Frazier,  one  of  the  strongest  law  firms  of  this  vicinity.  Mr. 
Calhoun  was  married  in  December,  1876,  to  Miss  Alice  Harmon,  of 
Monroe  county.  New  York,  and  by  this  marriage  they  have  two 
children. 

Joseph  G.  Cannon,  Danville,  banker,  was  born   in  Guilford  county, 


488  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

North  Carolina,  on  the  7th  of  May,  1836,  and  is  the  son  of  Dr.  Horace 
F.  Cannon,  a  native  of  North  Carolina.  When  Mr.  Cannon  was  four 
years  of  age  he,  with  his  parents,  emigrated  west  to  Indiana  and  lo- 
cated in  Annapolis,  Parke  county,  where  his  father  followed  the  prac- 
tice of  medicine  up  to  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1850.  The  subject 
of  our  sketch  received  his  principal  education  at  the  Bloomingdale 
Academy  of  Annapolis,  a  leading  Quaker  school.  At  fifteen  years  of 
age  he  entered  as  clerk  in  a  general  store,  at  Annapolis,  where  he  re- 
mained until  twenty  years  of  age.  He  then  began  the  reading  of  law, 
entering  the  Cincinnati  Law  School,  of  which  he  is  a  graduate.  He 
then  came  to  Illinois,  locating  at  Tuscola,  and  commenced  the  practice 
of  law,  where  he  remained  until  1876.  While  a  resident  of  Tuscola 
he  held  the  office  of  state's  attorney  for  eight  years,  practicing  in  Ford, 
Champaign,  Douglas,  Coles,  Vermilion,  and  Edgar  counties.  In  1872 
he  was  elected  congressman  by  the  republican  party,  and  reelected  in 
1874-76-78.  In  1876  Mr.  Cannon  moved  to  Danville,  which  has  since 
been  his  home.  He  was  married  in  1862  to  Miss  Mary  P.  Reed, 
daughter  of  John  C.  and  Frances  M.  Reed.  By  this  marriage  they 
have  had  three  children. 

George  Kamper,  Danville,  news-dealer  and  stationer,  was  born  in 
the  kingdom  of  Hanover,  Germany,  on  the  28th  of  February,  1854. 
He  came  to  America  in  1868,  and  commenced  his  first  experience  in 
the  news  line  as  newsboy  on  the  Indianapolis  &  St.  Louis  railroad. 
From  that  one  he  has  run  on  most  of  the  principal  railroads  west.  In 
November,  1876,  he  came  to  Danville  and  commenced  his  present  busi- 
ness, and  to-day  he  is  doing  the  leading  business  in  his  line.  He  is  the 
general  agent  for  the  leading  daily  newspapers  of  Chicago,  Indianapolis, 
St.  Louis  and  Cincinnati.  His  sales  in  this  line  have  been  as  high  as 
eight  hundred  and  fifty  daily  papers  in  one  day  in  the  city  of  Danville. 
Mr.  Kamper  has  the  general  run  of  the  daily  papers  from  Chicago  to 
Danville,  furnishing  most  of  the  towns  between  these  two  points. 

Thomas  J.  Elliott,  Danville,  dry-goods  dealer,  is  one  of  Danville's 
enterprising  merchants.  He  was  born  in  Cumberland  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania, in  1829,  and  is  the  son  of  Thomas  and  Elizabeth  (Zeigler)  Elliott, 
of  Pennsylvania.  His  father  was  a  farmer;  Mr.  Elliott  was  brought 
up  on  the  farm.  He  received  a  common-school  education,  and  then 
began  to  teach  school.  At  twenty  years  of  age  he  entered  a  dry-goods 
store  as  clerk.  He  then  came  west  and  located  in  Attica,  Indiana, 
where  he  was  engaged  in  the  dry-goods  business.  From  there  he  went 
to  Indianapolis,  Indiana,  where  he  remained  about  six  months.  He 
then  went  to  Wabash,  Indiana,  when  in  1876  he  came  to  Danville  and 
entered  the  dry-goods  and  notion   business.     He  employs  three  clerks. 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  489 

His  store  is  located  at  No.  70  Main  street.  Mr.  Elliott  was  married  in 
1859,  at  Attica,  Indiana,  to  Miss  Josephine  Hobert,  of  New  York.  By 
this  union  they  have  three  children. 

There  always  seems  to  be  room  in  any  city  for  a  good,  wide-awake 
business  man,  in  whatever  line  of  trade  he  may  choose  to  engage.  A 
practical  demonstration  of  this  fact  has  been  made  by  Mr.  J.  H.  White, 
proprietor  of  the  Danville  Fruit  House.  Some  men  in  engaging  in  a 
business  seem  to  gather  their  ideas  almost  wholly  from  other  dealers  in 
the  same  or  similar  lines  of  business.  This  does  not  seem  to  be  his 
method  of  success,  as  he  is  constantly  on  the  watch  to  add  some  new 
public  want  to  his  already  extensive  business.  When  he  began  business 
in  Danville,  on  the  12th  of  June,  1877,  it  was  in  a  little  cramped-up 
corner  of  his  present  place  of  business,  Nos.  56  and  58  North  Vermilion 
street.  By  good  financiering,  or  a  wonderful  run  of  luck  (a  risky  thing 
to  depend  on),  he  has  gradually  increased  his  business,  until  now  he  is 
doing  both  a  retail  and  wholesale  business  in  oysters,  fruits,  nuts,  con- 
fectionery, etc.  He  is  also  manufacturing  extracts,  baking-powders, 
washing-blue  and  New  York  beer.  During  the  season  he  also  does  a 
commission  business  in  domestic  fruits ;  this,  in  addition  to  a  fine  stock 
of  fancy  groceries,  which  he  also  earries,  makes  up  a  business  of  which 
he,  or  any  other  "White"  man,  ought  to  be  proud.  We  may  also  men- 
tion a  new  $250  steam  peanut-roaster  that  he  has  recently  purchased. 
This  has  proved  to  be  a  curiosity  which  thus  far  has  been  liberally  pat- 
ronized by  all  classes.  Mr.  White  is  a  native  of  Scott  county,  Illinois. 
In  1855  he  went  to  St.  Louis,  and  in  1858  began  boating,  which  he  fol- 
lowed until  1869.  He  then  began  traveling,  remaining  on  the  road 
until  1877,  when  he  came  to  Danville  and  engaged  in  business  as  above 
stated. 

In  speaking  of  the  railroad  men  of  Danville  we  mention  Mr.  D.  G. 
Moore  as  holding  the  most  responsible  position  of  any  of  those  who  are 
residents  of  the  city.  January  1,  1866,  he  first  began  his  railroad  life 
by  entering  the  employment  of  the  C.  B.  &  Q.  K.  Ii.  Company,  at 
Chicago.  In  October  of  the  same  year  he  engaged  with  the  T.  W.  & 
W.  road,  and  has  since  been  connected  with  this  road,  though  the  name 
of  the  line  has  recently  been  changed  to  the  Wabash  Railway.  From 
October,  1866,  to  August  1,  1S77,  he  was  located  at  Springfield,  Illi- 
nois, being  connected  there  with  the  treasury  department.  When  he 
came  to  Danville,  August  1,  1877,  it  was  to  take  charge  of  all  business 
pertaining  to  the  road  at  this  point.  This  being  what  is  known  as  the 
joint  station  between  the  eastern  and  western  divisions  of  the  road,  the 
importance  of  the  work  and  responsibility  connected  therewith  is 
greatly  increased.     Mr.  Moore  has  about  thirty  men  under  his  super- 


490  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

vision,  some  of  whom  are  also  filling  very  important  positions,  though 
the  responsibility  of  all  rests  with  himself.  To  give  a  detailed  history 
of  the  Wabash  road  at  this  point  would  require  too  much  space.  We 
may  add  that  under  Mr.  Moore's  management  the  business  has  been 
done  in  the  best  order  possible,  there  being  few  men  equal  to  him  in 
similar  executive  ability. 

Dr.  H.  H.  Clark,  physician  and  surgeon,  who  has  been  a  resident  of 
Danville  only  since  1877,  has  had  a  very  exciting  and  eventful  life,  and 
to  give  a  complete  history  of  it  would  require  a  book  half  as  large  as 
this  volume.  He  is  a  native  of  Onondaga  county,  New  York.  His 
ancestry  is  French,  though  his  parents  are  natives  of  Massachusetts. 
He  was  eight  years  old  when  his  people  went  to  Walworth  county, 
Wisconsin  ;  he  remained  there  till  fourteen  years  old,  when  he  went  to 
the  city  of  Chicago.  After  leaving  there  he  spent  several  years  in 
travel,  finally  locating  in  Edward sville,  Illinois,  in  1854.  In  1861  he 
entered  the  regular  army,  remaining  in  the  service  for  five  years. 
These  five  years  were  spent  on  post  duty  and  at  the  operating  board 
and  in  the  field  hospital.  These  five  years  of  the  practice  of  surgery 
in  the  army  has  probably  made  Mr.  Clark  more  perfect  in  the  science 
of  surgery  than  any  physician  in  Vermilion  county.  He  resigned  his 
position  of  surgeon  at  Santa  Fe,  New  Mexico,  in  1866,  and  returned 
to  Edwards  countv.  He  was  elected  six  times  coroner  of  that  county, 
and  upon  the  death  of  the  sheriff  filled  that  office  for  a  time.  He  was 
also  examining  surgeon  from  1866  to  February  of  1877,  when  he  re- 
moved to  Danville  where  he  has  since  resided,  giving  his  time  exclu- 
sively to  his  practice.  His  specialty  is  surgery  and  diseases  of  the  eye. 
He  is  also,  at  present,  surgeon  of  the  C.  &  E.  I.  K.  R.  at  this  point. 

The  old  woolen  mill,  now  run  successfully  by  Riggs  and  Menig,  is 
one  of  the  old  landmarks  of  Vermilion  county.  It  was  built  in  1841 
by  Hopson  &  Ailsworth,  and  has  been  through  many  hands  since,  and 
has  undergone  many  changes  of  remodeling.  It  has  been  operated  by 
hand,  water,  and  the  present  method  of  driving  the  machinery  —  steam 
power.  There  is  probably  not  another  manufacturing  establishment 
in  the  county  so  well  known  as  this  one.  It  is  located  on  the  bank  of 
the  north  fork  of  the  Vermilion,  just  above  the  bridge,  and  is  supplied 
with  an  abundance  of  water  for  all  purposes  by  a  series  of  fine  springs 
located  farther  up  the  bluff.  Since  it  has  been  in  the  hands  of  the 
present  firm  they  have  added  the  manufacture  of  soaps;  this  they  have 
also  made  quite  an  extensive  business.  They  have  been  running  the 
mill  since  1877.  In  all  they  give  employment  to  about  ten  men.  Mr. 
F.  Menig,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  is  a  native  of  Bavaria,  Germany, 
where  he  was  born  in  October  of  1840.     In  1857  he  came  to  the  United 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  491 

States  and  began  learning  the  baker's  trade.  In  1858  he  enlisted  in  the 
IT.  S.  regular  army,  Company  C,  4th  artillery ;  here  he  remained  for 
live  years  and  then  was  three  years  in  the  ordinance  department.  Dur- 
ing his  service  as  a  soldier  he  spent  two  and  a  half  years  in  Utah  fight- 
ing Indians.  He  still  has  a  couple  of  scars  to  remember  them  by,  ou 
the  knee  and  head,  where  he  was  wounded  by  arrows.  During  his 
service  he  was,  among  other  battles,  at  Antietam,  the  seven  days'  fight 
and  retreat  at  Richmond,  and  at  the  battle  of  Gettysburg.  He  certainly 
is  entitled  to  a  full  share  of  the  honors  due  the  soldiers  of  our  great 
war.  He  has  had  eleven  years'  experience  in.  his  present  business.  He 
lost  his  right  arm  in  1873  in  this  same  business  in  which  he  was 
engaged  in  Ohio.  His  life  certainly  has  been  a  varied  and  eventful 
one,  though  now  we  find  him  in  a  quiet,  steady  business,  one  of  the 
honored  and  respected  business  men  of  Danville. 

Allen  Cooke,  Danville,  was  born  in  Worcester,  Worcester  county, 
Massachusetts,  on  the  19th  of  September,  1829,  and  is  the  son  of  Wel- 
come B.  Cooke,  of  Massachusetts,  who  was  a  farmer  there.  On  the 
farm  Mr.  Cooke  remained  until  he  was  about  seventeen  years  old. 
From  the  farm  he  entered  the  employ  of  the  Boston  &  Worcester  R. 
R.,  in  the  freight  house,  at  Milford,  Massachusetts,  engaged  in  loading 
freight.  From  that  he  entered  the  engine-house  of  the  same  rail- 
road,  and  from  there  he  entered,  in  1852,  the  employ  of  the  Cleveland 
&  Toledo  R.  R.  In  1853  he  was  made  engineer,  and  ran  on  the  C.  & 
T.  R.  R.  from  1853  to  1859.  He  then  was  appointed  foreman  of  the 
round-house  at  Norwalk,  Ohio,  which  place  he  filled  until  1869.  He 
then  was  made  master  mechanic,  which  position  he  "tilled  but  a  short 
time,  as  the  company  did  not  pay  sufficient  salary.  He  resigned  and 
accepted  a  position  as  master  mechanic  of  the  Atlantic  &  Great  West- 
ern R.  R.,  making  headquarters  at  Galion,  Ohio.  There  he  remained 
in  the  employ  of  this  company  until  1873.  Mr.  Cooke  was  in  the  em- 
ploy of  the  railroads  from  about  1846  till  1873,  a  period  of  twenty- 
seven  years.  His  intentions  were  to  retire  from  railroad  life,  and  he 
went  to  Rhode  Island,  locating  at  Allenville,  and  commenced  the  gro- 
cery business.  Here  he  remained  until  1877,  when  he  came  west  and 
accepted  a  position  with  the  Chicago  &  Eastern  Illinois  R.  R.,  taking 
charge  of  the  engines  and  cars  at  this  place.  This  position  he  has  occu- 
pied ever  since. 

George  Leslie  and  Silas  Black,  natives  of  Belfast,  Ireland,  came  to  this 
country  in  October,  of  1869.  They  first  located  in  Indianapolis,  and 
were  there  engaged  principally  trading  in  real  estate  up  to  1871, 
when  they  removed  to  Brazil,  Clay  county,  Indiana.  There  they  were 
engaged  in  dry-goods  business,  with  a  branch  house  at  Alexandria,  in 


492  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

the  same  county,  where  they  handled  dry  goods,  groceries  and  general 
merchandise,  and  had,  also,  charge  of  the  post-office  at  Alexandria. 
In  these  places  they  did  the  largest  trade  in  the  county  up  to  Septem- 
ber, of  1877,  when  they  felt  compelled  to  look  up  a  location  where 
they  would  have  better  facilities  for  the  extension  of  their  business. 
They  located  here  at  Danville  at  109  and  111  Main  street,  in  the  Gid- 
dings  block,  where  they  were  engaged  in  the  dry-goods  business  exclu- 
sively up  to  March  of  1879,  when  they  took  in  an  additional  room, 
No.  113  Main  street,  in  which  they  put  a  stock  of  groceries.  These 
three  rooms  all  communicate  by  means  of  arches.  Taken  as  a  whole, 
this  business  is  one  of  the  most  extensive  in  the  state  outside  of  Chi- 
cago, doing  a  business  of  over  $65,000  per  year.  Their  parents,  John 
and  M.  E.  Black,  are  natives  of  Belfast.  Mr.  John  Black  engaged 
principally  in  loaning  money,  being  a  member  of  a  loan  fund  society 
of  which  he  has  been  a  director  for  over  thirty  years.  All  the  members 
of  the  firm  of  Black  Brothers  have  had  an  extensive  experience  in 
the  drv-goods  business  in  Belfast.  Silas  Black,  the  junior  member  of 
the  firm,  was  a  student  of  the  Queen's  College,  Belfast,  for  four  years; 
also  of  the  Indiana  Medical  College  and  College  of  Physicians  and 
Surgeons,  of  Indiana,  of  which  latter  he  is  a  graduate,  with  honor,  in 
token  of  which  he  obtained  a  fifty-dollar  gold  medal.  He  is  not  a 
practicing  physician. 

Isaac  Porter,  Danville,  dealer  in  dry-goods  and  notions,  was  born  in 
Vermilion  county,  Indiana,  on  the  13th  of  January,  1833,  and  is  the 
son  of  Judge  John  R.  and  Mary  (Worth)  Porter,  who  were  among  the 
early  settlers  of  Vermilion  county,  Indiana,  having  made  their  home 
there  in  1826.  Judge  John  R.  Porter  was  born  in  Berkshire  county, 
Massachusetts,  on  the  22d  of  February,  1796.  He  entered  Union  Col- 
lege, New  York,  in  1813,  from  which  he  graduated  in  1815,  taking  the 
first  honors  of  his  class.  -.He  then  entered  upon  the  study  of  law,  and 
in  1818  became  a  partner  of  his  preceptor.  The  year  1819  found  him 
on  his  way  to  the  far  west.  Armed  with  letters  of  introduction  to 
Henry  Clay  and  others,  he  landed  in  Louisville,  Kentucky,  in  December, 
1819.  Finding  nothing  to  induce  him  to  remain  there,  he  went  to 
Indiana  and  located  in  Paoli,  Orange  county,  where  he  commenced  the 
practice  of  law.  Soon  after  this  he  made  the  acquaintance  of  Charles 
Dewey  and  others  of  the  bar,  who  became  his  life-long  friends.  Mr. 
Porter  was  commissioned  postmaster  of  Paoli  in  1822.  In  1825  he  was 
appointed  circuit  judge,  and  the  same  year  was  one  of  the  commis- 
sioners to  locate  the  seat  of  justice  of  Fountain  county,  Indiana,  which 
was  formed  from  the  counties  of  Montgomery  and  Wabash.  He  was 
married  on  the  13th  of  November,  1825.  to  Miss  Mary  Worth.     The 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  493 

legislative  changes  of  his  judicial  circuit  were  so  frequent  and  so  great 
that  he  held  courts  during  his  term  of  service  from  the  counties  on  the 
Ohio  river  to  those  of  the  lakes.  In  1832  he  assisted  in  making  a 
treaty  with  the  Indians.  Many  of  the  early  courts  of  Judge  Porter 
were  held  in  private  residences  selected  by  the  legislature.  Judge 
Porter  assisted  in  laying  the  foundation  of  Indiana  jurisprudence.  In 
1833,  by  the  act  of  the  legislature  organizing  the  eighth  judicial  dis- 
trict, he  was  greatly  relieved  by  having  his  circuit  cut  down  to  a  civil- 
ized boundary,  which  gave  him  more  time  to  be  at  home  with  his 
family,  which  he  loved  so  well.  His  term  as  circuit  judge  expired  in 
1837,  and  he  was  afterward  elected  judge  of  the  court  of  common 
pleas  for  the  counties  of  Vermilion  and  Park,  which  office  he  held  at 
the  time  of  his  death,  which  occurred  on  the  23d  of  April,  1853.  Isaac 
Porter,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  during  his  residence  in  Vermilion 
county,  Indiana,  was  one  among  the  most  prominent  citizens  of  the 
county.  In  1860  he  was  elected  sheriff  of  Vermilion  county,  Indiana, 
which  office  he  filled  with  honor  and  credit  for  four  years.  He  was 
married  in  1860  to  Miss  Alice  Millekin,  of  Hamilton,  Butler  county, 
Ohio.  They  have  one  child,  Harry.  Mr.  Porter  moved  to  Danville, 
Illinois,  in  1877,  where  he  commenced  in  the  dry-goods  business,  and 
to-day  ranks  as  one  of  Danville's  leading  business  men. 

The  establishment  recently  conducted  under  the  firm  name  of  Brand 
&  Harper,  dealers  in  millinery  and  notions,  was  founded  in  1878,  and 
is  now  one  of  the  largest,  most  reputable  and  successful  business  houses 
in  the  city,  and  holds  a  position  for  integrity  above  an  average  char- 
acter. William  F.  Brand  has  purchased  Mr.  Harper's  interest,  and  now 
manages  the  business  alone,  having  removed  from  their  old  stand,  50 
Vermilion  street,  to  No.  46  on  the  same  street.  Mr.  Brand  was  born 
in  Germany,  and  having  come  to  America  in  1865,  he  came  west,  and 
located  in  Quincy,  Illinois,  where  he  was  connected  with  a  prominent 
dry-goods  house.  From  there  he  went  to  Spring-Held  and  accepted 
a  similar  position  with  Kimber,  Ragsdale  &  Co.,  filling  the  very  im- 
portant position  of  purchasing  agent.  In  Springfield  he  met  Mr. 
Harper,  who  afterward  became  his  partner.  Mr.  P>rand's  stock  is  the 
largest  and  among  the  finest  in  this  vicinity.  He  employs  some  eight 
hands,  and  the  work  turned  out  of  this  establishment  is  of  a  superior 
quality. 

In  speaking  of  Mr.  J.  S.  Frantz  and  his  business  as  a  druggist,  we 
cannot  give  a  better  idea  of  the  good  taste  and  judgment  he  has  used 
in  fitting  up  his  new  store,  135  East  Main  street,  than  to  repeat  the 
remark  made  by  nearly  every  passer-by,  especially  after  gas-light,  viz: 
"  What  an  elegant  new  drug  store! "    He  has  had  twelve  years'  expert- 


494  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

ence  in  the  drug  trade.  Though  lie  lias  been  engaged  in  the  business 
in  Danville  but  one  year,  yet  in  this  short  time  he  has  become  well 
known,  having  already  established  a  good  trade,  which  bids  fair  to  in- 
crease, now  that  he  has  fitted  up  a  store  that  in  point  of  neatness  is 
equal  to  anything  in  the  west.  Mr.  Frantz  is  a  native  of  Armstrong 
county,  Pennsylvania.  He  came  west  in  1858  and  located  at  Sidney, 
where  he  remained  a  short  time.  In  1801,  at  the  breaking  out  of  the 
rebellion,  he  entered  the  Union  army,  enlisting  in  the  2d  111.  Cav.,  Co. 
T,  three-years  service.  He  participated  in  many  of  the  heavy  battles, 
among  which  may  be  mentioned  the  battles  of  Bolivar,  Holly  Springs, 
Baker's  Creek,  Jackson,  Mississippi,  the  Black  Hills  fight  and  the  Red 
River  campaign  of  forty  days.  He  was  in  the  service  three  years  and 
three  months,  being  mustered  out  at  Springfield,  Illinois.  After  the 
war  he  located  at  Homer,  Illinois,  and  came  to  Danville,  as  above  stated. 

Prof.  A.  B.  Chilcoat  was  born  in  Huntingdon  comity,  Pennsylvania. 
He  came  to  Ohio  when  he  was  but  a  year  old,  and  here  received  a 
common-school  education.  In  1861  he  came  to  Illinois,  and  located  in 
Paris,  Edgar  county.  In  1872  he  graduated  at  Duff's  Mercantile 
Business  College,  of  Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania.  He  has  taught  school 
some  eleven  years.  Prof.  E.  Chilcoat  was  born  in  Ohio,  and  is  a 
graduate  of  one  of  the  leading  colleges  of  that  state.  Pie  has  taught 
school  for  a  number  of  years.  In  1878  these  gentlemen  came  to  Dan- 
ville and  commenced  their  present  school,  which  is  in  a  very  nourishing 
condition,  and  has  fair  prospects  of  becoming  one  of  the  leading  insti- 
tutions of  learning  in  this  vicinity. 

William  Hoi  burn,  foreman  of  Stewart's  foundry  and  machine  shops, 
Danville,  is  a  native  of  Ayrshire,  Scotland.  He  has  had  about  eighteen 
years'  experience  in  his  business,  serving  first  a  five  years'  apprentice- 
ship in  Scotland.  Coming  to  the  United  States  in  1868,  he  spent  three 
years  in  Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania,  and  then  went  to  Port  Wayne, 
Indiana,  where  he  spent  about  the  same  length  of  time;  thence  to 
Lafayette,  where  he  was  also  about  three  years.  He  then  returned  to 
Fort  Wayne  for  about  a  year  and  a  half,  and  in  March  of  1879  accepted 
his  present  position  in  Danville.  He  now  has  about  eighteen  men 
under  his  charge,  and  has  thus  far  conducted  the  business  to  the  satis- 
faction of  his  employer. 

Charley  Kaufmann,  Danville,  clothing,  or  better  known  as  Cheap 
Charley,  has  probably  established  himself  in  business  and  made  his 
name  familiar  to  the  people  of  Vermilion  county  in  a  shorter  time  than 
any  business  man  who  ever  attempted  to  do  business  in  the  city. 
The  establishment,  of  which  he  is  manager,  is  a  branch  of  an  extensive 
manufacturing  house  of   Chicago,  known  as  Kaufmann  &  Bachroch, 


DANVILLE   TOWNSHIP.  495 

they  having  in  all  about  fifteen  different  stores,  located  in  Illinois, 
Michigan,  Minnesota,  Indiana,  Kansas  and  Missouri.  They  employ 
about  seventy  clerks  and  managers.  The  advantage  of  these  branch 
houses  may  readily  be  seen  when  it  is  known  that  goods  are  bought  by 
the  firm  direct  from  the  manufacturers  and  made  into  clothing  and  sup- 
plied to  the  different  stores,  as  needed,  at  much  less  cost  than  other  firms 
are  able  to  buy  the  same  quality  of  goods.  Their  establishment  in  Dan- 
ville was  opened  by  Cheap  Charley  on  the  15th  of  March,  1879.  He 
is  a  native  of  Germany.  There  he  received  a  liberal  education,  on 
account  of  which  he  was  exempt  from  all  but  one  year  of  military 
service,  instead  of  three  years,  as  was  the  law.  His  brother,  who  is 
now  in  Chicago,  has  resided  there  for  fifteen  years,  and  was  superin- 
tendent of  the  German  Aid  Society  during  the  fire  of  1871.  Though 
Cheap  Charley  has  been  a  resident  of  the  United  States  only  since  1878, 
he  has  already  become  so  well  acquainted  with  the  customs  of  the 
people  as  to  be  a  successful  business  man,  as  has  already  been  proven  by 
his  success  in  the  city  of  Danville,  there  being  already  no  name  more 
familiar  to  the  people  than  that  of  Cheap  Charley. 

The  first  institution  of  importance  to  point  out  to  the  traveling  pub- 
lic is  a  good  hotel,  at  which  to  stop  and  refresh,  satisfactorily,  the  wants 
of  the  inner  man,  and  this  can  conscientiously  be  said  in  naming  the 
iEtna  House.  Before  reopening  the  JEtna  there  was  expended  a  large 
amount  of  money  in  furnishing,  all  of  which  has  been  recently  newly 
furnished  and  the  whole  interior  renovated,  giving  to  the  hotel  a  very 
home-like  and  cheerful  appearance.  Mr.  W.  G.  Sherman,  the  present 
"mine  host,"  was  born  in  Baltimore,  Maryland,  in  1810.  He  com- 
menced life  by  clerking  in  a  grocery  house.  From  there  he  became 
partner  in  one  of  the  leading  wholesale  grocery  houses  of  Evansville, 
Indiana,  where  he  remained  until  18G6,  when  he  went  to  Chicago  and 
entered  the  hotel  business  by  taking  charge  of  the  Metropolitan  Hotel. 
From  there  he  removed  to  the  St.  James  Hotel,  of  the  same  city, 
where  he  formed  a  great  many  acquaintances  and  made  a  host  of 
friends.  In  1871  he  went  to  Grand  Haven,  Michigan,  where  he  was 
engaged  in  conducting  two  first-class  hotels,  the  Cutler  and  Kirby 
houses.  These  hotels  have  a  wide  reputation  of  being  among  the  first 
hotels  of  Michigan.  Mr.  Sherman  remained  at  Grand  Haven  until 
1877,  when  he  went  to  Indianapolis  and  took  charge  of  the  Grand 
Hotel,  the  leading  first  class  house  of  that  city,  where  he  remained 
about  nine  months,  when  he  came  to  Danville,  and  in  July,  1879,  he 
took  charge  of  the  /Etna  House.  This  is  the  most  centrally  located 
hotel  in  Danville,  and  is  surrounded  by  beautiful  shade  trees,  and  con- 
tains the  greatest  number  of  outside  cool  and  pleasant  rooms  of  any 


496  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

hotel  in  the  city.  It  is  just  the  place  to  spend  your  Sundays.  Mr.  W. 
G.  Elliott,  recently  of  the  Grand  Hotel,  Indianapolis,  and  the  Arlington, 
of  Danville,  and  Mr.  Charley  Parker,  are  the  accommodating  clerks. 
Mr.  Sherman  was  for  a  short  time  connected  with  the  St.  James,  of 
this  city.  These  gentlemen  have  made  many  friends  by  their  uniform 
kindness  and  pleasant  manners. 

William  P.  Black,  lawyer,  Chicago,  was  born  in  Smithland,  Ken- 
tucky, on  the  11th  of  November,  1842,  and  is  the  son  of  Rev.  John 
and  Josephine  L.  (Culbertson)  Black.  His  father  was  a  Presbyterian 
minister;  he  died  at  thirty-seven  years  of  age  in  1847,  in  Alleghany 
City,  Pennsylvania,  at  which  time  he  was  pastor  of  the  Second  Presby- 
terian Church  at  that  place.  In  1847  the  mother  of  Mr.  Black,  with  a 
family  of  four  children,  came  to  Danville,  Illinois.  In  1860  the  sub- 
ject of  this  sketch  entered  the  Wabash  College  at  Craw  ford  svi  He,  Indi- 
ana, but  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  interrupted  the  collegiate  course, 
never  to  be  resumed.  On  April  15,  1861,  Mr.  Black  enlisted  with 
about  forty  others  of  the  students  of  the  college,  including  his  only 
brother,  as  a  private  soldier  in  Co.  I,  11th  Ind.  Zouaves,  commanded 
by  Colonel  (afterward  Major-General)  Lew  Wallace.  He  was  mus- 
tered out  a  corporal,  and  at  once  engaged  in  assisting  in  the  work 
of  recruiting  a  company  in  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  for  the  three- 
years  service,  of  which  company  he  was  elected  captain,  and  with 
which,  as  its  captain,  he  was  mustered  into  the  service  as  Co.  K,  37th 
111.  Vol.  Inf.,  a  history  of  which  appears  in  this  work  ;  his  commis- 
sion as  captain,  dated  September  1,  1861,  being  received  before  he 
had  reached  his  nineteenth  birthday.  This  position  he  filled  faithfully 
for  over  three  years, —  sharing  with  his  regiment  in  its  marches,  skir- 
mishes and  battles,  chief  among  which  may  be  mentioned  Pea  Ridge, 
Prairie  Grove  and  siege  of  Vicksburg,  in  the  latter  part  of  which  Cap- 
tain Black  held  the  responsible  and  most  dangerous  position  of  brigade 
picket  officer, —  having  charge  of  the  rifle-pits  of  his  brigade,  the  occu- 
pation of  Texas,  and  the  observation  of  the  empire  of  Maximilian. 
Captain  Black  returned  to  Danville,  Illinois.  In  the  fall  of  1865  he 
commenced  the  study  of  law  in  the  office  of  Arrington  &  White,  in 
Chicago;  he  was,  in  about  sixteen  months  thereafter,  admitted  to  prac- 
tice. He  returned  to  Danville,  where  he  remained  for  only  a  year  en- 
gaged at  his  chosen  profession.  In  March,  1868,  he  returned  to  Chicago 
and  formed  a  partnership  with  Mr.  Thomas  Dent,  which  has  since  con- 
tinued. These  gentlemen  have  secured  one  of  the  largest  and  most 
respectable  clientages  in  their  city.  Captain  Black,  in  his  political 
views,  is  an  Independent ;  he  is  a  member  of  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  of  Chicago.     Mr.  Black  was  married  May  28,  1869,  to  Miss 


; 


: 


s/ 


a^^c^/n&y, 


D  A  N  V  ILLE 


GEORGETOWN    TOWNSHIP.  491 


Hortensia  M.  MacGreal,  of  Galveston,  Texas.  She  is  the  eldest  daugh- 
ter of  the  late  Peter  MacGreal,  who  was  one  of  the  leading  lawyers  of 
the  Empire  State  of  the  southwest. 


GEORGETOWN    TOWNSHIP. 

Georgetown  township  lies  in  that  portion  of  the  county  which  is 
south  and  east  of  the  center.  It  is  in  the  second  tier  of  townships  from 
the  south  boundary  line  of  the  county,  and  has  the  Indiana  state  line 
on  its  eastern  border.  It  embraces  all  of  congressional  township  18 
north,  range  11  west,  and  the  fraction  of  18-10  which  lies  between  the 
former  and  the  state  line,  and  six  sections  in  the  southeast  corner  of 
18-12.  The  Yermilion  River  runs  across  its  northeastern  corner  for 
about  five  miles,  and  so  deep  down  is  its  bed  that  the  surrounding 
country  is  easily  and  perfectly  drained  into  it.  The  Little  Vermilion 
makes  a  short  turn  into  its  southern  border,  running  through  sections 
33  and  34.  The  "State  Road,"  from  Vincennes  to  Chicago,  runs 
across  the  township,  and  the  "Salt-works  Road,"  on  which  the  products 
of  the  salt  springs  were  carried  into  eastern  Indiana  (long  before  com- 
mercial intercourse  had  become  so  perfected  that  salt,  boiled  at  Syra- 
cuse, could  be  transported  to  Danville  and  sold  cheaper  than  it  could 
be  made  here),  ran  diagonally  across  it.  The  Danville  &  Southwestern 
railroad  runs  through  the  town  almost  parallel  with  the  "  State  Road," 
and  has  on  it  the  two  stations  of  Georgetown  and  Westville. 

The  township  was  originally  nearly  all  timber,  there  being  only 
about  one-third  of  it  along  its  western  border  and  in  its  center,  which 
was  prairie.  Some  of  the  earliest  settlements  in  the  count}7  were  made 
within  its  borders,  and  considerable  farms  were  cleared  before  people 
learned  that  they  could  live  on  the  prairie.  Coal  is  known  to  be  un- 
der pretty  much  all  of  the  territory  comprising  this  town  ;  and  along 
the  streams  which  flow  into  the  Yermilion,  its  outcroppings  have  been 
freely  worked.  It  was  one  of  the  tirst  to  be  generally  settled  ;  the 
abundance  of  its  timber,  the  water  supply,  the  general  make  of  the  land, 
and  its  proximity  to  the  salt-works, —  which  was  the  center  of  settle- 
ment at  that  day, — drew  to  it  those  who  first  came  to  the  county  to 
make  their  pioneer  homes. 

The  first  one  to  make  a  home  here  was  Henry  Johnson,  who  settled 
on  section  36  (18-12),  just  two  miles  west  of  the  village  of  George- 
town, in  1820.     It  was  the  same  year  in  which  Butler  made  his  home  at 

Butler's   Point,  and  Seymour  Treat   at  the  salt-works.     These  three 
32 


}'.)S  HISTORY    OF   VEEMILION   COUNTY. 

worthies  were  the  pioneers  of  this  county,  and  were  here  at  nearly  the 
same  date.  Mr.  Johnson  has  been  long  gone  from  here,  but  he  is 
remembered  as  a  man  of  generous  impulses,  and  as  a  neighbor  was 
little,  if  any,  less  than  a  "Good  Samaritan."  It  is  told  of  him  (and 
in  the  light  of  the  present  day  it  seems  hard  to  believe)  that  he  would 
not  take  interest  of  his  neighbors  to  whom  he  loaned  money  for  a  time, 
simply  because  he  did  not  believe  it  was  right  to  do  it.  Very  soon 
after  him  came  his  brother-in-law,  Absalom  Starr,  who  took  up  his 
claim  the  following  year,  1821,  on  the  same  section,  south  of  Johnson's, 
where  the  then  Mrs.  Starr  (now  Mrs.  Jones)  yet  resides.  For  fifty- 
eight  years  this  good  woman  has  lived  here,  performing  all  the  arduous 
duties  which  mothers  in  the  pioneer  days  were  called  on  to  do,  and  has 
seen  the  wild  home  of  the  red  man  converted  into  the  busy  abode  of 
progressive  civilization.  Without  seeming  to  realize  it,  she  is  now  a 
wonder  and  a  surprise,  and  is  to-day  the  oldest  living  resident  of  Ver- 
milion county,  the  story  of  whose  life,  trials,  labors,  triumphs  and  good 
deeds  would  make  of  itself  a  volume  of  fair  proportions  and  enduring 
interest. 

Henry  Johnson,  Mr.  Starr,  Jotham  Lyons  and  John  Jordan,  all 
settled  near  each  other,  and  their  several  histories  are,  when  put  to- 
gether, so  near  a  history  of  those  times,  that  they  will  be  grouped 
together  here.  Mr.  Johnson,  after  living  here  about  twelve  or  four- 
teen  years,  sold  to  Levy  Long  and  went  farther  west.  He  purchased 
a  tine  farm  on  what  was  known  back  in  the  thirties  as  the  "  Military 
Tract," — though  that  name  has  largely  passed  out  of  memory  now, — 
that  productive  and  beautiful  region  of  country  between  the  Illinois 
and  Mississippi  rivers.  Here  he  was  making  a  good  farm,  when  it 
was  discovered  that  his  title  was  worthless,  and  like  so  many  others  of 
his  neighbors  there,  this  kind,  generous  man,  was  rendered  penniless 
by  the  fraud  of  those  land-sharks  who  gave  the  people  of  that  beautiful 
tract  so  much  trouble  in  the  early  days,  by  forged  land  titles.  His 
place  here  was  for  a  long  time  known  as  "Johnson's  Point."  John 
Jordan  had  his  farm  where  John  Jones  now  lives,  east  of  the  others. 
He  was  a  good  farmer,  but  his  weakness  was  his  generous  desire  to 
help  others.  "Security"  ruined  him.  Jotham  Lyons  took  land  just 
west  of  Johnson's  where  Cooper  now  lives.  "  Lncle  Jackey  McDow- 
ell "  says  that  "  fifty-six  years  ago  this  summer  he  tended  corn  on  that 
farm,"  and  he  thinks  it  has  never  failed  to  produce  a  crop  in  its  season 
from  that  time  to  this.  Lyons  died  here  and  his  children  were  scat- 
tered from  Wisconsin  to  Texas.  Absalom  Starr  came  here  from  Pal- 
estine, where  the  land-office  was  located,  before  it  was  moved  to  Dan- 
ville, in  the  spring  of  1821,  and  selected  the  piece  of  land  which  he 


GEORGETOWN"   TOWNSHIP.  499 

thought  he  wanted.     He  remained  on  the  farm  at  Palestine  during  the 
season  of  21,  and  raised  corn  and  wheat  enough  to  keep  him  in  meal 
and  flour  for  a  year.    This  was,  coming  into  a  new  country,  "  pretty  well 
fixed,"  for  few  of  the  pioneers  were  so  well  off.     He  sold  his  lease  and 
came  here  in  December,  built  a  little  cabin,  and  with  his  wife  and  four 
children  commenced  life  in  his  own  house.     Things  looked  bright  for 
the  young  family,  and  why  should  they  not? — a  little  place  of  their  own  ; 
four  bright  growing  children  which  would  soon  be  their  help;  flour 
and  meal  enough  for  a  year;  a  good  yoke  of  steers;  good  health  and 
clear  consciences  were  theirs;  surely,  "  goodness  and  mercy  had  followed 
them,"  and  they  felt  it.     During  that  first  winter,  while  Mr.  Starr  was 
out  on  a  coon  hunt,  his  shoe  hurt  his  heel,  and  after  trying  ineffectu- 
ally for  some  time  to  cure  the  troubled  spot,  to  their  great  sorrow  they 
learned  that  a  cancer  was  working  rapidly  on  him.     Doctors  were  not 
as  "  thick  as  blackberries"  around  here  then,  and  the  frightened  couple 
whose  prospects  a  few  weeks  before  looked  so  bright,  went  back  to 
Palestine  for  medical  aid.     The  doctor  there  agreed  to  warrant  a  radi- 
cal, permanent  cure  for  $50,  casually  remarking  in  an  undertone,  some- 
thing about  cutting  off  the   limb  if  other  powerful    remedies  failed. 
This  kind  of  "  heroic"  treatment  was  not  exactly  in  keeping  with  Mrs. 
Starr's  wishes  in  behalf  of  her  husband,  and  being  short  of  the  $50  they 
decided  not  to  employ  this  doctor.     With   sinking  hearts  they  went 
back  to  their  little  home,  where  deep  sorrow  and  fearful   forebodings 
took  possession,  where  shortly  before  all  was  joy  and  hope.     Oh  !  who 
can  now  imagine  the  keen  anguish  that  filled  the  soul  of  that  brave, 
faithful  wife  and  mother!  with  a  helpless  husband  and  four  children 
too  small  to  help  her;  the  only  growing  crop  upon  which  to  depend 
for  another  year  was  her  little  garden  and  two  acres  of  corn  which  she 
planted,  after  plowing  the  new  land  with  one  horse,  in  momeuts  stolen 
from  her  hours  of  rest, —  alone  out  there  in  the  woods,  far  away  from 
family  and  friends  who  might  have  consoled  or  comforted  her.     It  was 
then  that  the  goodness  of  Henry  Johnson  showed  itself.     He  gave 
them  two  acres  of  his  cornfield,  and  they  felt  assured  against  starva- 
tion. 

Mrs.  Starr  heard  of  an  old  Indian  doctor  whose  reputation  was 
above  cutting  off  a  man's  best  leg  to  cure  his  heel,  and  hunted  him  up. 
He  could  not  talk  English,  but  indicated  plainly  that  he  understood 
what  the  trouble  was,  and  went  oft"  to  the  Vermilion  River,  about  seven 
miles  away,  and  collected  some  herbs,  which  soon  had  the  effect  to 
cure  the  troublesome  disease.  The  Indian  called  himself  "Old  Bona- 
parte's Indian,"  and  that  was  the  name  he  went  by.  It  was  generally 
understood  that  he  had  assumed  the  name  from  a  kind  of  admiration 


500  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

of  the  military  renown  of  the  man  who  was  so  famous  about  those 
times. 

Mrs.  Starr  was  the  mother  of  eleven  children,  most  of  whom  grew 
up.  After  Mr.  Starr's  death,  Mrs.  S.  became  Mrs.  Jones,  and  resides 
in  the  large  brick  house  on  the  land  which  she  first  helped  get  into 
cultivation. 

Achilles  Morgan  became  a  resident  of  this  township  as  early  as  1825. 
He  lived  where  Joseph  Stewart  resides,  on  section  15.  and  was  from 
the  first  recognized  as  one  of  the  leading  men  in  the  county.  He  was 
one  of  the  first  county  commissioners,  and  with  Mr.  Butler,  organized 
the  first  county  commissioners'  court  at  Butler's  Point,  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  Amos  Williams  as  clerk,  and  Charles  Martin,  constable,  in 
March,  1S26.  His  family  had  been  a  famous  one  in  Virginia,  and  were 
known  as  great  Indian  fighters.  The  traits  which  had  made  the  family 
prominent  there  were  not  wanting  in  him,  and  it  is  more  than  likely 
that  the  name  given  him  was  the  selection  of  some  one  who  intended 
to  perpetuate  the  direful  recollections  of  "Achilles  wrath:" 

"Achilles  wrath,  to  Greece  the  direful  spring 

Of  woes  unnumbered,  heavenly  goddess  sing! 

That  wrath  which  hurled  to  Pluto's  gloomy  reign 

The  souls  of  mighty  chiefs  untimely  slain: 

Whose  limbs,  unburied  on  the  naked  shore, 

Devouring  dogs  and  hungry  vultures  tore : 

Since  great  Achilles  and  Atrides  strove, 

Such  was  the  sovereign  doom,  and  such  the  wdl  of  Jove." 

— Iliad,  Book  I. 

Some  of  the  earlier  settlers  here  and  in  the  township  south  were  the 
Friends,  who  were  driven  from  their  homes  in  East  Tennessee  and  the 
Carolinas  by  the  firm  position  which  the  society  had  taken  against  the 
institution  of  slavery.  For  more  than  a  century  this  religious  society 
has,  by  its  discipline,  its  firm  protests  and  its  silent  but  effectual  prayers, 
been  a  standing  menace  to  human  slavery,  and  the  spirit  of  that  church 
did  much  to  crystallize  the  moral  sentiment  of  Christendom  against  the 
abominations  that  were  clustered  around  that  relic  of  barbarism. 
These  worthy  people  came  here  to  be  away  from  the  blighting  influ- 
ences and  associations  of  the  institution.  They  brought  their  religion 
with  them,  and  their  daily  lives  and  history  here  have  been  a  living 
exemplification  of  gospel  truth.  The  Haworths,  the  Hendersons,  the 
Canada}^,  the  Mendenhalls,  the  Newlins,  the  Folgers,  the  Fletchers, 
and  many  others  of  those  who  have  passed  away,  as  well  as  those  who 
still  remain,  have  given  character  to  the  community  and  worth  to  the 
township.  The  strong  traits  of  character  which  have  made  them  a 
peculiar  people  remain  a  rich  legacy  to  this  portion  of  the  county. 


GEORGETOWN    TOWNSHIP.  .r>0l 

The  settlements  in  and  about  Brooks'  Point  were  made  anion e  the 
earliest  in  the  town.  Benjamin  Brooks  came  from  Indiana  and  looked 
out  the  place  on  what  is  called  the  Spencer  farm,  now  owned  by 
Mr.  English,  and  made  claim  to  it.  He  went  back  to  Indiana,  and 
before  he  returned  here  Spencer  had  taken  the  land,  and  Benjamin 
Canaday  gave  him  the  claim  at  the  point  of  timber,  which  from  that 
time  was  known  by  his  name.  Bob  Cotton  and  Mr.  O'Neal  had  moved  in 
in  the  meantime,  and  made  quite  a  little  neighborhood.  It  was  here 
that  James  O'Neal  was  born, — probably  the  first  white  boy  born  in  the 
county, — in  1822.  Mr.  Brooks  died  here  and  left  five  children.  His 
son  Benjamin,  who  was  two  or  three  years  old  when  he  came  here, 
resides  now  in  Danville  township,  and  John  lives  in  Oatlin. 

James  Stevens  came  from  Indiana  in  1826,  and  bought  a  claim  which 
Mr.  Crane  had  taken  on  section  9.  He  died  in  1876.  His  son  James 
H.  lives  yet  on  the  same  section.  H.  P.  Stevens  lives  on  the  old 
homestead,  and  William  I.  on  section  7.  Mr.  Crane  had  been  here 
about  two  years. 

James  Waters,  who  came  here  in  1S32,  lives  here  yet,  on  a  farm  in 
section  8.  Though  now  eighty  years  old,  he  is  still  able  to  attend  to 
his  work.  He  looks  as  though  he  would  outlast  his  hat  yet.  His  wife 
died  three  years  ago.  His  father  came  here  to  live  at  about  the  same 
date. 

Isaac  Gones  came  here  about  1825.  John  L.  Sconce  came  here  from 
Kentucky  and  settled  in  the  same  neighborhood.  He  also  died  in  1876. 
His  son  Philemon  lives  near  here,  and  John  L.  at  Eugene,  Indiana. 
John  and  James  Black  came  at  the  same  time  from  Kentucky,  and 
settled  on  sections  1  and  5.  They  are  both  dead.  James  left  no  chil- 
dren. John's  son  Robert  lives  just  east  of  where  his  father  settled, 
and  Samuel  in  Catlin.  Mrs.  Lockett  lives  in  Catlin  and  Mrs.  Eli  Hen- 
derson in  Georgetown. 

John  Cage  and  O.  S.  and  L.  II.  Graves,  from  Kentucky,  with  their 
father,  James  Graves,  made  homes  on  sections  17  and  18  about  1828. 
They  have  been  prosperous  farmers  and  useful,  enterprising  citizens. 

James  Sandusky  resides  on  section  9,  where  his  father,  Isaac,  first 
took  a  claim  when  he  came  to  this  state  from  Kentucky.  Isaac  had 
been  in  the  war  of  1812,  and  had  been  taken  prisoner  at  Hull's  sur- 
render, and  escaping  from  captivity,  he  made  his  way  back  to  Kentucky 
through  this  region  of  the  country.  He  decided  then,  standing  on  the 
mound  at  Catlin  village  and  viewing  the  landscape  o'er,  to  some  day 
own  an  eighty,  or  at  least  a  forty,  on  that  beautiful  prairie.  In  1828, 
in  pursuance  of  this  decision,  he  came  here  and  made  his  home  first  at 
Brooks'  Point.     He  was  a  man  of  energv  and  thrift,  and  soon  had  land 


.">02  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

enough  to  satisfy  his  youthful  aspirations,  but  not  enough  to  give  homes 
to  his  seven  children.  lie  left  James  here  and  went  himself  to  the 
mound  at  Catlin,  where  he  and  his  sons  Harvey  and  Josiah  bought 
pretty  much  all  the  land  lying  around  Butler's  Point.  At  one  time  it 
became  something  of  a  question  whether  he  or  Henry  Jones  should 
own  the  township.  James  Sandusky  has  ten  children,  eight  of  whom 
live  here  with  him  on  the  farm. 

South  of  this  Brooks'  Point  neighborhood,  Subel  Ellis  was  anions; 
the  first  to  make  a  farm.  He  was  on  section  29,  and  died  there,  leaving 
a  son  and  four  daughters,  who  remained  here  some  time,  and  Mrs.  Dukes 
lives  here  yet.  Achilles  Morgan  lived  three  miles  east  of  this  for  a 
while  before  going  to  Danville.  James  Ogden  lived  south  of  Morgan's 
and  had  a  considerable  farm  there.  John  and  Lewis  Hitter  were  in  this 
neighborhood,  then  called  Morgan's,  but  since  known  as  McKendry. 
Lewis  died  here,  and  Mr.  Calhoun  bought  his  land.  John  went  to 
Texas. 

Jacob  Brazelton  was  in  just  north  of  them  very  early,  and  w7as  the 
first  justice  of  the  peace  in  this  part  of  the  county.  He  is  spoken  of 
as  a  man  of  excellent  character,  and  was  everywhere  respected. 

Joseph  and  Abraham  Smith  came  as  early  as  1828,  and  lived  on  the 
edge  of  the  timber  wrest  of  Brazelton's.  Abraham  went  to  Indiana, 
Joseph  died  here,  and  his  children,  W.  D.  and  J.  L.  Smith,  Mrs.  Ganse, 
Mrs.  Reynolds  and  Mrs.  Spicer,  live  here  yet. 

The  Pribbles,  Mr.  Foley  and  Mr.  Dickason  entered  land  near  here 
as  early  as  1828  or  '9.  Over  east  of  the  river,  and  near  the  Indiana 
line,  James  Niccum  and  Donavan  lived. 

The  old  salt-works  road  ran  nearly  diagonally  across  the  township, 
striking  the  township  line  near  the  present  residence  of  Mr.  Alexander 
Campbell.  Mr.  Stark  first  settled  this  place  about  1828.  He  died 
there  in  1850.  His  daughter,  Mrs.  Smith,  lives  near  by  in  Elwood 
township.  Mr.  Campbell's  first  residence  was  farther  down,  in  Elwood 
township.  The  farm  upon  which  he  lives,  in  section  36,  is  one  of  the 
finest  in  the  township.  Farther  west  Mrs.  Davis  settled  early  with 
several  children,  where  Win.  Davis's  widow  still  lives.  Mr.  Lacey  lived 
next  west.  He  sold  to  Henthorn.  Wm,  Moore  lives  on  the  place  next 
northwest,  where  A.  J.  Richardson  now  lives.  Mr.  Denio  took  up  land, 
and  Cyrus  Douglas,  who  now  lives  in  Fairmount,  entered  land  near 
here.     Mr.  Denio  sold  to  Mr.  Williams,  and  he  to  Malon  Haworth. 

James  Pribble  entered  land  next  along  this  road.  He  is  dead,  and 
Thomas  Pribble  lives  on  the  place.  Daniel  Darby  lived  near  here,  and 
had  a  wagon  shop.  He  went  to  Missouri,  and  Mr.  Jeffries  has  the 
land.     Wm.  Haworth  lived  half  a  mile  farther  north.     Mr.  Stowers 


GEORGETOWN   TOWNSHIP.  503 

lived  earlv  where  H.  Yoho  lives.  Moses  Scott  was  one  of  the  earliest 
settlers  near  Brooks'  Point.  He  died  there,  and  his  family  went  to 
Iowa.     The  Dukes  boys  live  there,  John  on  the  Brooks  land. 

John  Kyger  and  Win.  Sheets  came  to  the  Little  Vermilion  in  1833, 
and  in  1835  came  to  this  neighborhood  to  live.  Mr.  Kyger  bought 
land  of  James  Sprawls,  Mr.  Kirkpatrick,  David  Wand  and  Mr.  Lemley. 
Since  that  time  he  has  been  an  honored  resident  of  this  township,  ful- 
filling every  duty  to  his  family,  to  the  church  of  which  he  is  a  member, 
and  to  society.  As  old  age  is  coming  on  him,  surrounded  by  beloved 
children  and  grandchildren,  he  feels  the  rewards  of  his  early  years  of 
trial  and  privation.  He  lives  now  with  his  son-in-law,  Levi  Under- 
wood, just  east  of  McKendry  church.  Age  is  never  looked  forward  to 
with  the  pleasantest  feelings;  but  there  is  a  pleasant  side  to  it  when, 
as  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Kyger,  we  see  it  made  happy  by  the  smiling  faces 
of  bright  little  ones,  who  love  and  revere  him  who  possesses  its  silvery 
insignia. 

Wm.  Sheets,  till  his  death,  lived  on  the  beautiful  farm  which  he 
purchased  of  Mr.  Hitter,  or,  rather,  the  one  his  labor  and  excellent 
taste  has  made  beautiful,  an  honored  and  respected  citizen,  beloved  and 
admired  by  every  one  who  has  known  him.  It  gives  us  great  pleasure, 
as  it  doubtless  will  our  readers,  to  be  able  to  present  the  portraits  of 
these  two  worthy  old  pioneers.  Near  Mr.  Kyger,  on  the  farm  just 
north,  lives  Andy  Reynolds,  now  well  advanced  in  years.  He  came 
to  this  county  a  poor  orphan  boy,  more  than  fifty  years  ago,  and  lived 
for  several  years  in  Catlin,  where  his  youthful  days,  which  under 
brighter  circumstances  would  have  been  spent  in  school,  were  given  to 
earning  enough  to  keep  him  clothed  in  winter.  He  has  now  one  of 
the  pleasantest  homes  in  town,  where  he  delights  to  dispense  cheerful 
hospitality  in  his  happy  way.  ( >ne  of  the  earliest  of  his  recollections 
is  standing  on  the  mound  in  Catlin  a  cold  winter  day  to  see  a  wolf 
hunt  on  the  surrounding  prairie.  He  had  grubbed  roots  in  the  timber 
so  long  that  he  thought  a  prairie  could  only  be  of  value  as  a  place  to 
have  grand  wolf  hunts  on. 

George  Nelson  lived  early  just  north  of  him  near  Brazelton's.  He 
went  to  Indiana.  Moses  Darby  was  another  early  settler  in  here. 
Aaron  Howard  settled  first  in  this  county  north  of  Danville;  but  milk 
sickness  drove  him  out,  and  he  bought  a  portion  of  the  Brazelton  land 
in  section  15,  on  Big  Branch,  where  he  engaged  in  coal  mining  and 
farming.  His  son  Henrv  still  lives  on  the  farm.  Elwood  Bates  took 
up  a  farm  on  section  30  as  early  as  1830. 

Georgetown  has  supplied  the  county  with  many  of  her  officials,  and 
has  been  extremelv  fortunate  in   giving  to  official   life  men  not  to  be 


504  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

•ashainecl  of.  Achilles  Morgan  was  the  first  county  commissioner,  and 
helped  very  materially  in  putting  the  machinery  of  county  organiza- 
tion into  operation.  Old  citizens  will  not  forget  Hiram  Hickman,  who 
kept  tavern  here  so  long,  and  who  had  the  repeated  close  contests  with 
Captain  Frazier  for  the  office  of  sheriff,  in  which  he  was  finally  suc- 
cessful. Elam  Henderson  was  also  a  county  commissioner  and  an  asso- 
ciate justice.  George  Dillon,  after  a  faithful  service  in  the  army,  in 
which  he  lost  an  arm  by  rebel  bullets,  was  elected  circuit  clerk,  an 
office  he  still  fills  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  the  bar  and  the  people. 
Rawley  Martin,  another  grandson  of  Achilles  Morgan,  after  having 
preached  the  gospel  far  and  near,  organizing  churches,  and  filling  the 
vacant  pulpits  of  his  denomination,  was  elected  county  treasurer,  and 
performed  the  duties  in  a  very  acceptable  way  to  the  citizens  whose 
servant  he  was. 

Rawley  M.  Martin  was  born  in  what  was  then  Monongalia  county, 
Virginia,  on  the  27th  of  February,  1816,  came  to  Vermilion  county 
with  his  parents  in  1820,  and  settled  near  Georgetown,  where  with 
wonderful  energy  and  perseverance,  without  the  help  of  any  kind  of 
schools,  he  acquired  a  very  liberal  education,  and  with  the  earnest  soli- 
citude of  an  ambitious  mother,  he  soon  became  familiar  with  all  the 
books  possible  to  obtain  at  that  time,  principal  among  which  was  the 
bible.  With  this  he  became  so  familiar  that  he  could  repeat  it  almost 
verbatim.  He  united  with  the  Christian  church,  of  which  he  was 
afterward  ordained  a  minister,  in  which  capacity  he  labored  for  more 
than  twenty-five  years.  He  organized  many  churches  in  the  county, 
baptized  more  than  three  thousand  persons,  was  a  superior  teacher  of 
the  scriptures,  unyielding  and  uncompromising  in  his  religious  convic- 
tions. He  became  an  able  and  earnest  defender  of  the  faith.  During 
the  rebellion  his  public  denunciation  of  the  right  of  secession,  and  bold 
defense  of  the  Union  and  the  emancipation  proclamation  of  1863,  won 
for  him  the  confidence  of  a  patriotic  people,  who  rewarded  him  with 
an  election  and  reelection  to  the  office  of  county  treasurer.  He  died 
at  Danville,  Illinois,  on  the  28th  of  October,  187S,  having  lived  in  the 
county  fifty-eight  years. 

Henrv  Martin  was  born  in  Maryland  on  the  25th  of  August,  1786, 
removed  to  what  was  then  Monongalia  county,  Virginia,  where  he  was 
married  to  Mary  Morgan  on  the  11th  of  May,  1S15.  He  served  one 
vear  in  the  war  of  1812,  in  Ohio,  immigrated  with  his  family  to  Ver- 
milion county,  Illinois,  in  1820,  and  made  permanent  settlement  near 
Georgetown.  He  enlisted  again  under  his  father-in-law,  Capt.  Achilles 
Morgan,  in  1820,  and  proceeded  to  Chicago  to  garrison  Fort  Dearborn 
against  the  Indians  of  the  northwest.    After  a  short  campaign  returned 


GEORGETOWN    TOWXSH  I  P. 


to  his  home  near  Georgetown,  where  lie  made  a  nice  farm,  reared  a 
large  family,  and  died  on  the  5th  of  September,  1851. 


CHURCHES. 


Besides  being  the  early  educational  center  of  this  county,  George" 
town  seems  to  have  been  a  "light  set  upon  a  hill,"  in  a  religious  point 
of  view.  Its  early  settlers  were,  with  hardly  an  exception,  men  strongly 
imbued  with  deep  religious  convictions,  and  maintained  religious  insti- 
tutions, and  built  churches  all  over  the  town.  There  are  not  less  than 
eight  in  this  township. 

The  Methodists  held  their  first  meetings,  so  far  as  the  writer  can 
learn,  in  the  old  school-house  on  the  public  square  of  Georgetown  :  but 
from  all  accounts  thev  were  sliraly  attended.  During  the  first  ten 
years  of  the  life  of  that  place,  few,  if  any,  of  that  denomination  re- 
sided there.  Mr.  William  Taylor  "gives  his  experience"  in  attending 
the  meeting  at  which  Father  Anderson  preached.  He  says  that  besides 
himself  and  wife,  Mr.  Dickason  and  daughter,  Miss  Kelley,  Mr.  Brack- 
all,  and  the  colored  woman,  Harriet,  who  had  come  here  from  "  Ole 
Virginy"  as  an  attache  of  the  Dickason  family,  were  the  only  persons 
present.  The  preaching  was  excellent,  and  would  have  been  appreci- 
ated, but  there  were  so  few  of  that  faith  here  that  the  meetings  were 
necessarily  very  small.  A  few  years  after  this  the  number  increased, 
and  the  class  here  purchased  the  old  store  of  Mr.  Haworth,  which  stood 
just  north  of  Frazier's  store,  took  out  the  partitions,  and  used  it  for 
services.  Harriet  is  still  living,  though  the  Dickason  family  with  whom 
she  made  her  home  are  all  gone  except  Mrs.  Ruby.  Somewhat  later 
the  building:  used  for  a  church  stood  at  the  southwest  corner  of  the 
square,  and  was  moved  to  the  site  of  the  present  edifice. 

During  Rev.  Mr.  Muirhead's  preaching,  in  1863,  the  present  edifice 
was  built,  he  and  Father  Cowan  uniting  to  secure  a  suitable  house  of 
worship.  At  this  time  this  circuit  contained  Georgetown,  Ridge  Farm, 
Douglass  school-house  and  Sugar  Grove  appointment.  The  church  is 
36x5(5,  surmounted  by  a  belfry  and  spire.  A  large  Sabbath-school 
is  maintained  the  year  round.  The  McKendry  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  which  by  someone's  forethought  took  the  name  of  the  good 
bishop,  was  built  upon  land,  on  section  23,  given  for  that  purpose  by 
I.  Ritter.  He  entered  the  land  in  1829,  and  gave  the  corner  there  to 
the  Methodist  denomination  for  a  church  and  burial-ground,  and  sold 
the  farm  and  went  to  Texas  —  which  is  about  the  only  record  of  the 
man  the  writer  has  been  able  to  reach.  That  he  was  a  good  man  seems 
evident  from  his  donation  to  the  church;  but  his  selling  such  a  splen- 
did farm  and  going  to  Texas  tells  brightly  against  the  man's  judgment. 


.MM,  HISTOKY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

When  William  Sheets,  the  late  owner  of  the  farm,  came  here  in  1835, 
there  was  preaching  in  the  school-house  near  Phelps',  and  in  his  house 
at  times.  Mr.  Phelps  was  very  old,  had  been  a  revolutionary  soldier, 
and,  while  he  longed  to  hear  the  Word,  he  could  not  always  go  the  dis- 
tance of  the  school-house  to  hear  it.  Daniel  Darby  was  the  class- 
leader;  he  was  a  wagon-maker  by  trade,  and  lived  west  of  the  church 
on  the  Salt  Works  road.  William  Stowers  and  family,  living  at  the 
edge  of  the  prairie;  John  Stowers  and  family,  living  on  land  now 
owned  by  Mr.  Yoho;  George  Nelson,  George 'Sires,  who  was  the 
school-teacher  here;  Moses  Darby,  Mr.  Phelps,  David  Kyger,  living 
where  Meeks  now  resides ;  Henry  Kirkpatrick,  Mr.  Underwood,  living 
a  mile  east,  and  Henry  Gardner,  were  among  the  members.  None  of 
these  remain  to  make  the  history  of  this  branch  of  Zion  more  clear. 
The  first  church  building  was  erected  about  1836  —  possibly  a  year  or 
two  later.  Mr.  Fox  and  Mr.  James  were  among  the  early  preachers. 
Later,  William  Stowers  was  class-leader  and  local  preacher.  The 
church  was  burned  about  1860  by  a  young  man  who  wanted  to  vent 
his  spite  on  some  one,  and  hence  took  it  into  his  head  to  destroy  the 
house  of  the  Lord.  The  present  neat  building  is  36  x  46,  erected  in 
1866  at  a  cost  of  $1,500.  It  now  belongs  to  the  Catlin  circuit,  the 
preacher  attending  here  every  alternate  week.  The  Sabbath-school  is 
in  a  prosperous  condition  under  the  superintendency  of  Miss  Sarah 
Buchanan. 

The  Fairview  M.  E.  Church  stands  just  on  the  town-line,  between 
Georgetown  and  Catlin  township.  It  belongs  to  the  Catlin  circuit, 
and  is  supplied  by  the  same  preachers  who  preach  at  Catlin  and  Mc- 
Kendr}7. 

PRESBYTERIANS. 

The  Mount  Pisgah  Church  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterians,  near 
the  western  line  of  the  town,  was  the  first  one  of  that  denomination 
organized  in  the  county,  and  was  the  pioneer  work  of  that  faithful 
laborer  in  the  Master's  cause,  Rev.  James  Ashmore,  after  making  his 
home  among  us.  In  February,  1840,  together  with  Rev.  Mr.  Hill,  he 
held  a  protracted  meeting  in  that  neighborhood,  and  in  March  organ- 
ized the  church,  with  forty-five  members,  under  authority  of  the  Foster 
Presbytery,  at  the  house  of  Alexander  McDonald,  just  over  in  Carroll 
township  from  where  the  church  edifice  stands.  The  first  elders  were 
Alex.  McDonald,  Charles  Canaday  and  Richard  Swank.  Until  the 
fall  of  1842  the  meetings  were  held  in  the  school-house,  then  in  a  build- 
ing on  the  farm  of  Mr.  McDonald,  where  the  camp  ground  was. 
Father  Ashmore  continued  as  pastor  of  this  church  thirty-two  years. 
The  first  church  edifice  was  built  in  1842,  of  logs;  the  second  in  1854. 


GEORGETOWN    TOWNSHIP.  507 

The  present  neat  building  was  erected  in  1876,  on  land  given  by  Rich- 
ard Swank  and  Levi  Long;  is  36x50,  and  cost  about  $1,800.  The 
pastors  who,  besides  Mr.  Ashmore,  have  served  this  church  are  Rev. 
W.  O.  Smith,  Rev.  G.  W.  Jordan,  Rev.  H.  H.  Ashmore  and  Rev. 
Thomas  Whitlock.  The  elders  since  the  first  have  been  Levi  Long,  E. 
Snyder,  Samuel  Hinton,  R.  Swank,  Jr.,  J.  S.  Long,  J.  G.  Thompson 
and  J.  S.  Jones. 

The  Georgetown  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church  was  organized 
by  Rev.  Allen  Whitlock,  on  the  19th  of  January,  1860.  The  original 
members  were  (several  being  members  of  Mount  Pisgah  Church)  A. 
McDonald  and  wife,  Aaron  McDonald,  Wm.  Hesler,  Charles  Canaday, 
George  Richards,  D.  S.  Tucker,  Elizabeth  Ashmore,  Rebecca  Drake, 
V.  Harris  and  wife,  Sarah  Hesler,  Sarah  White,  Catherine  Patty,  D. 
McDonald,  Martha  Hinton,  Sarah  Hill,  Geo.  Miley,  J.  P.  Miley  and 
wife  and  Mary  Richards.  The  original  elders  were  Wm.  Hesler,  Aaron 
McDonald,  Charles  Canaday  and  A.  McDonald.  The  pastors  and  stated 
supplies  have  been:  Rev.  Allen  Whitlock,  five  years;  Rev.  H.  H. 
Ashmore,  one  and  one-half  years ;  Rev.  G.  W.  Jordan,  two  years; 
Rev.  James  Whitlock,  one  year;  Rev.  R.  C.  Hill,  six  months;  Rev. 
C.  P.  Cooley,  two  and  one-half  years,  and  Rev.  G.  B.  Miley  at  present. 

The  church  edifice  was  erected  in  1860  ;  is  36x50,  and  cost  $1,439. 
One  member  of  this  church  has  entered  the  ministry.  Presbytery  has 
met  here  three  times,  and  synod  once.  The  church  now  numbers 
sixty-one.  The  present  session  consists  of  J.  A.  Dubre,  Thomas  Cooper 
and  Zackeus  Cook.     A  flourishing  Sabbath-school  is  maintained. 

The  Westville  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church  was  organized  on 
the  17th  of  June,  1871,  by  the  veteran  minister,  Rev.  W.  O.  Smith, 
with  the  following  membership,  most  of  whom  had  been  members  of 
Mount  Pisgah  :  D.  G.  Lockett  and  wife.  R.  J.  Black,  John  Cage  and 
wife,  Rachel  Dukes,  Sarah  A.  Graves,  Susan  J.  Baldwin,  Ann  Sconce, 
Mary  Lacey,  Tabitha  Cook,  S.  W.  Black  and  wife,  Sarah  E.  Walls, 
Elijah  Timmons  and  wife.  D.  G.  Lockett,  R.  J.  Black  and  John  Cage 
were  elected  elders.  The  society  worshiped  at  Brooks'  Point  school- 
house  until  February,  1877.  The  present  church  edifice,  a  neat  and 
substantial  building  34x48,  with  belfry  and  bell,  was  erected  in  1876, 
and  dedicated  on  the  19th  of  February,  1877,  Rev.  J.  H.  Hendrick 
preaching  the  dedicatory  sermon.  The  cost  of  the  building  was  $1,600. 
Rev.  W.  O.  Smith  continued  to  act  as  pastor  for  the  church  only  one 
year.  He  was  an  old  man,  and  full  of  faith  and  good  works.  Finding 
his  strength  failing,  he  resigned  to  go  to  Kentucky,  the  home  of  his 
childhood,  to  die.  He  had  well  filled  up  the  measure  of  his  time,  and 
left  among  the  people  with  whom  and  for  whom  he  had  so  long  labored 


508  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

a  kind  remembrance  of  the  faithful  pastor  and  christian  teacher.  His 
pastorate  was  followed  by  that  of  Rev.  James  Ashmore  and  Rev.  W. 
R.  Ilendrick.  The  present  membership  is  67.  Present  session,  J.  W. 
Lockett,  Hiram  Baldwin  and  A.  M.  Bushong.  The  Sabbath-school  has 
been  under  the  superintendency  of  W.  D.  Spencer,  A.  M.  Bushong  and 
J.  W.  Lockett,  successively.  It  has  an  average  attendance  of  fifty, 
with  seven  teachers. 

The  Christian  Church,  known  as  Brooks'  Point  Church,  was  organ- 
ized in  April,  1870,  by  Elder  Martin.  James  B.  Stevens  and  James 
O'Neal  were  elected  elders,  and  T.  W.  Blakeney  and  David  Wilson, 
deacons.  The  original  membership  was  seventy-seven,  which  with 
those  who  have  since  been  enrolled  makes  two  hundred  and  forty-seven. 
The  church  edifice,  32x44,  was  built  in  1876,  and  dedicated  in  Sep- 
tember of  that  year.  It  cost  $1,200.  Elder  R.  Martin  preached  seven 
years,  and  Elder  J.  C.  Myers  two  years  following.  The  following  have 
preached  occasionally :  Elders  John  Sconce,  of  Moultrie  county ; 
McBrown,  of  East  Lebanon ;  Stipp,  Cosat,  John  Martin  and  Williams, 
of  Edgar  comity  ;  Gregg,  Colton,  Stevens  and  Morris.  The  church  is 
in  good  working  order,  with  preaching  once  a  month  and  prayer-meet- 
ing each  week.  A  large  Lord's-day  school  is  maintained  by  Deacon 
BJakeney  on  the  Sherwood  plan,  numbering  from  seventy -five  to  two 
hundred  in  attendance.  The  poor  are  looked  after,  and  contributions 
for  preaching  are  kept  up  regularly. 

The  Friends  have  a  meeting  at  Georgetown.  Their  regular  days  of 
meeting  are  First  day  (Sunday)  and  Fourth  day  (Wednesday).  Their 
neat  meeting-house  is  really  a  church,  for  in  no  respect  is  it  different 
in  appearance  from  the  better  class  of  church  edifices  in  villages  of  this 
size.  It  was  built  in  1874,  Huffman  &  Reid  being  the  builders.  It  is 
brick,  36x60,  not  over  plain  in  its  appearance.  The  doors  and  win- 
dows are  neatly  coped  with  ornamental  stone  and  brickwork,  and  the 
building  is  surmounted  by  a  neat  belfry.  A  bell  was  purchased,  but  as 
no  bell  had  ever  been  hung  in  a  Quaker  meeting  house  in  America, 
the  belfry  had  not  been  sufficiently  stayed  to  be  considered  safe,  and  a 
tower  was  built  near  by  to  hold  it,  so  that  now  the  progressive  Friends 
of  Georgetown  are  summoned  to  their  First-day  and  Fourth-day  meet- 
ings by  the  gay  ringing  of  a  bell.  It  is  said  to  be  (though  the  writer 
has  not  been  able  to  verify  it)  the  first  case  of  the  kind  on  record.  A 
substantial  iron  fence  surrounds,  the  lot  upon  which  the  church  is  built, 
and  shade  trees  and  evergreens  are  growing  in  the  inclosure.  Inside, 
the  building  presents  anything  but  a  "Quakerish"  appearance.  It  is 
ceiled  around  with  vari-colored  woods,  and  the  seats  are  set  off  with 
black-walnut,  the  aisles  covered  with  matting,  and  the  desk-stand  car- 


GEORGETOWN    TOWNSHIP.  :,()'.» 

peted  with  Brussels  carpet,  over  which,  where  the  preacher  stands,  lies  a 
rug  of  bright  colors.  Fancy  lamps,  suggestive  of  naiads,  stand  on  either 
side  of  the  desk,  and  the  ceiling  above,  in  mellow  tints,  adds  beauty  to 
this  pleasant  house  of  worship.  The  little  Sabbath-school  singing-book, 
"Pure  Gold,""  is  found  in  the  pews.  A  little  dressing-room  off  in  the 
corner  next  the  door  is  supplied  with  wash-bowl  and  pitcher,  combs 
and  brush,  and  a  moderate-sized  looking-glass,  which  has  the  faculty  of 
depriving  the  handsomest  face  of  beauty,  hangs  against  the  wall.  The 
building  cost  $4,000.  No  salary  is  paid  preachers.  Mrs.  Jenkins  and 
W.  F.  Henderson  are  the  preachers. 

MILLS. 

In  the  earliest  times  citizens  here  went  to  Indiana  to  get  grinding 
done.  The  first  effort  made  in  this  township  to  emancipate  the  people 
from  paying  toll  to  the  Hoosiers  was  by  Jacob  Brazelton,  who  put  up 
a  horse-mill  at  his  place  over  near  the  Vermilion.  These  horse-mills 
were  rather  cheap  affairs,  but  were  in  good  demand  when  no  better 
ones  were  near. 

William  Milikan  built  a  carding-mill  about  1830.  This  was  the  first 
mill  of  the  kind  in  the  county,  and  was  a  decided^  primitive  affair.  It 
was  run  by  a  tread-power,  and  the  time  required  to  get  up  steam  de- 
pended largely  on  his  ability  to  find  the  oxen,  which  usually  run  in  the 
bush.  If  they  happened  to  wander  over  to  the  Vermilion  river  in  quest 
of  water,  he  might  find  them  in  two  days,  and  then  again,  a  week  might 
ensue  before  he  could  card  up  a  job;  in  the  meantime,  the  old  women 
were  obliged  to  find  other  work  than  knitting. 

William  Jenkins  built  the  water-mill  on  the  Vermilion  about  1840. 
This  was  a  good  mill  and  did  good  work ;  but  high  water  carried  it 
away.  The  bridge  across  the  river  at  this  point  was  nearly  thirty-five 
feet  high.  While  a  boy  was  crossing  it  with  a  load  of  corn,  it  fell  to 
the  water.  The  bridge,  on  examination,  was  found  to  be  ruined,  and 
the  wagon  disabled;  but  the  boy,  to  the  surprise  of  all,  received  no 
other  injury  except  that  he  was  frightened  out  of  a  year's  growth. 

Henderson,  Kyger  &  Morgan  built  the  large  steam  mill  at  George- 
town in  1850.  It  is  40x50,  four  stories  high,  and  has  three  run  of 
stone.  It  has  proved  a  great  success,  and  is  doing  a  "  land  office  busi- 
ness." Mr.  Hall  had  a  mill  on  the  Little  Vermilion  ;  but  the  water 
decreased  with  advancing  civilization,  and  the  mill  is  among  the  things 
that  were. 

The  Perrysville  &  Georgetown  plank-road  was  among  the  institu- 
tions of  the  pre-railroad  times.  It  was  thirteen  miles  long,  and  run 
very  nearly  in  a  straight  course,  cutting  diagonally  across  sections.     The 


.r)ll)  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

capital  stock  was  $30,000,  which  proved  a  dead  loss  to  stockholders, 
never  having  paid  a  dividend.  Not  only  was  it  a  loss  as  a  speculation, 
but  the  business  men  here  found  that  it  injured  their  trade.  People 
would  go  to  Perrysville  to  trade,  as  it  was  a  pleasant  ride;  and  the 
Georgetown  folks  were  glad  to  let  it  go  down.  It  was  only  kept  up 
about  four  years,  and  the  only  evidences  left  of  it  are  the  pieces  of 
diagonal  roads  still  kept  up  running  in  that  direction. 

It  was  the  custom  in  those  days  to  drive  everything  to  market 
which  had  legs  and  wTas  marketable;  not  only  cattle  and  hogs,  but 
turkeys  were  driven,  and  a  drove  of  geese  was  once  driven  through 
Georgetown  en  route  for  Iowa,  where  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  they  and 
their  descendants  did  full  duty  in  rendering  the  beds  of  the  pioneers 
there  "  as  soft  as  downy  pillows  are."  A  drover  with  a  lot  of  turkeys 
got  caught  in  a  sleet-storm  on  the  road  to  Chicago,  and  the  birds  refused 
to  go  any  farther,  and  he  was  obliged  to  slaughter  them. 

The  timber  of  Georgetown  was  composed  principally  of  sycamore, 
cottonwood,  maple,  hackberry,  beech,  buckeye,  black-walnut,  butternut, 
elm,  ash,  hickory  and  oak.  The  oak  is  being  largely  used  yet  as  build- 
ing and  fence  lumber,  and  the  black-walnut  is  being  rapidly  cut  off  and 
shipped  east,  b}r  parties  who  are  largely  engaged  in  the  business,  send- 
ing it  by  rail  to  all  parts  of  the  country. 

A  singular  case  of  disease  occurred  to  an  industrious  citizen  about 
1864,  which  appears  to  have  been  almost  or  quite  without  a  parallel,  in 
this  vicinity  at  least.  Mr.  Gebhart,  who  was  one  of  the  early  settlers 
on  the  Little  Vermilion,  about  two  miles  west  of  Georgetown,  where 
he  had  raised  a  large  family,  was  afflicted  with  a  disease  in  his  feet 
which  was  so  like  the  descriptions  given  of  leprosy  that  it  was  believed 
by  many  to  have  been  that.  The  affliction  came  on  gradually,  about 
the  year  1864.  Inflammation  set  in,  and  the  feet  became  so  much 
affected  that  the  flesh  began  to  come  off,  leaving  the  bones  exposed. 
He  could  get  relief  only  by  holding  his  feet  in  a  tub  of  water,  and  he 
actually  sat  for  weeks  without  removing  them,  the  disintegration  mean- 
while continually  going  on.  Day  and  night  he  sat  in  great  suffering, 
praying  for  death  to  relieve  him.  He  conceived  the  idea  that  if  the 
feet  were  amputated  he  would  get  relief,  and  begged  to  have  it  done 
for  him.  He  finally  took  a  knife,  and  with  his  own  hands  removed 
what  he  had  no  longer  any  use  for.  He  did  not  get  the  relief  he  ex- 
pected from  a  removal  of  the  putrid  mass.  He  lived  several  weeks 
afterward,  with  the  stubs  of  his  limbs  in  the  water,  when  death  brought 
relief.  Whether  it  was  considered  by  physicians  a  case  of  leprosy  was 
not  known  by  the  neighbors  from  whom  these  facts  were  received. 

The  roads  throughout  the  township  are  remarkably  narrow,  espe- 


GEORGETOWN   TOWNSHIP.  511 

cially  the  old  ones.  This  is  owing  to  the  fact  that  under  the  general 
road  act  of  1827,  which  was  the  first  act  passed  on  the  subject,  the 
legal  width  of  roads  was  fixed  at  not  less  than  thirty  feet  and  not  more 
than  fifty  feet.  The  more  recent  law,  fixing  the  width  at  sixty  feet,  did 
not  alter  the  width  of  those  already  laid  out,  and  those  in  this  town- 
ship were  nearly  all  established  under  the  former  act. 

Corn,  wheat  and  oats  are  the  staple  crops.  Winter  wheat  is,  and 
long  has  been,  one  of  the  most  successful  crops,  especially  on  the  tim- 
ber land.  The  crop  of  the  present  year  has  been  one  of  the  marvels  of 
agriculture,  and  reminds  one  of  the  exaggerated  stories  which  come 
back  to  us  from  recently-settled  portions  of  the  west  and  California.  In 
no  single  case  has  the  crop  of  wheat  turned  out  less  than  twenty-five 
bushels  per  acre,  and  instances  of  nearly  twice  that  amount  are  quite 
common.  In  many  instances  the  crop  in  the  field  before  threshing  is 
worth  more  than  the  land  upon  which  it  grew  wras  valued  at  in  the 
spring.  Such  remarkable  uniformity  in  abundance  has  probably  never 
been  equaled  in  this  county, —  perhaps  never  before  in  the  state.  It  adds 
new  wealth  to  the  town,  increases  the  value  of  agricultural  labors,  and 
gives  new  life  to  every  industry.  Threshing  by  steam  power  has  come 
into  pretty  general  vogue,  and  for  the  first  time  this  year  self-binding 
reaping  machines  are  beginning  to  come  into  use.  There  are  men  still 
living  here  who  have  in  their  younger  days  reaped  their  entire  crop 
with  a  sickle  and  threshed  it  with  a  flail,  who  have  planted  their  corn 
by  hand  in  furrows  marked  by  a  wooden  mold-board  plow,  and  covered 
it  with  a  hoe,  who  plowed  it  all  with  a  "bull-tongue"  plow,  and  thought 
they  were  getting  along  very  well. 

Below  is  given,  in  tabular  form,  the  names  of  those  elected  to  the 
principal  township  offices  since  1851,  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  town- 
ship organization: 

Date.      Vote.  Supervisor.  Clerk.  Assessor.  Collector. 

1851 Wm.  P.  Davis  . . .  .Samuel  Huffman  .  .J.  C.  Dicken  ...  .A.  Frazier. 

1852 John  Sloan E.  A.  McKee J.  C.  Dicken  ...  .J.  C.  Dicken. 

1853 John  Sloan Patrick  Cowan  ...  .J.  Gants J.  Gants. 

1854 John  Sloan Patrick  Cowan  ...  .J.  L.  Sconce  . . .  .J.  L.  Sconce. 

1855 John  Sloan Patrick  Cowan  ...  .J.  L.  Sconce  ...  .J.  L.  Sconce. 

1856 E.  A.  McKee Patrick  Cowan  ...  .J.  L.  Sconce    . .  .J.  L.  Sconce. 

1857 E.  A.  McKee Patrick  Cowan J.  L.  Sconce J.  L.  Sconce. 

1858 Elam  Henderson  .  .Joseph  Thompson  .J.  L.  Sconce  . . .  .J.  L.  Sconce. 

1859 Elam  Henderson  .  .Joseph  Thompson  .John  Dukes John  Dukes. 

1860 Elam  Henderson  .  .Joseph  Thompson  .John  Dukes John  Dukes. 

1861 Elam  Henderson  .  .Joseph  Thompson  .John  Dukes John  Dukes. 

1862. .  .344. . .  William  Sheets  . .  .Joseph  Thompson  .John  Dukes John  Dukes. 

1863. .  .240. .  .Elam  Henderson  .  .Joseph  Thompson  .John  Dukes John  Dukes. 

1864. .  .162. .  .Elam  Henderson  .  .Joseph  Thompson  .John  Dukes John  Dukes. 

1865. .  .154. .  .Elam  Henderson  .  .George  Dillon John  Dukes John  Dukes. 


512  HISTORY    OK    VERMILION'    COUNTY. 

Hate.      Vote.  Supervisor.  Clerk.  Assessor.  Collector. 

1866.  .  .157. .  .Jacob  Gants George  Dillon John  Dukes John  Dukes. 

1867. ..  157. . . Elam  Henderson  .. George  Dillon George  Dillon. .  .George  Dillon. 

1868. . .  120. .  .Elam  Henderson  .  .George  Dillon George  Dillon. .  .George  Dillon. 

1869  Elam  Henderson  .  .George  Dillon     . .  .George  Dillon.  .  .George  Dillon. 

1S70. .  .343. . .  Elam  Henderson  .  .George  Hester John  Dukes George  Hester. 

1871 . .  .229. . .  Khun  Henderson  . .  W.  H.  Newlin John  Dukes W.  H.  Newlin. 

1872. .  .240. . .  Elam  Henderson  . .  W.  H.  Newlin W.  H.  Newlin  . .  W.  H.  Newlin. 

1873. .  .193. .  .William  Sheets  . .  .W.  H.  Newlin W.  H.  Newlin  . .  W.  H.  Newlin. 

1874. .  .303. .  .William  Sheets  . .  .W.  H.  Newlin W.  H.  Newlin  .  .W.  H.  Newlin. 

1875. .  .317. . .  J.  H.  Gadd W.  H.  Newlin W.  H.  Huffman  .  W.  H.  Huffman. 

1876. .  .364. . .  J.  H.  Gadd W.  H.  Newlin J.  Lewis W.  H.  Huffman. 

1877. .  .400. . .  J.  H.  Gadd W.  H.  Huffman  . .  .\     H.  Huffman  .  W.  H.  Huffman. 

1878. .  .377. .  .J.  H.  Gadd C.  A.  Fertig W    \l.  Sheets. .  .W.  M.  Sheets. 

1879. .  .374. . .  J.  H.  Gadd C.  A.  Fertig W.  M.  Sheets. . .  W.  M.  Sheets. 

Justices  of  the  peace  have  been,  Patrick  Co"\  an,  Jacob  Gants,  John 
Newlin,  Jacob  Yapp,  Y.  J.  Buchanan,  Richard  v'otton.  J.  G.  Thomp- 
son, Titus  Bennett. 

Commissioners  of  highways  have  been,  Levi  Long,  John  Mitchell, 
R.  Lockett,  Ellis  Dukes,  Jacob  Gants,  Wm.  Sheets,  John  Gerrard,  S. 
Ellsworth,  Thos.  Galven,  Wm.  Richards,  James  O'Neal,  J.  L.  Sconce, 
J..  C.  Jones,  Isaac  O  Neal,  Wm.  J.  Terrell,  E.  Henthorn,  Solomon 
Haworth,  T.  E.  Madden,  D.  B.  Ried,  Daniel  Bennett,  Hiram  Yoho. 

On  the  11th  of  May,  1867,  a  special  town  meeting  was  held  to  vote  for 
or  against  levying  a  tax  of  $1S,000  for  aid  to  the  Chicago,  Danville  & 
Yincennes  railroad,  which  resulted,  for,  230 ;  against,  184.  This  road 
was  never  built,  however,  through  this  township.  On  the  25th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1869,  at  an  election  held  for  the  purpose  of  voting  for  or  against 
subscribing  $30,000  to  the  capital  stock  of  the  Paris  eV:  Danville  railroad, 
the  vote  was,  for,  221 ;  against,  195  ;  which  was  a  very  close  vote,  consid- 
ering the  conditions  with  which  the  proposition  was  hemmed  about : 
"  Xo  part  of  such  bonds  shall  issue,  nor  bear  interest,  until  the  road  is 
completed.  The  road  to  run  within  a  half  a  mile  of  the  public  square 
of  Georgetown,  and  be  completed  within  three  years  from  September  1, 
1869."  The  bonds  were  signed  and  put  into  hands  of  Elam  Henderson 
as  trustee,  under  a  bond  from  him  in  the  penal  sum  of  $40,000,  condi- 
tioned that  he  should  not  date  or  deliver  them  until  these  conditions 
were  complied  with.  A  resolution  was  also  adopted  directing  the 
supervisor  to  sell  the  stock  as  soon  as  it  should  come  into  his  hands,  to 
the  railroad  company,  for  $10. 

GEORGETOWN    VILLAGE. 

Georgetown  village,  or  rather,  as  it  was  then  called,  the  town  of 
Georgetown,  was  laid  out  in  the  spring  of  1827,  two  months  after  Dan- 
ville was.     The  plat  was  acknowledged  before  Esquire  Asa  Elliott, 


.- 


w 


m 


If 


/i^Mii*^^,  xy^^s 


GEORGETOWN   TOWNSHIP.  513 

Jane  5,  and  contained  onlv  four  blocks  of  eight  lots  each.  The  only 
two  streets  were  State  street,  running  north  and  south,  and  West  street 
crossing  it  at  right  angles.  These  streets  were  sixty  feet  wide.  The 
public  square,  which  remains  to  the  present  time  as  it  was  then,  was 
laid  out  after  the  fashion  of  the  day,  as  seen  in  Danville  and  other 
towns  of  that  age,  by  cutting  corners  out  of  the  four  central  blocks. 
The  naming  seems  to  be  problematical, — -some  asserting  that  Mr.  Ha- 
worth  named  it  for  his  son  George,  who  was  a  cripple,  and  who  is  said 
to  have  entered  into  the  frolic  which  was  made  on  the  opening  day, 
with  a  spirit  that  indicated  something  more  than  "  lemonade  straight ;" 
others,  that  Danville  having  been  named  for  D.  W.  Beckwith,  that 
Haworth  believed  it  was  a  good  stroke  of  policy  to  try  to  divide  the 
sympathies  of  the  Beckwith  family  by  naming  his  place  in  honor  of 
George  Beckwith.  The  probability  is  that  both  statements  are  true, 
and  that  the  two  considerations  combined  to  fix  the  naming  as  it  is. 

When  Mr.  Haworth  laid  out  his  town,  Mr.  Nelson  R.  Moore,  who 
for  a  time  had  lived  on  the  adjoining  section,  was  talking  of  laying  out 
one.  Haworth  was  more  of  a  man  of  action  than  of  talk,  and  one  day 
Moore  started  out  with  his  son  W.  M.  to  hunt  for  a  deer  in  the  bushes 
which  grew  where  the  village  now  stands,  and  found  Haworth  and  his 
son  measuring  off  town  lots  with  a  mammoth  grapevine  which  he  had 
cut  a  rod  long.  It  seems  that  he  was  afraid  to  call  in  the  aid  of  a  surve}ror, 
as  Moore  might  discover  what  he  was  up  to.  Subsequently,  additions 
have  been  platted  and  recorded  by  James  Haworth,  A.  Frazier,  Samuel 
Brazelton,  Malon  Haworth,  J.  B.  Haworth,  A.  F.  Smith,  Mr.  Hender- 
son and  others.  In  laying  off  the  lots  his  "  vine"  needed  some  stretch- 
ing, and  a  little  variation  in  the  force  employed  to  do  this  stretching, 
will  account  for  the  variation  which  still  exists  in  the  size  of  the  lots> 
some  of  which  are  six  feet  longer  than  others.  This  son  George,  after 
whom  the  town  was  named,  died  of  cholera  in  1854. 

The  first  building  here  was  a  doctor's  office.  Dr.  Smith,  a  man  of 
good  education  and  an  excellent  man,  put  up  a  building  to  hold  his 
little  stock  of  "calomel  and  jalap,"  salts  and  senna,  lancet  and  wisdom. 
Dr.  Smith,  after  a  short  practice  here,  went  to  Mackinaw  and  died. 
"  The  next  house  was  a  blacksmith  shop,"  and  then  came  a  store,  or, 
rather,  an  inclosure  made  of  poles  was  called  a  store.  It  stood  out  on 
the  square,  in  front  of  where  the  red  store  now  stands.  It  was  built 
by  Samuel  Brazelton.  Here  a  little  stock  of  goods  was  kept  for  sale. 
The  log  tavern  stood  near  where  the  post-office  is  now  kept,  just  north 
of  it,  and  a  log  house  farther  south.  This  was  made  of  huge  sassafras 
logs  as  large  as  a  small  barrel.  He  had  to  go  to  Butler's  Point  to  get 
men  to  come  to  the  raising. 
33 


514  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

The  first  school-house  was  also  built  on  the  square  in  front  of 
Frazier's  store.  H.  Givens  taught  the  first  term  of  school  there. 
"  Coffeen's  Hand-Book,"  page  24,  says :  "  The  first  school  was  taught 
on  the  Little  Yermilion,  near  the  present  location  of  Georgetown." 
Upon  the  authority  of  Wm.  M.  Moore,  now  the  oldest  resident  at 
present  in  Georgetown  village,  the  writer  is  satisfied  that  this  school  at 
Georgetown  was  the  one  spoken  of  by  Mr.  Coffeen,  though  it  is  possi- 
ble that  the  Friends  at  Vermilion  Grove  may  have  had  one  there  before 
this  building  was  erected  in  Georgetown.  This  school-house  was 
hardly  a  model  for  architectural  display  at  the  present  day.  Indeed, 
it  was  about  as  cheap  a  concern  as  could  be  constructed  out  of  logs. 
Amono-  those  who  learned  wisdom  from  Givens,  and  after  him  from 
Owen  West,  were  Perry,  Martha  and  Luzena  Brazelton,  Bracken 
Lewis,  George  Lewis,  Millikan  Moore,  Eli  and  Malon  Haworth,  and 
James  Staunton.  Mr.  Moore  thinks  this  was  in  1827,  though  it  may 
have  been  a  year  later.  The  books  used,  as  far  as  he  can  remember, 
were  the  old  English  Reader,  Talbott's  Arithmetic,  American  Spelling- 
Book  and  Lindley  Murray's  Grammar.  At  that  time  it  was  the  uni- 
versal practice  to  study  aloud  in  school,  and  the  lad  who  made  the 
most  noise  was  popularly  credited  with  making  the  greatest  progress. 
Preaching  service  was  first  held  in  this  building  by  traveling  and  local 
preachers  of  the  Methodist  church.  James  Haworth  had  a  farm  just 
north  of  the  village,  where  Mr.  Frazier  now  lives. 

Nelson  R.  Moore  came  from  North  Carolina,  but  had  lived  a  while 
in  Kentucky  and  Indiana,  and  arrived  here  in  1825.  He  made  his 
first  cabin  just  southwest  of  Georgetown,  and  bought  some  land  of 
Andrew  Wagerman,  who  lived  farther  west,  near  Johnson's  Point. 
Wagerman  was  a  son-in-law  of  Jotham  Lyons.  Moore  bought  two 
hundred  acres  of  Wagerman  and  Lyons,  and  went  to  work  to  make  a 
farm  of  it.  He  moved  here  with  an  ox-team,  coming  in  one  of  those 
old-fashioned  "schooner"  wagons,  such  as  have  passed  entirely  out  of 
use,  and  indeed  fast  fading  from  memory.  They  were  made  very 
heavy,  the  box  being  framed  and  fitted  with  panel-work,  being  elevated 
at  least  a  foot  at  each  end  higher  than  it  was  in  the  middle.  Why 
they  were  given  this  shape  it  is  difficult  to  tell,  except  that  it  may  have 
been  that  in  the  hilly  country  where  they  were  made  the  danger  of 
having  the  load  spill  out  over  the  ends  when  going  down  the  steep 
hills,  or  ascending,  must  be  provided  against.  As  late  as  thirty  years 
ago  they  were  frequently  seen  passing  across  these  prairies,  carrying 
the  movers  toward  the  setting  sun,  and  were  even  at  that  day  a  curios- 
ity, and  were  called  "prairie  schooners."  Indeed,  all  they  lacked  to 
give  them  the  appearance  of  a  schooner  were  the  masts,  ropes  and  sails. 


GEORGETOWN   TOWNSHIP.  515 

The  first  log  cabin  put  up  where  John  Madden's  house  now  is  was 
built  in  1827,  and  was  raised  by  the  help  of  all  the  men  that  could  be 
found.  "Indian  John"  was  a  character  here  then  ;  he  was  six  feet  and 
a  half  in  height,  and  had  been  a  famous  medicine-man  of  the  Potta- 
watomie Indians,  but  remained  here  with  the  white  man  when  they 
went  away. 

Mr.  Moore  did  about  as  much  as  any  of  his  neighbors  toward  set- 
tling  this  part  of  the  country.  He  was  the  father  of  thirteen  children, 
all  but  one  of  whom  grew  to  adult  age.  Carroll,  a  soldier  in  the  grand 
army  of  the  Union,  was  killed  in  battle  at  Peach  Tree  Creek.  His 
widow  and  children  still  live  here;  George,  a  lieutenant  in  the  25th 
Regiment,  served  through  the  war,  and  was  killed,  while  crossing  the 
plains,  by  Indians;  Jacob  served  two  years  in  the  Mexican  war,  and 
died  after  returning;  Elijah  early  took  Greeley's  advice  to  "grow  up 
with  the  country,"  and  if  the  country  does  not  stop  growing  pretty 
soon  he  will  have  to  give  up  the  job;  W.  M.  lives  in  Georgetown; 
Mrs.  Rogers  is  dead;  Mrs.  Friezell  lives  in  Missouri;  Mrs.  Dr.  Porter 
in  Lebanon,  Indiana;  Mrs.  Judge  Glessner  in  Shelby ville,  Indiana; 
Mrs.  Harding  in  California,  Mrs.  Dr.  Blanchard  and  Mrs.  Peck  here. 

Benjamin  Canaday  was  one  of  the  first  to  engage  in  mercantile 
business  here,  and  continued  for  about  forty  years  to  sell  goods  in 
Georgetown.  He  came  with  his  father  to  the  little  settlement  west  of 
Vermilion  Grove  Station,  about  1822,  but  went  back  to  Tennessee. 
He  was  a  tinner  bv  trade,  and  after  they  came  back  here  again  from 
Tennessee  he  built  a  small  log  house,  which  he  used  for  a  dwelling  and 
tinshop,  and  there  made  up  a  stock  of  tinware,  which  he  took  to  Louis- 
ville and  traded  for  goods.  He  brought  these  goods  back  and  put  up 
a  store  and  turned  merchant.  He  continued  this  kind  of  trade  till 
1830,  when  he  was  induced  to  come  to  Georgetown,  and,  with  the 
Haworths,  commenced  the  mercantile  trade  here.  He  afterward  formed 
a  partnership  with  Abraham  Frazier,  and  soon  sold  the  business  and 
store  to  Dr.  Gillaspie,  who  came  here  from  Tennessee,  and  continued 
the  business  with  Frazier  awhile.  Canaday  and  the  Plaworths  be- 
longed to  the  Society  of  Friends,  and  early  instituted  religious  meet- 
ings here.  Canaday  lived  in  the  house  on  the  corner  of  the  public 
square,  where  "William  Alexander  now  has  a  store.  It  was  a  small 
one-story  house,  and  has  been  enlarged  since.  He  continued  the  lead- 
ing merchant  of  Georgetown,  and  built  the  large  brick  store  now  occu- 
pied by  his  successors  in  business,  Richie  &  Thompson.  He  amassed 
a  comfortable  fortune,  and  died  a  few  years  since,  honored  and  re- 
spected. His  latter  years  were  largely  given  to  making  proper  dispo- 
sition of  the  accumulations  of  a  busy  life  of  frugal  care,  and  was  one 


.r)16  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

of  the  principal  donors  to  the  beautiful  church  at  Georgetown.  He 
was  the  father  of  eight  children.  His  two  sons  are  dead,  though  the 
two  daughters  of  one  of  them  (John)  are  living:  Mrs.  Holloway,  of 
Danville,  and  Mrs.  Thompson,  of  Georgetown.  Of  his  daughters,  Mrs. 
J.  P.  Johnson  lives  in  Kansas,  Mrs.  Dr.  Morgan  in  Iowa,  and  Mrs. 
Richie  lives  at  Georgetown ;  Mrs.  Morris  and  Mrs.  McCowan  are  dead. 
Few  men  have  left  as  a  legacy  to  their  children  a  more  honored  name 
or  the  example  of  a  more  useful  and  successful  life. 

Dr.  Gillaspie,  before  spoken  of,  continued  in  business  a  short  time 
and  then  went  to  Arkansas.  He  was  a  man  of  splendid  parts  and 
good  education,  whose  usefulness  was  destroyed  by  the  habit  which  in 
those  days  ruined  so  many  of  our  ablest  men. 

TTm.  Taylor  left  his  home  in  Wayne  county,  Ohio,  when  only 
twenty-two  years  old,  intending  to  be  gone  six  weeks,  and  has  not  yet 
returned.  He  had  been  apprenticed  to  learn  the  cabinet  trade,  and 
believed  he  had  got  it  well  enough  learned  to  make  his  way  in  the 
world  without  further  instruction.  He  went  to  Brown  county,  Ohio, 
and  made  that  his  home.  He  became  well  acquainted  with  the  Grant 
family  there,  and  had  an  opportunity  to  see  the  budding  genius  of 
young  Ulvsses.  There  was  little  that  was  remarkable  about  the  lad, 
as  Mr.  Taylor  now  recollects  him,  but  the  dogged  pertinacity  with 
which  he  would  conquer  every  unruly  horse  which  he  could  get  hold 
of.  His  father  used  to  say  that  he  would  make  a  great  man  of  him, 
but  the  lad's  greatness  failed  to  take  any  very  useful  turn,  unless 
riding  horses  may  be  considered  such.  He  never  liked  hard  work, 
and  the  boys  sometimes  doubted  whether  "  Lys "  wTould  ever,  in  any 
alarming  degree,  fulfill  the  high  anticipations  of  his  doting  father. 
Mr.  Taylor  came  to  Georgetown  in  1831.  He  purchased  the  log 
house  and  two  lots  back  of  the  tavern  for  §120,  and  put  up  an  addition 
to  it,  which  made  a  very  comfortable  residence.  He  also  bought  the 
old  log  store  which  stood  in  front  of  the  red  store,  and  went  to  work 
at  his  trade.  For  thirty  years  he  carried  on  cabinet  work  here,  and, 
until  by  the  changed  order  of  things,  he  could  buy  work  cheaper  in 
Cincinnati  than  he  could  make  it.  Long  after  this  he  continued  mak- 
ing coffins,  and  has  probably  made  more  of  those  articles  than  any  man 
in  the  county. 

The  post-office  was  established  here  about  1828.  The  mail  route 
ran  from  here  via  Carroll,  an  office  in  the  McDonald  neighborhood  to 
Paris. 

Mr.  Brazelton  was  first  to  "  keep  tavern."  He  occupied  a  building 
which  was  on  the  site  of  the  present  post-office.  Benjamin  Canaday 
wTas  for  a  long  time  the  postmaster. 


GEORGETOWN    TOWNSHIP.  M7 

Abraham  Frazier  was  one  of  the  first  to  engage  in  trade.  He  was 
a  tanner  by  trade,  and  made  that  his  business  for  awhile  before  he  com- 
menced mercantile  trade.  He  was  a  man  of  excellent  judgment,  very 
careful  business  habits,  honest  and  true.  He  had  no  children,  and 
hence  his  propensity  to  save  was  deemed  penuriousness,  but  those  who 
knew  him  best  unite  in  saying  that  he  had  none  of  the  sordid  love  of 
monejr  which  marks  the  miser's  traits.  That  he  was  plain  in  all  his 
tastes,  and  exceedingly  careful  in  his  expenses,  is  undoubtedly  true. 
He  died  leaving  an  honored  name  for  probity  and  industry  through  an 
unblemished  life.  His  brother,  Abner  Frazier,  came  here  with  other 
Friends  from  East  Tennessee,  in  1830,  and  farmed  awhile,  then  clerked 
for  his  brother.  He  married,  and  commenced  farming  southwest  of 
the  village,  and  afterward  bought  the  Haworth  farm,  north  of  town, 
where  he  resides  at  this  writing,  gradually  sinking  from  advanced  age 
and  the  labors  of  an  active  life,  largely  given  to  exacting  toil  and  busi- 
ness. He  holds  the  highest  place  in  the  esteem  of  those  among  whom 
his  active  years  have  passed.  With  a  large  family  of  children  around 
him,  whose  characters  he  has  molded  in  habits  of  industry,  thrift  and 
christian  life,  he  reaps  the  honors  which  are  higher  than  merely  worldly 
ones.  Two  sons  carry  on  a  large  trade  in  Georgetown,  enjoying  in  a 
large  degree  the  goodly  reputation  of  their  father,  and  one  lives  on  the 
beautiful  farm  just  north  of  the  village.  Two  daughters,  Mrs.  Snapp 
and  Mrs.  JSTewlin,  reside  here,  and  Mrs.  Mendenhall  and  Mrs.  Rogers 
in  Kansas. 

John  Sloan  was  probably  the  first  blacksmith  here.  Dr.  Thomas 
Hey  wood  was  one  of  the  earliest  to  practice  medicine.  He  was  a  man 
of  good  education  and  excellent  judgment.  He  was  educated  in  Ohio, 
and  came  here  to  begin  his  practice.  After  a  time  he  removed  to  a 
farm  southwest  of  Georgetown,  in  Carroll  township,  and  continued  his 
practice  until  his  death.  Dr.  Richard  Holmes  practiced  here  a  while, 
and  then  went  to  Ohio. 

James  Shannon  was  engaged  in  selling  goods  here  at  an  early  date, 
and  his  brother  John  was  engaged  in  the  practice  of  medicine.  They 
went  from  here  to  Mackinawtown,  in  Tazewell  county,  and  one  cold 
winter's  day  the  latter  wandered  off  into  the  stream,  and  after  going 
a  mile  in  the  water  went  out  into  a  cornfield,  where  he  froze  to  death, 
and  his  remains  were  not  discovered  until  long  after,  when  they  had 
been  partially  devoured. 

Elections  for  this  voting  precinct  were  held  here  from  the  first. 
They  were  held  in  the  old  store  which  stood  north  of  Frazier's  large 
brick  store,  and  which  was  afterward,  though  of  good  Quaker  origin, 
converted   into  a  Methodist  church.     Voters  were  required  to  give  in 


518  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

their  votes  viva  voce.  The  honest,  un trammeled  political  voice  of 
Georgetown  precinct  in  the  olden  times  sounded  the  name  of  Jackson 
with  great  unanimity. 

For  many  years  legalized  dramshops  sold  ardent  spirits  freely  in 
Georgetown.  In  fact,  at  an  early  day,  before  the  temperance  societies 
were  an  established  institution,  drinking  and  drunkenness  were  very 
common.  Horse-racing  was  a  common  sport  before  the  civilizing 
effects  of  circuses  and  agricultural  fairs  were  felt.  The  Sons  of  Tem- 
perance had  a  wide  field  to  exercise  their  graces  and  good  works  here; 
but  triumphed  at  last,  and  the  results  are  everywhere  evident.  Sobri- 
ety rules,  and  every  one  rejoices  in  the  change. 

In  1831  came  another  young  man  whose  life  has  been  a  part  of  the 
history  and  business  success  of  Georgetown.  Elam  Henderson  came 
with  his  father,  Eli,  to  Elwood,  in  1824,  and  in  the  year  above  men- 
tioned came  to  Georgetown,  where  he  commenced  to  make  a  farm  in 
section  28.  Here  he  showed  the  qualities  of  energy,  thrift  and  perse- 
verance which  have  clung  to  him  through  life.  While  attending  to  his 
large  farming  interests  he  was  drawn  much  into  official  life,  and  served 
as  county  commissioner  and  associate  justice.  After  acquiring  a  suffi- 
ciency he  engaged  in  trade  at  Georgetown,  helped  to  build  a  better 
class  of  buildings  than  had  been  known  here  before,  and  helped  to 
build  the  mill.  Later  he  established  the  Citizen's  Bank,  and  with  the 
opening  of  railroad  facilities  engaged  in  buying  grain.  He  served  for 
many  years  as  supervisor  of  this  township,  and  in  other  official  capaci- 
ties. Now,  at  near  seventy,  he  is  actively  engaged  in  business,  giving 
the  same  careful  attention  to  all  its  minutiae  that  he  did  when  such  care 
was  a  necessity.  Indeed,  with  him  it  has  become  a  settled  habit.  To- 
gether with  Mr.  Canaday,  he  bore  the  larger  part  of  the  expense  of 
building  the  new  place  of  worship  which  was  recently  erected  at 
Georgetown.  He  has  shown  himself  a  thorough  business  man,  whose 
good  example  is  better  than  all  the  golden  precepts  which  could  be 
showered  upon  the  young  of  the  growing  generation. 

Patrick  Cowan  was  born  in  Westmoreland  county,  Pennsylvania,  in 
1794.  As  he  grew  up  he  became  interested  in  religious  matters,  and 
joined  the  Methodist  Church  in  1818.  He  was  licensed  to  exhort  Feb- 
ruary 14,  1833,  and  to  preach,  at  the  quarterly  conference  at  Paris, 
September  5,  1834,  by  Presiding  Elder  Michael  Taylor.  He  was 
ordained  deacon  by  Bishop  Morris,  September  15,  1836.  He  was  a 
hatter  by  trade,  and  lived  near  Bloomfield  for  some  time,  coming  to 
Georgetown  to  live  in  1846.  He  engaged  in  wool-carding  as  a  business, 
for  which  there  was  much  local  demand  here,  at  a  time  when  every- 
body kept  a  few  sheep,  and   people  very  generally  made  their  own 


GEORGETOWN    TOWNSHIP.  519 

cloth.  Tin's  business  he  carried  on  for  several  years,  all  the  while 
preaching  here  and  there  through  the  country,  at  McKendry,  at 
Douglass'  school-house  and  at  other  preaching  points.  He  never 
accepted  the  traveling  relation,  preferring  the  local  work.  Coming  into 
a  community  which  from  the  beginning  had  been  strongly  of  another 
denomination,  he  had  a  good  opportunity  to  exercise  the  liberal  Chris- 
tian traits  of  which  he  was  possessed.  Citizens  of  all  denominations 
respected  and  esteemed  the  character  of  Father  Cowan,  and  hold  his 
good  name  in  kind  remembrance.  He  was  always  punctual  to  every 
duty;  particularly  was  this  so  in  regard  to  political  and  official  duties. 
He  was  often  called  on  to  administer  the  affairs  of  the  town  or  town- 
ship, and  always  gave  the  same  conscientious  attention  to  them  that  he 
did  to  his  own  affairs.  He  died  September  4,  1873,  in  his  eightieth 
year,  leaving  to  his  children  the  inheritance  of  a  good  name  and  the 
remembrance  of  a  life  devoted  to  his  family,  his  people  and  his  God. 
He  left  a  family  of  seven  children.  His  sons,  trained  under  his  kind 
and  careful  eye,  are  among  the  leading  business  men  of  Georgetown. 
His  widow  still  lives,  at  the  advanced  age  of  eighty-three,  the  care  and 
associate  of  these  loving  children,  which  she  so  long  watched  over, 
guided  and  instructed. 

J.  H.  Gadd  came  to  this  township  with  his  mother  and  brother  in 
1834.  After  helping  to  hew  out  a  farm  in  the  Wabash  timber  east  of 
here,  he  concluded  to  study  law,  and  for  several  years  has  been  engaged 
in  the  practice  of  that  profession  in  this  county.  For  five  years  past  he 
has  represented  this  town  on  the  board  of  supervisors,  to  the  evident 
satisfaction  of  the  people. 

G.  W.  Holloway,  who  came  here  in  1835,  has  been  long  in  business, 
taking  an  active  part  in  the  religious  and  educational  interests  of  the 
town. 

Dr.  Payne  was  an  early  practitioner  of  medicine,  and  remained  here 
two  years;  then  went  to  Iowa.  Dr.  Isaac  Smith  commenced  the  prac- 
tice as  early  as  1830.  He  lived  just  south  of  town,  on  the  Little  Ver- 
milion. He  was  from  Tennessee.  He  died  on  the  farm  where  the 
Martha  Smith  school-house  is. 

The  first  burials  were  made  at  the  small  burying-grounds  in  the 
neighborhoods  around,  at  Vermilion  Grove,  Elwood  Meeting-house,  and 
at  others.  Win.  Taylor  laid  off  a  cemetery  in  1838,  which  was  after- 
ward conveyed  to  the  town  for  a  public  place  of  burial.  Felix  Noel 
was  the  first  one  buried  there. 

The  particular  school  of  doctors  known  as  Thomsonian,  or,  in  pop- 
ular parlance,  "steam  doctors,"  had  a  considerable  practice  here  at  an 
early  day,  and  the  Indian  practice  of  doctoring  with  herbs  and  roots, 


520  •  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

found  in  profusion  at  an  early  day,  was  quite  common.  New  material 
was  added  to  the  Materia  Medica,  and  roots  and  steam  did  duty  on 
every  conceivable  occasion.  The  pioneer  doctor  of  this  country  will 
not  soon  forget  the  occasion  of  the  introduction  to  his  notice  of  the 
celebrated  Wacun  root,  until  then  to  him  a  new  remedy.  Dr.  A.  M. 
C.  Hawes,  wrho  came  here  in  1836,  is  now  next  to  Dr.  Fithian,  the 
oldest  practicing  physician  in  the  county.  He  was  educated  at  La 
Fa}7ette,  Indiana,  where  he  studied  with  Dr.  O.  L.  Clark.  Previous 
to  this,  however,  he  had  traveled  through  this  state,  looking  over  the 
central  and  northern  portions  of  it.  Early  in  life  he  had  entered  a 
printing-office,  and,  after  graduation  in  that  school,  which  gives  to  its 
pupils  a  breadth  of  education  not  found  in  any  other,  became  an  editor 
of  the  La  Fa}'ette  "Journal"  at  its  starting,  nearly  fifty  years  ago. 
After  preparing  himself  to  practice  medicine,  he  came  to  Georgetown, 
and  at  once  grew  into  a  wide  and  successful  practice,  all  over  the 
southern  part  of  this  county,  and  in  Indiana,  Edgar  and  Champaign 
counties  in  this  state.  Being  a  great  student,  and  having  an  investi- 
gating turn  of  mind,  he  has  kept  abreast  with  the  times,  never  retaining 
an  old  theory  or  practice  because  it  is  old,  or  adopting  a  new  one 
because  it  is  new.  After  more  than  forty  years'  practice,  he  is  still 
found  fully  up  with  the  times,  and  wears  well.  He  was  one  of  the 
early  promoters  of  better  educational  facilities,  and  a  friend  of  liberal 
education.  He  was  one  of  the  originators  of  the  County  Medical  So- 
ciety, and  was  its  first  president,  and  was  selected  as  its  annalist  to  pre- 
pare for  the  Society  the  history  of  the  profession  in  this  county, — a 
work  from  which  much  is  expected.  It  is  rare,  indeed,  that  a  man  of 
Dr.  Hawes'  analytical  turn  of  mind,  —  one  who  sees  so  much  in  what 
is  daily  going  on  around  him,  and  has  so  good  a  faculty  of  retaining  for 
use  that  which  he  sees,  and  can  put  it  to  so  good  use,  has  such  excel- 
lent opportunities  for  studying,  during  a  daily  practice  of  almost  half  a 
century,  the  great  questions  which  are  his  chief  delight,  and  which 
pertain  to  the  highest  physical  interests  of  man.  The  wealth  of  infor- 
mation —  knowledge  is  a  better  term  —  is  not  easily  contemplated. 

Jacob  Yapp  has  been  for  a  number  of  years  one  of  the  leading  busi- 
ness men  of  Georgetown.  He  has  always  exhibited  a  broad  public 
spirit,  and  gives  that  close  attention  to  business  which  commands  suc- 
cess under  any  circumstances.  Frequently  called  to  attend  to  the 
public  affairs  of  his  town,  he  has  shown  himself  a  wise  and  faithful 
officer  and  a  good  citizen,  while  in  his  own  business  affairs  he  has 
maintained  a  reputation  for  business  integrity  of  the  highest  order. 

Mr.  Joseph  Bailey  was  long  one  of  the  active  business  men  here  at 
Georgetown  and  at  other  points  in  the  county.     His  mercantile  rela- 


GEORGETOWN    TOWNSHIP.  521 

tions  were  varied  and  always  successful,  and  during  the  time  of  his 
business  life  he  displayed  ability  of  a  high  order. 

The  sons  of  Mr.  Abner  Frazier,  who  have  long  managed  the  impor- 
tant interests  and  kept  up  the  business  which  he  and  his  brother  built 
up,  are  men  of  excellent  business  capacity  and  the  strictest  integrity. 
Messrs.  Richie  &  Thompson  have,  as  successors  of  the  important  busi- 
ness of  Mr.  Canaday,  acquired  a  reputation  second  only  to  him  whom 
they  succeeded  in  business.  The  Cowans  have  grown  into  business 
men  of  first-class  ability,  evincing  business  traits  of  a  high  order,  giv- 
ing close  attention  to  their  business.  Mr.  G.  W.  Hollowav  has  for 
years  maintained  a  splendid  reputation  for  business,  and  carries  on  a 
large  and  successful  trade. 

The  mercantile  business  of  Georgetown  has  always  been  its  chief 
interest.  Since  the  day  Benjamin  Canaday  commenced,  her  leading- 
men  have  sold  goods,  grown  rich,  and  left  their  business,  their  acquired 
capital  and  their  reputations  to  their  children,  who  have  followed  on  in 
the  good  way.  What  Canaday,  Henderson,  Frazier  and  Cowan  have 
done  here  in  days  gone  by  their  sons  and  successors  are  doing  now.  A 
similar  state  of  things  probably  does  not  exist  in  this  part  of  the  state, 
certainly  not  in  this  county. 

SCHOOLS. 

In  educational  interests,  Georgetown,  under  the  lead  of  the  public 
spirit,  which  actuated  her  early  settlers,  has  always  been  in  advance  of 
neighboring  towns.  The  first  school  held  in  a  little  building  on  the 
Square  has  been  described.  The  school  thus  begun  was  continued  by 
subscription,  with  varying  success,  until  1844,  when  the  Georgetown 
Seminary  was  organized,  and  for  twenty  years  continued  to  be  the  cen- 
ter of  educational  light  for  this  and  surrounding  counties. 

Several  years  before  any  high-school  was  in  existence  at  Danville, 
this  seminary  was  furnishing  excellent  educational  facilities  to  the 
youths  who  came  here  from  the  surrounding  country.  Benjamin  Can- 
aday, Presiding-Elder  Robbins,  J.  H.  Murphy,  of  Danville,  and  Mr. 
Curtis,  were  its  early  promoters.  The  seminary  was  under  the  charge 
of  the  Methodist  Conference,  and  the  teachers  were  selected  by  that 
body.  They  were  fortunate  in  the  selection  of  the  first  principal,  in 
the  person  of  a  young  man  of  excellent  education,  commanding  pres- 
ence and  superior  tact, —  Jesse  IT.  Moore, — then  a  local  preacher,  but 
since  one  of  the  leading  preachers  of  that  church,  a  presiding  elder, 
then  a  general  in  the  grand  army  of  the  Union,  buckling  on  "'the 
sword  of  the  Lord  and  of  Gideon"  as  he  went  forth  to  establish  the 
authority  of  right  against  treason,  then  a  long  time  member  of  congress 


522  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

from  this  district,  and  afterward  pension  agent  at  Decatur.  A  gentle- 
man who  in  every  position  has  acquitted  himself  with  honor  and  credit, 
and  who,  as  his  long  and  useful  life  is  now  certainly  drawing  to  a  close, 
may  well  feel  that  in  no  position,  however  exalted,  in  no  avocation, 
however  honored,  has  he  done  more  lasting  good  than  during  the  four 
years  of  his  service  as  principal  of  Georgetown  Seminary.  During  his 
administration  the  school  was  held  in  the  frame  building  which  had 
been  built  for  a  church  and  had  been  moved  to  the  grounds  now  occu- 
pied by  the  district  school.  His  assistants  were  Miss  Fairbanks,  Walter 
Smith,  now  a  Baptist  preacher,  and  Archibald  Sloan,  since  become  a 
minister.  Among  the  pupils  who  ''grew  up"  under  his  fostering  care 
were  Elijah  Moore  and  Jesse  and  G.  W.  Holloway.  The  seminary 
building  was  erected  in  1848.  It  was  a  plain  brick  building,  two 
stories  high,  and  capable  of  accommodating  two  hundred  pupils.  Prof. 
J.  P.  Johnson,  now  of  Highland,  Kansas,  was  in  charge  of  the  school  for 
five  years,  his  wife  and  two  nieces  being  assistants.  During  his  excellent 
management  the  school  increased  in  numbers  and  popularity.  Pupils 
came  from  one  hundred  miles  away  to  attend  the  school,  and  Danville 
sent  great  numbers.  Miss  Sophia  Lyons,  now  Mrs.  Holloway,  taught 
music.  During  a  portion  of  the  existence  of  the  seminary  there  was 
a  kind  of  a  partnership  existing  between  the  district  and  the  trustees 
of  the  seminarv.—  wanting  in  legal  authority,  it  was  admitted,  but  so 
just  in  its  character  and  so  successful  in  its  operations  that  no  one  com- 
plained. Among  those  who  received  their  education  here  the  follow- 
ing are  remembered  by  Mrs.  ¥m.  Taylor,  to  whose  faithful  memory 
the  writer  is  under  obligations  for  most  of  the  facts  in  regard  to  this 
now  almost  forgotten  institution  :  Rev.  O.  P.  Light.  Daniel  Trimble,  of 
Coles  county,  and  Dr.  Morris,  of  Mattoon.  Prof.  Asa  Guy  taught  two 
years,  from  1853  to  1855.  His  wife  and  Miss  Hazelton  were  assistants. 
Rev.  Mr.  Railsback.  who  died  recently,  was  principal  for  four  years, 
and  after  him  Rev.  Mr.  McXutt,  until  it  became  entirely  absorbed  in 
the  free  school. 

The  seminary  building  was  built  by  the  proceeds  of  contributions 
made  by  the  citizens  in  general,  such  as  money,  cattle,  hogs,  shoats, 
lumber,  yellow-legged  chickens,  and  anything  that  a  good  Methodist 
preacher  could  secure  by  energetic  begging. 

The  directors  of  the  district  came  into  full  management  of  the 
school  in  1861.  by  the  disbanding  of  the  seminary  in  consequence  of 
the  growing  sentiment  in  favor  of  free  schools,  and  the  perfecting  of 
our  school  system  by  state  action.  Asa  S.  Guy  taught  first,  and  was 
assisted  by  T.  Barnett  and  Rebecca  Lawrence.  After  them  Mr.  Spang- 
ler,  Mr.  Barnett,  Mr.  Mack.  Mr.  Lane  and  Mr.  Cathcart  taught.     The 


GEORGETOWN    TOWNSHIP.  523 

present  teachers  are :  F.  N.  Tracey,  principal  ;  Mrs.  Tracey,  Miss  Mary 
Ankrnm,  Miss  Emma  Jenkins  and  Miss  Lanra  Richmond,  assistants. 
The  district  has  a  magnificent  school-building,  erected  in  1872  at  a 
cost  of  $10,000.  It  is  of  brick,  two  stories  high,  and  is  substantial  and 
well  built,  nicely  set  off  with  neat  display  work  in  brick.  It  is  28  x  90 
in  front,  with  a  rear  extension  30x40;  six  rooms.  The  school  is  in 
good  hands,  and  is  deservedly  popular.  It  is  graded,  high-school, 
grammar  school,  first  and  second  intermediate,  and  primary.  All  the 
branches  usuallv  taught  in  the  high-schools  of  this  state  are  taught. 

The  annual  report  of  Joseph  Thompson,  Esq.,  treasurer  of  schools 
for  town  18,  range  11,  and  fraction  of  range  10,  for  the  year  ending 
July  15,  1ST9,  is  as  follows: 

Number  of  children  under  21  years   1,221 

Number  over  6  and  under  21  years 886 

Number  of  districts 10 

Number  of  teachers 21 

Number  of  school-houses brick,  4  ;  frame  6  10 

Average  number  months  taught &% 

Value  of  school  property $11,550 

Principal  of  township  fund $4,080 

Amount  paid  teachers  $3,816 

Total  expenditure  for  schools $4,638 

Russell  Lodge,  No.  154,  A.F.  6z  A.M.,  was  constituted  on  the  3d  of 
October,  A.L.  5854.  The  charter  members  were  John  Kilgore,  W. 
P.  Sboekey,  W.  T.  Iiohnan  and  others.  The  first  officers  were:  W.  P. 
Shockey,  W.M. ;  J.  Kilgore,  S.W. ;  W.  T.  Holman,  J.W. ;  O.  E.  D. 
Culbertson,  Sec.  The  lodge  has  since  been  served  by  the  following 
Masters  in  order:  W.  D.  Craig,  E.  R.  Ankrum,  W.  C.  Cowan  and  J. 
P.  Cloyd.  The  present  officers  are :  D.  B.  Reid,  W.M. ;  D.  Bennett, 
S.W.;  W.  V.  Jones,  J.W. ;  R.  W.  Cowan,  Treas. ;  W.  L.  Hall,  Sec; 
W.  C.  Cowan,  S.D. ;  E.  R.  Ankrum,  J.D. ;  J.  P.  Campbell,  T.  The 
lodge  numbers  thirty-eight  members,  and  owns  its  hall. 

Georgetown  Lodge,  No.  62,  I.O.O.F.,  was  chartered  on  the  25th  of 
July,  1850,  by  G.  W.  Woodward,  G.M.  The  original  members  were: 
Samuel  Huffman,  J.  E.  Dugan,  D.  C.  Hill,  Othniel  Gilbert,  William 
Anderson,  Wm.  Tayor,  Newton  Dukes,  Dr.  Balch,  Dr.  Davis,  A.  A. 
Dunseth  and  H.  Cook.  The  lodge  was  prosperous  for  a  time,  and 
then,  owing  to  the  dispersion  of  its  members,  became  weak,  and  sur- 
rendered its  charter.  In  1872  it  reorganized,  and  the  following  officers 
were  installed :  Henderson  Cook,  N.G. ;  A.  H.  Kimbrough,  V.G. ;  J. 
H.  Ladd,  Sec. ;  William  Taylor,  Treas.  The  present  membership  is 
twenty-two,   and   its  officers  are:  James  A.  Dubre,  N.G. ;  James  H. 


.Mil  HISTORY   OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Gadd,  V.G. ;  James  Baldwin,  Sec;  J.  A.  Blakeney,  Permanent  Sec: 
J.  B.  Clifton,  Treas. ;  James  Baldwin,  Lodge  Deputy. 

There  were  nourishing  lodges  of  Sons  of  Temperance  and  Good 
Templars  in  times  past;  but  both  have  been  discontinued,  as  the  need 
for  their  special  work  seemed  to  grow  less. 

W.  C.  Cowan  is  collecting  a  museum  of  antiquarian  curiosities, 
among  which  are  a  land  patent  of  1825,  bearing  the  autograph  of  J.  Q. 
Adams,  President;  a  six-dollar  bill  of  Virginia,  agreeing  to  pay  six 
Spanish  milled  dollars,  or  their  value  in  gold  or  silver,  dated  May  6, 
1777.  on  the  thick  brown  paper  of  that  day;  and  quite  a  collection  ot 
the  different  scrip  issues  of  the  United  States  issued  during  the  recent 
"unpleasantness,"  and  a  petrified  buffalo's  tooth.  The  Historical  So- 
ciety will  be  glad  to  enlist  him  in  their  work. 

The  streets  of  the  village  are  wide,  and  a  general  air  of  neatness 
pervades  them.  "While  this  is  true,  the  habit  of  crowding  the  build- 
ings which  are  used  for  residences,  out  near  the  street,  leaving  insuffi- 
cient yards  before  them,  or  none  at  all,  detracts  from  the  elegance 
which  would  otherwise  attach.  Xo  amount  of  decorative  taste  can 
make  amends  for  a  cramped  door-3-ard,  in  a  locality  where  land  is  no 
object.  There  are  many  pleasant  residences,  ard  several  substantial 
business  blocks  in  Georgetown. 

The  large  double  three-story  store,  occupied  by  Pichie  &  Thomp- 
son, was  erected  by  Benjamin  Canaday  about  1850,  and  like  its  builder, 
is  a  great  broad-shouldered,  honest  specimen.  It  cost  85,000.  The 
Holloway  building,  fifty  feet  on  the  square  and  sixty  on  State  street, 
three  stories  high,  brick,  was  built  by  the  proprietor  in  1S67.  His 
store  and  the  bank  occupy  the  first  floor,  offices  the  second,  and  the 
upper  story  is  occupied  and  owned  by  the  Masonic  fraternity.  The 
Frazier  store,  36  x  60,  brick,  two  stories,  was  built  in  1859  at  a  cost  of 
s5.00ii.  W.  C.  Cowan's  drug  store,  18x40,  built  in  1872,  brick,  two 
stories,  s2,000.  Elam  Henderson  built  the  drug  store  occupied  by 
Cowan  &  Co.,  18  x  40,  brick,  two  stories,  later,  at  a  cost  of  $1,800.  The 
residence  of  Dr.  E.  T.  Pritchard,  one  of  the  best  in  town,  is  34x40, 
two  stories  with  addition  one  story,  and  cost  $2,500.  The  grounds  are 
nicely  adorned  with  shade  trees  and  shrubbery.  Elam  Henderson's 
brick  residence  was  built  in  1S70.  and  is  about  the  same  size;  it  has 
ample  grounds.  J.  K.  Pichie  has  a  nice  two-story  brick  residence,  with 
comfortable  grounds  and  pleasant  surroundings.  "Win.  Frazier  has  a 
good  story-and-a-half  brick  residence,  and  Zack  Morris  a  pleasantly 
fixed  framed  house  of  similar  dimensions.  Miss  Ha  worth  has  a  fine 
two-story  residence,  and  P.  West  has  a  very  pleasant  one. 


GEORGETOWN   TOWNSHIP.  525 

VILLAG  K    ( »K<  i  AN  IZATION. 

The  first  record  which  appears  in  the  office  of  the  clerk  is  of  a  meet- 
ing of  the  town  council,  April  12,  1866,  at  which  were  present,  H. 
Cook,  president;  Patrick  Cowan,  clerk;  J.  PI.  Lockett,  Josiah  Bailey, 
J.  H.  Gadd  and  W.  C.  Cowan,  trustees.  There  is  no  further  record 
until  April  5,  I860,  when  John  Newlin  was  elected  president;  Elam 
Henderson,  Abner  Frazier,  D.  B.  Reid,  Oliver  Finley  and  J.  H.  Lock- 
ett, trustees;  Titus  Bennett,  police  magistrate;  W.  H.  Newlin,  treas- 
urer, and  J.  E.  Moore,  clerk. 

February  22,  1873,  the  question  was  submitted  to  a  vote  of  the 
legal  voters  whether  Georgetown  should  become  incorporated  under 
the  general  act  of  1872,  and  was  decided  in  the  affirmative  by  51  to  35. 
The  first  election  under  this  organization  resulted  in  the  election  of 
Titus  Bennett,  W.  O.  Mendenhall,  A.  Frazier,  E.  B.  Ankrum,  B.  F. 
Cook  and  P.  West,  trustees;  J.  H.  Hewitt,  police  magistrate,  and  W. 
H.  Newlin,  clerk.  The  present  Board  consists  of  Jacob  Yapp,  J. 
Thompson,  W.  F.  Henderson,  W.  B.  Cowan,  J.  H.  Hewitt  and  J.  I). 
Shepler;  clerk,  C.  A.  Fertig ;  treasurer,  Daniel  Alexander;  police 
magistrate,  W.  B.  Hanes.  License  for  the  sale  of  liquor  is  not 
granted. 

WESTVILLE. 

Westville,  a  station  on  the  Danville  &  Southwestern  railroad,  four 
miles  from  Georgetown,  was  laid  out  by  William  P.  West  and  E.  A. 
West,  on  the  southeast  corner  of  section  6,  in  May,  1873.  Two  blocks 
only  were  platted  for  record.  Parker  &  Ellsworth  commenced  business 
in  1872,  west  of  the  railroad.  When  thev  moved  across  to  the  east 
side,  Cook  &  Alexander  bought  them  out,  and  began  a  general  mer- 
cantile trade.  Dukes  &  Doops  succeeded  that  firm,  and  Boone  & 
Jumps  Brothers  followed  them.  They  continued  in  business  here  only 
a  short  time,  and  were  succeeded  by  J.  W.  Lockett  &  Brother,  who  are 
carrying  on  a  fair  trade  in  general  merchandise,  and  bujring  country 
produce.  H.  C.  Myers  opened  a  drug  store  in  1877,  and  has  been  suc- 
ceeded by  Dr.  W.  D.  Steele,  who  is  engaged  in  the  practice  of  medicine. 
Jonathan  Clayton  commenced  the  blacksmith  business  in  1872.  He 
died  three  years  ago.  Mr.  Haller  had  the  shop  a  year,  and  was  fol- 
lowed by  J.  F.  Hutchinson.  The  post-office  was  established  in  1876, 
and  S.  W.  Dukes  was  appointed  first  postmaster.  He  was  succeeded 
by  J.  W.  Lockett,  the  present  incumbent.  John  Dukes  is  engaged  in 
buying  and  shipping  stock. 

Graves'  is  a  flag-station   about  half  way  between  Westville   and 
Georgetown,  for  the  convenience  of  that  neighborhood. 


52(5  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

BIOGRAPHICAL. 

James  O'Neal,  "Westville,  farmer,  was  born  near  his  present  place, 
in  Georgetown  township,  on  the  20th  of  April,  1822.  He  lived  with 
his  parents  until  he  was  twenty-six  years  of  age,  when  he  moved  near 
Kyger's  Mill,  and  from  thence  to  his  present  place.  On  the  18th  of  May, 
1  84:8,  he  married  Miss  Vesta  Pratt.  She  was  born  in  this  county,  near 
Danville,  on  the  2d  of  October,  1829.  They  had  ten  children,  eight  of 
whom  are  living,  viz:  Cynthia  Ann.  Oliver  P..  Jonathan  T.,  Mary 
Lincoln,  Silva  A.,  Clarrissa  E.,  Effie  L.  and  James  Hawes.  Mr. 
O'Neal's  parents,  Thomas  and  Sarah  Howard  O'Neal,  were  natives  of 
Nelson  county,  Kentucky,  and  settled  here  in  the  fall  of  1821.  He 
died  in  the  fall  of  1861,  and  she  in  the  tall  of  1863.  Mr.  Thomas 
O'Neal  and  one  of  his  sons  volunteered  in  the  Black  Hawk  war.  His 
son  James  was  among  the  first  born  in  this  county.  The  latter's 
daughter  married  Mr.  Simon  Doop,  on  the  19th  of  November,  1868. 
They  are  living  here  with  .Mr.  O'Neal.  They  had  five  children,  three 
living:    Alfred  E.,  Jessie  P.  and  Yesta  J. 

Elam  Henderson,  Georgetown,  president  of  the  Citizens'  Bank,  is  a 
native  of  Union  county,  Indiana.  He  was  born  on  his  father's  farm, 
on  the  6th  of  July,  1810,  and  lived  on  the  same  fourteen  years.  The 
family  then  moved  to  Illinois,  and  settled  in  Edgar,  now  Vermilion 
county,  about  five  miles  south  of  Georgetown,  where  they  engaged  in 
tanning,  and  remained  until  1831.  In  the  year  last  named  he  moved 
into  the  neighborhood  of  Georgetown,  and  engaged  in  farming  on  his 
own  account,  and  continued  at  the  same  until  1853.  He  then  engaged 
in  the  general  merchandise  business  in  Georgetown,  and  in  1855  moved 
his  family  to  the  village.  He  continued  in  the  business  until  1876. 
At  this  date  he  took  an  interest  in  the  Vermilion  County  Bank,  of 
Danville,  and  retained  the  same  about  a  year.  He  then  occupied  him- 
self in  looking  after  his  farm  and  in  building.  In  1878  he  formed  a 
partnership  and  engaged  in  the  banking  business,  under  the  firm  name 
of  Henderson  &  Mendenhall's  Citizens'  Bank.  The  institution  was 
opened  on  the  1st  of  January,  1878,  and  is  now  conducted  by  E.  Hen- 
derson &  Co.  Mr.  Henderson  held  the  office  of  countv  commissioner 
from  1S36  till  1839.  He  was  then  elected  associate  justice,  and  held 
that  office  until  1853,  and  that  of  supervisor  from  1857  till  1S73,  except 
two  years.  On  the  11th  of  March,  1830,  he  married  Miss  Mary  Golden. 
She  was  born  in  East  Tennessee. 

Elijah  Moore,  Georgetown,  farmer,  is  a  native  of  this  township ;  he 
was  born  on  his  father's  farm  on  the  16th  of  October,  1S25,  and  is  the 
oldest  living  resident  native  of  this  part  of  the  township.  He  lived 
with  his  parents  until  he  was  twenty-one.     He  then  bought  feathers. 


GEORGETOWN    TOWNSHIP.  527 

marketing  them  in  Chicago.  He  traveled  in  Illinois  and  Indiana,  and 
then  began  farming  on  his  own  account  on  a  farm  adjoining  his  father's, 
and  lived  there  about  six  years.  He  then  sold  his  farm  and  came  on 
the  home  farm,  buying  the  location  of  present  residence ;  built  a  house, 
and  has  lived  here  since.  After  his  father's  death  he  bought  the  old 
homestead,  and  has  added  to  it,  until  now  it  contains  nearly  four  hun- 
dred acres.  On  the  7th  of  December,  1848,  he  married  Miss  Nancy  S. 
Chambers,  a  native  of  Indiana.  They  had  five  children,  four  of  whom 
are  living :  Jesse  C,  Homer,  Romazo  E.  and  Nelson  R.  The  name  of 
the  deceased  was  Sarah  Ann. 

Esau  Starr,  Georgetown,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  is  a  native  of  Ver- 
milion county,  Illinois;  he  was  born  on  the  10th  of  February,  1826, 
and  has  always  lived  in  this  county.  His  father  died  when  he  was 
about  four  years  of  age.  He  lived  with  his  mother  until  he  wras 
twenty-three.  On  the  31st  of  May,  1849,  he  married  Miss  Rebecca 
Sherer,  who  was  born  in  this  county  on  the  23d  of  October,  1831. 
After  his  marriage  he  rented  one  year;  he  then  bought  his  present 
place  and  settled.  He  has  made  many  trips  to  Chicago  bv  team,  dating 
back  as  early  as  1840.  He  had  six  children,  three  are  now  living: 
James  T.,  Carrie  A.  and  Lydia  J.  He  owns  one  hundred  and  eighty- 
seven  and  a  half  acres  of  land  in  this  county,  which  is  principally  the 
result  of  his  own  labor  and  management. 

Henry  Howard,  Danville,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in  Pike 
county,  Ohio,  on  the  12th  of  December,  1821,  and  lived  there  five 
years  with  his  parents.  He  then  settled  near  Danville,  Illinois.  He 
lived  with  his  parents  until  he  was  twenty-three  years  of  age.  Febru- 
ary, 1844,  he  married  Miss  Susannah  Ogden.  She  was  born  in  this 
county,  and  died  in  November,  1851.  They  had  four  children,  three 
living,  viz:  James,  Lucy  J.  and  Reason.  On  the  11th  of  May,  1852, 
he  married  Mrs.  Rachel  Martin,  formerly  Miss  Mossbarger.  She  was 
born  in  Vermilion  county,  Indiana.  They  have  seven  children,  viz  : 
William  H.,  Eliza  A.,  Jacob,  Daniel,  Charles,  Mary  A.  and  Melissa. 
Mr.  Howard  has  served  one  year  as  supervisor  of  this  township.  He 
owns  one  hundred  and  six  acres  of  land  in  this  county.  His  parents, 
Aaron  and  Jane  (McDougal)  Howard,  were  natives  of  Ohio.  They 
came  to  this  county  in  1826.  He  died  in  April,  1860,  and  she  in 
March  of  1844. 

Win.  D.  Smith,  Georgetown,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in 
Washington  county,  Tennessee,  on  the  29th  of  December,  1822,  and 
lived  there  nearly  six  years ;  then,  with  his  parents,  he  came  to  Illinois, 
and  settled  in  Vermilion  county,  near  his  present  place.  He  lived 
with  his  parents  until  he  was  twenty-four,  when  he  came  to  his  present 


528  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

place  and  has  lived  here  since.  On  the  22d  of  August,  184S,  he  mar- 
ried Miss  Sarah  F.  Littner.  She  was  born  in  Knox  county,  Tennessee, 
on  the  1st  of  July,  1831.  They  had  thirteen  children,  nine  of  whom 
are  living,  viz :  James  F.,  Sarah  F.,  Thomas,  Phebe,  Theodore,  Will- 
iam D.,  jr.,  James,  Andrew  S.  and  Susan.  He  owns  two  hundred  and 
eighty-five  acres  in  this  county,  which  he  has  earned  by  his  own  labor 
and  management.  He  teamed  to  Chicago,  beginning  as  early  as  1836. 
From  1812  to  1816  he  made  seven  trips  by  flat-boat  to  New  Orleans, 
from  Eugene,  Indiana.  He  followed  threshing  for  twenty-six  years, 
and  took  the  premium  at  Catlin  fair  for  best  threshing.  He  was  also 
considered  one  of  the  best  feeders. 

James  Sandusky,  Westville,  farming  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in 
Bourbon  county,  Kentucky,  on  the  27th  of  July,  1817,  and  lived  there 
until  1S27,  when,  with  his  parents,  he  came  to  Illinois  and  settled  on 
the  present  place,  and  lived  here  until  1836,  when  they  moved  to  where 
Catlin  now  stands,  and  lived  there  until  1848,  when  he  again  came  to 
the  present  place,  and  lived  here  until  1859.  He  then  rented  the 
place  and  moved  to  his  brother's  farm  at  Catlin,  and  lived  there  until 
1861.  He  then  came  to  the  present  place,  where  he  has  since  lived. 
On  the  6th  of  December,  1847,  he  married  Miss  Mary  Ann  Greene. 
She  was  born  in  Woodford  county,  Kentucky,  where  they  were  mar- 
ried. They  had  eleven  children,  nine  living,  viz  :  Sarah  E.,  Josiah, 
James  S.,  Henry  C,  Eliza,  Stephen  A.  D.,  Thomas,  Susan  A.  and 
Lora.  Mr.  Sandusky  marketed  wheat  in  Chicago  in  early  days.  In 
1838  he,  with  six  yoke  of  oxen,  took  one  hundred  bushels,  and  received 
si. 25  per  bushel.  He  owns  three  hundred  acres  in  this  county.  His 
parents,  Isaac  and  Euphama  McDowell  Sandusky,  were  natives  of  Ken- 
tucky and  Virginia,  and  came  here  as  stated.  He  served  in  the  wars 
of  1812  and  the  Black  Hawk  war.  He  wTas  taken  prisoner  in  the 
former.  He  was  with  Harrison  at  Tippecanoe.  He  died  on  the  6th 
of  August,  1852;  she  died  on  the  15th  of  June,  1864. 

Andrew  Reynolds,  Georgetown,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  is  one  of 
the  early  settlers  of  this  county.  He  was  born  on  the  25th  of  May, 
1819,  in  Knox  county,  Tennessee,  and  lived  there  about  eight  years. 
During  this  time  his  parents  died.  He  then  came  to  Illinois  with  his 
brother,  who  lived  near  Catlin,  and  remained  with  him  four  years.  He 
then  came  to  Georgetown  township,  and  lived  with  Mr.  Gardner  until 
he  was  twenty-one.  He  then  rented  a  place,  and  has  farmed  on  his 
own  account  since.  In  1859  he  came  to  his  present  place.  He  owns 
one  hundred  and  six  acres  in  this  county,  principally  the  result  of  his 
own  labor.  He  married  Miss  Amanda  Smith.  He  came  here  from 
Tennessee  by  wagon.     In  1835  he  made  his  first  trip  to  Chicago  by 


GEORGETOWN   TOWNSHIP.  529 

team,  and  has  since  made  the  trip  in  all  kinds  of  weather,  and  in  some 
cases  suffering  extreme  hardships  and  privations. 

A.  B.  Smith,  Danville,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  is  a  native  of  Wash- 
ington county,  Tennessee.  He  was  born  on  the  25th  of  December, 
1817,  and  lived  there  eleven  years.  He  then,  with  his  parents,  came 
to  Illinois,  and  settled  near  Georgetown.  He  lived  with  his  parents 
until  he  was  twenty-three.  On  the  8th  of  October,  1840,  he  married 
Miss  Eliza  Lockett.  She  was  born  in  Wythe  county,  Virginia.  After 
his  marriage  he  settled  on  his  present  place.  He  is  no  office-seeker, 
and  has  held  no  offices  except  those  connected  with  the  school  and  roads. 
He  owns  five  hundred  acres  in  this  county,  principally  located  nine 
miles  southeast  of  Danville.  In  early  days  Mr.  Smith  made  journeys 
by  team  to  Chicago,  making  his  first  trip  in  1832,  and  he  has  sold 
wheat  there  as  low  as  forty-two  cents  per  bushel.  His  parents,  Joseph 
and  Sarah  (Brown)  Smith,  were  natives  of  Tennessee,  where  they  were 
married  on  the  15th  of  August,  1812.  He  was  born  on  the  7th  of 
March,  1793,  and  she  was  born  on  the  29th  of  May,  1793.  Both  died 
in  this  township. 

O.  S.  Graves,  Westville,  farming  and  stock-raising,  was  born  in 
Clark  county,  Kentucky,  on  the  5th  of  May,  1818,  and  lived  there 
until  he  was  ten  years  of  age.  With  his  parents  he  then  came  to  Illi- 
nois, and  settled  in  Vermilion  county,  near  the  present  place.  He  lived 
with  his  parents  until  he  was  thirty  years  of  age.  He  then  came  to  his 
present  place.  On  the  21st  of  September,  1843,  he  married  Miss  Sarah 
Ann  Ashby.  She  was  born  in  Bourbon  county,  Kentucky,  and  came 
to  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  with  her  parents,  in  1829.  Mr.  Graves 
has  made  a  number  of  trips  to  Chicago  b}'  team,  taking  wheat,  stock, 
etc.  His  first  trip  dates  back  to  1838,  and  he  has  sold  wheat  there 
at  from  forty-four  to  sixty-four  cents  per  bushel.  They  had  six  chil- 
dren,—  five  living,  viz:  James  L.,  Henry  C,  Martha  E.,  Isabel  and 
Orvil  D.  The  two  former  are  married,  the  latter  live  at  home.  Mr. 
Graves  owns  four  hundred  and  forty  acres  in  this  county,  iocated  on 
the  main  road  from  Danville  to  Georgetown,  seven  miles  south  of  the 
former  place.  His  parents,  James  and  Margaret  (Blackburn)  Graves, 
were  natives  of  Kentucky.  They  were  married  there,  and  came  to 
Illinois  in  1828.  He  died  in  July,  1857,  and  she  is  living  with  her 
son. 

Charles  Yoho,  Georgetown,  retired  farmer,  was  bom  in  West  Vir- 
ginia in  the  spring  of  1807,  and  lived  there  eighteen  years.  He  then 
went  by  water  to  Eugene,  and  from  there  to  his  present  place,  where 
he  lived  one  year.  He  then  went  back  to  his  home,  and  in  the  follow- 
ing winter  went  down  the  Ohio  to  Rising  Sun,  and  cut  wood.  In  the 
34 


530  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

spring  following  he  came  to  Illinois,  and  worked  in  this  neighborhood. 
He  has  lived  here  since,  with  the  exception  of  the  time  spent  in  a  few 
short  trips  east  and  to  Chicago.  In  1832  he  volunteered  in  Major 
Sloan's  regiment  to  fight  Black  Hawk.  He  has  teamed  to  Chicago  a 
number  of  times,  and  sold  wheat  as  low  as  thirty-seven  and  a  half 
cents  per  bushel.  He  married  Miss  Annie  Brown,  of  Tennessee.  They 
had  sixteen  children,  fourteen  of  whom  are  living,  viz:  Hiram,  Jacob, 
Thomas,  William,  Alleck,  Catharine,  Eliza,  Jamina,  Nancy,  Victoria, 
Lucinda,  Lilly,  Elmyra  and  Julia.  After  his  marriage  Mr.  Yoho  engaged 
in  boating  to  New  Orleans.  He  owns  two  hundred  and  eighty  acres 
of  land  in  this  county,  which  he  has  earned  by  his  own  labor.  He 
came  to  Illinois  in  company  with  James  and  Thomas  Pribble  and  N. 
Henthorn.  They  had  two  boats,  and  at  the  Falls  of  Ohio  had  to  pay 
$10  to  be  piloted  through.  Mr.  Yoho  accompanied  the  first  boat,  and 
concluded  he  would  save  the  $10  on  the  second,  and  so  piloted  the 
same  through  in  safety,  though  greatly  opposed  by  the  native  pilot. 

James  Pribble,  Georgetown,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in 
Monroe  county,  Ohio,  on  the  21st  of  September,  1826,  and  lived  there 
three  years.  In  1829,  with  his  parents,  he  settled  in  Vermilion  county, 
Illinois,  near  his  present  place,  and  lived  with  his  parents  until  their 
death.  In  1853  he  began  farming  on  his  own  account,  farming  part  of 
his  father's  place.  He  married  Miss  Susannah  Haines.  She  was  born 
in  Virginia,  and  died  in  the  fall  of  1860.  They  had  four  children, — 
three  living,  viz:  Mary  E.,  Deborah  V.  and  Flora  L.  His  present  wife 
was  Miss  Catharine  Yoho.  She  wTas  born  in  this  county,  and  married 
on  the  4th  of  May,  1861.  They  had  nine  children,  six  of  whom  are 
living,  viz :  Richard,  Andrew,  Robert,  Ellen,  Rachel  and  Justin.  Mr. 
Pribble  owns  one  hundred  and  twelve  acres  in  this  county,  located 
three  and  a  half  miles  east  of  Georgetown.  His  parents,  Thomas  and 
Deborah  Dickinson,  were  natives  of  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia.  He 
moved  to  Ohio  when  young,  and  followed  keel-boating.  He  died  on 
the  10th  of  September,  1872,  and  she  departed  this  life  on  the  13th  of 
September,  1851. 

James  Ashby,  Westville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Bourbon  county,  Ken- 
tucky, in  September,  1817,  and  lived  there  until  1829,  when,  with  his 
parents,  he  came  to  Illinois,  and  settled  in  Vermilion  county.  He 
lived  with  his  parents  twenty-eight  years,  and  then  rented  a  farm  and 
worked  for  himself.  In  1863  he  came  to  his  present  place,  which  con- 
tains sixty-four  acres.  On  the  3d  of  April,  1845,  he  married  Miss 
Sarah  J.  Blakeney ;  she  was  born  in  Bourbon  county,  Kentucky.  They 
had  nine  children,  seven  of  whom  are  living:  Milton,  Liza  Ann,  Mar- 
tha E.,  Paulina  J.,  Pleasant,  Emma  L.,  and  Medora  L.     Mr.  Ashby 


GEORGETOWN   TOWNSHIP.  531 

has  hauled  apples  to  Chicago  as  early  as  1851.  His  parents,  Joseph 
and  Nancy  Oloe  Ashby,  were  natives  of  Stafford  county,  Virginia ;  they 
were  married  there,  and  came  to  this  county  in  1829;  he  died  in  the 
fall  of  1845,  and  she  in  1861. 

Thomas  Pribble,  Georgetown,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in 
Ohio  on  the  1st  of  March,  1828,  where  he  lived  one  year.  He  then, 
with  his  parents,  came  to  Illinois  and  settled  on  his  present  place, 
coming  down  the  Ohio  and  up  the  Wabash  to  Eugene,  settling  on  his 
present  place  in  1829.  In  1854  he  took  the  management  of  the  farm. 
In  1862  he  enlisted  in  the  125th  111.  Regiment,  and  was  in  service  until 
the  close  of  the  war.  He  was  in  the  battles  of  Perryville,  Chattanooga, 
Chickamauga,  Mission  Ridge  and  Dallas,  Georgia,  where  he  was  wound- 
ed and  confined  to  the  hospital  until  his  discharge.  He  returned  to 
the  farm  and  has  lived  here  since.  He  owns  eighty-two  acres  of  land, 
located  three  miles  east  of  Georgetown.  On  the  25th  of  December, 
1866,  he  married  Miss  Cynthia  Morgan  ;  she  was  born  in  this  county. 
They  have  four  children  :  Commodore,  Hamilton,  Snowden  41.  and 
Minnetta.     His  parents  were  James  and  Flora  (Cree)  Pribble. 

Levi  Long,  Georgetown,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in  Nicho- 
las county,  Kentucky,  on  his  father's  farm,  on  the  20th  of  October, 
1810,  and  lived  there  until  the  fall  of  1830.  He  then,  with  his  brother- 
in-law,  Mr.  Jones,  came  to  Illinois,  and  settled  in  Vermilion  county, 
and,  after  living  here  one  year,  went  to  Kentucky  and  assisted  in 
moving  his  brother-in-law's  family  to  this  county.  On  the  15th  of 
December,  1831,  he  married  Miss  Celia  R.  Jones;  she  was  born  in 
Nicholas  county,  Kentucky,  and  died  here  on  the  5th  of  June,  1876. 
After  his  marriage  he  rented  a  place,  and  farmed  it  one  year ;  he  then 
went  to  Elwood  township,  and  farmed  three  years.  On  the  death  of 
his  father-in-law  he  bought  out  the  heirs  and  moved  to  the  place,  and 
has  lived  here  since.  He  assisted  in  laying  out  the  roads  of  this  town- 
ship, and  served  as  road  commissioner  for  some  time.  Of  the  ten  chil- 
dren, seven  are  living:  John  E.,  William  L.,  Charles  F.,  Nancy  J., 
Josiah  S.,  Sarah  F.  and  James  P.  Mr.  Long  owns  five  hundred  and 
forty-eight  acres  of  land  in  this  county,  which  he  has  earned  by  his 
own  labor  and  management.  As  early  as  1833  he  hauled  potatoes  to 
Chicago  for  twenty-five  cents  per  bushel,  and  he  has  made  a  number 
of  trips  since. 

Gabriel  Pribble,  Georgetown,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in 
Monroe  county,  Ohio,  on  the  14th  of  June,  1826,  and  lived  there  four 
years,  when,  with  his  parents,  he  settled  near  his  present  place  in  Ver- 
milion county,  Illinois,  and  lived  with  them  until  he  was  twenty-eight 
years  of  age.     He  then  farmed  a  portion  of  his  father's  farm  for  one 


532  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

year,  when  he  bought  eighty  acres  adjoining,  and  moved  on  the  same, 
and  there  remained  for  twenty  years,  when  he  moved  to  an  adjoining 
eighty,  which  he  bought.  He  owns  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  in 
this  county,  located  four  miles  east  of  Georgetown.  He  has  made  a 
number  of  trips  by  team  to  Chicago,  the  first  dating  back  to  1846.  In 
the  fall  of  1S58  he  married  Miss  Moriah  Ramsey;  she  was  born  in 
Ohio,  and  died  on  the  23d  of  June,  1873.  They  had  seven  children, 
five  of  whom  are  living:  Jerome,  James,  Flora  B.,  Isadora,  and  Sarah 
M.     On  the  13th  of  November,  1S76,  he  married  Miss  Jane  Canaday. 

Silas  D.  Underwood,  Georgetown,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born 
in  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  23d  of  November,  1830,  and 
lived  with  his  parents  until  he  was  twenty-four;  he  then  moved  to  a 
farm  north  of  Georgetown,  thence  to  Iroquois  county,  Illinois,  thence 
to  his  present  place.  February  12,  1856,  he  married  Miss  Nancy  Bow- 
man. She  was  born  in  Indiana  and  died  in  the  fall  of  1861.  His 
second  wife  was  Miss  Nancy  Ha  worth.  She  was  born  in  this  county 
and  died  in  the  spring  of  1S66.  His  present  wife  was  Miss  Martha 
Lewis.  She  was  born  in  this  countv.  There  is  one  living  of  the  three 
children  by  first  marriage:  Catharine;  of  the  nine  by  second  mar- 
riage seven  are  living:  Oliver,  Lyman.  Lorie,  Thomas,  Charlotte, 
Colfax  and  Maimie  (Grant,  deceased,  Charlotte  and  Colfax  were  trip- 
lets). Mr.  Underwood  is  living  on  the  old  homestead  which  he  is  farm- 
ing for  his  mother,  with  whom  is  living  John  A.  Thompson,  a  son  of 
her  deceased  daughter,  Broakie  C,  who  married  Alex.  Thompson,  and 
died  May  8,  1870. 

John  C.  Jones,  Georgetown,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in 
Nicholas  county,  Kentucky,  on  the  25th  of  December,  1820,  and  lived 
there  eleven  years;  he  then,  with  his  parents,  came  to  Illinois  and  set- 
tled in  Yermilion  county,  and  has  lived  here  since, —  with  the  excep- 
tion of  one  year  in  Missouri;  —  he  lived  with  his  parents  seventeen 
years;  then  after  the  death  of  his  father  he  began  working  for  himself 
teaming  to  Chicago  one  year.  He  subsequently  worked  on  the  railroad 
between  Danville  and  Fairmount,  and  afterward  went  to  Missouri, 
remaining  one  year.  He  then  bought  one  hundred  acres  here  on  credit, 
and  was  five  years  in  paying  for  it.  On  the  30th  of  November,  1850,  he 
married  Miss  Martha  J.  Dye.  She  was  born  in  Mason  county,  Kentucky. 
They  had  eight  children,  seven  of  whom  are  living:  Wm.  C,  Charles  F., 
Lydia  J.,  Jethro  R.,  Zebedee,  Joanna  and  Arias  C.  Mr.  Jones  owns  four 
hundred  acres  of  land  in  this  county,  the  result  of  his  own  labor  and 
management.  His  parents  (John  and  Casander  Parrish  Jones)  were 
natives  of  Kentucky.  He  died  in  October,  1837,  and  she  in  June, 
1833. 


GEORGETOWN   TOWNSHIP.  533 

Harvey  Cloe,  Georgetown,  farmer,  was  born  in  Clark  county, 
Kentucky,  on  the  26th  of  April,  1822,  and  lived  there  until  1831,  when, 
with  his  parents,  he  came  to  Illinois  and  settled  in  Vermilion  county, 
and  engaged  in  farming.  He  lived  with  his  parents  until  he  was  mar- 
ried, November  27,  1842,  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Eslinger.  She  was  born 
in  this  county,  and  died  October  16,  1849.  After  his  marriage  he  set- 
tled on  his  present  place.  They  had  four  children,  three  of  whom  are 
living:  Henry,  Harvey  T.  and  Susan  H.  In  February,  1850,  he  mar- 
ried Miss  Amanda  Cowell.  She  was  born  in  Illinois.  They  had  seven 
children,  two  living:  Mary  E.  C.  and  Elizabeth  R.  Mr.  Cloe  owns 
287  acres  in  this  township,  which  he  has  earned  by  his  own  labor. 
His  parents,  Henry  and  Ann  Constine  (Foxworthy)  Cloe,  were  natives 
of  Virginia.  They  were  married  in  Virginia,  and  went  to  Kentucky 
in  1813,  to  Illinois  as  stated,  and  to  Iowa  in  1855,  where  they  died. 

John  Kyger,  Georgetown,  retired,  whose  portrait  appears  in  this 
work,  is  a  native  of  Virginia,  and  is  a  son  of  Daniel  and  Annie  (Hen- 
thorn)  Kyger.  He  was  born  near  Morgan  town  on  the  6th  of  May, 
1799,  and  lived  until  1806  in  his  native  state,  at  which  time  his 
parents  moved  to  Monroe  county,  Ohio,  where  they  engaged  in  farming. 
At  the  age  of  eighteen  Mr.  Kyger  commenced  fiatboating,  and  this  he 
followed  for  a  number  of  years.  He  would  load  one  of  these  boats 
with  produce  and  sell  it  along  the  banks  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi 
rivers  as  far  down  as  New  Orleans,  it  taking  him  from  five  to  seven  days 
to  make  the  trip.  On  the  7th  of  June,  1821,  he  married  Miss  Mary 
Sheets,  a  native  of  Washington  county,  Ohio.  She  was  born  on  the 
27th  of  November,  1799.  They  continued  their  residence  in  Ohio 
until  1832,  when  they  came  to  Illinois,  taking  a  keelboat  down  the 
Ohio  and  up  the  Wabash,  and  settling  in  Vermilion  county  same  year. 
He  engaged  in  farming,  and  has  lived' in  this  .county  since.  In  1858 
he  moved  to  his  present  residence,  where,  on  the  6th  of  January,  1870, 
his  wife,  Mrs.  Mary  Kyger,  died.  By  the  marriage  there  were  seven 
children,  four  of  whom  are  now  living:  Henry  T.,  Daniel,  Annie 
and  Sarah.  Mr.  Kyger  is  one  of  the  early  settlers  and  well-known  citi- 
zens of  this  neighborhood.  He  remembers  well  the  early  times  in  the 
county  when  they  marketed  produce  in  Chicago  —  he  making  his  first 
trip  of  this  kind  in  1838.  Born  on  the  farm,  he  has  always  followed 
farming,  in  which  he  has  been  successful,  and  has  made  liberal  provi- 
sions for  his  children  upon  which  to  begin  life,  having  divided  upward 
of  three  hundred  acres  of  land  among  same.  Hannah  Kyger,  a  sister 
of  Mr.  Kyger,  was  born  on  the  3d  of  February,  1797,  and  is  now  a 
resident  of  Georgetown  township. 

D.  F.  Graves,  Georgetown,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  is  a  native  of 


534  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Georgetown  township,  Vermilion  county,  Illinois.  He  was  born  on 
his  present  place,  on  the  8th  of  November,  1832,  and  lived  on  the  same 
until  he  was  thirteen  years  of  age.  He  then,  with  his  parents,  moved 
to  an  adjoining  farm,  where  he  lived  until  1858.  On  the  1st  of  January 
of  that  year  he  married  Miss  Mary  Martin.  She  was  born  in  this  town- 
ship, near  Georgetown.  After  his  marriage  he  came  to  his  present 
place,  and  has  lived  here  since.  He  is  no  office-seeker,  and  has  held  no 
offices  except  those  connected  with  the  school  and  road.  They  have 
five  children:  Margaret  E.,  Clara  F.,  Katie,  James  H.  and  Nellie. 
He  owns  one  hundred  and  eighty-five  acres  in  this  county. 

John  Dukes,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  Westville,  was  born  near  his 
present  place,  on  the  21st  of  March,  1832.  He  lived  at  home  until  he 
was  twenty-two  years  of  age,  when,  on  the  19th  of  April,  1855,  he  mar- 
ried Miss  Kubie  Lacey.  She  was  born  in  Vermilion  county,  Indiana,  on 
the  24th  of  December,  1838,  and  came  to  this  county  with  her  parents 
when  she  was  fourteen  years  of  age.  After  his  marriage  he  moved  to 
a  residence  on  his  father's  place,  and  farmed  a  portion  of  his  farm.  He 
lived  there  thirteen  years,  and  then  came  to  his  present  place.  He  has 
hauled  produce  to  Chicago,  making  his  first  trip  as  early  as  1844. 
During  the  late  war  he  acted  as  enrolling  officer  for  the  first  district. 
He  has  been  assessor  of  this  township  for  eleven  years  and  collector  for 
ten  years.  By  the  marriage  there  have  been  nine  children,  seven  of 
whom  are  living:  Kachel,  Sarah  S.,  Mary,  Martha,  Susannah,  Will- 
iam and  Nancy.  Mr.  Dukes  owns  three  hundred  and  twenty-seven 
acres  of  land  in  this  county,  which  he  has  principally  earned  by  his  own 
labor  and  management.  In  1864  he  engaged  in  buying  and  shipping 
stock,  and  has  done  an  extensive  businessjin  that  line.  His  parents, 
Stephen  and  Rachel  Ellis,  were  natives  of  Virginia  and  Tennessee. 
They  were  born  on  the  25th  of  June,  1796,  and  25th  of  October,  1804, 
respectively.  He  came  to  this  county  at  an  early  date,  and  she  came 
in  1821.  They  were  married  in  this  county,  on  the  23d  of  January, 
1826.  Mr.  Dukes  died  on  the  18th  of  July,  1847.  She  is  living  here 
on  the  old  homestead.  Miss  Rubie  Lacey  was  the  daughter  of  William 
and  Salona  (Sanderson)  Lacey.  They  were  natives  of  New  Jersey  and 
New  York.  They  came  to  this  county  in  1853,  where  they  died,  on 
the  27th  of  September,  1873,  and  28th  of  December,  1859,  respectively. 

Jotham  Lyon,  Georgetown,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  is  a  native  of 
Vermilion  county,  Illinois.  He  was  born  on  the  25th  of  September, 
1833,  and  lived  at  home  until  he  was  twenty-three.  He  then  took  a 
trip  to  Minnesota  and  Wisconsin,  returning  the  same  year,  and  again 
going  there  the  following  winter.  The  following  spring  he  came  here 
and  engaged  in  farming,  on  the  old  homestead,  for  two  years.    He  then 


GEORGETOWN    TOWNSHIP.  535 

came  to  his  present  place.  On  the  26th  of  January,  1858,  he  married 
Miss  Sarah  Worth.  She  was  born  in  Wisconsin.  They  had  six  chil- 
dren;  five  are  now  living:  Mary,  William,  Datus,  Noah  and  Elmer. 
He  owns  ninety  acres  of  land  in  this  county,  which  he  has  earned  by 
his  own  labor  and  management.  His  parents,  Jotham  and  Mary 
Harrington  Lyon,  were  natives  of  Connecticut  and  Pennsylvania. 
They  were  married  in  Indiana,  and  came  to  this  county  in  1827,  though 
he  had  been  here  before  that  time.  He  assisted  in  laying  out  the  old 
Salt  Works  road.  He  died  on  the  2d  of  August,  1843,  aged  sixty-one 
years,  four  months  and  twenty  days.  She  is  living  with  her  son  in  this 
township. 

Isaac  A.  Brown,  P.  O.  Eugene,  Ind.,  retired,  was  born  in  Washington 
county,  Tennessee,  on  the  6th  of  October,  1816,  and  lived  there  seven- 
teen years,  when,  with  his  parents,  he  moved  to  Illinois,  and  settled  in 
Elwood  township,  Vermilion  county,  and  lived  there  until  1836.  They 
then  moved  to  Danville,  and  engaged  in  coopering.  He  there  built  a 
house  in  South  Danville  (the  first  after  the  laying  out  of  the  place), 
and  engaged  in  the  grocery  business.  He  then  went  to  Sidney,  Illi- 
nois, and  engaged  in  general  merchandise,  and  then  went  to  LeRoy, 
and  engaged  in  general  merchandise.  Afterward  he  went  to  Lyme 
Grove,  Champaign  county,  and  engaged  in  farming.  From  there  he 
went  to  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  and  engaged  in  farming  and  cooper- 
ing in  Elwood  township.  He  then  came  to  his  present  place,  thence 
to  Perrysville,  and  from  there  back  to  his  present  place.  In  1834  he 
made  his  first  trip  to  Chicago  by  team.  On  the  14h  of  April,  1836,  he 
married  Miss  Eunice  Beasley;  she  was  born  in  Vermilion  county,  Illi- 
nois, and  died  in  May,  1848.  They  had  six  children,  four  living: 
Elijah,  Joseph,  Elizabeth  J.  and  Phoebe.  On  the  26th  of  July,  1848, 
he  married  Miss  Cordelia  M.White;  she  was  born  in  Clermont  county, 
Ohio.  They  have  eight  children  :  Isaac  A.,  jr.,  Eunice,  Hannah,  Lilly 
G.,  Naomi,  Edmoni,  A.  Lincoln,  and  Patience.  His  sons,  Milo  G.  and 
Joseph  B.,  enlisted  in  the  8th  111.  Reg.  and  21st  Ind.  Reg.  respect- 
ively ;  the  former  was  in  the  service  one  year,  the  latter,  three.  The 
present  place  is  known  all  over  the  county  as  "Browntown.',  On  the 
place  is  a  store  20  x  40,  two  stories  and  good  basement,  formerly  used 
by  Mr.  Brown  in  the  general  merchandise  business ;  over  the  store  is 
a  hall  used  as  a  lecture  room  and  church.  The  store  is  complete  and 
ready  for  occupancy.  There  is  also  on  the  place  a  large  coopering  es- 
tablishment. 

James  Clifton,  Georgetown,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in 
Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  near  his  present  place,  on  the  8th  of  Oc- 
tober, 1833.    He  lived  with  his  parents  until  he  was  twenty-three  years 


536  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

of  age  ;  he  then  came  to  his  present  place,  and  has  lived  here  since.  On 
the  15th  of  June,  1855,  he  married  Miss  Martha  Barnhard;  she  was 
born  in  this  county.  They  had  seven  children,  five  living:  Ellen, 
S.  A.  D.,  Olive,  Laura,  and  James,  jr.  Mr.  Clifton  owns  two  hundred 
and  five  acres  in  this  county,  located  three  miles  due  east  of  George- 
town. His  parents,  William  and  Jane  Brown  Clifton,  were  natives 
of  Ohio  and  Tennessee.  They  were  married  near  the  present  place. 
Both  died  in  this  county;  he  in  the  winter  of  1869,  and  she  in  the 
winter  of  1877. 

J.  K.  Richie,  Georgetown,  general  merchandise  store,  the  subject 
of  this  sketch,  was  born  in  Jefferson  county,  Tennessee,  on  the  24th 
of  October,  1826.  Soon  after  his  birth  his  father  died,  and  his  mother 
moved  to  New  Market,  in  the  same  county,  where  he  lived  until  he 
was  six  years  of  age,  when  he  came  to  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  with 
his  mother  and  grandfather.  They  wintered  in  Georgetown,  and  in 
the  spring  (1833)  they  moved  to  a  farm  southeast  of  the  same  village, 
where  he  lived  until  the  fall  of  1843.  He  then  went  to  his  native 
place  in  Tennessee,  living  with  his  uncle,  Gen.  William  Battleton.  On 
arriving  he  entered  Holstine  College,  attending  his  uncle's  store  morn- 
ings, evenings  and  Saturdays.  This  continued  two  years,  when  he 
engaged  regularly  in  the  store,  and  remained  in  it  until  October,  1847. 
He  then  visited  Georgetown,  and,  in  the  spring  following,  he  went  to 
New  Market,  and  remained  but  a  few  months,  when  he  engaged  as 
clerk  in  a  store  in  Dandridge,  Jefferson  county,  this  being  his  first 
position  under  salary.  He  remained  until  the  1st  of  April,  1850,  and 
then  came  north  to  Georgetown,  and  engaged  as  clerk  with  B.  Canaday 
&  Son,  who  occupied  the  present  location  of  Mr.  Richie's  business. 
He  clerked  twelve  months,  and  then  formed  a  partnership  with  I.  B. 
Haworth  in  the  business  of  general  merchandise.  They  continued 
until  August,  1854.  Mr.  Richie  then  formed  a  partnership  with  B. 
Canaday  &  Son,  the  firm  changing  to  B.  Canaday  &  Co.  This  con- 
tinued until  1869,  when  the  firm  changed  to  Canaday  &  Richie,  and 
in  1871  it  again  changed  to  the  present  style,  and  has  continued  so 
since.  On  the  31st  of  May,  1854,  he  married  Miss  S.  R.Canaday.  She 
was  born  in  Georgetown.  They  had  seven  children,  three  of  whom 
are  living:  Morris  E.,  Benjamin  C.  and  Mary  A. 

A.  J.  Niccum,  Gessie,  Indiana,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born 
in  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  15th  of  June,  1833,  and  lived 
there  eighteen  years.  His  parents  then  moved  to  Indiana,  and  he 
lived  there  two  years.  On  the  25th  of  September,  1853,  he  married 
Miss  Sarah  Ann  Niccum.  She  was  born  in  Vermilion  county,  Illinois, 
on   the  12th  of  October,  1830.      They  moved  near  Catlin  and  lived 


GEORGETOWN   TOWNSHIP.  537 

there  six  years,  and  then  came  to  his  present  place.  In  1854  they  took 
a  relative,  Frank  Billings,  to  raise.  He  was  born  on  the  27th  of  De- 
cember, 1853,  and  lived  here  until  the  4th  of  September,  1878,  when 
he  went  to  Stafford  comity,  Kansas,  and  is  now  farming  there  with  his 
brother.  They  also,  in  1863,  took  the  present  Mrs.  Henry  Bonton  to 
raise  until  her  marriage.  In  the  fall  of  1876  they  took  Miss  Mary  B. 
Davis,  then  about  six  years  of  age,  and  she  is  living  here  at  present. 
His  parents,  "William  and  Elizabeth  (Smith)  Niecum,  were  natives  of 
Ohio,  and  came  to  this  county  at  an  early  date.  She  died  in  1854.  He 
is  now  living  in  Indiana.  Her  parents,  James  and  Catharine  (Croll) 
Niccum,  were  natives  of  Kentucky.     He  came  to  this  comity  in  1824. 

Levi  C.  Underwood,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  Georgetown,  is  a  na- 
tive of  Vermilion  county,  Illinois.  He  was  born  near  his  present 
place,  on  the  21st  of  October,  1834,  and  lived  at  home  until  the  fall  of 
1870,  having  farmed  his  father's  farm  since  1858.  On  the  27th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1870,  he  married  Miss  Sarah  Kyger.  She  is  also  a  native  of 
this  county.  After  the  marriage  they  moved  to  the  wife's  home, 
where  they  have  since  lived.  They  have  three  children,  viz :  Evie, 
Annie  M.  and  Evert.  Mr.  Underwood  owns  two  hundred  and  fifty- 
five  acres  in  this  county.  His  parents,  John  and  Drusilla  Morgan  Un- 
derwood, were  natives  of  Virginia,  born  on  the  19th  of  January,  1794, 
and  the  2d  of  April,  1801,  respectively.  They  were  married  on  the 
10th  of  December,  1818;  came  to  this  county  in  1827,  and  settled 
where  she  now  resides  in  1828.  He  died  on  the  25th  of  September, 
1858. 

Jacob  Gauts,  Georgetown,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  is  a  native  of 
Fayette  county,  Pennsylvania,  and  was  born  on  the  15th  of  July,  1815. 
He  lived  there  nineteen  years,  and  then  came  afoot  to  Illinois.  He 
settled  in  Vermilion  county,  near  his  present  place,  and  has  lived  here 
since.  In  1840  he  went  to  Texas  and  remained  three  months.  In 
1846  he  went  to  Iowa  and  was  gone  six  months.  He  settled  on  his 
present  place  in  1858.  On  the  7th  of  July,  1842,  he  married  Miss 
Elizabeth  Jenkins.  She  was  born  in  Miami  county,  Ohio.  They  have 
three  children  :  John  J.,  Eli  M.  and  William  T.  John  J.  was  in  the 
125th  111.  Reg.  for  nearly  three  years.  Mr.  Gauts  has  served  as  con- 
stable of  this  township,  and  has  held  the  office  of  justice  of  the  peace 
for  about  eighteen  years;  road  commissioner  eight  to  ten  years;  also 
supervisor  of  township.  He  owns  one  hundred  and  eighty-four  acres, 
which  he  has  earned  by  his  own  labor.  He  spent  the  first  seven 
years  here  in  teaching  school.  He  then  rented  until  1849,  when  he 
bought  ninety  acres,  on  which  he  settled.  He  then  came  to  his  present 
place.     He  learned  the  carpenter's  trade  in  Pennsylvania.     Soon  after 


538  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

arriving  here  he  was  hurt  by  a  runaway  horse,  thereby  losing  the  use 
of  his  arm. 

J.  H.  Hewit,  Georgetown,  retired,  was  born  on  his  father's  farm, 
one  mile  west  of  Georgetown,  on  the  26th  of  May,  1834,  and  lived 
there  until  1861,  farming  the  place  since  he  became  of  age.  He  then 
moved  to  a  farm  of  his  own,  about  five  miles  northwest  of  Georgetown. 
In  September,  1862,  he  enlisted  in  the  125th  111.  Reg.,  and  was  in  ser- 
vice until  the  close  of  the  war.  He  was  in  the  battles  of  Perryville, 
Chickamauga,  Mission  Ridge,  Atlanta  campaign,  and  all  the  battles  of 
the  regiment.  At  Jonesboro'  he  was  struck  with  part  of  a  shell,  but  it 
occasioned  but  slight  injury.  On  his  return  from  the  army,  he  lived 
on  his  farm  until  1807.  He  then  moved  to  Georgetown  and  has  lived 
here  since.  On  the  16th  of  May,  1861,  lie  married  Mrs.  Aboline  Green. 
She  was  born  in  Preble  county,  Ohio.  His  parents,  Eli  and  Mary  A. 
(Prather)  Hewit,  were  natives  of  Ohio  and  Kentucky.  He  settled  near 
Danville  in  1828,  and  died  on  the  17th  of  October,  1874.  She  died  on 
the  1st  of  October,  1874. 

James  Gibson,  Danville,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in  Ver- 
milion county,  Illinois,  on  the  5th  of  December,  1835,  and  lived  there 
six  years,  when,  with  his  parents,  he  moved  to  Clermont  county,  Ohio, 
where  he  lived  until  1857.  He  then  came  to  Yermilion  county, 
Illinois,  and  worked  with  Larken  A.  Cook  until  1862.  On  the  12th  of 
Jnne  of  this  year  he  married  Miss  Elizabeth  Ogden.  She  was  born  in 
this  county.  They  have  had  five  children,  three  of  whom  are  living: 
Franklin,  Mary  A.  and  Kate  A.  Mr.  Gibson  owns  sixty-nine  acres  of 
land  in  this  county.  In  August,  1862,  he  enlisted  in  the  125th  111. 
Reg.,  Co.  K,  and  was  in  service  until  the  close  of  the  war.  He  was 
for  the  greater  part  of  the  time  teamster.  After  the  fall  of  Atlanta  he 
and  others  were  captured,  and  were  confined  in  Andersonville  and 
Milieu  prisons. 

J.  H.  Lockett,  Georgetown,  miller,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was 
born  in  Wythe  county,  Virginia,  on  the  2d  of  December,  1819.  He 
lived  in  Virginia  about  fifteen  years,  when,  with  his  parents,  he  moved 
to  Knox  county,  Indiana,  and  engaged  in  farming,  living  there  one 
year,  when  they  came  to  Illinois  and  settled  in  Georgetown  township, 
where  he  lived  with  his  parents  twenty-two  years.  He  then  moved  to 
Perrysville,  Indiana,  and  engaged  in  farming  for  ten  years.  He  then 
came  to  this  county  and  settled  on  a  farm  two  miles  north  of  George- 
town, where  he  lived  until  1857.  He  then  engaged  in  the  stock  busi- 
ness. In  1861  he  bought  an  interest  in  the  present  mill,  and  followed 
the  milling  business  about  five  years,  the  firm  being  J.  H.  Lockett  & 
Co.     He  then  sold  his  interest  and  engaged  in  the  general  merchandise 


GEOKGETOWN   TOWNSHIP.  539 

business  in  Georgetown  for  eight  years,  when  he  sold  out  and  again 
engaged  in  the  present  mill.  On  the  22d  of  December,  1843,  he  mar- 
ried Miss  Elizabeth  Smith.  She  was  born  in  Virginia,  and  died  on  the 
3d  of  June,  1857.  They  had  three  children,  two  living:  David  and 
Mattie.  On  the  20th  of  December,  I860,  he  married  Miss  Ella  Wals- 
ton.  She  was  born  in  this  county.  They  have  three  children:  Frank, 
Grace  and  Jessie.  In  early  days  Mr.  Lockett  has  hauled  wheat  to 
Chicago  by  team,  making  his  first  trip  in  1837,  and  has  delivered  wheat 
in  Chicago  at  sixty  cents  per  bushel. 

William  R.  Richards,  Georgetown,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  is  a 
native  of  Frederick  county,  Virginia.  He  was  born  on  the  16th  of 
April,  1809.  At  the  age  of  six  years,  with  his  parents,  he  moved  to 
Washington  county,  Tennessee,  where  he  lived  twenty  years.  They 
then  came  to  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  and  settled  in  Georgetown. 
While  there  they  entered  land  in  this  township.  Mr.  Wm.  R.  entered 
his  present  place  and  began  improving  the  same.  On  the  8th  of 
October,  1844,  he  married  Miss  Cynthia  Parks.  She  was  born  in 
Monroe  county,  Indiana,  and  died  on  the  10th  of  August,  1846.  After 
the  death  of  his  wife  he  sold  out  his  stock  and  rented  his  farm.  He 
worked  at  milling  and  other  trades  until  1850,  when  he  married  Miss 
Mary  Jenkins,  of  Ohio.  They  moved  to  the  farm  and  have  lived  there 
since.  They  have  six  children :  Jnlette,  Martha,  Mary,  Lillie,  Lydia 
and  John.  In  1835  Mr.  Richards  walked  to  Chicago  and  worked  in  a 
warehouse.  He  has  hauled  produce  there  by  team  a  number  of  times. 
He  owns  two  hundred  and  twenty-two  acres  of  land  in  this  county. 
His  parents,  Henry  and  Hannah  (Reiley)  Richards,  were  natives  of 
Virginia,  where  they  were  married.  They  came  here  as  stated.  He 
died  in  October,  1837,  and  she  in  January,  1838. 

»Capt.  G.  W.  Holloway,  Georgetown,  general  merchandise,  was  born 
in  what  was  then  known  as  Berkeley  county,  Virginia,  on  the  22d  of 
February,  1823,  where  he  lived  until  he  was  twelve  years  of  age.  He 
then,  with  his  parents,  came  wrest  to  Illinois,  and  settled  near  George- 
town. Here  he  improved  a  farm  and  remained  until  the  spring  of 
1853.  He  then  came  to  the  village  of  Georgetown  and  formed  a  part- 
nership in  general  merchandise  business  with  Henderson,  Dicken  & 
Co.,  which  soon  after  changed  to  Henderson  &  Holloway,  which  firm 
continued  until  the  spring  of  1874,  since  which  time  Mr.  Holloway  has 
conducted  the  business.  On  the  6th  of  August,  1862,  he  enlisted  in 
the  125th  111.  Reg.,  he  being  captain  of  Co.  D.  He  remained  in  the 
service  until  close  of  war,  taking  part  in  the  battles  of  the  regiment. 
On  the  17th  of  January,  1855,  he  married  Miss  Sophia  Lyons,  a  native 
of  Massachusetts. 


540  HISTOKY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

"William  Sheets,  deceased,  whose  portrait  appears  in  this  work,  was 
born  in  Washington  count}T,  Ohio,  on  the  7th  of  October,  1806,  and 
lived  there  until  the  spring  of  1833,  when  he  came  to  Yermilion  county, 
Illinois,  and  engaged  in  farming.  In  1835  he  moved  to  Danville 
township,  where  he  and  his  brother-in-law  built  a  mill,  now  known  as 
Kvger's  mill,  and  carried  on  the  same  for  nine  years.  He  then  sold 
his  interest  in  the  mill  and  bought  the  present  place  and  moved  on  the 
same.  He  lived  here  for  seven  years,  when  he  bought  an  interest  in 
the  mill  and  again  moved  to  the  same,  and  lived  there  two  years,  when 
he  sold  his  interest  and  returned  to  the  place  which  was  his  home  at 
his  death.  During  his  two  years'  residence  at  the  mill,  he,  Thomas  S. 
Morgan,  and  Henry  and  Daniel  Kyger,  built  the  steam  mill  at  George- 
town;  he  sold  his  interest  before  the  mill  was  run.  He  married  Miss 
Elizabeth  Kyger  on  the  3d  of  September,  1829.  She  was  born  in 
Monroe  county,  Ohio.  They  had  six  children,  two  of  whom  are  now 
living:  Angeline,  born  on  the  29th  of  July,  1832,  and  Matthias,  born 
on  the  24th  of  November,  1843.  His  son,  John  McH.,  enlisted  in 
the  73d  Reg.  111.  Vol.,  and  died  in  the  hospital  on  the  26th  of  De- 
cember, 1862.  Mr.  Sheets  owned,  at  his  death,  two  hundred  and 
ninety-five  acres  of  land  in  this  county.  He  was  justice  of  the  peace 
two  terms,  supervisor  three,  and  had  also  held  the  school  and  road  offices. 
He  had  been  a  member  of  the  M.  E.  Church  thirty-six  years,  class-leader 
thirty-four  years,  steward  33  years,  and  also  superintendent  of  Sunday 
school.  Mr.  Sheets  departed  this  life  on  the  11th  of  August,  1879,  at 
8.35  a.m.,  after  being  in  ill-health  two  years.  He  died  of  heart  disease. 
Mr.  Sheets  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  this  county,  and  his  loss  is 
mourned  by  a  large  community  of  sorrowing  friends. 

Andrew  Clifton,  Georgetown,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  is  a  native  of 
Yermilion  county,  Illinois.  He  was  born  on  his  present  place  on  the 
13th  of  November,  1836,  and  lived  on  the  same  until  he  was  twelve 
years  old ;  the  family  then  moved  to  a  farm  near  by,  and  he  lived 
there  until  1861,  when  he  came  back  to  the  present  place,  having 
bought  it  from  his  father.  On  the  4th  of  March,  1857,  he  married 
Miss  Nancy  J.  Barnhard.  She  was  born  in  this  county.  They  had 
seven  children,  four  of  whom  are  living,  viz:  Jennie,  Frank  C,  Lucy 
and  Cora.  He  is  no  office-seeker, —  his  only  office  being  connected 
with  the  school  and  road.  He  owns  sixty  acres  in  this  county,  located 
four  miles  east  of  Georgetown,  which  he  has  earned  by  his  own  labor 
and  management. 

Captain  Hiram  Yoho,  Georgetown,  farmer  and  stock  raiser,  is  a 
native  of  Yermilion  county,  Illinois.  Pie  was  born  on  the  24th  of  De- 
cember, 1836,  and  has  always  made  his  home  in  the  county.     He  lived 


GEORGETOWN   TOWNSHIP.  541 

with  his  parents  until  18(51.  He  then  enlisted  in  the  12th  111.  Inf.,  and 
was  in  service  three  months;  he  then  enlisted  in  the  35th  111.  as  pri- 
vate in  Co.  E,  and  was  in  service  until  the  close  of  the  war.  He  was 
made  second  sergeant,  and  in  a  few  months  chosen  first  lieutenant,  and 
served  as  such  about  one  year.  He  was  then  made  captain  of  Co.  E, 
and  was  in  the  battles  of  Pea  Ridge,  Nashville  and  Corinth.  He  served 
mostly  on  detached  duty,  transporting  prisoners,  assisting  in  drafts  in 
New  York  and  Michigan,  etc.  etc.  On  the  15th  of  May,  1865,  he  mar- 
ried Miss  Nancy  A.  Ritter.  She  was  born  on  the  present  place.  They 
had  rive  children,  four  living,  viz  :  Marquis  R.,  Ophelia,  Thaddeus  and 
Allen  B. 

James  T.  White,  Georgetown,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in 
Bourbon  county,  Kentucky,  on  the  8th  of  December,  1829,  and  at  the 
age  of  two  his  parents  moved  to  Indiana,  near  State  Line,  and  lived 
there  five  years.  They  then  settled  near  Georgetown,  Illinois,  and  he 
has  lived  in  that  neighborhood  since.  In  1852  he  began  farming  on 
his  own  account,  and  in  December,  1853,  he  married  Miss  Susannah 
Henderson.  She  was  born  in  Vermilion  county,  Illinois.  They  had 
ten  children,  six  of  whom  are  living,  viz :  Allen  A.,  Nathaniel  H., 
Charles,  Moranda,  Alonzo  and  James.  Mr.  White  owns  two  hundred 
and  fifteen  acres  of  land  in  this  county.  His  parents,  Solomon  and 
Nancy  Prather  White,  were  natives  of  Kentucky.  They  came  to  this 
county  as  stated,  and  here  both  have  died. 

A.  M.  C.  Hawes,  Georgetown,  physician,  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
was  born  in  Clinton  county,  Ohio,  on  the  9th  of  February,  1813,  where 
he  lived  until  he  was  fourteen  years  of  age.  He  then  went  to  Wil- 
mington, and  apprenticed  to  the  printing  trade  in  the  "  Argus"  office. 
When  the  latter  was  moved  to  Lafayette,  and  appeared  as  the  "  Lafay- 
ette Free  Press  and  Tippecanoe  Journal,"  he  accompanied  it,  and  was 
connected  with  the  same  until  1835,  working  at  his  trade  and  acting  as 
assistant  editor.  In  the  winter  of  1830-31  he  went  to  Indianapolis, 
and  set  type  for  the  1st  Blackford  Reports  of  Indiana.  In  1833  he 
began  to  read  medicine  with  Dr.  O.  L.  Clark.  In  1835  he  went  to 
Ohio,  and  on  the  15th  of  March,  1836,  he  came  to  Georgetown,  and 
has  practiced  here  since.  With  the  exception  of  one,  he  has  practiced 
longer  in  this  county  than  any  other  physician.  On  the  15th  of  May, 
1837,  he  married  Miss  Wilmoth  Walters.  She  is  a  native  of  Barren 
county,  Kentucky.  They  had  twelve  children,  ten  of  whom  are  living: 
Marquis  De  La  Fayette,  Albert  S.  W.,  Cassius  M.  C,  Marshal  H.,  Will- 
iam B.,  Victor  L.,  Amanda  M.,  Alice  M.,  Lorie  O.  and  Kate. 

William  J.  Terrell,  Georgetown,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  is  a  native 
of  Clinton  county,  Ohio.     He  was  born  on  his  father's  farm,  on  the 


542  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

29th  of  November,  1813,  where  he  lived  twenty-three  years.  At  the 
age  of  twenty -one,  he  began  work  at  the  carpenter  and  joiner's  trade, 
and  in  1836  came  west  on  horse-back,  and  settled  in  Georgetown,  Illi- 
nois, working  at  carpentering  for  twenty  years.  He  then  farmed  some 
land  he  had  previously  bought,  locating  on  his  present  place.  He 
owns  two  hundred  and  ten  acres  in  this  county,  considerable  of 
which  adjoins  this  village,  and  he  has  earned  the  same  by  his  own  la- 
bor and  management.  On  the  20th  of  December,  1838,  he  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Artimecia  Douglas.  She  was  born  in  Mason  county, 
Kentucky,  on  the  10th  of  July,  1819.  They  had  ten  children,  five  of 
whom  are  now  living :  Luvica  M.,  Cornelia  B.,  Horace  G.,  Florence 
J.  and  Olive. 

John  P.  Cook,  Westville,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  is  a  native  of 
Vermilion  county,  Illinois.  He  was  born  on  his  present  place  on  the 
14th  of  April,  1837,  and  has  lived  here  since.  He  is  no  office-seeker, 
his  only  offices  being  connected  with  the  school  and  road.  On  the  4th 
of  June,  1859,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Minerva  J.  Downs.  She  was 
born  in  Indiana.  They  have  four  children,  Harvey  J.,  Sarah  A., 
William  and  James  F.  Mr.  Cook  owns  two  hundred  and  twenty 
acres  in  this  county,  located  eight  miles  south  of  Danville,  which  he 
has  earned  principally  by  his  own  labor  and  management.  His  pa- 
rents, James  and  Susannah  Mover  Cook,  were  born  on  the  23d  of  June, 
1797,  and  2d  of  December,  1803,  respectively,  and  were  married  in 
Clermont  county,  Ohio,  on  the  6th  of  October,  1822.  They  came  to 
Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  in  a  wagon,  in  the  fall  of  1834,  and  settled 
on  their  present  place.  They  had  eleven  children,  six  of  whom  are 
now  living:  Larken,  Samuel,  Elizabeth,  George  W.,  John  P.  and 
James  M.  Mr.  Cook  died  on  the  19th  of  October,  1872;  Mrs.  Cook 
is  living  on  the  old  homestead  with  her  son. 

John  E.  Cooper,  Georgetown,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in 
Berkeley  county,  Virginia,  on  the  9th  of  December,  1821,  and  lived 
there  four  years,  when,  with  his  parents,  he  moved  to  Greene  county, 
Ohio,  where  he  lived  until  he  was  seventeen,  then  moved  to  Illinois 
and  settled  about  three  miles  north  of  Georgetown,  and  lived  there 
with  his  parents  four  years.  He  then  farmed  for  himself  until  1863, 
when  he  came  to  his  present  place.  In  1843  or  1844  he  brought  to 
this  township  a  plow  that  would  scour.  It  was  probably  the  first  of 
the  kind,  and  proved  an  interesting  and  valuable  curiosity,  people 
coming  for  miles  to  see  it.  On  the  10th  of  August,  1845,  he  was  mar- 
ried to  Miss  Lucinda  B.  Cook.  She  was  born  in  Indiana.  They  have 
had  eleven  children,  nine  of  whom  are  living:  George  B.,  Jennie, 
John  W.,  Sallie  L.,  Anna,  Charles,  Lizzie  P.,  Katie  and  Quinn  L.     He 


GEORGETOWN   TOWNSHIP.  543 

owns  about  five  hundred  acres  in  this  county,  which  he  has  earned  by 
his  own  labor  and  management,  having  started  with  $2.60.  He  has 
teamed  to  Chicago,  making  his  first  trip  with  apples  about  1844. 

Abraham  Campbell,  Georgetown,  blacksmith  and  farmer,  was  born 
on  the  present  farm  on  the  29th  of  January,  1838,  and  has  always 
lived  on  the  same.  In  the  fall  of  1856  he  married  Miss  Elizabeth 
Henthorn.  She  was  born  in  Vermilion  county,  Illinois.  They  have 
seven  children  :  Elander,  Alexander,  jr.,  Alice,  Jane,  Eliza  B.,  Alfred, 
and  Lucy  C.  He  learned  his  trade  with  his  father.  In  1856  he  began 
working  on  his  own  account.  His  father,  Alexander  Campbell,  was 
born  in  North  Carolina  on  the  25th  of  December,  1795,  and  lived 
there  until  he  was  twenty-one,  when,  with  his  parents,  he  moved  to 
Tennessee,  and,  in  1833,  came  to  Illinois,  and  settled  on  his  present 
place.  On  the  25th  of  December,  1819,  he  married  Miss  Elander 
Brown.  She  was  born  in  Tennessee,  and  died  here  in  1852.  They  had 
thirteen  children,  six  of  whom  are  now  living.  He  has  made  many  trips 
to  Chicago  by  team.    He  owns  two  hundred  acres  of  land  in  this  county. 

George  Sprouls,  Georgetown,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  on 
his  present  place  on  the  2d  of  June,  1838,  where  he  lived  until  1861. 
He  then  enlisted  in  the  35th  111.  Reg.,  and  remained  in  the  service 
three  years  and  four  months,  and  took  part  in  all  the  battles  of  the 
regiment  except  one  or  two.  After  his  service  he  returned  home,  and 
has  lived  here  since,  farming  the  old  homestead  in  company  with  his 
brother.  On  the  22d  of  February,  1866,  he  married  Miss  Hannah  J. 
Davis.  She  was  born  in  this  county.  They  have  eight  children : 
Albert,  William,  John,  Norman,  Fannie,  Frank,  Rosey  and  Norah. 

N.  E.  Hubbard,  Georgetown,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in 
Sheffield,  Massachusetts,  on  the  20th  of  November,  1814,  where  he 
lived  one  year.  Then,  with  his  parents,  he  moved  to  Toledo,  Ohio, 
and  lived  there  five  years.  Then,  in  1820,  he  went  to  Vermilion 
county,  Indiana,  and  settled  below  where  Eugene  now  stands.  He 
lived  there  until  1833,  when  he  went  to  Terre  Haute  and  apprenticed 
to  the  tanning  trade,  remaining  four  years.  He  then  returned  home, 
and  lived  there  until  1840,  when  he  settled  in  Vermilion  county,  Illi- 
nois, and  took  charge  of  a  saw-mill  and  some  land  belonging  to  William 
Curtis,  and  managed  this  for  five  years.  He  then  bought  a  farm,  and 
farmed  until  1867,  when  he  came  to  his  present  place.  On  the  20th 
of  August,  1845,  he  married  Miss  Catharine  Ogdon ;  she  was  born  in 
Fayette  county,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  22d  of  March,  1822.  She  settled 
near  the  present  place  with  her  parents  in  1825.  They  have  had  six 
children,  five  of  whom  are  living:  Carydon,  Cynthia  Ann,  Azro,  Jacob 
K.  and  Camelia  A. 


544  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Hiram  Dye,  Georgetown,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in 
Fleming  county,  Kentucky,  on  bis  father's  farm,  on  the  4th  of  April, 
1825,  and  lived  there  until  1841,  when,  with  his  parents,  he  came  to 
Illinois,  and  settled  in  Vermilion  county.  In  1853  he  came  to  his 
present  place.  On  the  22d  of  March,  1855,  he  married  Miss  Sarah  H. 
Leuman :  she  was  born  in  Vermilion  county,  Illinois.  They  have  three 
children:  Wilson,  Mary  C.  and  Martha  J.  He  owns  five  hundred  and 
twenty  acres  in  this  county,  which  he  has  earned  by  his  own  labor  and 
management.  After  he  became  of  age  he  worked  eight  vears  for  one 
hundred  dollars  a  year.  He  has  hauled  many  loads  of  apples  to  Chicago 
by  ox  team  ;  he  made  his  first  trip  about  1844.  His  parents,  Lawrence 
and  Mary  Ann  (Van  Trease)  Dye,  were  natives  of  Kentucky.  They 
married  there,  and  came  here  as  stated.  He  is  living  in  Elwood  town- 
ship, this  county,  but  she  died  about  1867. 

James  M.  Cook,  Westville,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  on  his 
present  place  on  the  1st  of  March,  1841.  In  1861  he  began  business 
on  his  own  account,  farming  a  portion  of  his  father's  farm.  On  the  9th 
of  March,  1862,  he  married  Miss  Judith  McCabe.  She  was  born  in 
Indiana,  and  died  on  the  22d  of  May,  1876.  They  had  four  children  : 
Minnie,  Susie,  Mattie  and  Daisy.  In  August,  1862,  Mr.  Cook  enlisted 
in  the  125th  111.  Beg.,  Co.  K,  of  which  his  brother,  George  W.,  was 
captain.  He  was  in  service  until  the  close  of  the  war.  He  was  ap- 
pointed corporal,  then  promoted  to  third  sergeant,  and  afterward  to 
orderly.  He  was  in  the  battles  of  Perryville,  Chickamanga,  Atlanta, 
Nashville,  Jonesboro,  and  most  of  the  battles  of  the  regiment.  On  the 
19th  of  January,  1877,  he  married  Miss  Eliza  Gerrard.  She  was  born 
in  this  county.  He  owns  two  hundred  and  thirty-nine  acres,  located 
two  and  one-half  miles  east  of  Westville. 

Wm.  Frazier,  Georgetown,  dry-goods  and  general  store,  is  a  native 
of  Elwood  township,  Vermilion  county,  Illinois.  He  was  born  on  the 
4th  of  December,  1842,  and  lived  there  three  years.  The  family  then 
moved  to  Ashmore  Grove,  and  lived  there  one  year,  when  they  all 
moved  to  a  farm  near  Georgetown,  and  there  lived  until  1857.  They 
then  moved  to  the  village  of  Georgetown,  where  Mr.  Frazier  lived 
until  the  fall  of  1862,  when  he  enlisted  in  the  125th  111.  Inf.,  and  was 
in  the  service  until  the  close  of  the  war.  He  was  in  the  battles  of  Per- 
ryville, Chickamauga,  Atlanta  campaign  and  in  the  march  to  the  sea. 
He  was  also  engaged  in  the  other  battles  of  the  regiment.  After  the 
war  he  returned  to  Georgetown  and  farmed  for  two  vears.  He  then 
became  connected  with  the  firm  of  Frazier  &  Moore,  but  after  two 
years  the  firm  became  A.  Frazier  &  Son,  and  five  years  later,  A.  Fra- 
zier (fe  Sons.     On  the  11th  of  October,  1870,  he  married  Miss  Jane  F. 


A 


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GEORGETOWN   TOWNSHIP.  545 

Alexander.  She  was  born  at  Eugene,  Indiana.  They  had  three  chil- 
dren, one  living, —  Johnnie.  Mr.  Frazier's  parents,  Abner  and  Mary 
(Millican)  Frazier,  were  natives  of  Tennessee  and  Indiana.  He  came 
to  Vermilion  county  in  1830,  and  has  been  prominently  identified  in 
the  general  merchandise  business  at  this  point.  Mrs.  Frazier  died  on 
the  22d  of  August,  1868.  Mr.  Frazier  is  living  here  on  the  old  home- 
stead, which  adjoins  the  village. 

Blnford  J.  Smith,  jr.,  Georgetown,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  is  a  na- 
tive of  Vermilion  county,  Illinois.  He  was  born  on  his  present  place, 
on  the  26th  of  September,  1843.  He  lived  with  his  parents  until  he  was 
twenty-four  years  old,  when  he  went  to  Missouri  and  engaged  in  farm- 
ing, living  there  seven  years.  He  then  returned  to  his  present  place, 
retaining  his  farm  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  acres  in  Jackson  county, 
Missouri.  He  married  Miss  Diana  Sigler  on  the  8th  of  October,  1867. 
She  was  born  in  this  county.  They  have  one  child, —  Elmer  M.  Mr. 
Smith  and  his  brothers,  James  B.  and  Thomas  J.,  own  and  farm  the 
old  homestead  here,  which  consists  of  two  hundred  acres,  located  four 
miles  east  of  Georgetown.  His  father,  B.  J.  Smith,  now  deceased,  wras 
born  in  Tennessee,  on  the  6th  of  July,  1806,  and  moved  from  there  to 
Kentucky;  thence  to  Indiana,  and  to  Illinois,  entering  the  present 
place.  He  worked  on  his  farm,  clearing  and  improving,  during  the 
winters,  and  in  summers  he  worked  in  the  lead  mines  at  Galena.  He 
married  Miss  Rachel  Fribble.  She  was  born  in  Ohio.  He  was  in 
the  Black  Hawk  war,  under  Captain  Sherman.  They  had  eight  chil- 
dren :  America,  Sarah,  Debra,  Bluford  J.,  Jackson,  Richard,  James  B. 
and  Thomas  J.  Mr.  Smith  died  on  the  16th  of  December,  1877, 
and  Mrs.  Smith  died  on  the  15th  of  August,  1870. 

S.  J.  Cook,  Georgetown,  proprietor  '•  Cook  House,"  is  a  native  of 
Vermilion  county,  Illinois.  He  was  born  on  the  24th  of  August,  1843, 
and  has  always  made  his  home  in  this  count}',  with  his  parents,  and 
assisted  in  their  business.  In  June,  1861,  he  enlisted  in  the  25th  111. 
Reg.  Inf.,  and  served  three  years  and  three  months.  He  was  in  the 
battles  of  Pea  Ridge,  Missouri ;  Stone  River,  Perryville,  Atlanta 
campaign,  etc.  On  his  return  from  the  army  he  engaged  with  his 
lather  in  the  harness  business.  On  the  15th  of  October,  1873,  he  mar- 
ried Miss  Olive  Ashby.  She  was  born  in  Clark  county,  Illinois.  His 
parents,  Enos  and  Malinda  (Harris)  Cook,  wTere  natives  of  Union 
county,  Indiana,  and  Hamilton  count}7,  Ohio,  where  they  were  born  in 
1817  and  1820,  respectively.  They  were  married  in  Louisville,  Henry 
county,  Indiana,  on  the  3d  of  July,  1839,  and  came  to  Vermilion 
county,  Illinois,  in  1840,  where  he  carried  on  farming.  He  also  en- 
gaged in  the  harness  business,  locating  in  the  country  and  also  in 
35 


.")}»;  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Georgetown,  and  did  an  extensive  trade  in  that  line.  On  the  2d  of 
April,  1868,  he  sold  out  his  business  and  engaged  in  the  hotel  busi- 
ness, known  as  the  "Cook  House,"  and  continued  in  the  same  until 
his  death,  on  the  11th  of  September,  1877.  He  had  a  family  of  three 
children,  two  of  whom  are  living:  Benjamin  F.  and  Sylvester  J. 
The  latter  has  conducted  the  business  since  the  death  of  his  father. 
Mrs.  Cook  is  living  here  with  her  son. 

Matthias  Sheets,  Georgetown,  farmer,  was  born  at  Kyger's  mill, 
Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  21th  of  November,  1843,  and  lived 
there  about  ten  years,  when,  with  his  parents,  he  moved  to  his  present 
place,  and  has  lived  here  since.  On  the  20th  of  December,  1866,  he 
married  Miss  Melvina  J.  Buchanan.  She  was  born  in  Vermilion 
county,  Indiana.  They  have  four  children  :  Hortense  E.,  Frederick 
B.,  Mahala  G.  and  Jessie  M.  In  1869  Mr.  Sheets  moved  to  his 
present  residence,  and  engaged  in  farming  on  his  own  account,  farm- 
ing part  of  his  father's  farm. 

Dr.  Geo.  T.  Richardson,  Georgetown,  farmer,  was  born  in  New 
Hampshire  on  the  27th  of  January,  1827,  and  lived  there  until  1831. 
He  then  went  to  Eugene,  Indiana,  and  in  1841  attended  Ashbury  Uni- 
versity at  Green  Castle,  and  read  medicine  under  Dr.  Allen  for  two 
years  and  a  half.  He  then  graduated  from  the  Syracuse,  New  York. 
Medical  College,  and  came  to  this  neighborhood  and  practiced  medi- 
cine. He  then  went  to  Catlin  where  he  practiced  seven  years.  He 
subsequently  engaged  in  the  drug  business  at  Williamsport,  Indiana, 
where  he  lived  for  eight  years,  and  then  moved  to  his  present  place. 
In  1847  he  married  Miss  Moranda  A.  Town.  She  was  born  in  Massa- 
chusetts and  died  here  in  1857.  They  had  four  children,  one  of  whom 
is  living:  Emma  F.  December,  1858,  he  married  Miss  Harriet  F. 
Hall.  She  was  born  in  Ohio  and  died  in  Indiana  in  1870.  They  had 
three  children,  two  of  whom  are  living:  Charles  E.  and  Frank  C.  On 
the  25th  of  December,  1872,  he  married  Miss  Isabella  Henthorn.  She 
was  born  in  this  county.  They  had  four  children,  three  living:  Will- 
iam, Maud  and  Harriet.  Mr.  Richardson  has  been  justice  of  the 
peace  twice  in  this  county,  and  twice  in  Warren  count}T,  Indiana.  He 
owns  fifty  acres  in  this  county,  three  miles  east  of  Georgetown. 

J.  W.  Lockett,  Westville,  general  merchandise,  was  bom  in  George- 
town township,  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  23d  of  June,  1844, 
on  a  farm,  and  lived  there  until  1862,  when  he  enlisted  in  the  125th 
111.  Inf.  Reg.,  Co.  D.,  and  remained  in  service  until  the  close  of  the 
war.  He  was  in  the  battles  of  Perryville,  Peach  Tree  Creek,  Kene- 
saw  Mountain  and  in  the  Atlanta  campaign.  On  his  return  from  the 
army  he  engaged  in  the  Henderson  mill,  at  Danville,  where  he  re- 


GEORGETOWN   TOWNSHIP.  547 

mained  three  years.  He  then  engaged  in  the  bakery  business.  In 
1870  he  sold  out  and  engaged  in  fanning  for  two  years.  He  then  en- 
gaged as  superintendent  of  the  Shield's  distillery,  and  in  1877  engaged 
in  his  present  business  in  its  present  location.  On  the  12th  of  Octo- 
ber, 1877,  he  was  appointed  postmaster.  On  the  5th  of  January, 
1870,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Hannah  Trimble.  She  was  born  in 
Covington,  Indiana.    They  have  two  children  :  Nellie  H.  and  Oliver  D. 

Pleasant  West,  Georgetown,  hardware,  is  a  native  of  Georgetown. 
He  was  born  on  the  10th  of  March,  1844,  and  lived  there  until  June,  1861, 
when  he  enlisted  in  Co.  A,  25th  111.  Reg.,  and  was  in  the  service  three 
years  and  three  months.  He  was  in  the  battles  of  Pea  Ridge,  Corinth, 
Perryville,  Stone  River  and  Chickamauga,  where  he  was  wounded, 
because  of  which  he  was  confined  in  the  hospital  about  eight  months. 
He  then  went  to  Springfield,  where  he  was  discharged,  after  which  he 
returned  to  Georgetown,  and  in  the  winter  following  went  to  Danville 
and  attended  school  until  1866.  He  then  returned  to  Georgetown, 
and  on  the  8th  of  November,  of  the  same  year,  he  was  married  to 
Miss  Helen  A.  Yapp.  She  was  born  in  Cuba,  New  York.  They 
have  two  children:  Deralle  and  Roy  O.  After  his  marriage,  Mr. 
West  engaged  in  farming,  and  continued  until  1868,  when  he  engaged 
in  his  present  business. 

Gould  Bouton,  Perrysville,  farmer  and  stock  raiser,  was  born  in 
Chenango  county,  New  York,  on  the  19th  of  December,  1817,  and 
lived  there  twenty  years.  He  then  went  to  Pennsylvania,  and  lived 
there  one  year,  thence  to  Warren  county,  Ohio,  via  New  York,  and  then 
to  Eugene,  Indiana.  He  went  to  New  Orleans  by  flat-boat,  then  to 
West  Tennessee ;  from  there  to  Eugene,  and  afterward  went  again  to 
New  Orleans,  then  to  McHenry  county,  Illinois,  and  from  thence  to 
New  York  and  return  ;  from  there  he  came  to  his  present  place,  ar- 
ranging to  buy  the  same.  He  then  went  to  New  Orleans,  returning 
via  McHenry  county,  Illinois,  and  has  lived  here  since.  He  owns  one 
hundred  and  ten  acres,  the  result  of  his  own  labor  and  management. 
On  the  28th  of  November,  1845,  he  was  married,  and  is  the  father  of 
seven  children,  six  of  whom  are  living:  Esther  E.,  James  H.,  Mary  E., 
Alice  C,  Emma  J.  and  Flora  B.  Thomas  T.  enlisted  in  the  115th 
Ind.,  and  was  in  the  service  six  months.  He  died  a  few  months  after 
his  discharge. 

W.  B.  Cowan,  Georgetown,  grocer,  was  born  in  Georgetown, 
Illinois,  on  the  21st  of  December,  1845,  and  lived  there  until  1856, 
when,  with  his  parents,  he  moved  three  miles  in  the  country  and  car- 
ried on  a  saw-mill  business  for  three  years.  He  then  attended  school 
in  Georgetown.     In  May,  1862,  he  enlisted  in  the  73d  111.  Reg.,  Co  C, 


548  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

as  drummer-boy,  and  remained  in  service  until  the  close  of  the  war. 
After  the  war  he  returned  to  Georgetown,  and  continued  his  schooling 
one  year.  He  then  clerked  in  a  store  in  Danville,  and  after  this 
returned  to  Georgetown,  and  on  the  7th  of  November,  1867,  he  mar- 
ried Miss  Emily  Newlin.  She  was  born  in  Georgetown.  They  had 
five  children,  four  living:  Jessie,  Charles,  Ralph  and  Bertha.  Mr. 
Cowan  has  been  identified  in  the  harness  and  boot  and  shoe  business 
for  a  number  of  years.  In  1878  he  engaged  in  his  present  business, 
buying  out  Mr.  J.  G.  Red m on. 

John  Sprouls,  Georgetown,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  is  a  native  of 
Vermilion  county,  Illinois.  He  was  born  on  his  present  place  on  the 
26th  of  February,  1845,  and  has  always  lived  on  the  same  place.  The 
old  homestead  consists  of  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  and  is  owned 
by  him  and  his  brother  George.  It  is  located  four  miles  and  a  half  east 
of  Georgetown.  On  the  26th  of  May,  1871,  he  married  Miss  Sarah 
Hurst.  She  was  born  in  Indiana.  They  have  three  children  :  Margaret, 
Amos  B.  and  Louina  A.  His  parents  were  James  and  Mary  (Hatha- 
way) Sprouls.  They  were  natives  of,  probably,  Pennsylvania  and 
Virginia.  He  was  born  on  the  24th  of  December,  1799.  They  were 
married  in  Ohio,  and  came  to  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  about  1830. 
They  settled  in  the  present  place  in  1837.  On  the  11th  of  March,  1845, 
he  came  to  his  death  by  an  accident  caused  by  a  runaway  horse.  She  is 
now  about  seventy-eight  years  of  age,  and  is  living  on  the  old  homestead. 

W.  C.  Cowan,  Georgetown,  druggist,  was  born  in  Edinburgh,  John- 
son county,  Indiana,  on  the  9th  of  November,  1829,  where  he  lived 
about  three  years,  when,  with  his  parents,  he  moved  to  Bloomfield, 
Edgar  county,  Illinois,  and  lived  there  until  1846.  He  was  principally 
engaged  in  farming  and  conducting  a  carding-machine.  They  then 
came  to  Georgetown  and  engaged  in  wool-carding.  He  lived  here  with 
his  parents  until  the  spring  of  1857,  during  which  time  he  finished  the 
wagon-making  trade.  He  then  went  to  Northwest  Missouri,  where  he 
had  a  carding-machine  and  worked  at  carpentering.  In  the  fall  of 
1859  he  returned  to  Georgetown  and  followed  the  carpentering  busi- 
ness until  1862,  when  he  engaged  in  his  present  business.  He  was 
connected  with  the  125th  111.  Reg.  for  about  three  months,  as  sutler. 
He  married  Miss  Sarah  M.  Tucker,  a  native  of  Crawford  county, 
Indiana.  They  had  six  children,  five  living:  Carrie  L.,  Eva  L.,  Minnie 
B.,  William  A.  and  Arthur  H.  His  parents,  P.  and  Lurenah  Wilson 
Cowan,  were  natives  of  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia.  He  died  on  the 
4th  of  September,  1873.     She  is  living  here  with  her  daughter. 

William  V.  Jones,  Georgetown,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born 
on  his  present  place,  on  the  25th  of  October,  1846,  and  has  always  lived 


GEORGETOWN   TOWNSHIP.  549 

on  the  same  place.  On  the  1st  of  February,  1877,  he  married  Miss 
Ettie  Richards.  She  was  born  in  Indiana.  The  parents  of  Mr.  Jones 
were  Parrish  1ST.  and  Polly  (Long)'  Jones.  They  were  natives  of 
Nicholas  county,  Kentucky,  and  were  married  there  on  the  27th  of 
May,  1830.  They  came  to  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  in  the  same 
year,  and  engaged  in  farming.  He  died  here  on  the  22d  of  May,  1850. 
Mrs.  Jones  is  living  with  her  son  on  the  old  homestead,  which  contains 
one  hundred  and  seventy  acres,  and  is  located  about  two  miles  and  a 
half  northwest  of  Georgetown. 

James  B.  Cook,  Westville,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  on  his 
present  place  on  the  24th  of  November,  1847,  and  has  always  lived  on 
the  same  place.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  he  took  the  management  of  the 
farm,  and  for  the  first  few  years  paid  a  light  rent.  In  1875  he  came 
into  full  possession.  On  the  6th  of  July,  1865,  he  married  Miss  Annie 
L.  Black;  she  was  born  in  Kentucky.  They  have  four  children:  John 
E.,  Oliver  A.,  Clara  A.  and  Kate.  Mr.  Cook  owns  one  hundred  and 
six  acres  of  land  in  this  county.  His  parents,  James  W.  and  Nancy 
(Bowen)  Cook,  were  natives  of  Indiana  and  Kentucky ;  they  were 
married  on  the  present  place,  and  were  the  parents  of  one  child :  J.  B. 
Mr.  Allen  Cook  came  to  this  county  about  1845,  and  engaged  in  teach- 
ing school.  He  died  in  Fountain  county,  Indiana,  in  1847.  Mrs.  Cook 
married  Mr.  Ellis  Dukes,  and  died  in  Kansas  about  1877.  Mrs.  Cook's 
parents,  John  and  Susan  Leseure  (Black)  Cook,  were  natives  of  Ken- 
tucky, and  came  to  this  county  in  1852.  She  died  in  1868,  and  he  lives 
in  Indiana. 

A.  J.  Richardson,  Georgetown,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born 
near  Boston,  Massachusetts,  on  the  26th  of  June,  1805,  and  lived  there 
seven  years.  He  then,  with  his  parents,  moved  to  New  Hampshire,  and 
lived  there  until  1831.  He  then  brought  his  parents  west,  to  Eugene, 
Indiana,  and  lived  there  until  the  spring  of  1848,  when  he  came  to  his 
present  place.  While  in  New  Hampshire  he  learned  the  shoe-making 
trade  in  his  father's  shop,  and  took  charge  of  the  same  in  1824,  and 
managed  the  business  from  that  time  on,  there  and  at  Eugene.  On 
the  27th  of  September,  1825,  he  married  Miss  Moriah  Taylor.  She  was 
born  in  New  Hampshire.  They  had  nine  children,  five  of  whom  are 
living:  George  T.,  Martha  A.,  Sarah  E.,  Ferona  A.  and  Francis  A. 
While  in  Indiana,  he  served  fifteen  years  as  justice  of  the  peace.  He 
owns  two  hundred  and  eighty  acres  in  this  county,  located  three  miles 
east  of  Georgetown.  About  1834  he  made  his  first  trip  to  Chicago  by 
team  from  Eugene.  His  parents,  Sceva  and  Esther  Hickson  Rich- 
ardson, were  natives  of  Massachusetts.  He  died  on  the  11th  of  May, 
1841,  at  Eugene,  and  she  on  the  22d  of  February,  1848. 


550  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

R.  W.  Cowan,  Georgetown,  druggist,  is  a  native  of  "Warren  county, 
Ohio.  He  was  born  on  the  20th  of  March,  1821.  When  one  year  of 
age  his  parents  moved  to  Johnson  county,  and  thence,  in  1830,  to  Ver- 
milion county,  Indiana.  Two  years  later  they  moved  to  Edgar  county, 
Illinois.  In  1849  he  came  to  Georgetown,  and  farmed  one  year ;  he 
then  engaged  in  carpentering  and  building.  From  1857  to  1858  he 
managed  a  carding  machine  in  Missouri,  but,  returning  to  Georgetown, 
he  Avorked  at  carpentering  until  1862.  He  then  enlisted  in  the  73d 
111.  Reg.  and  was  in  the  service  six  months,  taking  part  in  the  battle 
of  Perryville.  He  received  his  discharge  owing  to  ill  health,  and 
returned  to  Georgetown,  and  engaged  in  the  grocery  business.  He 
has  since  been  identified  with  the  drug,  boot  and  shoe  business. 
On  the  26th  of  April,  1879,  he  engaged  in  his  present  business,  the 
firm  being,  "  R.  Wilson  Cowan  &  Co.,  druggists."  On  the  14th  of 
March,  1841,  he  married  Miss  Louisa  W.  Camerer.  She  was  born  in 
Ohio. 

Valentine  J.  Buchanan,  Georgetown,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was 
born  in  Lawrence  county,  Illinois,  on  the  3d  of  September,  1826,  and 
lived  there  fifteen  years;  he  then  went  to  Ohio,  and  from  there  to 
Perrysville,  Indiana,  and  attended  school,  making  his  home  with  Mr. 
H.  C.  Benson,  present  editor  of  the  "California  Christian  Advocate." 
He  lived  there  five  years.  On  the  8th  of  July,  1848,  he  married  Miss 
Sarah  Craig;  she  was  born  in  Ohio.  In  1850  he  came  to  Illinois,  and 
settled  on  his  present  place.  He  owns  four  hundred  and  twenty  acres 
in  this  county,  which  is  the  result  of  his  own  labor  and  management. 
Of  his  seven  children,  five  are  living:  Melvina,  Sarah  K.,  George, 
Mahala  and  Melvina  S.  In  1843  he  joined  the  Methodist  church.  He 
was  licensed  to  exhort  by  H.  C.  Benson  in  1846;  ordained  by  Bishop 
Scott  in  1863,  and  licensed  to  preach  by  Hiram  Buck,  of  the  Illinois 
Conference,  in  1852.  He  now  acts  as  local  minister.  His  parents, 
John  and  Mahala  (daughter  of  Col.  Spencer  Buchanan)  were  natives 
of  Ohio.  They  were  married  in  Illinois.  They  died  in  1852  and  1834, 
in  Crawford  and  Lawrence  counties  respectively.  His  grandfather, 
John  Buchanan,  was  a  cousin  of  ex-President  Buchanan,  deceased. 

A.  Leseure,  Georgetown,  grocer,  was  born  in  Nancy,  France,  on  the 
31st  of  August,  1816,  where  he  lived  until  the  fall  of  1831,  when,  with 
his  parents,  he  came  to  the  United  States  and  settled  in  Kentucky, 
near  Cincinnati ;  then  went  to  Clark  county,  Indiana,  and  in  1847  came 
to  Illinois  and  settled  in  Shelby  county.  In  1851  he  came  to  George- 
town and  engaged  in  the  dry-goods  and  grocery  business,  the  firm 
being  Leseure  &  Probst.  They  continued  in  business  two  years,  when 
Mr.  Probst  sold  out  to  Mr.  Leseure,  who  continued  the  business  until 


GEORGETOWN   TOWNSHIP.  551 

1861,  when,  on  the  10th  of  August,  he  enlisted  in  the  7th  111.  Cav., 
and  was  in  service  until  the  close  of  the  war.  He  was  second-lieutenant 
of  Co.  M,  and  was  in  the  battles  of  Shiloh,  Corinth,  Mobile,  and  the 
other  battles  of  his  regiment.  On  the  24th  of  April,  1844,  he  married 
Miss  Sarah  Brightwell,  a  native  of  Maryland.  They  have  had  six 
children,  four  living:  Desiree,  Victor,  Susan  and  Hattie. 

William  Hess,  Georgetown,  farmer  and  stock-raiser.  The  birth- 
place of  this  gentleman  was  in  Coshocton  county,  Ohio.  He  was  born 
on  his  father's  farm  on  the  10th  of  February,  1837,  and  lived  there 
until  he  was  fourteen  years  of  age;  with  his  parents  he  then  moved  to 
Clay  county,  Indiana,  and  lived  there  one  year.  In  1852  they  came 
to  Illinois  and  settled  at  Brooks'  Point,  Vermilion  county.  He  lived 
with  his  parents  until  the  death  of  his  mother,  on  the  4th  of  August, 
1854,  after  which  he  worked  about  on  the  farm  for  four  years,  and 
then  went  to  Champaign  county  and  engaged  in  farming  on  his  own 
account,  and  lived  there  three  years.  On  the  1st  of  September,  1861, 
he  married  Miss  Jane  Clifton,  who  was  born  in  this  county.  He  left 
Champaign  county  and  settled  on  his  present  place  of  eighty-eight 
acres  in  this  township.  His  family  contains  three  children  :  Albert 
J.,  Emma  R.  and  Alman. 

Amos  Bockoven,  Georgetown,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in 
Morris  county,  New  Jersey,  on  the  3d  of  February,  1810,  where  he 
lived  twenty-two  years.  He  then,  after  spending  a  few  months  in  Penn- 
sylvania, went  to  Clermont  county,  Ohio,  and  lived  there  three  years. 
He  then  moved  to  Vermilion  county,  Indiana,  where  he  lived  until  1852, 
when  he  came  to  his  present  place  and  has  lived  here  since.  He  owns 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  in  this  township,  which  he  has  earned  by 
his  own  labor  and  management.  On  the  28th  of  March,  1844,  he 
married  Miss  Margaret  Sigler,  a  native  of  Ohio.  They  have  no 
children. 

Z.  Morris,  Georgetown,  grain  dealer  and  farmer,  was  born  in  Wayne 
county,  North  Carolina,  on  the  5th  of  December,  1824,  and  lived  there 
three  years,  when,  with  his  parents,  he  moved  to  Parke  county,  Indiana, 
and  lived  there  until  he  was  of  age.  Fie  then  came  to  Illinois  and 
settled  in  Georgetown.  In  1849  he  engaged  in  general  merchandise 
business  at  Montezuma,  Indiana;  he  then  returned  to  Georgetown 
and  engaged  in  general  merchandise  business  with  the  firm  of  B.  Cana- 
day  &  Co.,  and  was  identified  with  this  business  for  twenty  years;  he 
then  spld  his  interest  and  bought  a  stock-farm  two  and  one-half  miles 
northeast  of  Georgetown,  and  has  owned  the  same  since.  In  August, 
of  1878,  he  engaged  in  the  grain  business,  at  this  point,  with  the  firm 
of  Richie,  Thompson  &  Co.     On  the  12th  of  November,  1850,  he  mar- 


552  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

ried  Miss  Mary  II.  Canaday.  She  was  bora  in  Georgetown,  and  died  on 
the  15th  of  September,  1S69.  On  the  23d  of  February.  1871.  he  mar- 
ried Miss  Elizabeth  E.  Partlow.  She  was  born  in  Vermilion  county, 
Illinois.  They  had  four  children.  Two  are  now  living:  Fannie  P. 
and  Wright  E. 

John  Cage,  Westville,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  on  a  farm  in 
Northumberland  county,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  7th  of  December,  1829; 
and  in  1830  his  parents  moved  to  Athens  county,  Ohio,  and  farmed  until 
he  was  twelve  years  old.  He  then  went  to  Muskingum  county  ;  from 
there,  the  next  year,  he  went  to  Shelbyville,  Indiana,  and  the  next 
year  to  a  farm  near  by,  where  he  lived  until  he  was  twenty-one.  He 
then  worked  at  millwrighting  and  chair-making  about  two  and  one- 
half  years.  He  then  came  to  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  and  engaged 
in  running  the  Denmark  Mills.  On  the  12th  of  October,  1S68,  he 
married  Miss  Lncinda  Keck.  She  was  born  in  Shelby  county,  Indiana. 
He  next  engaged  in  farming  in  Georgetown  township,  renting  the  Mc- 
Carty  farm  for  two  years.  He  then  bought  his  present  place.  He 
owns  one  hundred  and  eighty -four  acres  in  this  county,  besides  prop- 
ertv  in  Danville,  all  of  which  he  has  earned  by  his  own  labor  and 
management. 

Benjamin  Haworth,  Georgetown,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  is  a  na- 
tive of  Rush  county,  Indiana.  He  was  born  on  his  father's  farm,  on 
the  11th  of  April.  1828,  and  lived  there  eight  years;  then,  with  his 
parents,  he  moved  to  Wayne  county,  Indiana,  and  lived  there  until 
January  of  1S53,  forming  and  learning  the  brick-making  trade.  In 
ls53  he  came  to  Illinois  and  settled  in  Vermilion  county,  renting  the 
Benjamin  Canaday  farm  for  twelve  years.  He  then  went  to  George- 
town and  engaged  in  the  stock  business.  He  then  bought  a  farm,  and 
farmed  some  five  years,  when  he  sold  out  and  moved  to  Hendricks 
county,  Indiana.  He  lived  there  one  year,  and  then  bought  his  pres- 
ent place  and  has  lived  there  since.  On  the  25th  of  December.  1819, 
lie  married  Miss  Rebecca  Ann  Colton.  She  was  born  in  Wayne  coun- 
ty. Indiana.  They  had  eleven  children,  nine  of  whom  are  living: 
Letha  Ann.  Marietta.  Ella.  Louisa  J.,  Allen  W.,  Edwin.  Horace  T., 
Dillon  and  Vida  G.  He  owns  one  hundred  and  eighty-five  acres  in 
this  county,  which  he  has  earned  b}T  his  own  labor  and  management. 

Joseph  Thompson,  Georgetown,  general  merchandise,  was  born  in 
Salem.  Xew  Jersey,  on  the  1th  of  August,  1818,  and  lived  there 
until  the  spring  of  1853.  He  then,  with  his  parents,  came  to  Illinois, 
and  settled  near  Georgetown,  where  thev  lived  two  years.  His  father 
was  then  appointed  postmaster,  and  they  moved  to  the  village  of 
Georgetown,  and  he  has  lived  here  since.     In  May.  186-1,  he  engaged 


GEORGETOWN   TOWNSHIP.  553 

as  clerk  in  the  general  merchandise  business  of  B.  Canaday  &  Co.,  and 
clerked  in  the  business  until  the  1st  of  January,  1871,  when  Mr.  Can- 
aday retired,  and  the  firm  of  Richie  &  Thompson  was  formed  and  has 
continued  since.  He  has  held  the  office  of  township  treasurer  and  vil- 
lage trustee,  of  which  body  lie  is  now  president.  On  the  6th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1870,  he  married  Miss  Lillie  O.  Canaday.  She  is  a  native  of 
Georgetown,  Illinois,  born  on  the  29th  of  July,  1S53.  They  have  two 
children  :  Chas.  E.  and  John  A. 

James  Armour,  Eugene,  Indiana,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was 
born  in  County  Antrim,  Ireland,  on  the  14th  of  February,  1800,  and 
lived  there  three  years,  when,  with  his  mother,  he  came  to  the  United 
States,  and  settled  in  Pennsylvania,  where  his  father  had  previously 
moved,  and  who  died  a  few  weeks  after  their  arrival.  In*1816  Mrs. 
Armour  died,  and  James  continued  his  residence  there  until  1822.  He 
then  moved  to  Indiana,  and  helped  to  build  the  Groomback  mill,  and 
he  also  helped  to  build  the  first  house  of  the  present  village  of  Eugene, 
in  1823.  In  182-1  he  went  back  to  Pennsylvania.  While  there,  on 
the  10th  of  August,  1826,  he  married  Miss  Elizabeth  Deardurff,  a  na- 
tive of  that  state.  They  had  twelve  children;  six  are  living:  George 
J.,  Yan  Buren,  Charles,  Franklin  P.,  Francis  E.  and  Annie  M.  In 
1828  Mr.  Armour  moved  to  Eugene,  Indiana,  with  his  family,  and 
engaged  in  boating  to  New  Orleans  and  boat-building.  In  1832  he 
engaged  in  the  steam  flour  and  saw  mill  at  Eugene,  and  was  burned 
out  in  the  winter  of  1834.  He  then  established  a  boat-yard,  and  built 
boats  until  1854,  when  he  came  to  his  present  place.  While  at  Eu- 
gene he  served  as  postmaster  and  justice  of  the  peace  for  twenty  years. 
He  owns  one  hundred  and  forty  acres  in  this  county.  All  his  children 
are  married,  and  live  in  this  neighborhood,  except  George  J.,  who 
resides  in  Kansas. 

Jacob  Yapp,  Georgetown,  hardware,  was  born  in  Alleghany  county, 
New  York,  on  the  12th  of  June,  1822,  and  lived  there  until  1854.  In 
the  fall  of  1840  he  apprenticed  to.  the  harness  trade,  and  after  serving 
three  years  traveled  a  year,  and  then  engaged  in  the  business  on  his 
own  account  at  Cuba,  New  York,  for  two  years.  He  then  engaged  as 
foreman  of  a  harness  and  trunk  factory,  and  followed  the  same  for  seven 
years.  He  then,  with  J.  It.  Mclvee,  opened  a  harness  and  trunk  fac- 
tory under  the  firm  name  of  Yapp  &  McKee,  and  continued  until  May, 
1854,  when  they  removed  the  business  from  Cuba  to  Georgetown,  Illi- 
nois, taking  Mr.  Thomas  Briggs  in  as  partner,  and  forming  the  firm  of 
Yapp  &  Co.,  which  continued  one  year,  when  Mr.  Yapp  bought  out 
the  business  and  formed  a  partnership  with  James  Jackson,  which  con- 
tinued until  the  death  of  Mr.  Jackson,  after  which  he  conducted  the 


554  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY, 


o 


business  alone  until  1861.  He  then  engaged. in  the  hotel  business 
which  he  had  opened  in  1858,  and  continued  in  this  until  1865.  He 
also  conducted  the  hack  line  between  Danville  &  Paris,  which  included 
the  mail  route.  In  1864  he  was  elected  justice  of  the  peace.  In  1868 
he  engaged  in  his  present  business.  On  the  4th  of  March,  1844,  he 
married  Miss  Ambrosia  C.  Sheldon.  She  was  born  in  Cuba,  New 
York,  and  died  on  the  12th  of  February,  1848.  They  had  one  child  : 
Helen  A.  On  the  13th  of  February,  1851,  he  married  Miss  Adelia  E. 
Palmer.     She  was  born  in  Warsaw,  New  York. 

Solomon  Haworth,  Georgetown,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born 
in  Rush  county,  Indiana,  on  the  28th  of  August,  1829,  and  lived  there 
six  years.  He  then  moved  to  Wayne  county,  where  he  lived  until 
1855,  when  he  came  to  Illinois  and  settled  in  Vermilion  county,  and 
engaged  in  farming  in  Georgetown  township.  In  March,  1879,  he 
moved  to  the  village,  and  farms  a  place  on  the  Wabash  in  Indiana,  near 
Eugene.  On  the  22d  of  September,  1850,  he  married  Miss  Kezia 
Mendenhall.  She  was  born  in  Wayne  county,  Indiana.  They  had 
three  children,  one  of  whom  is  living :  Alice.  Mr.  Haworth  lived  with 
his  parents  until  he  was  twenty-one,  when  he  began  farming  for  him- 
self, and  this  he  has  followed  since.  He  has  served  as  road  commis- 
sioner for  five  years  in  this  township,  and  has  also  served  as  school 
director  and  trustee. 

Phillip  C.  Jeffers,  Georgetown,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in 
Gallia  county,  Ohio,  on  the  12th  of  April,  1833,  and  lived  there  until 
1855,  when  he  came  to  Illinois  and  settled  in  Vermilion  county.  On 
the  19th  of  March,  1858,  he  married  Miss  Elvira  Dye.  She  was  bom 
in  Gallia  county,  Ohio.  They  have  five  children :  Florence  P.,  Sarah 
E.,  William  I.,  Charles  G.  and  Arthur  H.  He  is  no  office-seeker,  and 
has  held  no  offices  except  those  connected  with  the  school  and  road. 
He  owns  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven  acres  of  land  in  this  county, 
located  two  and  a  half  miles  northeast  of  Georgetown.  His  wife  was 
the  daughter  of  Robert  and  Priscilla  (Sheets)  Dye.  They  were  natives 
of  Washington  county,  Ohio,  where  they  were  married.  They  came 
to  this  county  in  the  spring  of  1856,  and  settled  on  their  present  place. 
He  died  on  the  25th  of  April  of  the  same  year.  She  is  living  here  with 
her  daughter. 

Robert  Boyd,  Perrysville,  Indiana,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was 
born  in  Alleghany  county,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  26th  of  June,  1827, 
and  lived  there  five  years.  He  then,  with  his  parents,  moved  to  Ver- 
milion county,  Indiana,  and  in  1855  came  to  his  present  place.  At  the 
ao-e  of  twentv-one  he  began  farming  on  his  own  account.  On  the  27th 
of  February,  1854,  he  married  Miss  Margaret  Hughes.     She  was  born 


GEORGETOWN   TOWNSHIP.  555 

in  Mason  county,  Virginia,  and  moved  to  Vermilion  county,  Indiana, 
when  young.  They  have  four  children:  John  C,  Mary  E.,  Melvin  M. 
and  James  T.  Mr.  Boyd  owns  one  hundred  and  thirty  acres  of  land 
in  this  county,  which  he  has  earned  by  his  own  labor  and  management. 
His  parents,  John  and  Sarah  (Stewart)  Boyd,  were  natives  of  Ireland 
and  Pennsylvania.  They  came  here  as  stated,  and  died  March,  1853, 
and  December,  1869,  respectively. 

William  II.  Alexander,  Georgetown,  retired,  was  born  in  Bucks 
county,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  1st  of  July,  1807,  and  lived  there  about 
thirty-one  years,  during  which  time  he  learned  the  wagon-maker's 
trade.  He  then  moved  to  Eugene,  Indiana,  and  lived  there  seventeen 
years,  carrying  on  wagon  manufacturing  and  blaeksrnithing.  He  then 
came  to  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  and  engaged  in  farming.  In  1S71 
he  came  to  Georgetown,  and  has  lived  here  since.  On  the  29th  of 
June,  1831,  he  married  Miss  Hester  Henry.  She  was  born  in  Bucks 
county,  Pennsylvania.  They  had  nine  children,  seven  living:  Mar- 
garett,  Harvey,  William,  Ann,  Thomas  P.,  Jane  and  Daniel.  His  son 
William  H.  Alexander,  was  born  in  Eugene,  Indiana,  on  the  23d  of 
June,  1850.  On  the  1st  of  August,  1876,  he  began  in  the  grocery 
business  in  Georgetown.  The  business  was  very  small,  and  located 
near  where  the  post-office  is  now.  On  the  29th  of  January,  1877,  he 
bought  of  W.  O.  Mendenhall  the  stock  of  goods  formerly  owned  by 
E.  L.  Cartel',  and  moved  his  business  to  the  northwest  corner  of  the 
public  square,  where  he  enjoys  his  full  share  of  the  patronage  of  the 
place. 

J.  P.  Cloyd,  Georgetown,  physician,  is  a  native  of  Washington 
county,  Tennessee.  He  was  born  on  the  farm,  on  the  28th  of  June, 
1838,  where  he  lived  eighteen  years.  He  then  came  to  Illinois  and 
settled  in  Vermilion  count}',  teaching  until  1862,  when  he  began  read- 
ing medicine  with  Dr.  J.  C.  Cook,  near  Newport,  and  read  with  him 
about  two  years.  He  then  attended  a  course  of  lectures  at  Rush  Med- 
ical College,  Chicago.  After  this  he  practiced  medicine  in  the  eastern 
part  of  this  county  until  the  fall  of  1868,  when  he  again  attended  lec- 
tures at  the  Push  Medical  College.  He  graduated  from  this  institution 
on  the  3d  of  February,  1869,  and  moved  to  Georgetown  on  the  1st  of 
May  following.  He  has  practiced  here  since.  On  the  28th  of  October, 
1859,  he  married  Miss  Hannah  Golden.  She  was  born  in  this  county, 
near  Georgetown.  They  had  six  children,  four  living:  Richard  A., 
Frazier  N.,  Belle  and  Darlie. 

John  Bennett,  Georgetown,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  on  his 
father's  farm,  in  Mason  county,  Kentucky,  on  the  5th  of  August,  1828, 
and  lived  there  seventeen  years.     He  then  apprenticed  to  the  black- 


556  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

smith's  trade,  in  Maysville,  to  Mr.  Atherton,  for  three  years,  losing  but 
three  and  a  half  days  during  that  time.  He  then  took  charge  of  a  shop 
on  his  father's  farm.  On  the  24th  of  April,  1849,  he  married.  Miss 
Julia  A.  Bayless.  She  was  born  in  Mason  county,  Kentucky.  He 
continued  in  the  shop  until  1857,  when  he  came  to  Illinois  and  settled 
on  his  present  place.  Here  he  carried  on  farming  and  blacksmithing. 
In  18T6  he  opened  a  carriage  and  wagon  factory  at  Indianola,  but  sold 
the  same  in  1878.  He  also  had  a  saw-mill  in  operation  on  his  farm 
from  1876  to  1878.  Of  late  he  has  confined  himself  to  his  farm,  located 
a  mile  and  a  half  northwest  of  Georgetown,  which  consists  of  four  hun- 
dred acres.  He  also  owns  land  in  Edgar  county.  He  is  the  father  of 
four  children,  three  living :    William,  Laura  Ann  and  Samuel. 

W.  O'Neall  Mendenhall,  Georgetown,  physician,  is  a  native  of 
Montgomery  county,  Indiana.  He  was  born  on  the  28th  of  April, 
1834,  and  lived  there  fourteen  years,  when,  with  his  parents,  he  moved 
to  Tippecanoe  county,  and  lived  there  until  1857,  when  he  came  to 
Georgetown  and  engaged  in  teaching,  following  the  same  for  two  years 
in  Vermilion  Seminary,  one  term  at  Ridge  Farm  and  two  terms  at 
Georgetown.  In  1864  he  moved  to  Iroquois  county,  Illinois,  and  im- 
proved a  farm  of  wild  land.  In  1866  he  taught  in  the  seminary  at 
Watseka.  From  the  time  he  was  eighteen  he  read  more  or  less  medi- 
cine,  and  while  at  Watseka  he  read  one  year  under  Drs.  Jewett  and 
Alter.  He  then  attended  Ann  Arbor,  Michigan,  for  six  months,  and 
began  practice  in  Iroquois  county,  Illinois.  In  1870  he  graduated  from 
the  Rush  Medical  College.  In  1872  he  came  to  Georgetown,  and  has 
practiced  here  since.  He  was  also  identified  with  the  drug  trade  a  part 
of  the  time.  On  the  15th  of  September,  1859,  he  married  Miss  Lydia 
J.  Haworth.  She  was  born  in  this  county.  They  have  had  five  chil- 
dren, three  of  whom  are  living:    Edwin,  William  and  George  W. 

J.  D.  Shepler,  Georgetown,  farmer  and  miller,  was  born  in  Fayette 
county,  Indiana,  on  the  12th  of  December,  1828,  where  he  lived  until 
he  was  twenty-two.  He  then  apprenticed  to  the  milling  trade  in  Shel- 
by ville,  Indiana.  After  learning  his  trade  he  followed  the  same  at 
various  places  in  Indiana,  until  1859.  He  then  came  to  Illinois,  and 
settled  in  Vermilion  county,  at  Myersville,  where  he  took  charge  of 
Smith's  mill.  In  the  spring  of  1860  he  came  to  Georgetown,  and  has 
lived  here  since.  He  has  had  charge  of  the  mill  here  since  he  came, 
except  two  years.  In  1864  he  bought  a  farm  south  of  Georgetown, 
and  has  carried  on  the  same  since.  The  present  farm  contains  one 
hundred  and  sixty-six  acres.  On  the  13th  of  September,  1859,  he  mar- 
ried Miss  Marv  E.  Gaudv.  She  was  born  in  Newman  county,  Indiana. 
They  have  three  children :  Alonzo  L.,  Alma  M.,  and  Frank  C. 


GEORGETOWN   TOWNSHIP.  557 

James  Moore,  Georgetown,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in 
Scioto  county,  Ohio,  on  the  12th  of  March,  1819,  and  lived  there  two 
years.  Then,  with  his  parents,  he  moved  to  Montgomery  county,  In- 
diana, and  lived  there  forty-two  years.  In  the  fall  of  1862  he  came  to 
Vermilion  county,  Illinois.  He  has  always  followed  farming.  On  the 
28th  of  January,  1812,  he  married  Miss  Elizabeth  Lee.  She  was  born 
in  Kentucky.  They  have  three  children:  William  J.,  Howard,  and 
James  A.  The  two  former  are  married,  and  live  in  this  county;  the 
latter  lives  at  home,  and  assists  in  the  farming;  he  also  buys  stock. 
Mr.  Moore  has,  bj  his  own  labor,  earned  his  present  farm,  which  con- 
sists of  two  hundred  and  twenty-two  acres.  His  parents,  William  and 
Elizabeth  Snook  Moore,  were  natives  of  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio.  They 
were  married  in  Ohio,  and  moved  to  Indiana,  as  stated,  where  he  died 
about  1870.     She  is  living  on  the  old  homestead  in  Indiana. 

Moses  Meeks,  Georgetown,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in 
Washington  county,  Ohio,  on  the  13th  of  August,  1820,  and  lived 
there  until  1865.  He  lived  with  his  parents  twenty-seven  years.  On 
the  20th  of  April,  1817,  he  married  Miss  Susan  Heckathorn.  She  was 
born  in  Beaver  county,  Pennsylvania.  After  the  marriage  he  moved 
on  his  farm,  and  farmed  same  until  he  came  west.  In  1861  he  came  to 
Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  and  bought  his  present  place,  having  sold 
out  in  Ohio  previously,  and  settled  on  the  same  the  year  following. 
He  acted  as  enrolling  master  for  the  fifteenth  sub-district,  in  Washing- 
ton county,  Ohio.  He  owns  one  hundred  acres,  which  he  has  earned 
by  his  own  labor  and  management.  They  had  ten  children,  eight 
living:  F.  J.,  George  W.,  Sarah  E.,  Samuel  L.,  Margaret  E.,  Sarah  J., 
Andrew  J.,  and  Ida  V.     William  E.  and  Ann  E.  died  in  this  county. 

Lorenzo  Bennett,  Georgetown,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  is  a  native 
of  Mason  county,  Kentucky.  He  was  born  on  the  27th  of  December, 
1836,  and  lived  there  nineteen  years.  He  then  came  to  Illinois,  and 
settled  in  Vermilion  county,  remaining  two  years.  After  this  he  went 
to  Kentucky,  and  lived  there  six  months,  when  he  returned  here,  re- 
maining a  few  months.  He  again  left  for  Kentucky,  and  lived  there 
until  1866.  He  then  came  here,  and  in  1868  settled  on  his  present 
place.  He  owns  one  hundred  acres  of  land  in  this  county.  On  the 
19th  of  May,  1863,  he  married  Miss  Mary  Chandler.  She  was  born  in 
Kentucky,  and  died  on  the  5th  of  June,  1865.  They  had  one  child: 
John  W.  ,  On  the  16th  of  November,  1865,  he  married  Miss  Mary 
Sherer.  She  was  born  in  this  county.  They  have  two  children:  Sallie 
J.  and  Lula  F. 

Kinzer  Rheuby,  Eugene,  Indiana,  farmer,  was  born  in  Ver- 
milion county,  Indiana,  on   the   18th   of  April,  1836,  and   lived   there 


.">.".  S  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

until  1867.  Ho  lived  with  his  parents  until  he  was  twenty-two.  On 
the  16th  of  October,  1859,  he  married  Miss  Mary  C.  Fultz.  She  was 
born  in  Vermilion  county,  Indiana.  After  his  marriage  he  engaged  in 
farming  on  his  own  account.  In  the  spring  of  1864  he  enlisted  in  the 
34th  Ind.,  and  was  in  the  service  until  the  close  of  the  war.  Of  his 
eight  children,  seven  are  living:  Elizabeth  E.,  Sarah  J.,  "William  L., 
Rachel  Ann,  John  K.,  Bell  and  Andrew  J. ;  Lilly  died.  He  owns 
one  hundred  and  forty  acres  in  this  countv,  and  twentv-five  in  Indiana, 
which  he  has  principally  earned  by  his  own  exertion. 

Pleasant  W.  Mendenhall,  Georgetown,  physician,  was  born  in  Mont- 
gomery county,  Indiana,  on  the  21st  of  December,  1841,  and  lived 
there  seven  years,  when,  with  his  parents,  he  moved  to  Tippecanoe 
county,  where  they  lived  about  seven  years.  They  then  moved  to 
Kansas  (now  Miami)  county,  and  lived  there  four  years.  This  was 
during  the  squatters'  sovereignty  period.  They  then  came  to  Vermilion 
county,  Illinois,  and  engaged  in  farming.  They  lived  here  until  1864, 
teaching  part  of  the  time ;  thence  to  Iroquois  county.  In  the  spring 
of  1868  he  began  reading  medicine  with  his  brother.  Dr.  AVm.  O'Keall 
Mendenhall,  and  during  the  winter  of  1869-70  he  attended  the  Rush 
Medical  College,  of  Chicago,  and  returned  to  Iroquois  county  and  began 
practice  at  Crescent  City.  In  the  spring  of  1872  he  again  attended  the 
Rush  Medical  College,  and  graduated  from  the  same  in  1S73,  and  re- 
newed his  practice  at  Crescent  City.  On  the  31st  of  May,  1874,  he 
married  Miss  Annie  L.  Plowman.  She  was  born  in  Maryland.  They 
have  one  child, —  Lillie, —  born  on  the  1st  of  January,  1875.  Mr.  Men- 
denhall began  practice  in  Georgetown.  His  parents,  David  and  Mary 
Ann  (Perkins)  Mendenhall,  were  natives  of  North  Carolina  and  Ohio. 
They  were  married  in  Ohio,  on  the  31st  of  October,  1837.  They  came 
here  as- stated,  and  are  now  living  in  Georgetown. 

James  N".  Mitchell,  Gessie,  Indiana,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was 
born  in  Montgomery  county,  Indiana,  on  the  7th  of  April,  1830,  where 
he  lived  until  he  was  nineteen.  He  then  moved  to  Parke  county,  Indi- 
ana ;  thence  to  Peoria  county,  Illinois,  in  1851.  In  1858  he  returned 
to  Montgomery  county,  and  lived  there  until  1861 ;  thence  to  Parke 
county,  and  in  1866  he  moved  to  Vermilion  county,  Indiana,  and  in 
1S73  came  to  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  and  settled  on  his  present 
place.  He  has  held  no  office  except  those  connected  with  the  schools 
and  roads.  He  owns  one  hundred  and  seventy  acres  of  land  in  this 
county,  which  he  has  earned  by  his  own  labor  and  management.  On 
the  14th  of  January,  1850,  he  married  Miss  Sarah  E.  Harlan.  She  was 
born  in  Parke  county,  Indiana,  and  died  in  the  spring  of  1865.  They 
had  seven  children,  four  living:    Bathsheba  R.,  George  H.,  John  F. 


GEORGETOWN   TOWNSHIP.  559 

and  James  D.  On  the  28th  of  September,  1869,  he  married  Mrs. 
Mary  Falls,  formerly  Miss  Kitchie.  She  was  born  in  Parke  county, 
Indiana.  They  have  four  children  :  Sarah  E.,  Martha  J.,  Cassius  L. 
and  Josephine  H. 

Jumps  Bros.,  Danville,  care  Boone's  box,  general  merchandise.  B. 
F.  Jumps  was  born  in  this  township,  and  has  always  lived  in  this 
county,  with  the  exception  of  one  year  in  Champaign.  In  1876  he 
engaged  in  the  general  merchandise  business  in  Westville,  buying  out 
J.  Dukes,  and  forming  a  partnership  with  W.  J.  Boone.  They  then 
carried  on  the  business  there  six  months,  when  Mr.  Perry  Jumps 
bought  out  Mr.  Boone's  interests,  and  the  business  was  moved  to  the 
present  location,  known  as  Hawbuck,  or  Boonesville.  Mr.  Perry 
Jumps  married  Miss  Nora  Williams,  on  the  22d  of  May,  1879.  She 
was  bom  in  this  county.  These  gentlemen  have  a  full  line  of  goods, 
and  are  prepared  to  attend  to  any  wants  in  their  line.  They  also 
accommodate  the  surrounding  public  by  delivering  their  mail  to  store 
twice  a  week.  Their  parents,  Jacob  and  Annie  (Davis)  Jumps,  were 
natives  of  Ohio  and  Indiana.  They  were  married  in  this  county,  of 
which  place  they  were  early  settlers.  Mrs.  Jumps  settled  here  in 
1824. 

Win,  F.  Henderson,  Georgetown,  cashier  Citizens'  Bank,  was  born 
in  Yermilion  county,  Indiana,  on  the  21st  of  March,  1817,  where  he 
lived  until  he  was  twenty-three  years  of  age,  during  which  time  he  was 
engaged  on  the  farm,  and  served  as  county  surveyor  four  years.  He 
then  moved  to  Edgar  county,  Illinois,  and  engaged  in  the  farming  and 
nursery  business,  in  company  with  his  brother.  The  nursery  was 
known  as  the  Prairie  Yiew  Nursery.  In  June  of  1876  his  brother 
died,  and  the  following  year  he  closed  out  the  business,  and  in  Novem- 
ber, 1877,  came  to  Georgetown.  In  July,  1878,  he  engaged  in  the 
banking  business  with  the  firm  of  E.  Henderson  &  Co.,  and  has  held 
the  position  of  cashier  since.  On  the  9th  of  September,  1867,  he  mar- 
ried Miss  Elizabeth  Newman.  She  was  born  in  Hendricks  county, 
Indiana.  They  have  had  four  children,  two  of  whom  are  living:  Alice 
B.  and  Lenora. 


560  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

ELWOOD   TOWNSHIP. 

Elwood  township  occupies  the  territory  in  the  southeastern  corner 
of  the  county,  having  Georgetown  for  its  northern,  Indiana  for  its 
eastern,  Edgar  county  for  its  southern,  and  Carroll  township  for  its 
western  boundaries.  It  comprises  all  of  town  IT,  range  11  west,  of 
the  2d  principal  meridian,  a  fraction  of  range  10,  and  two  tiers  of  sec- 
tions off  the  east  side  of  range  12,  making  a  trifle  less  than  a  township 
and  a  half.  The  high  ridge  which  runs  along  the  southern  boundary 
of  the  county  extends  partially  along  the  southern  boundary  of  this 
township  also,  until  it  is  lost  in  the  valley  of  the  Yermilion  River. 
The  Little  Yermilion  runs  across  its  northwest  corner  for  two  miles, 
and  then  runs  into  Georgetown  for  about  a  mile,  when  it  turns  south- 
erly again,  and  runs  across  the  northeast  corner.  Originally,  nearly 
one  third  of  it  was  covered  with  timber,  the  timber  land  being  along 
its  northern  and  eastern  boundary.  It  has,  as  if  stuck  to  it,  a  small 
fraction  of  the  triangular  piece  of  land  known  as  Harrison's  Purchase. 
It  is  very  difficult  to  describe  this  singular  appendage,  or  southern 
extension.  It  would  seem  as  though  it  reallv  belonged  to  Edgar 
county,  and  had  been  driven  up  into  Elwood  like  a  wedge  which  was 
so  blunt  that  it  could  not  all  be  forced  in  with  the  amount  of  power 
applied.  This  portion  of  Harrison's  Purchase  includes  nearly  two 
sections  of  land.  The  land  of  Elwood  township,  which  was  covered 
with  timber,  is  like  all  other  which  is  thus  covered  in  its  nature,  and 
the  prairie  very  similar  to  other  prairie  lands,  deep  and  rich,  and 
sufficiently  rolling  to  make  it  easy  to  cultivate  and  drain.  Indeed,  the 
farmers  of  Elwood  are  very  fortunate  in  the  general  quality  of  their 
lands,  and  few  are  found  who  can  reasonably  complain.  All  along  its 
northern  and  eastern  border  the  early  settlers  found  the  necessary  con- 
ditions for  their  pioneer  homes,  and  soon  spread  over  all  that  portion  ; 
but  it  was  twenty-five  years  before  the  splendid  farms  along  the  ridge 
came  into  cultivation.  To  the  resident  of  the  present  day,  that  which 
has  been  so  often  repeated  in  these  pages  as  to  have  become  common- 
place, that  people  did  not  believe  these  prairies  would  ever  be  settled 
up,  must  ever  be  incomprehensible;  but  the  truth  of  it  cannot  be 
doubted  in  the  face  of  so  many  witnesses.  Abraham  Smith  was 
thought  to  be  wild  when  he  determined  to  go  out  to  the  Eidge  farm 
to  live,  and  the  wisdom  of  such  a  decision  was  so  generally  condemned 
that  he  himself  doubted  his  judgment. 

EARLY    SETTLEMENTS. 

The   points  of  early  settlement    were,  Yermilion   Grove,   Elwood, 
Yankee  Point  and  Bethel,  or  Quaker  Point.     Pilot  Grove  was  later, 


ELWOOD   TOWNSHIP.  .Mil 

and  Ridge  Farm  still  later.  These  points,  or  settlements,  embrace  the 
entire  circuit  of  the  township,  except  perhaps  the  two  places  or  settle- 
ments known  as  Johnson's  neighborhood,  in  the  extreme  northwestern 
corner,  and  that  around  Liberty  Church,  in  the  northeastern.  The 
names  given  to  these  different  points  of  early  settlement  were,  in  the 
absence  of  an}7  villages,  a  matter  of  convenience  or  necessity.  Some 
of  them  took  their^ names  from  the  first  settler;  others  from  the  little 
log  churches  or  meeting-houses,  and  they  from  some  association  con- 
nected with  them.  Vermilion  was  natural,  and  later  came  to  be  called 
Vermilion  Grove,  from  the  fact  that  a  station  farther  south  on  the  rail- 
road was  named  Vermilion  before  a  station  and  post-office  was  estab- 
lished here.  Elwood  derived  its  name  from  Thomas  Elwood,  an  honored 
name  in  the  Society  of  Friends  and  a  distinguished  writer  in  England, 
whose  worthy  life  was  commemorated  b}7  admiring  friends  in  the  nam- 
ing of  their  little  log  meeting-house.  Yankee  Point  derived  its  name 
from  Mr.  Squires,  who  was  the  only  eastern  man  in  "this  neck  of 
timber,"  and  who  came  here  very  early.  Bethel  and  Liberty  are  from 
favorite  names  of  the  churches  there.  Pilot  Grove,  if  unrecorded 
rumor  and  unwritten  history  is  to  be  credited,  is  from  its  high  ground, 
when  compared  with  the  surrounding  timber,  and  acted  unconsciously 
in  directing  the  party  here  who  came  to  make  the  survey  of  Harrison's 
Purchase,  the  two  lines  of  which  run  through  it.  At  another  place  in 
this  sketch  the  writer  has  given  the  story  of  Pilot  Grove  as  understood 
and  related  by  those  living  here,  without  claiming  exact  historical 
accuracy,  and  which  may  be,  as  the  colored  preacher  said  about  another 
story  which  had  gained  credence,  "all  a  false  mistake."  Ridge  Farm 
w7as  the  name  given  by  Mr.  Smith  to  his  farm  when  he  commenced  to 
bring  it  into  cultivation  in  1849,  from  its  natural  position,  and  was  the 
name  of  the  locality  long  before  a  village  was  thought  of  there. 

John  Haworth  is  believed  to  have  been  the  first  permanent  settler, 
although  Henry  Canaday  came  about  the  same  time.  There  were  others 
in  here  before  either  of  them.  John  Malsby  built  a  cabin  near  where 
Vermilion  now  is,  in  1820,  but  did  not  remain  here,  going  back  to 
Richmond,  Indiana.  Mr.  Haworth  left  Tennessee  with  his  young 
family  in  1818,  to  get  away  from  the  institutions  which  he  did  not 
admire.  He  went  first  to  Union  county,  Indiana,  and  came  here  in 
1821,  and  wintered  in  the  cabin  Malsby  had  built.  He  bought  the 
claim  of  George  Bocke,  a  son-in-law  of  Achilles  Morgan,  who,  with 
his  family,  seems  to  have  made  his  first  settlement  here  before  going 
to  Brooks'  Point,  although  one  account  credits  him  with  living  a 
season  at  Butler's  Point.  John  Haworth  was  a  cousin  of  James,  who 
settled  soon  after  at  Georgetown.  He  did  not  bring  stock  with  him, 
36 


562  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

but  soon  made  an  effort  to  utilize  his  new  possessions  by  raising  farm 
stock.  Among  his  early  "neighbors"  were  Johnson  and  Starr,  off  a 
few  miles  northwest;  Squires  and  Thomas  Curtis,  of  Yankee  Point, 
three  miles  east ;  John  Mills,  Dickson,  and  Simon  Cox  to  the  west, 
and  Henry  Canaday  nearer  by. 

Daniel  W.  Beckwith  came  to  Mr.  Haworth's  residence  during  the 
time  of  high  water  in  the  spring  of  1822,  and  remained  all  night.  The 
rain  had  fallen  in  torrents  during  the  night,  and  when  he  undertook 
to  resume  his  journey  in  the  morning  he  got  into  the  stream,  falling 
in  all  over.  He  was  dressed  in  buckskin  pants,  or  breeches;  a  round- 
about, and  wolf-skin  cap.  He  was  not  to  be  deterred  from  going  on 
his  journey  by  one  ducking,  however,  and  went  on  as  if  nothing- 
had  happened. 

Mr.  Haworth  entered  several  hundred  acres  of  land,  but  did  not  hold 
it  to  speculate  on.  Whenever  a  newcomer  arrived  whom  he  thought 
was  a  desirable  neighbor,  he  sold  land  to  him  cheap,  and  on  time  if 
required.  He  exercised  the  same  christian  forbearance  in  his  dealings 
with  men  as  in  his  daily  walk.  George  Haworth,  an  uncle  of  John,  a 
strong-minded  and  robust  man,  soon  joined  the  neighborhood,  and  with 
the  Canadays  established  the  first  meeting,  and  soon  built  a  house  for 
that  purpose.  John  had  a  family  of  eight  children,  of  whom  Mr. 
Elvin  Haworth,  now  living  on  the  place,  is  probably  the  best  known, 
coming  here  at  a  time  when,  by  his  age,  he  was  peculiarly  susceptible 
of  the  impressions  which  circumstances  would  make.  He  grew  up 
under  such  influences  as  his  father  was  able  to  throw  around  him,  fully 
appreciating  the  good  effects  of  the  institutions  of  religion  and  of  learn- 
ing, which,  meagre  as  they  were,  were  far  superior  to  any  in  other  por- 
tions of  the  county  at  that  time.  He  attended  the  first  school  taught 
in  the  county,  and  assisted  by  his  counsel,  though  young  in  years,  by 
a  maturity  of  judgment  beyond  his  age,  to  establish  the  first  seminary 
of  learning  in  this  part  of  the  state.  With  that  clear  perception  of 
duty  which  no  cloud  shades,  and  sound  judgment  which  no  circum- 
stance wavers,  he  is  accorded  justly^  a  high  position  in  council  and  a 
strong  place  in  the  esteem  of  his  townsmen.  For  a  long  time  he  rep- 
resented the  township  in  the  board  of  supervisors ;  and  he  was  the 
early  friend  of  the  Vermilion  Academy,  which,  under  his  fostering  care, 
is  making  steady  progress  in  the  work  of  higher  education. 

Henry  Canaday  came  from   Tennessee  to  the  Wabash  in  1821 ;  his 

i  /  boys,  Benjamin,   Frederick,  William  and  John  doming   here   in    the 

winter  and  making  a  cabin  three  hundred  yards  west  of  where  William 

has  so  long  resided.     They   brought   a  few  hogs  with- them,  but  when 

spring  came  they  sickened  of  the  enterprise,  and  Benjamin  went  back 


EL  WOOD    TOWNSHIP.  563 

to  Tennessee  and  bought  a  farm  there,  and  all  moved  back.  In  the 
fall  thev  regretted  the  move  and  came  back  here  to  live.  Satisfied 
with  their  roving,  they  settled  down  to  business  and  remained  here. 
The  hogs  they  brought  first  had  become  wild  by  the  time  they  got 
back  here,  and  for  years  they  and  their  progeny  furnished  hunting  in 
connection  with  the  other  "game"  here.  On  their  return  they  brought 
a  few  cattle  with  them,  and  hunted  in  a  few  hogs  to  give  them  a  start. 
When  they  returned  here  to  live,  Mr.  Morgan,  Mr.  Bocke  and  the 
Hoskins  children  had  come,  none  of  whom  remained  here,  and  John 
Mills  was  farther  west.  The  land-office  was  at  Palestine,  and  when 
land  came  into  market  Mr.  Canaday  entered  about  two  sections,  and 
made  it  his  practice  to  sell  to  new-comers  at  congress  price  with 
interest. 

Eli  Henderson  came  in  soon  after,  in  1824,  and  settled  east  of  Mr. 
Canaday's,  and  died  there  in  1833,  leaving  three  sons  and  three  daugh- 
ters. His  son  Elam  soon  after  this  went  to  Georgetown,  where  he  still 
resides,  one  of  the  most  successful  and  active  business  men  of  that 
place.  John  Newlin  and  Richard  Golden  came  to  Yankee  Point 
about  the  same  time ;  the  latter  going  to  Iowa.  Mr.  Anderson  re- 
mained here  a  few  years  and  then  moved  away.  He  was  successful 
and  enterprising,  though  always  moving. 

There  was  at  this  time,  and  until  Dr.  Hey  wood  came,  no  doctor 
nearer  than  the  Wabash,  and  no  mill  nearer  than  that.  There  was 
abundance  of  meat,  corn  and  wheat,  and  farmers  all  kept  a  few  sheep, 
being  careful  to  put  them  in  a  close  pen  at  night.  The  farming  oper- 
ations were  tedious,  when  all  the  land  had  to  be  marked  out  with  a 
bar-shear  plow,  corn  dropped  by  hand  by  the  children  and  covered 
with  a  hoe. 

Benjamin  Canaday  had  a  small  house  near  by,  and  during  the  win- 
ter of  the  deep  snow,  the  snow  so  nearly  covered  it  that  one  could  not 
see  the  house  till  he  got  right  to  it.  That  winter  the  deer,  and  pretty 
much  all  the  game,  were  destroyed  by  the  snow.  He  was  a  tinner  by 
trade,  and  made  up  a  stock  of  tinware  and  traded  it  at  Louisville  for 
goods,  which  he  brought  back  here  and  put  into  a  building  which  he 
built  for  a  store,  on  his  farm  just  west  of  Vermilion  on  the  Hickory 
Grove  road.  This  accidental  trade  made  a  merchant  of  him.  He  sold 
goods  here  several  years  before  going  to  Georgetown.  He  became  the 
largest  merchant  there,  and  for  many  years  the  most  successful  one. 
y  John  Canaday,  another  son  of  Henry's,  lived  on  the  farm  on  the 
State  road,  between  Vermilion  and  Georgetown.  He  had  a  good  farm 
and  attended  to  it  thoroughly.  He  had  five  sons  and  two  daughters. 
Of  these,  Henry  lives  on  the  old  homestead,  Calvin  went  to  Kansas, 


564  HISTORY    OF   VEBMILION    COUNTY. 

Benjamin  lives  in  Champaign,  John  lives  here,  and  William  in  the 
western  part  of  the  state.  Mrs.  Mahaley  lives  near  Ash  Grove,  in  Iro- 
quois county. 

Frederick  and  William  Can  ad  ay  still  live  on  the  farms  which  they 
made  when   they  came  to  the  state. —  the  former  just  north  and  the 
other  west  of  Vermilion  station.     His  four  sons.  William,  Henry.  Isaac 
and  John,  live  around  him,  worthy  and  honored  men,  who  esteem  it 
an  honor  to  be  able  to  cheer  the  declining'  vears  of  him  who  led  them 
in  their  youth  in  the  line  of  an  honorable  life.     Of  his  daughters.  Mrs. 
Lawrence  resides  in  Kansas.  Mrs.  Patterson  in  Bethel,  and  Mrs.  Ank- 
rum  near  where  her  father  lives.    William  had  four  sons,  three  of  whom 
reside  in  Champaign.     His  daughters.  Mrs.  Herrill  and  Mrs.  Brown, 
live  here,  and  Mrs.  Dr.  Morris  in  Rockville,  Indiana.     When  young  he 
had  learned  the  saddler's  trade.     His  father  was  a  tanner  and  a  black- 
smith, and  as  soon  as  he  could  after  coming  here  they  got  these  vari- 
ous branches  of  business  going.     William  for  some  years  carried  on 
harness-making  and  saddlery,  but  as  soon  as  he  could  he  gave  it  up  to 
give  better  attention  to  his  farm.     He  continues  to  carry  on  his  large 
farm,  but  does  not  stick  so  close  to  the  plow  as  he  did  when  a  few 
years  younger.     He  keeps  a  hundred  or  more  head  of  cattle.     Looking 
back  over  the  time  which  has  elapsed  since  the  first  white  man  settled 
here,  he  can  see  the  changes  which  have  taken  place,  from  the  wilder- 
ness to  the  present  condition  of  wealth  and  prosperity.     Few  people 
have  it  given  them  to  see  what  William  Canadav  has  seen.     Fiftv-seven 
years  upon  the  same  farm !     There  is  the  patent  for  his  land  direct  from 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  with  no  transfers  to  note, —  not  even 
the  modern  decoration  of  a  mortgage  to  cover  it.     An  abstract  of  that 
title  could  be  written  up  in  "  short  meter.'*     His  life  here  spans  the 
history  of  the  county  with  "two  laps."    Two  families,  which  have  been 
important  factors  in  the  history  of  this  county,  settled  here  in  this  cor- 
ner of  the  township  at  a  very  early  day, —  those  of  Achilles  Morgan 
and  Henry  Martin.     The  name  of  the  former  has  repeatedly  appeared 
in  this  history,  and  as  his  stay  here  was  short,  the  record  of  his  life 
perhaps  does  not  properly   belong  here.     He  belonged  to  a  family 
which  had  made  a  name  in  Virginia  as  Indian  fighters, —  a  quality 
which  was  not  wholly  wanting  in  the  branch  of  it  which  settled  here. 
He  went  from  here  to  Brooks'  Point,  and   thence  to  Danville.     Two 
sens  went  to  Texas.     One  daughter  married  Mr.  Henslee.     One  mar- 
ried George  Bocke,  who  took  up  the  claim  which  was  purchased  by 
Mr.  Ha  worth.     After  Mr.   Bocke's  death   she  became  Mrs.   Coburn. 
Another  married  Mr.  Underwood,  whose  children  still  live  in  the  east- 
ern part  of  Georgetown  township.     Another  married  Henry  Martin, 


ELW00D   TOWNSHIP.  565 

who  was  among  the  first  to  settle  in  El  wood,  taking  up  a  claim  on  sec- 
tion 6,  where  Mrs.  Spicer  now  lives.  She  is  said  to  have  been  a  woman 
of  many  good  qualities,  and  during  her  long  and  eventful  life  strongly 
impressed  her  character  on  the  community.  Her  life  was  devoted  to 
her  children,  in  whose  success  she  never  failed  to  take  a  great  interest. 
Rawley  became  an  elder  of  the  Christian  denomination,  and  devoted 
his  time  and  services  to  preaching  and  organizing  churches  in  the  sur- 
rounding country.  Most  of  the  churches  of  that  name  in  the  northern 
part  of  the  county  were  the  fruits  of  his  zeal,  organizing  skill  and  de- 
voted life.  At  the  outbreak  of  armed  rebellion  he  felt  called  on  to 
preach  patriotism  as  he  never  had  before.  He  labored  with  the  same 
single-hearted  zeal,  wherever  his  influence  would  be  felt,  to  arouse  the 
spirit  of  patriotism  among  the  people.  In  consideration  of  his  self- 
denying  labors  in  the  desk  and  on  the  platform,  he  was  elected  county 
treasurer,  a  position  which  he  filled  with  so  much  credit  that  those  who 
elected  him  had  no  cause  to  regret  it.  His  death  soon  after  deprived 
the  county  of  one  of  her  most  worthy  and  useful  citizens.  Achilles 
Martin  is  one  of  the  prominent  business  men  of  Danville.  Henry  also 
lives  in  Danville,  and  John  at  Decatur.  Mrs.  Spicer  lives  on  the  old 
homestead  in  Elwood,  Mrs.  Dillon  lives  in  Danville,  Mrs.  Graves  just 
north  of  Georgetown,  and  Mrs.  Underwood  near  McKendry  church. 
After  the  death  of  Mr.  Martin,  Mrs.  M.  became  Mrs.  Parish,  and  died 
only  about  a  year  ago,  strong  in  the  love  of  her  best  gift  to  the  world  — 
her  children.  Few  women  of  the  present  day  have  had  greater  reason 
to  feel  more  satisfied  than  she,  with  the  part  she  bore  in  the  stern  reali- 
ties of  pioneer  life;  and  the  children  and  grandchildren,  so  many  of 
whom  still  live  in  this  county,  will,  during  their  lives,  continue  to  hold 
the  good  mother  in  kindly  remembrance.  Andrew  Patterson  came 
from  east  Tennessee  in  1827,  and  settled  at  Yankee  Point,  one  mile 
east  of  where  his  son  William  now  resides.  Mr.  Cook  then  lived  near 
here,  and  Mr.  Henderson,  Mr.  Ilaworth  and  Mr.  Johnson.  Isaac  Cook 
came  here  very  early,  but  the  date  is  not  now  remembered.  He  owned 
several 'different  farms.  The  first  place  he  sold  to  James  Thompson. 
A  son  lives  on  section  13,  and  another,  Milton,  lives  farther  east  near 
the  Little  Vermilion.  Nathaniel  Henderson  made  an  early  home  here, 
and  remained  until  1853,  when  he  removed  to  Clark  county.  His  sons 
Eli  and  George  died  here.  Mr.  Haworth,  who  lived  in  this  neighbor- 
hood, sold  early  to  Mr.  Wall,  and  moved  to  Indiana.  Mr.  Wall  came 
from  Ohio  in  1832,  and  died  here  in  1872.  He  had  four  sons  and  one 
daughter,  who  are  all  gone.  Two  grandchildren,  Mrs.  Hilyard  and 
Mrs.  Adam   Mills,  reside  here.      Thomas  Durham   came  here  about 


566  history   ov   \  I'KVll  [OM    OOUMn . 

1825.  He  sold  to  Mr.  Thompson  and  went  to  Kankakee  and  settled 
among  the  French. 

Win.  Golden  settled  on  section  25,  near  Quaker  Point,  abont  L825. 
He  got  up  a  splendid  house  for  the  times,  one  story  high  and  painted 
red,  and  permitted  it  to  be  used  as  a  school-house  a  portion  of  the  time. 
He  was  a  man  of  Strong  native  abilities, — a  natural  leader  among  men. 
He  died  here  ami  left  six  children:  two  sons,  Jacob  and  Richard,  and 
tour  daughters,—  Mrs.  Klam  Henderson,  Mrs.  Nathaniel  Henderson, 
Mrs.  Andrew  Patterson  and  Mrs.  .1.  ('.  Dieken.  Richard  sold  out  and 
went  t<>  Iowa,  where  his  family  reside.  Jacob  had  ten  children,  four 
of  whom  live  in  Iowa:  Klam  and  Mrs.  Win.  Thompson  live  here,  and 
Mrs.  Or.  Clovd  and  Mrs.  Jame8  Dnbre  live  in  Georgetown.  When 
Andrew    Patterson    came   here,  in    L 827,  he    remained    the   first    season 

with  his  father-in-law,  and  then  put  up  a  hewed  log  house  on  sec- 
tion 23,  a  little  north  of  the  old  gentleman's.  It  required  all  the 
men  in  the  country,  from  Vermilion  Grove  to  Quaker  Point,  to  raise 
it.  He  was  an  industrious  and  careful  man,  and  soon  acquired  a  com- 
petency. Always  alive  to  the  interests  of  family  and  neighborhood,  he 
Sfave  an  intelligent  attention  to  whatever  seemed  in  the  line  o\'  duty. 
IK"  owned  six  hundred  acres  of  land  in  this  township.  He  died  in 
1847.  leaving  six  children.  William,  the  oldest,  lives  on  a  farm  which 
he  purchased  of  dames  Thompson  in  1863,  <<n  section  1*2,  a  mile  from 
where  his  father  made  his  home  fifty-one  years  ago.  Of  the  other 
children  of  Andrew  Patterson,  Thomas,  Golden  and  Mrs.  Elizabeth 
Campbell  live  in  this  township,  and  Mrs.  Sarah  Campbell  near  by  in 
( Georgetown. 

Jerre  Falen  and  Levi  Babb  came  early  into  the  same  neighborhood. 
Mr.  Babb  had  a  farm  on  section  26,  where  his  son  still  lives.  A  daugh- 
ter resides  in  the  neighborhood.  Benjamin  Galladay,  Thomas  Past- 
gate,  Simeon  Ballard  and  Benjamin  Flehart  all  settled  early  in  the 
same  neighborhood.     They  are  dead  and  their  families  gone. 

Mr.  Packer,  who  settled  early  on  section  24,  was  a  singular  man. 
and  many  a  queer  story  is  told  o\'  him.  He  was  a  well-digger,  and 
seemed  never  so  happy  as  when  in  the  full  practice  o\'  his  art.  James 
Sidwell  entered  a  large  amount  of  land  in  this  vicinity,  but  never  came 
here  to  live.  The  Ashmore  Grove  farm  was  first  settled  by  dames 
Lawrence,  who  sold  it  to  Andrew  Wagpman,  who  moved  there  from 
near  Georgetown.  He  in  turn  sold  it  to  Abner  Fra/ier.  Rev.  James 
A-hmore  bought  it.  and  tor  many  years  lived  there  while  preaching  to 
the  various  churches  in  the  township.  He  built  the  large  house  on  it. 
A  tew  years  since  he  moved  to  Fairmount  to  live. 

John  Pugh  came  from  Ohio  in  L830,  and  entered   eighty  acres  east 


BLWOOD   TOWNSHIP.  567 

of  Joseph  Laird's,  in  Carroll,  where  he  lived  five  years.  He  sold  to 
James  Grear,  and  went  to  Elwood.  The  next  year  he  removed  to  tlie 
Bethel  neighborhood.  The  land  upon  which  he  went  to  live  had  been 
entered  by  James  Hawortb,  and  sold  by  him  to  Mercer  Brown,  who 

also  owned  a  considerable  tract  of  land  in  Edgar  county.  Mr.  Pugh 
died  here  in  1847,  and  his  widow  still  resides  with  her  children.  She 
came  from  Maryland,  and  is  believed  to  he  the  only  woman  in  town 
who  never  saw  a  railroad  or  a  train  of  ears.  She  is  abundantly  able  to 
go  to  town, —  indeed  could  walk  the  distance, —  but  will  not.  Her  son, 
Granville,  lives  on  the  place,  and  owns  four  hundred  and  fifteen  acres 
of  land  there,  lla  has  often  been  called  on  to  administer  the  affairs  of 
the  township,  having  held  several  offices,  and  bas  shown  an  ability  in 
the  performance  of  the  duties  which  speaks  well  of  him  as  a  citizen  and 
an  intelligent  man. 

James  B.  Long  lived,  as  early  as  1835,  on  the  farm  just  east  of 
Brown's  land,  next  to  the  state  line.  He  had  a  large  family  of  chil- 
dren. His  son  Levi  still  lives  on  the  land,  and  three  other  children 
live  in  the  neighborhood. 

Isaac  Wright  and  his  son,  John  P.  Wright,  lived  just  north  of 
Brown's  as  early  as  1823.  He  owned  the  north  part  of  section  36 
until  1842.  lie  built  a  horse  grist-mill  on  the  place.  The  stones  were 
cut  out  of  boulders,  and  the  bolting  chest,  which  was  about  ten  feet 
long,  was  run  by  hand.  He  used  to  shovel  up  the  ground  mass  and 
put  it  up  on  a  shelf,  and  while  he  turned  the  chest  with  a  crank  his 
children  would  push  it  into  the  mouth  of  the  bolt  as  fast  as  it  would 
work  well.  The  mill  was  the  first  one  built  in  the  town,  and  did 
pretty  good  work,  till  he  sold  it  in  1842  to  parties  who  took  it  to 
Indiana.  Wright  sold  the  farm  to  Branson,  and  he  to  Mr.  Pugh,  in 
1864.  Mr.  McMurdock,  who  came  here  with  Mr.  Wright,  is  here  still. 
He  is  an  old  stand-by  —  one  of  those  wise-heads  who  know  enough  to 
stay  where  they  are  well  off.  John  Howard,  a  son-in-law  of  Wright's, 
lived  here  a  while,  and  then  went  to  Indiana,  from  there  to  Iowa,  and 
then  back  here,  where  he  still  resides. 

Joseph  Allison  lived  on  section  25  in  1830.  The  first  Methodist 
meetings  were  held  at  his  house,  and  lie  continued  an  earnest  and 
active  friend  of  the  church. 

Barrett  Dillon  was  one  of  the  first  to  settle  in  Pilot  Grove,  and  was 
interested  in  the  work  of  religion  and  education.  He  did  much  to 
build  up  society  here.  He  died  while  he  was  on  his  way  home  from 
attending  the  yearly  meeting  of  the  Friend-  in  Iowa.  He  was  a  most 
excellent  man,  and  his  loss  by  death  was  deeply  felt  in  the  community. 
His  daughter,  Mrs.  Fletcher,  still  lives  at  Pilot  Grove;  his  son,  Will- 


")tiS  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

iam,  died  at  Georgetown ;  John  was  killed  in  Missouri  by  a  falling 
tree;  Mrs.  Harrold,  another  daughter,  died  here,  five  of  her  eight  chil- 
dren surviving  her.  Marion  has  long  been  one  of  the  leading  business 
men  at  Ridge  Farm;  John  is  also  in  business  there;  W.  P.  is  on  a 
farm,  and  Mrs.  Dice  and  Mrs.  Fellows  reside  there. 

Nathaniel  Henderson  built  the  first  shanty  in  Harrison's  purchase, 
and  Wiley  Henderson  built  a  house  there.  Amos  Bogue  had  a  farm 
there.  This  point  of  land  became  known  as  the  "lost  lands,"'  because 
of  its  sections  being  numbered  different  from  the  lands  about  it.  Set- 
tlers squatted  on  it  and  were  anxious  to  get  titles.  Finally  a  sale  was 
ordered,  and  most  of  those  who  lived  on  the  lands  secured  them  by 
purchase. 

The  land  lying  between  the  timber  and  Ridge  Farm  was  called  the 
"  Texas  country,"  because  for  a  long  time  it  was  so  wild.  It  began  to 
fill  up  about  1845,  and  now  embraces  some  of  the  finest  farms  in  the 
township. 

Charles  Brady  walked  from  Centerville,  Indiana,  in  1831,  and  took 
up  a  piece  of  land  about  three  miles  south  of  Yankee  Point.  He  got 
forty  acres,  with  Jackson's  signature  to  the  title  deed,  and  built  a  slab 
house  on  it.  He  died  there,  and  his  son  Enoch  lives  at  Ridge  Farm, 
where  he  is  engaged  in  running  the  grist-mill. 

John  Fletcher  came  from  Ohio  in  1836,  and  lived  near  Vermilion 
Grove.  He  came  to  Pilot  Grove  in  1839,  where  he  now  lives.  He 
worked  around  for  a  while,  wherever  he  could  find  work  —  mauling 
rails  and  making  brick  —  until  he  had  earned  enough  to  buy  a  piece  of 
land.  His  father  had  entered  eio-htv  acres  in  Pilot  Grove  in  1828. 
He  is,  and  long  has  been,  a  leading  man  in  the  township,  and  in  the 
society  of  Friends,  of  which  he  is  a  member.  For  many  years  he  has 
been  on  grand  juries  in  the  courts  of  the  county,  and  is  recognized  as 
a  man  in  whom  the  utmost  confidence  can  be  placed.  He  has  raised 
seven  children,  some  of  whom  still  live  near  the  old  homestead.  John 
Haworth,  who  now  lives  in  Watseka,  had  a  farm  here  when  Mr. 
Fletcher  came  here  to  live.  His  present  wife,  who  was  Mrs.  Haworth, 
has  three  children,  who  live  in  Thorntown,  Indiana,  one  of  whom  is  a 
preacher.  His  farm  lies  along  the  west  side  of  Harrison's  Purchase, 
and.  from  the  understanding  which  is  current  as  unwritten  history  in 
regard  to  that  matter,  the  writer  has  derived  the  following:  When 
General  Harrison  was  down  on  the  Wabash  some  Indians  stole  nine- 
teen horses  from  his  camp,  and  a  half-breed  offered,  for  a  suitable  com- 
pensation, to  pilot  a  party  of  soldiers  to  where  the  stolen  horses  were 
concealed.  This  is  the  highest  timber-land  anywhere  in  this  vicinity. 
and  can  be  seen  a  great  distance.     The  pilot  led  this  way  :  but  whether 


E  L WOOD   TOWNSHIP.  569 

the  Indians  were  detected  here  and  the  property  restored  is  not  stated. 
Harrison,  in  the  course  of  negotiations  with  the  red  man,  purchased  a 
piece  of  land  which  may  be  described  as  triangular  at  its  northern  end, 
but  having  the  Wabash  river  for  its  third  side.  The  apex  of  this  tri- 
angle is  a  rock  which  was  out  on  the  prairie  a  mile  north  of  the  grove, 
the  northeast  side  being  a  line  run  from  that'rock  toward  the  sun  at  ten 
o'clock  on  a  certain  day  of  the  year,  and  reaching  the  Wabash  river  a 
few  miles  north  of  where  it  becomes  the  boundary  line  of  the  state. 
The  western  line  is  a  line  run  from  the  rock  directly  through  a  huge 
elm  tree,  which  did  stand  and  now  lies  in  the  fence  a  few  rods  from 
John  Fletcher's  house,  extending  south  through  Edgar  and  Clark 
counties,  and  terminating  in  the  northern  part  of  Crawford,  thence  east 
to  the  Wabash  River.  At  the  time  of  the  earliest  settlement  here  there 
was  an  old  shanty,  very  dilapidated  by  time,  near  the  old  elm  tree, 
which  rumor  says  had  beeirusedat  the  time  negotiations  were  going 
on  here.  * 

Asa  Folger  came  from  Indiana  in  1S29,  and  commenced  tanning 
near  Elwood.  This  business  was  then  of  considerable  importance,  and 
the  habit  of  farmers  then  was  to  get  their  leather  from  the  tannerv  and 
make  their  own  shoes,  or  take  the  leather  to  a  shoe-maker  to  get  it 
made  up.  No  farmer  thought  he  could  afford  to  buy  shoes.  Elam 
Henderson  relates  that  by  the  time  he  was  ten  years  old  his  father  set 
him  to  work  to  make  his  shoes,  over  home-made  lasts,  out  of  home- 
made leather.  After  civilization  had  progressed  far  enough  westward 
so  that  tanyards  were  within  reach,  the  hides  were  taken  there  and 
marked  and  put  into  the  vats.  In  due  time  the  leather  was  ready  to 
be  made  up.  He  was  a  leading  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends,  and 
his  children  grew  up  worthy  members  of  that  faith.  After  a  few  years 
he  sold,  and  bought  a  farm  of  John  Thompson,  in  the  southern  part  of 
the  township,  where  Mrs.  Folger  now  resides.  He  had  ten  children, 
all  of  whom  are  living.  Three'are  in  Kansas  ;  one  in  Missouri;  John 
lives  on  a  farm  in  Harrison's  Purchase ;  Uriah  near  Ridge  Farm  ;  Mrs. 
Reynolds  and  Mrs.  Mills  live  near  Elwood  meeting-house,  where  the}7 
have  large  families  growing  up  around  them.  Mrs.  Dubre  and  Mrs. 
Ellis  live  near  Pilot  Grove.  John  is  a  recorded  preacher  of  the  Friends 
society,  and  spends  a  portion  of  each  year  in  visitations.  Uriah  is  also 
a  preacher. 

The  earlier  settlers  at  and  near  Elwood  were  Mercer  Brown,  Exurn 
Morris,  David  Newlin,  Nathan  Thornton,  Elisha  Mills,  Isaac  Smith, 
Wright  Cook  and  -Zimri  Lewis.  They  organized  and  maintained  the 
Friends  meeting  there,  and  were  honored  and  esteemed  citizens.  Els- 
bery  Gennett  took  up  a  farm  near  Pilot  Grove  early.     He  patented  a 


570  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

glass  moth-protector  for  bee-hives,  and  made  a  great  success  of  it  finan- 
cially. He  was  a  queer  old  man.  His  oddities  were  long  the  subject 
of  remark. 

There  were  many  early  settlements  along  the  Little  Vermilion,  in 
the  northeast  part  of  the  township.  Thomas  Whitlock  came  here  from 
Tennessee  in  1828.  He  had  united  with  the  Baptist  church  when  a 
boy,  and  all  through  life  retained  a  lively  interest  in  the  cause  of  re- 
ligion, and  was  a  strong  promoter  of  the  church  of  his  choice.  He  was 
a  man  of  intelligence,  of  firm  convictions,  and  of  great  force  of  charac- 
ter. For  more  than  twenty  years  he  was  a  justice  of  the  peace,  and 
was  almost  annually  on  the  juries  of  the  county.  He  was  always  in- 
terested in  politics.  The  first  vote  he  cast  was  while  he  was  in  the 
military  service,  voting  for  his  old  leader,  Andrew  Jackson.  He  was 
engaged  in  teaming  over  the  mountain  roads  in  Tennessee,  and  when 
he  came  to  this  state  emigrated  in  one  of  those  old-fashioned  "prairie 
schooners,"  whose  prow  and  keel  rise  on  a  curve,  to  prevent  the  con- 
tents from  rolling  out  when  going  up  and  down  hill.  He  acquired 
about  seven  hundred  acres  of  land.  He  had  thirteen  children,  four  of 
whom  are  living.  He  died  in  1878,  aged  eighty-two  years.  His  was 
an  active,  busy,  useful  life.  Thoroughly  conscientious  in  all  his  deal- 
ings, undertaking  whatever  work  he  had  to  do  with  christian  fortitude, 
training  his  children  in  the  way  he  loved,  he  lived  a  devoted  life  and 
sleeps  in  an  honored  grave.  His  son  James  lives  in  Vigo  county,  Indi- 
ana, and  has  five  children.  Isaac  lives  in  a  neat  farm-house  close  by 
the  church  which  his  father  had  done  so  much  to  organize  and  build 
up,  and  has  four  children.  John  lives  at  Eugene,  Indiana,  and  Benja- 
min on  the  old  homestead.  Alfred  Parks,  who  was  another  early  pro- 
moter of  the  Baptist  church  here,  and  long  a  deacon,  lives  north  of 
Georgetown  with  his  son-in-law,  Elwood  Bales. 

Though  not  one  of  the  earl}7  settlers,  space  must  be  allotted  here  for 
a  notice  of  Mr.  Thomas  Millholland,  who  came  here  from  Edgar  county 
in  1856.  He  was  an  elder  in  the  Presbyterian  church  here,  and  was 
devoted  to  the  cause  of  religion.  He  was  the  father  of  thirteen  chil- 
dren, only  one  of  whom  died  in  infancy.  He  had  been  a  militia  officer 
in  his  younger  days,  and  when  rebellion  arose,  though  sixty  years 
old,  he  was  intensely  interested  in  the  cause  of  the  Union.  Colonel 
Jacques  and  Lieut.  Davies  were  addressing  a  war  meeting  at  George- 
town, calling  for  volunteers  to  fill  the  depleted  ranks  of  the  grand 
army  of  the  Union;  but  the  volunteers  were  not  forthcoming.  The 
old  man  was  present,  and  stepped  forward  and  enlisted ;  others  soon 
followed  his  example.  He  went  out  to  battle,  but  soon  came  home  to 
die ;  the  spirit  was  willing,  but  the  flesh  was  weak.     Nine  of  his  chil- 


ELWOOD   TOWNSHIP.  :»71 

dren  and  their  mother  survive,  of  whom  Amos  and  Mrs.  Martha  Hen- 
derson reside  here. 

Enos  Campbell  came  here  in  1834  from  Tennessee,  and  a  large 
family  live  in  the  vicinity  yet.  Alexander  Campbell  came  here  at  the 
same  time,  and  settled  just  across  the  line  in  Georgetown.  He  is  now 
eighty-three  years  old,  and  still  attends  to  his  large  farming  interests. 
He  has  eight  sons  and  four  daughters.  Hogan  and  Abraham  live  here 
in  Elwood ;  Robert  and  Mrs.  Patty  in  Missouri ;  Mrs.  Whitlock  in 
Homer,  and  Mrs.  Day  in  Penfield. 

John  Whitlock  came  here  in  1830,  and  lived  on  the  south  side  of 
the  creek  for  three  years,  when  he  removed  to  the  north  side.  He  was 
an  early  friend  of  the  Cumberland  church  here,  and  he  and  his  family 
did  much  to  build  it  up.  Three  of  his  sons  became  ministers  of  the 
Gospel,  and  two  still  live  to  preach  the  Word.  Another  son,  William, 
lives  in  Georgetown ;  Jacob,  in  Indiana,  and  Mrs.  Campbell  and  Mrs. 
Cook,  here.  Now  a  feeble  old  man,  the  days  of  his  labor  passed,  he 
will  long  live  in  the  memory  of  his  children  as  a  faithful,  consistent 
father.  William  Thompson,  Golden  Thompson,  James  Graham  and 
Abraham  Brown  settled  along  the  Salt  Works  road  here  in  an  early  day. 
Abraham  Brown,  jun.,  lived  a  mile  farther  west.  He  is  dead,  but 
several  of  his  children  reside  near.  Foster  Elliott  also  came  here 
early;  his  son,  Gosberry,  lives  near  Liberty  Church.  William  Rees 
came  to  Yankee  Point  with  his  father  in  1838.  A.  J.  Ramey  came 
from  Indiana  in  1850.  At  that  time,  Wright  Cook  lived  where  Rees 
does.  He  lived  there  fifty  years.  He  was  one  of  the  organizers 
and  was  a  preacher  of  the  Friends  meeting  at  Elwood.  He  died  a 
year  ago.  His  widow  and  children,  Thomas,  Asa,  Kesiah  and  Rachel, 
live  in  this  vicinity.  He  was  a  worthy  and  much  respected  man. 
Zimri  Lewis,  another  of  the  old  guard  who  upheld  the  cause  of  re- 
ligion, and  a  most  estimable  man,  died  near  here  in  1875.  He  was  the 
father  of  fourteen  children,  all  of  whom  died  before  him.  Two  of  his 
grandchildren  still  live  here. 

Eli  Patty  lived  at  Patty's  Ford,  northeast  of  Elwood  meeting-house. 
He  came  here  about  1848.  He  was  an  elder  in  the  Presbyterian 
church.  His  son  William  gave  up  his  life  for  his  country  ;  he  was  a 
worthy  and  upright  young  man.  One  daughter,  Mrs.  Wm.  Patterson, 
resides  in  the  township,  and  her  mother  resides  with  her. 

John  Rayburn  was  a  minister  of  the  Baptist  denomination.  He 
lived  near  the  site  of  the  old  Baptist  church.  He  is  dead,  and  his 
son  lives  near  Danville. 

Eli  Thornton  was  here  at  a  very  early  day.  He  was  a  good  car- 
penter and  a  good  Quaker.     He  had  a  water-mill  on  the  Little  Yer- 


572  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

milion  at  the  Wright  Cook  Ford.  He  built  it  the  year  after  the  frost 
killed  the  trees  in  June  (probably  1837).  The  frost  which  appeared  in 
that  month  was  severe  enough  to  kill  the  leaves,  which  had  the  effect 
to  kill  the  trees  themselves  in  many  localities.  The  mill  was  both  a 
saw-mill  and  grist-mill.  He  run  it  until  1857,  when  the  frame  was  sold 
to  James  Frazier  for  a  barn.  The  stones  lie  there  yet.  Mr.  Thornton 
went  to  Sadorus  Grove.  The  Hall  mill,  on  the  state  road  south  of 
Georgetown,  has  been  long  gone.  Jonathan  Haworth  built  a  mill 
about  half  a  mile  from  where  Henry  Mills  now  lives,  at  Cook's  Ford, 
about  1830.  He  was  a  brother  of  James  Haworth  ;  he  died  at  the  mill. 
Isaac  Cook  bought  it  and  sold  to  Eli  Patty.  The  water  dried  up  with 
the  advancing  civilization,  and  the  mill  went  down. 

Zackeus  Parhum,  a  good  and  beloved  man  of  the  Friends,  and  one 
who  attended  to  his  own  affairs,  lived  near  the  Elwood  Church  earlv. 
He  died  in  1857.  He  had  four  daughters  and  one  son.  Mrs.  Shires 
still  lives  here. 

Joseph  Ramey  came  here  about  1850,  following  his  sons,  Asa  and 
Jonathan,  and  lives  in  Georgetown,  aged  seventy-two  years.  He  had 
ten  children,  of  whom  three  are  now  living:  Asa,  on  the  farm  in 
Elwood,  Jonathan,  in  Georgetown,  and  Mrs.  Weslej7  Cook,  in  Elwood. 
Nathaniel  Cook,  the  father  of  Wesley,  was  an  industrious  and  pious 
mau,  a  good  citizen  and  good  neighbor.  He  resided  on  the  farm  which 
Ramey  now  owns.  He  died  and  left  three  sons  and  two  daughters, 
who  live  in  this  township.  Asa  Ramey  has  eight  children,  two  in 
Missouri,  and  the  others  at  home. 

Samuel  Graham  came  from  East  Tennessee  in  1828  to  Yankee  Point, 
where  the  widow  Whitlock  now  resides.  Jonathan  Haworth  had  made 
an  improvement  there,  and  Mr.  Graham  bought  it.  He  lived  there 
two  years,  and  then  bought  on  section  6  (range  10).  He  preempted 
the  northwest  corner  of  the  section,  cut  the  saplings  and  made  a  cabin, 
and  died  there  in  1833.  His  wife  died  in  1857.  They  were  industrious 
and  religions  people.  At  their  house  the  first  Methodist  meetings  in 
this  part  of  the  township  were  held,  and  continued  to  be  so  held  until 
a  school-house  was  built.  Their  daughter  married  Mr.  French,  the 
first  Methodist  minister,  and  their  son  James  continued  to  live  on  the 
place  until  1873,  when  he  moved  to  Georgetown.  Mr.  Walton  im- 
proved the  farm  next  west  of  Graham's,  and  moved  to  Indiana. 

-lames  Hepburn  came  to  Eugene  in  1833,  and  the  next  year  came  to 
section  2  and  entered  eighty  acres  of  land,  made  a  cabin,  and  improved 
the  farm  his  son  Thomas  now  resides  on.  He  died  in  1S50.  He  had 
eleven  children;  five  are  now  living:    Thomas  lives  on  the  old  home- 


ELWOOD   TOWNSHIP.  573 

stead,  Israel  in  Ohio,  one  in  Missouri,  one  in  Iowa,  and  Mrs.  Lashley  in 
this  county;  one  grandson,  Thomas,  lives  in  Georgetown. 

Mr.  Denio,  who  lived  in  this  neighborhood,  had  in  his  cabin  one  of 
those  odd  old  fire-places  which  were  a  curiosit}*-  even  in  those  times.  It 
commenced  half  way  up  the  wall,  and  had  room  under  it  for  half  a  cord 
of  wood.     They  are  believed  to  have  gone  out  of  date  in  Elwood. 

Abraham  Smith  was  the  first  to  make  a  farm  out  on  the  Ridge. 
The  prairie  land  north  and  west  of  Pilot  Grove  was  the  last  to  be 
brought  into  general  cultivation.  For  twenty  years  after  good  farms 
existed  along  the  "Points"  and  the  groves  this  beautiful  prairie  lay 
open,  being  entirely  destitute  of  cultivation.  When  Abraham  Smith 
and  his  brother  William  concluded  to  sell  their  farm  at  Vermilion 
Grove  and  bring  the  Ridge  farm  into  cultivation,  they  were  cautioned 
against  the  folly  of  going  there  to  live.  They  were  told  that  no  one 
yet  was  ever  known  to  live  out  on  the  prairie ;  that  he  would  never 
have  any  neighbors,  and  could  not  expect  to  have  meetings  or  schools. 
He  thought,  however,  that  the  land  was  better  for  farming  purposes 
than  that  in  the  timber,  and  that  he  could  better  afford  to  haul  his  rails 
and  wood  out  to  his  prairie  home  than  to  try  to  bring  the  timber  land 
into  cultivation.  His  wife,  who  is  a  sister  of  the  Canadays,  and  who 
still  lives  on  the  place,  says  things  did  look  pretty  rough  when  she 
came  here  to  live  on  Christmas  day,  1839.  They  had  moved  from 
East  Tennessee,  and  lived  a  few  years  near  her  brother's  at  Vermilion 
Grove.  Mr.  Smith  commenced  improving  this  farm  in  1839,  and  built 
a  house  on  the  east  side  of  the  state  road,  which  they  moved  into  in 
the  winter.  Four  years  later  he  sold  this  to  Uri  Ashton,  and  built  the 
house  on  the  west  side  of  the  road  where  his  widow  still  resides.  When 
he  came  the  stage  route  frojn  Danville  to  Paris  was  already  established, 
and  the  next  spring  four-horse  coaches  were  put  on  the  route,  and  soon 
a  post-office  was  established,  though  it  was  some  time  before  neighbors 
began  to  settle  near.  He  was  obliged  to  "  keep  tavern,"  and  entertain 
any  who  came  along,  as  there  was  no  one  to  send  them  to.  The 
coaches  made  a  trip  a  day,  going  from  Danville  one  day  and  return- 
ing the  next.  The  wolves  were  so  troublesome  that  they  would  chase 
the  chickens  into  the  yard. 

Thomas  Haworth  was  the  first  to  join  Mr.  Smith  in  moving  here 
and  making  a  farm,  in  1841,  just  north  of  where  Mr.  Smith  lived.  Uri 
Ashton,  who  was  next,  only  remained  a  few  years  and  sold  to  Mr. 
James  Thompson,  who  is  also  gone.  It  soon  became  evident  to  the 
active  mind  of  Mr.  Smith  that  there  would  be  a  business  center  here 
soon ;  he  built  a  blacksmith  and  wagon-shop,  and  soon  after,  about 
1850,  a  store.     About  1855  he,  with  some  others,  built  the  large  three 


574  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

story  steam  mill,  which  cost  about  $10,000,  and  did  very  good  work 
until  it  burned  in  1863.  The  shop  and  store  stood  south  of  his  house, 
and  it  was  not  until  the  town  was  laid  out  that  the  buildings  were  put 
up  where  the  village  now  is.  Mr.  Smith  was  an  honored  member  of 
the  Society  of  Friends ;  in  political  principles  a  radical  abolitionist  of 
the  most  pronounced  type,  and  was  an  energetic  and  active  business 
man.  He  died  in  1863.  He  had  seven  children,  five  of  whom  are 
living:  One  son  lives  in  Iowa,  one  in  Kansas;  Mrs.  Clark  lives  in 
Paris ;  Mrs.  Pierce  lives  with  her  mother  on  the  old  homestead,  and 
Mrs.  Haney  near  by.  His  brother,  Dr.  Isaac  Smith,  lived  early  east  of 
where  Gibson's  store  now  stands,  at  Vermilion  Station,  and  his  brother 
Jesse  lived  southeast  of  the  Vermilion  meeting-house,  where  his  son 
George  now  lives.  The  other  farms  around  Jtidge  Farm  were  slowly 
brought  into  cultivation  after  these  pioneer  ones,  and  gradually  became 
one  of  the  finest  farming  tracts  in  the  county,  thereby  justifying  the 
radical  judgment  of  Mr.  Smith,  who  seems  never  to  have  doubted  its 
great  value.  One  marked  feature  of  farm-life  in  Elwood  is  that  there 
are  no  large  farms  like  those  we  find  in  the  other  townships  on  this  south- 
ern tier.  The  men  seem  to  have  been  moderate  in  their  desires,  and 
none  of  them  attempted  to  hold  great  bodies  of  land,  or  to  buy  up  all 
the  farms  adjoining  them. 

RELIGIOUS    INSTITUTIONS    AND    CHURCHES. 

From  the  very  first  the  interests  of  this  township,  in  its  religious, 
moral,  educational  and  political  matters,  were  largely  in  the  hands  of 
the  Friends.  They  were  among  the  very  earliest  here ;  their  decided 
views,  their  homely  ways  and  the  influence  of  their  godly  lives  have 
moulded  the  manners  and  the  welfare  of  the  town.  For  all  time  to 
come  this  influence  will  be  felt ;  no  one  can  estimate  or  weigh  it,  but 
every  one  knows  and  feels  it.  John  Haworth  and  Henry  Oanaday 
and  their  children,  and  George  Haworth,  whose  age  and  faithful  chris- 
tian life  made  him  from  the  first  a  leader  in  society,  and  the  one  to 
advise  in  all  such  matters,  within  the  first  or  second  year  of  their  life 
in  the  new  country  at  Vermilion  Grove,  in  the  year  1823,  commenced 
meeting  together  in  what  is  called  "indulged  meetings,"  in  a  cabin 
which  stood  about  one  hundred  yards  north  of  where  Haworth's  saw- 
mill stands.  George  Haworth  was  the  principal  speaker,  or  preacher; 
it  is  not  thought  that  he  assumed  the  title,  but  he  was  looked  up  to  as 
such.  The  indulged  meetings  were  regularly  kept  up  according  to 
the  custom  of  the  society,  two  days  in  a  week.  In  1824  a  meeting-house 
was  built  right  where  the  Vermilion  meeting-house  now  stands.  It 
was  built  of  hewn  logs,  larger  and  nicer  than  any  of  the  houses  in  the 


ELWOOD   TOWNSHIP.  575 

neighborhood.  By  this  time  the  little  Society  of  Friends  had  increased 
somewhat  in  numbers,  and  from  that  time,  now  fifty-five  years,  the 
fires  on  the  altars  at  Vermilion  have  never  been  permitted  to  go  out. 
They  have,  like  all  other  denominations,  often  found  their  religious 
zeal  moderating,  but  there  has  been  no  time  when  they  have  permitted 
their  meetings  to  be  discontinued.  There  is  a  very  general  knowledge 
on  the  part  of  all  in  regard  to  the  religious  belief  and  methods  of  the 
Friends,  but  no  very  clear  conception  of  their  church  government  and 
system.  The  central  idea  of  their  system  is  the  separation  from  all 
form  and  ceremony.  All  their  action  is  based  upon  individual  consent 
of  the  members.  The  "meeting"  is  "  set  up  "  where  "two  or  three 
assemble  together,"  if  they  desire  an  organization  ;  no  ecclesiastical 
authority  being  asked  for  or  permitted.  The  organization  is  the  act  of 
the  united  members  of  the  society,  but  when  done  must  be  done  in 
accordance  with  the  rules  of  the  society.  A  time-keeper  is  selected, 
and  a  secretary  and  treasurer  chosen.  No  one  makes  a  motion  ;  no 
question  is  put  to  vote,  the  custom,— perhaps  it  ought  not  to  be  called 
the  form  of  action, —  is  this:  Some  member  suggests  a  certain  proposi- 
tion, as,  the  name  of  a  proper  person  to  act  as  secretary,  or  the  name 
of  a  suitable  person  to  act  on  a  committee.  If  the  member  has  in  his 
mind  reasons  for  making  the  suggestion,  he  may  state  them.  Time  is 
given  for  others  to  state  whether  or  not  they  agree  with  the  suggestion, 
or  whether  they  "have  unison"  with  the  proposition.  If  during  this 
waiting  time  no  one  signifies  a  want  of  unison,  the  matter  is  taken  as 
having  been  decided  in  the  affirmative,  and  that  decision  is  announced 
by  the  clerk,  not  as  having  been  "  carried  "  ;  but  he  states  that  he  has 
entered  the  following  minute,  which  he  reads,  giving  an  opportunity 
again  for  general  assent  to  the  minute.  If,  as  very  rarely  occurs,  oppo- 
sition is  offered,  and  such  negative  view  seems  well  founded,  or  well 
fixed,  the  clerk  would  not  deem  himself  authorized  to  enter  the  minute. 
This  system  of  conducting  business  is  the  method  adopted  in  all  the 
society  meetings  from  tlie  lowest  to  the  highest,  or  yearly  meetings. 
No  voting  by  ballot  ever  occurs ;  an  agreement  is  obtained  and  the 
fact  of  that  agreement  recorded. 

Any  member  who  thinks  the  business  has  been  transacted,  instead 
of  moving  an  adjournment,  says:  "I  think  we  might  now  have  the 
final  minute  read."  After  time  is  given  for  others  to  signify  their 
unison  with  the  view  expressed,  the  clerk  writes  in  his  record  the 
minute  of  adjournment,  or  the  close  of  the  meeting.  This  is  in  busi- 
ness, meetings,  of  course.  In  the  regular  religious  meetings  all  this 
is  dispensed  with.  There  is  no  opening  or  closing  exercise,  benedic- 
tion, or  form  of  any  kind.     The  person   who  is  time-keeper,  when  the 


")7ti  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

time  arrives  to  begin   the  meeting,  invites  the  elders  present  to  a  seat 
in  the  desk  or  bench  which  fronts   the  congregation  ;  two   or  three  of 
them  sitting  in  those  usually  occupied  by  the  men,  and  as  many  of  the 
women   in    their  own    desk,  and   anyone  on   either  side  of  the  house, 
either  in  the  desk  or  in  the  benches,  that  desires  to  say  anything,  does 
so,  or  a  hymn  is  sung,  or  a  prayer  offered.     Usually,  at  this  day,  the 
men  sit  with  their  heads  uncovered,  though  this  is  governed  merely 
by  the  convenience  or  desire  of  the  individual.     The  women,  a  few  of 
them  still  wear  the  bonnets  which  have  long  been  the  distinctive  in- 
signia of  the  Friend,  and  some  wear  dresses  of  "  Quaker  drab,"  or 
brown.     These  items  of  dress  have,  however,  largely  disappeared  from 
the  assemblages  at  the  meeting-house,  and  a  broad-rimmed  hat  or  shad- 
shaped  coat  is  seldom  seen  in  Elwood.     After  all  have  taken  part  in 
the  meeting  who  choose  to,  the  time-keeper  leans  forward  and  shakes 
hands  with  his  next  neighbor,  —  an  act  which  is  followed  generally 
through  the  congregation,  and  the  meeting  is  out,  this  hand-shaking 
being  the  only  "  benediction,"  and  the  only  thing  which  amounts  to  a 
form.     No  sacrament  is  administered,  neither  baptism  or  the  Lord's 
supper.    Marriage,  which  in  some  churches  is  recognized  as  a  sacra- 
ment, is  of  course  recognized,  and  must  be  solemnized  in  due  form,  and 
while  not  deemed  in  any  sense  a  sacrament,  retains  its  position  more 
nearly  a  ceremony.     No  form  of  ordination  for  the  ministry  is  recog- 
nized, but  provisions  are  made  for  an  oversight  of  him  who  preaches, 
or  who  visits  other  congregations  or   meetings  to  labor  with   them. 
When  one  thinks  he  has  a  call  to  preach,  a  committee  is  appointed  by 
the  preparative  meeting  to  which  he  or  she  belongs,  who  select  over- 
seers, who  ascertain  what  facts  they  can  in  regard  to  the  daily  life  and 
religious  character  of  the  person,  and  report  to  the  monthly  meeting. 
Elders  are  selected  by  the  monthly  meeting,  who  inquire  into  his  doc- 
trinal soundness,  and  if  all,  including  his  ability  to  preach  the  word 
and  instruct,  is  found  right,  a  certificate  is  given  him.     A  preacher  so 
accredited  may  ask  of  the  monthly  meeting  authority  to  visit  meetings 
in  any  part  of  the  country,  and  if  such  authority  is  granted,  as  it  always 
is  unless  some  good  reason  is  known  for  its  refusal,  a  minute  is  given 
him  by  the  clerk.    With  this  as  his  credentials,  he  has  the  authority  to 
visit  all   congregations  covered  by  the  minute,  and  call  meetings,  and 
labor  with  them  as  long  as  the  spirit  indicates  that  his  labors  are  effect- 
ive.     No  salary  is  permitted  to  be  paid  to  the  preacher,  but  paying 
his  traveling  expenses  when  on  these  visits  is  not  prohibited, —  indeed, 
is  encouraged  and  expected.     No  order  of  clergy,  or  title,  is  known 
among  them.     Their  society  is  a  standing  protest  against  priests,  bish- 
ops, livings  and  titles. 


KLWOOI)    TOWNSHIP.  577 

In  discipline  they  are  more  nearly  in  accord  with  other  denomina- 
tions. The  children  of  parents  who  are  members  are  considered  as 
members  until  they  arrive  at  years  of  discretion,  when  they  may  exer- 
cise their  right  to  withdraw  or  remain.  An  erring  brother  or  sister  is 
visited  and  labored  with,  and  the  committee  thus  visiting  reports  to  the 
meeting.  In  aggravated  cases,  where  repentance  does  not  follow,  ex- 
pulsion might;  but  in  ordinary  cases,  if  the  person  disciplined  desires 
his  "right,"  —  desires  to  withdraw  from  the  meeting,  —  that  right 
would  be  granted,  and  is  not  deemed  expulsion.  Conversion  is  recog- 
nized as  essential  to  uniting  with  the  body  of  believers.  When  the 
offer  to  unite  comes  from  a  candidate,  he  is  asked  his  reasons  for  want- 
ing to  become  a  member  at  the  preparative  meeting.  The  reasons  are 
received,  and  the  case  is  carried  by  a  committee  to  the  monthly  meet- 
ing, where  a  committee  is  appointed  to  examine  the  candidate,  and  if 
that  committee  is  satisfied  of  his  conversion,  he  is  received  upon  their 
report.  Getting  into  debt  without  reasonable  expectation  of  being- 
able  to  pay  is  considered  good  grounds  for  discipline,  but  in  seasons  of 
great  depression  due  allowance  is  made  for  unexpected  shrinkage  of 
values.  No  member  can  appeal  to  the  law  until  all  other  means  are 
exhausted,  and  then  only  by  permission  of  the  meeting.  In  all  the 
deliberations  of  the  society  in  its  meetings,  the  poorest  or  humblest  has 
the  same  opportunity  to  be  heard,  and  has  just  as  much  influence  as 
the  richest  or  most  active.  The  amount  of  money  required  to  carry  on 
the  church  work  is  inconsiderable,  but  small  as  it  is,  it  must  be  raised 
in  regular  ways.  The  yearly  meeting  apportions  to  each  the  amount 
expected,  through  the  quarterly  and  monthly  meetings.  A  committee 
is  then  appointed  to  assess  the  amount  according  to  the  wealth  of  the 
members.  Ministers  can  change  their  relation  from  one  monthly  meet- 
ing to  another  on  certificate,  but  elders  cannot  as  such.  Two  or  more 
preparative  meetings  constitute  a  monthly  meeting,  several  of  which 
constitute  a  quarterly  meeting,  an  indefinite  number  of  which  are 
within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  yearly  meeting.  Eight  preparatives 
belong  to  the  quarterly  meeting  at  Vermilion  Grove,  namely  :  Ver- 
milion, Elwood,  Pilot  Grove,  Georgetown,  Hopewell,  Ridge  Farm, 
Fairfield  and  Champaign.  The  yearly  meeting  is  located  at  Plainfield, 
Indiana,  and  embraces  twelve  quarterly  meetings.  For  a  long  time  it 
was  the  custom  to  build  the  meeting-houses  with  partitions  in  them 
for  separate  meeting-rooms  for  the  men  and  women.  Just  what  the 
necessity  was  for  the  separation  of  the  two  is  not  now  very  evident, 
but  it  has  been  the  custom  till  a  very  late  day  to  build  the  houses  in 
that  form,  and  to  conduct  the  business  meetings  separately.  These 
meeting-houses  in  Elwood  are  built  in  that  way,  having  very  narrow 
37 


578  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

folding-doors  between  the  rooms,  and  openings  in  the  partitions  which 
are  closed  by  boards,  which  hang  upon  ropes  run  over  pulleys,  so  that 
as  the  upper  one  is  pulled  down  the  lower  is  raised,  thus  closing  the 
aperture.  The  yearly  meeting  is  the  highest  authority  in  the  society, 
and  has  jurisdiction  over  all  matters  which  come  up  from  the  quarterly 
meetings,  and  has  the  work  of  missions  and  of  the  Bible  cause  in  charge. 
In  the  book  of  discipline  certain  questions  are  found  which  must  be 
asked  by  the  clerk  of  every  monthly  meeting,  and  answers  in  writing 
must  be  sent  up.  Among  these  questions  are  such  as  pertain  to  the 
religions  condition  of  the  membership.  One  of  these  questions  is: 
Have  the  Friends  consistently  protested  against  slavery,  against  visiting 
circus  shows  and  kindred  things,  and  against  paying  salaries  to  preachers  ? 

There  are  in  Elwood  five  preparative  meetings  of  the  society:  Ver- 
milion, Elwood,  Hopewell,  Pilot  Grove  and  Ridge  Farm,  which  have 
been  "set  up"  in  point  of  time  in  that  order.  Vermilion,  which  was 
first,  very  soon  became  the  monthly  meeting,  and  in  1863  the  quarterly. 
The  meeting  at  Elwood,  which  is  about  two  or  three  miles  east  of  Ver- 
milion, followed  soon  after,  and  was  named  from  a  leading  man  in  the 
society,  which  in  turn  gave  name  to  the  township.  That  at  Hopewell 
is  in  the  extreme  southeastern  part  of  the  county.  Around  these  three 
centers  the  Friends  who  settled  here  early  collected,  taking  up  land, 
making  farms,  and  holding  their  meetings  with  great  punctuality  two 
days  of  the  week.  Around  the  first  the  Haworths,  the  Canada}7s,  the 
Mendenhalls  and  others  settled ;  around  Elwood  were  the  Folgers, 
Hendersons,  Newlins,  Zimri  Lewis,  "Wright  Cook,  and  many  others. 

The  first  losr  meeting-honse  at  Elwood  was  built  about  lb30.  It 
had  in  it  a  fire-place  built  on  legs,  so  arranged  as  to  burn  charcoal. 
This  would  be  an  odditj-  as  an  appurtenance  to  a  house  of  worship 
now,  and  would  hardly  answer  the  purpose.  The  present  meeting- 
house was  built  in  1846.  It  is  30  x  55,  frame,  with  stone  foundation. 
It  has  the  partition  between  the  two  apartments,  like  all  the  old  houses 
of  that  denomination.  The  present  meeting-house  at  Vermilion  was 
built  in  1850,  and  is  very  similar  in  construction  to  the  others.  In 
those  early  days  George  Haworth  usually  took  part  in  the  religious 
meetings,  and  they  soon  after  had  visiting  preachers  coming  among 
them.  Charles  Osborne,  who  lived  near  Richmond,  was  the  first,  and 
after  him  John  Folk,  from  Pennsylvania,  spent  some  time  with  them. 
Elizabeth  Robinson,  from  England,  a  most  excellent  lady,  was  here  one 
winter.  The  meeting-house  at  Pilot  Grove  was  built  in  1848,  and  is 
about  30x48,  and  the  one  at  Hopewell  was  built  about  the  same  time. 
The  house  at  Ridge  Farm  is  more  modern.  Sabbath-schools  are  main- 
tained at  all  of  these  meetings,  the  old  and  young  alike  joining  in  the 


ELWOOD   TOWNSHIP.  579 

service  as  they  do  at  church.  With  the  exception  of  a  lack  of  formality 
in  opening  and  closing,  they  are  conducted  in  the  same  way  the  schools 
of  other  denominations  are. 

Elijah  Yager,  who  came  from  East  Tennessee,  a  school-teacher 
in  the  employ  of  the  families  of  Friends  living  around  Yermilion 
Grove,  was  the  first  Methodist  who  held  regular  meetings  of  that  de- 
nomination in  this  township.  It  is  not  known  what  conference  he 
belonged  to.  The  next  regular  preaching  services  of  the  Methodists 
were  held  at  the  house  of  Samuel  Graham  in  1828  or  1829.  Mr. 
Graham  lived  then  on  the  farm  at  Yankee  Point,  where  Mrs.  Whitlock 
now  resides.  The  preaching  was  conducted  by  Rev.  James  McKain 
and  Rev.  John  E.  French,  the  former  in  charge  of  the  Eugene  circuit 
at  that  time,  and  the  latter  was  his  assistant.  The  circuit  was  a  four- 
weeks  circuit,  the  two  preachers  preaching  every  day,  and  thus  getting 
around  to  each  of  their  appointments  once  in  two  weeks.  The  circuit 
extended  to  Big  Grove  (Urban a).  The}'  preached  at  Georgetown  and 
at  Cassady's.  A  class  was  formed  at  Mr.  Graham's  house,  consisting  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Graham,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Thomas  Shires,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Thomas  Standfield,  and  Miss  Graham.  Mr.  Shires  was  the  first  class- 
leader.  Mr.  French  was  an  Englishman,  though  French  in  name,  and 
his  preaching  was  of  an  effective  nature,  so  much  so  as  to  convert  Miss 
Graham  into  a  Frenchwoman,  for  he  married  her  while  on  this  circuit. 

The  amount  of  ministerial  work  which  these  early  circuit-riders  per- 
formed is  almost  incredible.  Their  appointments  covered  every  day  of 
the  week,  and  were  filled  with  a  regularity  which  was  wonderful,  con- 
sidering the  difficulties  of  travel  which  were  surmounted.  Through  all 
sorts  of  weather,  and  without  roads  or  the  conveniences  of  travel,  they 
made  the  rounds  of  their  circuit,  seldom  disappointing  those  who  were 
anxious  to  hear  the  Word.  Custom  has  much  to  do  with  what  a  man 
can  accomplish,  or  with  what  he  thinks  he  can  accomplish.  The  rain, 
high  streams  without  bridges,  drifting  snow,  the  intense  heat  of  sum- 
mer, or  the  frigid  cold  of  winter,  sickness,  and  the  discomfort  of  the 
pioneer  home,  were  the  continual  trials  which  the  Christian  laborer  of 
the  present  day  knows  nothing  of,  except,  possibly,  by  report,  and 
which  many  of  them  could  illy  endure.  Their  salary  was  meagre,  and 
their  wardrobes  scanty.  Few  knew  what  it  was  to  have,  in  these 
pioneer  days,  those  comforts  which  are  now  deemed  necessaries.  They 
had  no  purses,  and  small  need  for  such  a  contrivance;  their  pay  was  so 
meagre  that  it  is  a  mystery  how  they  lived,  especially  where  they  had 
families  to  support. 

Mr.  French,  after  his  appointment  here  ceased,  preached  at  Newport, 
Cheney's  Grove,  and  at  other  points  west  of  here.     He  died  at  Clinton 


580  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION*    COUNTY. 

in  1841.  His  daughter,  Mrs.  Reed,  lives  now  at  Georgetown.  Among 
the  local  preachers  who  kept  up  the  work  here  were,  Joseph  Allison, 
Mr.  Cassady,  Patrick  Cowan,  Arthur  Jackson  and  William  Stowers; 
and  of  the  traveling  preachers,  Mr.  Bradshaw,  Asa  and  John  McMur- 
trie,  Mr.  Anderson  and  others  are  remembered.  The  Ridge  Farm 
M.  E.  Church  grew  out  of  the  class  which  was  formed  as  early  as  1849, 
about  a  mile  south  of  the  present  location.  In  1852  business  began  to 
assume  such  proportions  at  Ridge  Farm  that  it  seemed  likely  a  village 
would  be  the  result,  and  the  appointment  was  moved  to  Ridge  Farm 
and  took  that  name  permanently.  At  that  time  Rev.  G.  W.  Fairbanks 
was  presiding  elder,  Rev.  R.  C.  Norton,  preacher  in  charge,  and  J.  J. 
Donovan,  class-leader.  Mr.  Norton  will  be  remembered  as  a  man  of 
earnest  convictions  and  strong  character.  His  notions  of  duty,  both  on 
the  part  of  the  preacher  and  of  the  flock,  were  old-fashioned,  but  posi- 
tive. He  seemed  to  suppose  that  every  Methodist  who  was  k'  worthy 
of  a  name  to  live,'*  or  who  had  his  name  on  the  class-book,  ought  to 
attend  class-meetings.  Finding  at  the  end  of  the  quarter  that  only 
seventeen  of  the  thirty-rive  whose  names  were  on  the  book  wTere  in  the 
habit  of  attending  class-meeting,  he  set  forward  only  the  names  of 
those  seventeen,  and  entered  this  minute  in  the  class-book:  "I  have 
only  set  forward  the  names  of  those  members  that  have  been  to  meet- 
ing; this  is  the  best  that  I  can  do.  N.B. — If  any  more  of  the  members 
wish  to  be  considered  members  they  must  show  their  wish  by  their 
coming  forward  and  claiming  their  membership,  and  being  Methodists. 
— Norton."  Many  a  preacher  has  felt  just  as  Brother  Norton  did, 
who  did  not  have  the  pluck  to  lop  off  the  cumberers.  At  this  time 
Ridge  Farm  appointment  belonged  to  Georgetown  circuit.  The  first 
meetings  were  held  in  the  school-house,  which  was  familiarly  known 
as  "  Hardscrabble,"  a  name  probably  derived  from  the  studious  habits  of 
those  who  there  sought  to  travel  "up  the  hill  of  science."  Among  the 
men  who  are  now  remembered  for  their  devotion  to  the  interests  of 
the  church  were,  David  Ankrum,  Israel  Patton,  Joseph  Kuns,  Thos. 
Robinson,  William  Foster,  J.  R.  Green,  Jesse  Smith,  David  Little, 
Jonah  Hole,  Thomas  Henderson  and  Cyrus  Douglas.  Old  Father 
Robinson  never  failed  to  be  on  hand  when  it  was  meeting-time,  and  if 
there  was  no  one  else  present  he  would  go  through  with  the  service  of 
prayer  and  song.  Some  of  the  boys  used  to  pop  beans  at  him  through 
the  knot-holes  in  the  building.  He  was  one  of  those  good  old  men 
whom  everyone  likes  to  speak  well. of.  He  loved  the  service  of  the 
Lord's  house,  and  loved  to  think  of  the  home  in  glory  which  no  doubt 
he  is  enjoying. 

The  first  church  was  built  in  1856,  at  which   time  S.  Elliott  was 


ELWOOD   TOWNSHIP.  581 

presiding  elder,  and  Sampson  Shinn,  preacher  in  charge.  The  building 
was  35x55,  and  was  a  very  comfortable  house.  In  1859  Levi  C. 
Peters  was  presiding  elder,  and  Rev.  G.  W.  Fairbanks,  preacher;  J. 
Hole  and  Thomas  Henderson,  class-leaders.  In  1863  it  became  Ridge 
Farm  circuit.  At  this  date  the  church  was  burned,  and  the  society 
purchased  a  store-building  and  fitted  it  up  to  serve  temporarily  for  a 
house  of  worship.  In  1872  the  present  neat  edifice  was  erected.  It  is 
35x60,  and  cost  $3,000.  The  following  preachers  have  served  since 
1860:  Joseph  Lane,  Mr.  Muirhead,  Mr.  McCastle,  Mr.  Groves,  T.  D. 
Warns,  W.  W.  Curnutt,  S.  T.  Kershner,  J.  P.  Hillerby,  James  Miller, 
George  Grays,  R,  Stephens  and  S.  H.  Whitlock.  The  present  mem- 
bership is  one  hundred  and  thirty.  The  Sabbath-school  numbers  about 
one  hundred;  J.  H.  Southern  is  superintendent,  George  A.  Dice,  as- 
sistant. The  church  includes  a  large  number  of  active  and  earnest 
workers,  who  are  alive  to  the  work  which  they  have.  It  is  now  known 
as  Georgetown  and  Ridge  Farm  appointment.  A  class  was  formed  at 
the  house  of  Joseph  Allison,  who  lived  on  section  25,  at  "Quaker 
Point,"  as  early  as  1831  or  1832.  The  preachers  of  the  Danville  Cir- 
cuit preached  here  with  considerable  regularity,  and  from  it  the  Bethel 
church  sprung.  A  log  church  was  built  near  by  the  state  line  in  1842 
by  Mr.  Allison,  William  Kendall  &  Sons,.  Ben  Scars,  Moses  Grouser, 
Messrs.  Moore  &  Long,  and  other  neighbors.  Mr.  Galliday  wanted  to 
build  it  farther  north,  and  had  some  logs  hewn  for  that  purpose.  The 
Little  Vermilion  Baptist  church  was  organized  in  1831  by  Presbytery, 
consisting  of  members  of  Wabash,  Danville  and  Vermilion  churches. 
The  following  members  were  received:  John  Stark,  H.  Stark,  Henry 
Cavender,  Ann  Thompson,  Benjamin  Cavender,  Daniel  Shirk,  Nicholas 
Baseley,  John  Caldwell,  Joel  Dicken,  Robert  Elliott,  Alexander  More- 
head,  Silas  Johnson,  Benjamin  Shaw  and  Thomas  Whitlock.  David 
Shirk  was  first  pastor;  Thomas  Whitlock  was  clerk,  and  served  until 
1870;  David  Shirk  was  moderator  until  1861.  John  Rayburn  was 
pastor  for  some  years,  and  J.  S.  Whitlock  is  the  present  one;  I.  C. 
Whitlock  is  clerk.  The  first  church,  a  log  one,  was  built  north  of  the 
creek.  The  present  neat  church  edifice  standing  near  the  residence 
of  I.  C.  Whitlock,  Esq.,  was  built  in  1868.  It  is  36x48,  and  cost 
fifteen  hundred  dollars.  The  deed  for  the  land,  upon  which  the 
church  stands  (donated  by  the  late  Thomas  Whitlock)  provides  that 
when  the  church  shall  change  its  articles  of  faith,  or  rules,  or  time  of 
holding  church  meetings,  the  property  shall  revert.  Alfred  Parks  has 
been  a  deacon  for  many  years,  and  J.  M.  Handley  is  at  present.  The 
membership  is  eleven. 

The  Cumberland  Presbyterians,  through  the  untiring  efforts  of  that 


582  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

pioneer  preacher,  Rev.  James  Ash  more,  early  occupied  the  ground 
here.  Mr.  Ashmore  now  lives  in  Fairmount,  and  the  reader  will  rind  a 
more  extended  notice  of  his  life  and  work  under  that  head.  After 
commencing  his  labors  in  this  county  he  was  invited  to  preach  in  the 
northeastern  portion  of  Elwood,  north  of  the  Little  Vermilion,  and 
organized  a  church  there  in  1842,  called  Libertv  Church.  Foster  Elli- 
ott  and  wife,  Alexander  Campbell  and  wife,  Andrew  Davis  and  wife, 
Mrs.  Kiturah  Whitlock,  Mrs.  Baldwin  and  James  Walls,  were  among 
the  first  members.  Messrs.  Elliott,  Campbell  and  Davis  were  the  first 
elders.  The  old  log  meeting-house  was  built  on  Foster  Elliott's  land 
in  1843,  and  stood  about  half  a  mile  southwest  of  the  present  church. 
The  present  edifice  36  x42,  was  built  in  1871,  and  cost  twelve  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars.  The  membership  now  numbers  sixty-five.  Robert 
Kilgore,  Thomas  Hepburn  and  Hogan  Campbell  are  the  present  elders. 
The  names  of  those  who  have  served  the  church  as  pastor  or  stated 
suppl\T  are  Rev.  James  Ashmore,  Rev.  A.  Whitlock,  Mr.  Vandeventer, 
J.  W.  Jordan,  James  McFerren,  H.  Yan  Dyn,  and  again  Mr.  Ashmore. 
This  church  early  contained  many  of  those  whose  names  are  held  in 
kind  remembrance  for  their  manly  virtues  and  rugged  characters;  men 
and  women  who  struggled  to  make  this  town  a  fit  home  for  themselves 
and  their  children,  and  to  make  life  a  growth  in  grace.  It  was  the  pio- 
neer church  of  this  denomination  in  this  corner  of  the  county,  and  as 
such  has  clustered  around  it  many  pleasant  recollections  and  interesting 
remembrances.  Few  of  those  who  here  plighted  their  christian  vows  at 
that  early  day  are  left  to  enjoy  the  fruits  on  earth  of  well-spent  lives, 
but  such  as  they  are,  receive  the  honor  and  love  of  those  who  come 
after  them. 

The  Yankee  Point  Cumberland  Church  was  organized  by  Father 
Ashmore  on  the  5th  of  November,  1853.  In  the  words  of  the  organ- 
izer: "The  devil  helped  to  build  up  this  church."  This  expression, 
taken  alone  without  explanation,  would  tend  to  throw  discredit  upon 
the  church,  or  give  undue  importance  to  his  Satanic  Majesty  in  the 
missionarv  work.  During  a  time  of  fervent  religious  feelings,  Mr. 
Ashmore  was  holding  his  meetings  in  the  school-house,  and  not  to  in- 
terrupt the  school  they  were  held  during  the  noon  hour.  One  of  the 
directors,  in  the  name  of  the  state,  forbade  the  continuance  of  the  meet- 
ings, but  whether  at  the  instigation  of  the  Evil  One,  this  writer  at  this 
distance  of  time,  and  in  the  absence  of  a  commission  to  take  evidence 
as  to  his  bodily  presence  upon  that  occasion,  is  not  exactly  prepared  to 
state.  The  congregation  and  the  evangelist  "accepted  the  situation," 
and  proceeded  to  the  house  of  James  Thompson,  which  was  gladly 
thrown  open  to  the  cause,  and  the  next  day  Mr.  Ashmore  had  put  into 


ELWOOD   TOWNSHIP.  583 

his  hands  a  deed  for  a  lot  upon  which  to  build  a  house  of  worship,  and  a 
subscription  to  build  it.  The  people  made  quick  work,  both  of  organ- 
izing and  building.  William  Shirk,  William  Golden,  Arthur  Patter- 
son and  James  Long  were  chosen  elders,  and  Isaac  MePherson  and 
William  Carmichael,  deacons.  The  membership  was  fifty  to  commence 
with,  and  embraced  many  names  of  the  Thompsons,  Pattersons,  Gold- 
ens,  Longs,  McClurgs,  Hendersons,  Walls,  Hilyards  and  others.  Of 
the  members,  five  entered  the  ministry.  Allen  Whitlock  and  his  two 
brothers  (James  and  Thomas),  Elam  Golden  and  J.  H.  Millholland. 
James  Ashmore  and  Allen  Whitlock  preached  for  this  church  twenty 
years,  and  were  followed  by  Revs.  W.  O.  Smith,  L.  P.  Detheridge, 
Jonathan  Cooley,  Mr.  Groves  and  G.  W.  Montgomery.  The  church 
numbers  seventy.  The  present  elders  are,  A.  H.  Thompson,  Isaac- 
Emory,  John  Shires  and  J.  R.  Baldwin.  The  sabbath  school  numbers 
thirty-five  members  and  five  teachers.  Amos  Millholland  is  superin- 
tendent. Of  those  who  went  into  the  ministry  from  this  church,  Rev. 
Allen  Whitlock,  after  a  faithful  service  of  more  than  twenty  years,  was 
called  up  higher;  Rev.  James  Whitlock  lives  in  Georgetown,  and  Rev. 
Thomas  Whitlock  in  Homer — both  engaged  in  the  active  work  of  the 
christian  ministry.  The  church  building  stands  on  the  south  line  of 
section  22,  almost  in  the  exact  geographical  center  of  the  township. 

The  old  Gilead  Church,  of  the  same  denomination,  was  organized 
by  Father  Ashmore  soon  after, —  probably  in  1854, —  near  the  south- 
eastern corner  of  the  township.  A  log  meeting-house  was  built,  and 
in  1872  the  present  neat  edifice,  40x60,  was  built  at  a  cost  of  $1,600. 
This  is  sometimes  known  as  the  Quaker  Point  Church.  The  new 
church  was  built  under  the  management  of  J.  M.  Kendall,  Levi  Long 
and  J.  Hunrichouse.  Mr.  James  Long  was  one  of  the  leading  spirits 
in  building  up  the  early  church,  and  with  C.  Van  Dyn  and  his  son, 
and  Thomas  Thompson,  was  an  elder.  The  church  numbers  about  fifty, 
and  has  always  been  strong  and  active.  Rev.  Henry  Van  Dyn  and 
Rev.  H.  H.  Ashmore  have,  in  addition  to  Rev.  J.  Ashmore,  each  min- 
istered to  this  church  very  acceptably  during  seven  years  each. 

The  neat  frame  church  on  the  state  road,  a  mile  north  of  Vermilion 
Grove  station,  was  built  by  the  Cumberland  Presbyterians  in  1872, 
while  Rev.  Allen  Whitlock  was  pastor.  It  was  organized  in  1870,  and 
called  "  Sharon  Church."  The  church  prospered  greatly  under  Mr. 
Whitlock,  who  was  a  man  of  exemplary,  earnest  christian  character, 
active  in  the  work  of  his  Master,  and  free  from  narrow  sectarian- 
ism. Aaron  Glycke,  Henry  Canaday  and  Benjamin  Hester  were  active 
in  building  up  the  church.  A  friend  iy  christian  spirit  of  unison  has 
marked  the  feeling  which  has  existed   between  the  members  and  the 


584  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Friends,  who  frequently  unite  in  the  meetings  and  often  occupy  the 
building  for  their  services.  A  Sahbath-school  has  been  maintained 
irregularly. 

hi  looking  over  the  church  history,  the  writer  finds  that  due  credit 
has  not  been  given  to  the  services  of  Father  Hill,  who  was  the  first 
minister  of  the  Cumberland  Church  here,  and  who  preceded  Rev. 
James  Ashmore,  and  greatly  assisted  him  in  the  work  of  organizing 
this  field.  His  early  services  are  remembered  by  the  older  settlers, 
and  he  is  spoken  of  by  all  who  remember  him  as  a  devoted  and  active 
christian  worker. 

The  Cumberland  Church,  at  the  village  of  Ridge  Farm,  was  organ- 
ized by  Rev.  H.  H.  Ashmore  in  1854.  Jefferson  Hilyard,  Andrew 
Page,  Samuel  Stiles,  Win.  Canaday,  John  Clark  and  Owen  Watson 
were  active  members  in  organizing  and  building  the  church,  which 
was  erected  in  1856.  The  Whitlocks,  Smith  and  the  Ash  mores  have 
ministered  to  this  church.  It  is  not  now  in  successful  spiritual  con- 
dition, and  its  church  edifice  looks  as  though  its  walls  would  soon 
need  rebuilding. 

The  Friends  meeting  at  Ridge  Farm  was  set  up  in  1873.  They 
occupied  the  Cumberland  Church  for  worship  for  a  time,  and  built  a 
neat  and  commodious  brick  meeting-house  in  1874. 

In  closing  this  sketch  of  the  churches  of  Elwood,  the  reader  who 
has  followed  it  through  must  have  been  struck,  as  the  writer  was,  with 
the  wonderful  religious  zeal  and  christian  enterprise  which  not  only 
actuated  the  early,  but  has  flown  down  through  inhabitants  of  a  later 
date.  The  township  is  spattered  all  over  with  churches,  and  so  great 
is  the  unanimity  of  religious  sentiment,  so  general  the  disposition  to 
maintain  the  institutions  of  religion,  that  there  are  none  too  many. 
Twelve  live  churches  in  a  single  township,  with  their  religious  zeal 
well  maintained,  one  would  judge  must  have  had  an  abiding  influence 
for  good  which  will  last  through  all  time.  It  will  readily  be  believed  that 
Elwood  has  not  filled  the  jails  or  the  poor-houses.  It  has  been  what 
those  devoted  old  Quakers  who  first  settled  it  hoped  it  would  be,  —  a 
light  set  upon  a  hill.  From  the  very  earliest  day  it  has  been  a  bright 
spot,  and  no  one  is  in  any  doubt  why. 

SCHOOLS. 

The  first  school  taught  in  this  township,  and  indeed  in  the  county, 
was  taught  by  Reuben  Black,  who  came  here  from  Ohio,  a  lad  of  eigh- 
teen years,  in  the  winter  of  1824-5.  It  was  in  a  log  house  one  mile 
west  of  Vermilion  station.  John  Mills  sent  three  sons  and  one 
daughter:    Ira,  Milicau,  John  and  Rebecca;    Joseph  Jackson,  an  Eng- 


EL  WOOD    TOWNSHIP.  585 

lishman,  sent  two  children:  Nathan  and  Mary;  Ezekiel  Hollings- 
worth  sent  four  children:  Jeremiah,  Miles,  Mahundry  and  John; 
Henry  Canaday  sent  one:  William;  John  Haworth  sent  three: 
Thomas,  David  and  Elvin  ;  fourteen  in  all.  The  branches  taught  were 
spelling,  reading  and  writing,  and  some  of  the  older  ones  were  in 
arithmetic.  The  second  school  was  taught  by  Elijah  Yager,  a  Meth- 
odist minister  from  East  Tennessee,  two  years  later,  in  a  cabin  one  mile 
northeast  of  Vermilion  station.  He  introduced  common  arithmetic 
and  declamation.  He  was  a  talented  man  for  the  times,  and  made  very 
good  use  of  his  abilities.  The  third  was  taught  by  Henry  Fletcher  the 
following  summer.  Elisha  Hobbs  took  the  school  in  1831,  and  gave  a 
stimulus  to  education  which  never  lost  ground,  through  many  years 
and  their  changes,  up  to  1849,  when  the  citizens  found  themselves  with 
a  school-house  sixteen  feet  square  and  six  feet  and  a  half  between  joints. 
The  district  got  up  a  subscription  to  build  a  new  house,  but  could  not 
raise  enough.  In  this  juncture,  William  Canaday,  David  and  Elvin 
Haworth,  put  their  heads  together,  and,  getting  the  subscription  paper 
with  their  names  on  into  their  possession,  destroyed  it,  and,  with  their 
purses  and  a  will,  with  the  generous  help  of  some  of  the  neighbors, 
they  built,  in  the  summer  of  1850,  the  seminary  building,  30x52,  with 
two  recitation  rooms,  and  supplied  with  proper  desks  and  furniture. 
They  employed  J.  M.  Davis  as  principal,  and  school  opened  with  one 
hundred  and  ten  students.  The  following  branches  were  taught: 
geography,  algebra,  chemistry,  geometry,  surveying,  history,  miner- 
alogy, philosophy,  reading,  spelling,  elocution,  domestic  economy  and 
Latin.  Mr.  Davis  continued  as  principal  five  years.  He  was  a  man  of 
great  energy  and  tact;  it  is  rarely  we  find  a  better,  even  at  this  day. 
The  standard  of  education  was  kept  high,  and  a  great  work  was  done 
where  it  was  most  needed.  Of  the  men  who  founded  this  school  too 
much  cannot  be  said.  William  Canaday  had  seven  sons  who  were 
educated  here;  David  Haworth  had  eight,  seven  of  whom  are  active 
workers  in  the  Christian  Church ;  so  that  they  can  feel  that  they  got  a 
rich  return  for  the  money  they  expended.  The  Vermilion  Academy  of 
to-day  is  really  the  continuation  of  the  old  seminary,  which  disappeared 
with  the  advent  of  free  schools.  It  was  established  in  1873.  A  people's 
endowment  of  $10,000  was  raised.  William  Rees,  John  Henderson, 
Richard  Mendenhall,  John  Elliott,  Jonah  M.  Davis  and  Elvin  Haworth 
were  constituted  trustees.  John  Henderson  was  elected  president  of 
the  board.  A  building  was  erected,  46x60,  two  stories,  brick,  at  a 
cost  of  $8,000.  It  is  the  aim  of  the  trustees  to  teach  all  the  branches 
usually  taught  in  any  of  the  high  schools'  of  the  country.  It  is  a 
religious  school  in  the  sense  of  being  under  christian  influences,  but 


586  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

not  sectarian.  It  will  accommodate  three  hundred  pupils.  Prof.  John 
Charmer  has  charge  of  the  institution.  He  is  a  graduate  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Michigan,  and  has  made  a  very  creditable  record  as  an  edu- 
cator in  Indiana  and  Iowa.  The  academy  presents  a  healthy,  quiet 
home,  free  from  the  influences  which  are  a  snare  to  the  feet  of  the 
young,  as  well  as  all  the  advantages  of  higher  education,  and  is  in 
charge  of  earnest  men,  who  believe  in  education. 

Below  is  the  record  of  annual  town  meetings  and  the  election  of  the 
principal  officers  from  the  date  of  township  organization  : 

Date.     Vote.       -    Supervisor.  Clerk.  Assessor.  Collector. 

1851 :.John  Canaday J.  W.  Thompson.  .E.  Campbell William  Price. 

1852 Abram  Smith J.  W.  Thompson.  -E.  Campbell William  Price. 

1853 D.  Ankrum J.  W.  Thompson.  .John  Haworth.  .William  Price. 

1854 Granville  Pugh J.  W.  Thompson.  .J.  S.  Graham. .  .E.  Campbell. 

1855 Thomas  Haworth. . J.  W.  Thompson.  .Erasmus  Taylor.  William  Price. 

1856. .  .170. . .  J.  W.  Parker Joel  G.  Dicken Erasmus  Taylor.  Erasmus  Taylor. 

1857. .  .191. .  .J.  W.  Parker James  Whitlock.  .J.  Goodwin J.  Goodwin. 

1858. .  .248. .  .J.  W.  Parker Samuel  Weeks H.  H.  Ashmore.H.  H.*Ashmore. 

1859. .  .277.  ..H.  H.  Ashmore Samuel  Weeks J.  Goodwin J.  Goodwin. 

1860. .  .217. .  .H.  H.  Ashmore John  Hester J.  Goodwin J.  Goodwin. 

1861. .  .259. .  .Elvin  Haworth F.  B.  Hilyard Samuel  Weeks.  .Samuel  Weeks. 

1862. .  .257. .  .Elvin  Haworth Samuel  Weeks E.  Campbell E.  Campbell. 

1863. .  .307. .  .Elvin  Haworth T.  J.  Hilyard Allen  Whitlock.  Allen  Whitlock. 

1864. .  .174. .  .Elvin  Haworth J.  W.  Thompson  .  .Samuel  Weeks.  .Samuel  Weeks. 

1865...  245...  R.  H.  Davis J.  S.  Graham H.  H.  Ashmore.H.  H.  Ashmore. 

1866. .  .205. .  .Elvin  Haworth James  Quinn Samuel  Weeks.  .Samuel  Weeks. 

1867. .  .205. .  .Elvin  Haworth James  Quinn Samuel  Weeks.  .Samuel  Weeks. 

1868. .  .213. .  .Elvin  Haworth James  Quinn Samuel  Weeks.  .Samuel  Weeks. 

1869...  162... Elvin  Haworth  ....D.  S.  Dicken W.  R.  Cook W.  R.  Cook. 

1870...  176...  Elvin  Haworth  ....D.  S.  Dicken W.  R.  Cook W.  R.  Cook. 

1871... 212... R.  H.  Davis James  Quinn W.  R.  Cook W.  R.  Cook. 

1872...  178...  R,  H.  Davis James  Quinn W.  R.  Cook W.  R.  Cook. 

1873. .  .241. .  .John  C.  Pierce James  Quinn W.  R.  Cook W.  R.  Cook. 

1874...  301...  John  C.  Pierce W.  C.  Hollowell. .  .W.  R.  Cook W.  R.  Cook. 

1875. .  .306.  .  .John  C.  Pierce W.  C.  Hollowell. .  .Allen  Whitlock  .W.  R.  Cook. 

1876...  348...  John  C.  Pierce W.  C.  Hollowell. .  .W.  R.  Cook W.  R.  Cook. 

1877... 382... R.  H.  Davis H.  F.  Dice W.  R.  Cook B.  F.  Leach. 

1878...  352...  John  C.  Pierce H.  F.  Dice Levi  Rees B.  F.  Leach. 

1879...  576...  R.  H.  Davis W.  T.  Stogsdill  ..Levi  Rees B.  F.  Leach. 

The  justices  of  the  peace  elected  were:  J.  G.  Thompson,  Abram 
Smith,  J.  C.  Dicken,  J.  W.  Thompson,  William  Alexander,  Samuel 
Campbell,  A.  M.  Campbell,  L.  Parker,  Richard  Henderson,  Granville 
Pugh,  H.  V.  Monett,  L.  T.  Ellis,  James  Quinn,  J.  S.  Whitlock,  J.  M. 
Mendenhall,  J.  C.  Pierce. 

The  following  commissioners  of  highways  have  been  elected  :  Gran- 
ville Pugh,  Nelson  Davis,  T.  N.  Galyen,  W.  A.  Thompson,  James 
Rees,  Allen  Lewis,  Isaac  C.  Madden,  Ira  Mills,  Jesse  Jones,  J.  B.  Long, 


ELWOOD   TOWNSHIP.  :>K7 

John  Fletcher,  Elias  Newlin,  John  Folger,  W.  S.  Rice,  J.  C.  Dicken, 
L.  Reynolds,  James  Shires,  Henry  Canaday,  J.  G.  Thompson,  J.  M. 
Kendall,  Alexander  Whinrey,  Robert  Hester,  Moses  Reed,  F.  C.  Rees, 
John  Hester,  Thomas  E.  Cook,  James  Baldwin,  Richard  Mendenlmll, 
I.  (1.  Jones. 

In  1857  the  vote  for  establishing  Homer  county,  was  1  to  189 
against.  In  1858  the  vote  for  "Hog  Law  "  was  18  to  142  against.  In 
1863  the  vote  for  "  a  system  of  bridges  "  was  3  to  300  against.  In  1867 
a  special  town  meeting  was  held  to  vote  for  or  against  levying  a  tax  of 
3^  per  centum  in  aid  of  building  the  Chicago,  Danville  &  Yincennes 
railroad,  at  which  187  votes  were  cast  for  said  levv  to  26  against.  In 
1870  the  vote  in  favor  of  extending  the  time  required  for  the  comple- 
tion of  the  railroad  stood  21  for  to  8  against  such  extension.  In  1878 
the  vote  in  favor  of  requiring  each- township  to  support  its  own  paupers 
stood  293  for,  to  17  against  said  proposition. 

From  the  annual  report  of  George  A.  Dice,  township  treasurer  of 
schools,  the  following  figures  are  taken,  for  township  17,  11,  and  frac- 
tion of  17,  10: 

Number  of  school-bouses brick,  2;  frame,  9,  11 

Number  of  districts 11 

Number  of  children  under  21 1 ,064 

Number  of  children  between  6  and  21 703 

Number  of  children  enrolled  in  school 631 

Number  of  teachers 20 

Average  number  of  months  taught 63^' 

Amount  of  school  fund $5,000 

Amount  paid  teachers $2,925 

Gross  amount  paid  out $4,101 

RIDGE    FARM. 

The  original  town  of  Ridge  Farm  was  platted  for  record  on  the 
loth  of  November,  1853,  by  Abraham  Smith,  and  consisted  of  thirteen 
lots,  beginning  ten  feet  west  of  the  west  side  of  the  state  road,  and 
eight  feet  south  of  the  county  road.  The  same  year,  Thomas  Haworth 
laid  out  and  recorded  an  addition  west  of  the  state  road  and  north  of 
the  county  road.  On  the  27th  of  February,  1856,  Thomas  Haworth 
laid  out  his  second  addition  of  seventeen  lots.  On  the  1st  of  Decem- 
ber, 1854,  J.  W.  Thompson  laid  out  his  first  addition  east  of  the  state 
road  and  south  of  the  county  road,  eight  lots:  and  in  August,  1856, 
his  second  addition,  thirty-two  lots.  On  the  11th  of  April,  1856,  A. 
Smith  platted  his  addition,  six  lots.  On  the  25th  of  March,  1857,  T. 
Haworth  his  third  and  fourth  additions.  In  November,  1872,  A.  B. 
Whinrey  laid  out  an  addition  of  two  blocks  at  the  railroad.  On  the 
5th  of  April,  1873,  R.  H.  Davis  platted   his   subdivision   of  section 


:,SS  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

thirty.  In  April,  1872.  J.  H.  Banta  platted  his  addition  of  four  blocks, 
east  of  the  railroad  ;  and  on  the  15th  of  April,  1873,  H.  C.  Smith 
platted  an  addition  east  of  the  state  road. 

Soon  after  the  town  was  laid  out,  Mr.  Smith  built  a  store  near 
where  the  store  of  Mr.  Darnall  now  stands,  and  Samuel  "Weeks  put  up 
a  blacksmith-shop  where  Marion  Harrold's  store  stands.  Thomas 
Haworth  built  a  store  where  Tuttle's  tinshop  is,  and  rented  it.  John 
Dicken  built  a  tavern  on  the  corner  where  Davis  &  Dice  have  a  store. 
It  was  afterward  moved  back,  and  now  stands  there,  being  the  rear  of 
the  store.  James  Frazier  built  the  front  part  to  it,  and  kept  hotel  a 
while,  and  then  Josiah  Smith  kept  it  a  while.  I.  M.  Davis  converted 
the  building  into  a  store.  Ephraim  Goodwin,  in  1857,  built  a  little 
store  which  he  occupied  as  a  confectionery,  on  the  east  side  of  the 
street,  and  William  Canadav  continued  the  business  for  a  while. 
Weeks  &  Price,  about  the  same  time,  put  up  the  building  on  the 
northwest  corner  for  a  drug  store. 

There  are  none  of  the  early  business  men  now  in  business  here. 
Robert  Mills  is  the  oldest  resident,  and  A.  B.  Whinrey  the  oldest 
business  man.  He  commenced  here  as  a  blacksmith  in  1855.  He 
"  graduated  with  honor,''  and  became  a  merchant.  The  same  success 
followed  him.  and  he  has  continued  in  business.  He  is  now  engaged 
in  the  grain  trade.  He  has  from  almost  the  beginning  of  business  here 
been  identified  with  the  business  and  growth  of  the  place,  and  seems 
to  have  been  more  than  ordinarily  successful  in  his  enterprises.  He  is 
a  man  of  good  judgment  and  excellent  business  habits. 

Mr.  Geo.  A.  Dice,  though  still  a  young  man,  has  been  long  in  active 
business  here.  His  mother,  then  a  widow,  with  a  family  of  small  chil- 
dren dependent  on  her,  lived  in  East  Tennessee,  the  home  of  the  hardy 
mountaineer  Unionists,  when  rebellion  lifted  its  hydra-headed  form  all 
over  the  fair  south,  except  in  this  favored  home  of  freedom.  As  soon 
as  it  was  known  that  Tennessee  had,  contrary  to  the  popular  vote  of 
her  citizens,  been  forced  into  an  attitude  hostile  to  the  Union,  Mrs. 
Dice  gathered  what  little  she  had  movable,  and,  taking  her  children, 
fled  from  the  home  of  her  childhood  and  came  here  to  live.  She  was 
nearly  destitute  of  worldly  goods,  but,  with  a  stout  heart,  she  deter- 
mined to  bring  her  two  boys  up  under  the  old  flag,  come  what  would. 
She  was  soon  appointed  postmistress,  and  her  oldest  son.  George,  for 
some  years  managed  the  affairs  of  the  office  in  an  acceptable  manner, 
showing  the  careful,  accurate  business  traits  which  have  since  marked 
his  business  career.  He  afterward  formed  a  business  partnership  with 
Mr.  Davis,  and  manages  the  extensive  business  affairs  of  the  firm.  He 
is  also  township  treasurer  of  schools,  and  is  a  systematic  business  man. 


ELWOOD   TOWNSHIP.  589 

With  the  building  of  the  railroad  in  1873-4  business  increased,  and 
some  branches  found  locations  near  the  depot.  The  steam  mill  which 
is  located  there  was  built  by  the  Davis  Brothers  at  that  time.  It  has 
three  run  of  stone,  and  is  a  first-class  mill  in  every  respect.  It  was 
purchased  by  Banta  &  Coppock,  and  is  now  run  by  Banta  &  Darnall. 
Several  stores  and  some  other  business  operations  are  carried  on  there, 
but  the  principal  mercantile  houses  are  still  on  the  original  town  at 
the  crossing  of  the  state  road  and  county  road. 

The  following  have  been  the  postmasters  of  Ridge  Farm  :  A.  Smith, 
J.  S.  Rice,  Samuel  Weeks,  Mrs.  Dice  and  Jennie  Smith. 

There  are  several  good  residences  in  the  village. 

The  school-house  was  erected  in  1875,  is  a  large  and  well-propor- 
tioned brick  building,  and  is  well  arranged  and  neatly  furnished.  The 
school  is  graded,  having  four  departments,  with  one  teacher  for  each 
department.  The  high  school  is  in  charge  of  Mr.  W.  H.  Chamberlin, 
who  has  for  three  years  past  successfully  acted  as  principal.  Miss 
Florence  Newlin  is  in  charge  of  the  grammar  department,  Mrs.  Mary 
H.  Lane  the  intermediate,  and  Miss  Whitlock  the  primary.  The 
school  is  in  charge  of  a  board  of  directors  consisting  of  R.  H.  Davis, 
president ;  W.  N.  Barklay,  and  A.  J.  Darnall,  Secretary.  These  gen- 
tlemen have  performed  the  exacting  duties  consequent  upon  their  offi- 
cial position  in  a  way  which  has  added  to  the  efficiency  of  the  school, 
and  fulfilled  an  important  public  trust  in  a  most  acceptable  manner. 
If  the  theoiw  is  correct  that  the  school  is,  in  a  great  measure,  an  indica- 
tion of  our  progressive  civilization,  the  citizens  of  Ridge  Farm  may  be 
congratulated  on  being  in  the  advanced  guard. 

INCORPORATION. 

A  petition  for  the  incorporation  of  the  village  under  the  general 
incorporation  act,  signed  by  Uriah  Hadley  and  others,  was  filed  in  the 
county  court  on  the  3d  of  March,  1874.  The  petition  proposed  the 
following  limits  to  the  village:  The  southwest  quarter  of  section  30 
and  the  northwest  quarter  of  section  31,  town  17,  range  11,  and  the 
southeast  quarter  of  section  25,  and  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  36, 
town  17,  range  12,  embracing  one  mile  square  of  territory  ;  and  it  set 
forth  that  there  were  within  the  said  limits  three  hundred  and  fifty 
inhabitants.  The  court  ordered  an  election  to  be  held  at  the  store  of 
J.  C.  Pierce  on  the  21st  of  March,  1874,  to  vote  upon  the  question  of 
incorporation.  George  H.  Dice,  R.  H.  Davis  and  J.  H.  Banta  were 
appointed  judges  of  the  election.  At  that  election  51  votes  were  cast, 
49  for  incorporation  and  2  against  it.  The  court  ordered  an  election 
to  be  held  on  the  22d  of  April   to  vote  for  six  trustees  to  serve  until 


590  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

the  regular  election  in  course  under  the  law.  At  this  election  58  votes 
were  cast.  J.  H.  Banta  received  54- :  M.  A.  Harold,  32 ;  T.  C.  Bees. 
31 ;  A.  J.  Darnall,  4:5 ;  A.  B.  Whinrey,  53 ;  Moses  Lewis  and  J.  D. 
Harrold,  each  25.  There  seemed  to  be  n©  doubt  of  the  election  of  the 
first  five  named  above,  but  just  who  the  sixth  trustee  was  became  an 
exciting  question  in  the  local  politics  of  the  Ridge.  Returning  boards 
and  high-joint  commissions,  composed  of  a  motley  glomeration  of  su- 
preme courts  and  senates,  had  not  then  been  invented.  Neither  one 
of  the  candidates  would  pay  a  nickel  for  a  certificate  even  supposing 
the  election  board  had  been  in  the  market :  there  was  no  provision  in 
the  law  for  "  drawing  straws/'  and  if  a  game  of  draw-poker  had  been 
eligible  to  decide  it,  neither  of  the  contestants  were  adepts  in  that. 
The  Ridge  was  in  an  agitated  state  of  equanimity,  of  undeniable  un- 
rest. Word  reached  Danville  that  the  good  people  of  the  particular 
square  mile  of  territory,  in  the  throes  of  birth,  had  made  a  kind  of  a 
miscalculation,  and  that  having  voted  to  corporate  they  could  not  cor- 
porate until  some  one  could  be  found  to  tell  them  "  who  was  that  sixth 
man."  It  was  a  knotty  question,  but  Judge  Hanford,  the  personifica- 
tion of  blind  iustice,  was  at  last  able  to  cut  the  Gordian  knot.  He 
cited  Moses  and  John  before  his  court  (sheriff's  fees,  five  dollars,  which 
were  duly  paid)  to  plead,  answer  or  demur,  and  show  cause  why  each 
one  had  conspired  to  block  the  wheels  of  incorporation  at  Ridge  Farm. 
duly  ordered  by  said  court,  in  persisting  to  receive  each  an  equal  num- 
ber of  votes.  The  court  looked  severe,  and  ordered  the  two  recalci- 
trants to  stand  up  and  draw  straws.  Lewis  got  the  long  straw  and 
was  duly  declared  the  victor,  and  the  waiting  village  was  ushered  into 
corporate  being.  It  is  related  that  both  parties  paid  their  own  ex- 
penses to  Danville  and  back  without  grumbling,  which  speaks  well  of 
their  good  bearing  under  trying  circumstances. 

On  the  1st  of  May  the  Board  of  Trustees,  now  safely  relieved  from 
impending  ruin,  organized  by  electing  A.  J.  Darnall.  president,  and 
T.  C.  Rees,  clerk.  They  adopted  a  set  of  ordinances  and  fixed  the 
compensation  of  officers:  Trustees  to  have  one  dollar  per  meeting; 
treasurer,  one  per  centum ;  collector,  two  per  centum,  and  assessor  one 
dollar  and  fifty  cents  per  day.  The  offices  of  collector  and  assessor 
Mere  afterward  dispensed  with.  At  the  regular  election  in  1875,  the 
following  were  elected  :  M.  A.  Harrold,  president ;  A.  B.  Whinrey, 
A.  M.  Mills,  C.  Lewis,  S.  Haworth  and  H.  R.  Craven,  trustees:  T.  C. 
Rees,  police  magistrate;  James  Quinn.  clerk;  E.  Goodwin,  constable. 
In  1876 :  S.  Haworth,  president,  and  the  other  members  of  the  Board 
the  same  as  the  preceding  year;  A.  J.  Darnall  was  elected  treasurer. 
In   1877:   A.  M.  Mills,  president;  W.  X.  Barklay,  H.  R.  Craven,  S. 


ELWOOD   TOWNSHIP.  591 

Haworth,  C.  Pickard  and  T.  C.  Bradfield,  trustees;  W.  H.  Flood, 
clerk,  and  A.  J.  Darnall,  treasurer.  In  1878:  R.  H.  Davis,  president; 
II.  R.  Craven,  M.  A.  Harrold,  J.  H.  Southern,  W.  N.  Barklay  and 
George  A.  Dice,  trustees ;  the  clerk  and  treasurer  remaining  the  same. 
In  1879:  A.  A.  Sulcer,  president;  R.  H.  Davis,  J.  D.  Henslee,  J.  C. 
Baum,  H.  R.  Craven  and  W.  N.  Barklay,  trustees;  H.  F.  Dice,  clerk; 
W.  H.  Flood,  police  magistrate. 

The  Ridge  Farm  Lodge,  No.  632,  A.F.  &  A.M.,  was  instituted  on  the 
2d  of  October,  1868,  with  the  following  officers  and  original  members : 
Jonah  Hole,  W.M.;  W.  Harris,  S.W.;  M.  A.  Harrold,  J. W.;  Geo.  F. 
Cutler,  secretary;  J.  Larranee,  treasurer;  John  Guffin,  S.D.;  C.  C. 
Paxon,  J.D.;  J.  D.  Harrold,  Tyler;  M.L.  Larranee,  George  A.  Dice, 
S.  Haworth,  .).  W.  McGee,  J.  B.  Ensey,  Johnson  Ross  and  Wm.  Gled- 
hill.  The  following  have  served  the  lodge  as  Masters:  W.  Harris,  A. 
A.  Sulcer  and  George  A.  Dice.  The  present  officers  are:  George  A. 
Dice,  W.M.;  Isaac  Woodard,  S.W.;  James  P.  Fletcher,  J.W.;  W.  N. 
Barklay,  S.D.;  J.  D.  Harrold,  J.D.;  W.  C.  Holloway,  secretary;  A.  L. 
Antrum,  treasurer ;  C.  A.  Foster  and  W.  T.  Watson,  stewards.  The 
lodge  is  in  prosperous  condition.  It  meets  first  and  third  Saturdays  of 
each  month. 

VERMILION    GROVE. 

Vermilion  Grove  is  an  unincorporated  village  on  the  railroad,  two 
miles  north  of  Ridge  Farm.  It  is  located  where  the  Haworths  and 
Canadavs  made  their  first  settlement,  almost  sixtv  years  a^o,  where 
stands  the  successor  of  the  first  church  or  meeting-house  built  in  the 
county,  and  the  successor  of  the  first  school  established  in  the  county, 
accounts  of  both  of  which  the  reader  will  find  under  the  appropriate 
headings.  Many  hallowed  and  precious  memories  cluster  around  this 
favored  spot.  Two  only,  it  is  believed,  of  the  original  settlers  —  both 
young  then,  of  course  —  remain  here  now:  Elvin  Haworth  and 
William  Canaday,  now  honored  and  respected  old  men,  of  whom  it 
may  be  said  they  have  never  permitted  private  interests  to  take  pre- 
cedence of  duty  to  God  or  their  fellow  men.  In  1876,  Elvin  Haworth 
platted  for  record  a  subdivision  of  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  13, 
upon  which  the  village  is  built.  It  was  called  Vermilion  until  the 
railroad  was  built.  When  the  post-office  was  established  in  1873  it 
was  found  necessary  to  change  the  name  to  Vermilion  Grove,  in  con- 
sequence of  there  being  a  post-office  named  Vermilion,  in  the  state. 
Jonathan  Stafford  commenced  mercantile  business  here  in  1873.  He 
soon  after  sold  to  J.  Gibson,  who  carried  on  business  here  for  some 
time  and  sold  to  William  Brown,  and  a  year  later  repurchased  the 
business  and  continues   in  trade.     He  is  also  engaged  in  the  manufac- 


592  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

tare  of  tiles,  employing  five  hands.  He  uses  the  Tecumseh  machine. 
Elmore  Rees  and  Elvin  Haworth  have  saw-mills,  which  manufacture 
considerable  lumber.  The  Vermilion  Academy  is  located  here,  and 
there  are  several  very  neat  residences. 

The  town  of  Munroe  was  laid  out  by  Messrs.  Mayfield  and  J.  C. 
Haworth,  in  1836,  on  section  36  (17-11).  The}-  made  a  sale  of  lots  at 
that  time  and  a  few  were  disposed  of,  but  it  has  "gone  back,"  and  the 
localitv  is  now  known  by  the  name  of  Bethel.  The  union  church  of 
the  Methodists  and  Presbyterians  is  located  there. 

BIOGRAPHICAL. 

Frederick  Canaday,  Vermilion  Grove,  farmer,  was  born  in  Jefferson 
county,  Tennessee,  on  the  27th  of  January,  1804,  and  was  raised  a 
farmer,  which  occupation  he  has  followed  successfully  through  life. 
He  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  the  county,  coming  here  in  1820,  and 
sharing  with  the  few  settlers  of  that  early  day  the  hardships  of  a  pio- 
neer life.  Mr.  Canaday  is  considered  one  of  Vermilion  county's  best 
citizens.  He  has  been  very  charitable  in  donating  for  benevolent  pur- 
poses. He  was  married  in  Tennessee  in  1828,  to  Charity  Haworth, 
who  also  was  born  in  Tennessee,  and  is  now  deceased.  They  are  the 
parents  of  ten  children,  eight  living  :  Jane,  Matilda,  William,  Maiy  A., 
Henry,  Isaac,  Sarah  and  John.  Mr.  Canaday  was  then  married  to 
Anna  Haworth,  in  1849.  There  were  but  two  settlers  in  this  part  of 
the  county  when  he  came  here,  and  he  was  the  oldest  settler  who 
attended  the  old  settlers'  meeting  at  Danville  in  the  fall  of  1878. 
He  owns  nine  hundred  and  thirty  acres  of  fine  land.  He  is  a  republi- 
can, and  belongs  to  the  Friends  church. 

Elvin  Haworth,  Vermilion  Grove,  farmer  and  stock-dealer,  section 
13,  was  born  in  Jefferson  county,  Tennessee,  on  the  9th  of  April,  1815, 
and  was  raised  to  the  occupation  of  a  farmer.  He  came  to  this  state 
with  his  father  in  the  year  1822,  and  settled  on  section  13,  near  where 
he  now  lives.  His  father  remained  here  until  his  death,  in  1863,  at 
which  time  he  was  eighty-five  years  old.  His  wife  died  five  daj-s  pre- 
vious. The  subject  of  this  sketch  had  but  little  of  this  world's  goods 
with  which  to  commence  life,  but  by  industry,  economy  and  perse- 
verance he  has  acquired  a  good  property  of  two  hundred  and  forty-five 
acres  of  land,  which  he  has  made  mostly  by  handling  cattle.  He  has  been 
very  liberal  in  his  donations  for  benevolent  purposes,  giving  five  hun- 
dred dollars  at  one  time  for  the  Friends  Academy  at  Vermilion  Grove. 
He  has  held  the  office  of  supervisor  of  township  nine  years.  Mr. 
Haworth  was  married  in  1874  to  Elmeda  Stanly,  who  was  born  in  Iro- 
quois county,   Illinois,   in   1840,  ^and    died   in   1875.       They  had   two 


ELWOOD   TOWNSHIP.  593 

infants,  now  deceased.  He  is  a  republican,  and  belongs  to  the  Friends 
church. 

John  Folger,  Ridge  Farm,  farmer,  and  minister  of  the  Friends  church, 
section  25,  was  born  in  this  county  on  the  19th  of  September,  1829,  his 
father  being  one  of  the  pioneers  of  this  county,  settling  here  in  1829, 
hence  he  shared  the  hardships  of  a  pioneer  life.  He  went  to  school  in 
the  winter,  and  afterward  attended  Vermilion  Grove  Academy  one 
term,  and  then  attended  Bloomingdale  two  terms.  He  was  married  on 
the  14th  of  September,  1853.  His  wife  was  born  in  Parke  county, 
Indiana,  on  the  18th  of  August,  1831.  They  are  the  parents  of  nine 
children,  eight  living:  Alonzo,  Julius  Adelphus,  Romania,  Ida  E., 
Rachel  E.,  Clara  T.  and  Lottie  R.  Mr.  Folger  has  held  the  office  of 
school  treasurer  for  ten  years.  His  father  was  a  native  of  North  Caro- 
lina, and  his  mother  was  born  on  the  island  of  Nantucket.  Mr.  Folger1  s 
wife  is  a  member  of  Friends  church.     He  is  a  republican  in  politics. 

M.  L.  Larrance,  Ridge  Farm,  farmer,  section  35,  was  born  in  Jeffer- 
son county,  Tennessee,  on  the  9th  of  May,  1818,  and  was  raised  to  the 
occupation  of  a  farmer,  at  which  he  has  had  a  life-long  experience.  He 
came  with  his  father  to  this  state  in  the  fall  of  1827,  being  among  the 
early  settlers  of  the  county.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  wras  married  in 
this  state  in  1840,  to  Nancy  Mendenhall,  who  was  born  in  Ohio  in 
1819.  They  had  by  this  union  thirteen  children,  nine  living:  John, 
William,  Betsy,  Emily,  Richard,  Charity  J.,  David,  Lydia  B.  and  Far- 
ris.  The  deceased  were  Joseph  and  three  infants.  Mr.  Larrance  is  a 
well-to-do  farmer,  well  respected  by  all  with  whom  he  is  acquainted. 
His  parents  were  natives  of  North  Carolina.  His  political  views  are 
republican,  and  he  is  a  member  of  the  Friends  church. 

James  Rees,  Ridge  Farm,  farmer,  section  24,  was  born  in  Greene 
county,  Tennessee,  and  came  to  this  state  in  1830.  He  has  followed 
the  occupation  of  a  farmer  through  life.  He  commenced  the  nur- 
sery business  in  1854,  which  he  continued  to  follow  successfully  for 
a  number  of  years,  furnishing  a  great  many  valuable  trees,  this  proving 
to  be  a  great  advantage  to  the  county.  Mr.  Rees  has  been  twice  mar- 
ried :  first  in  1838,  to  Elizabeth  Dillen,  who  was  born  in  Tennessee,  and 
is  now  deceased.  He  was  then  married,  in  1844,  to  Jemima  Dillen,  a 
sister  of  his  former  wife,  also  born  in  Tennessee.  Mr.  Rees  has  been 
the  father  of  eight  children,  four  living.  He  has  taught  school  about 
ten  years  altogether,  and  is  regarded  as  one  of  Vermilion's  best  citizens. 
He  is  a  republican,  and  belongs  to  the  Friends  church.  He  owns  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres,  worth  fifty  dollars  per  acre. 

Granville  Pugh,  Long,  farmer  and  stock-dealer,  section  36,  was  born 
in  Jefferson  county,  Ohio,  on  the  2d  of  February,  1824,  and  has  been 
38 


594  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

a  practical  fanner  through  life.  He  came  with  his  father  to  this  state 
in  1830,  settling  on  the  Little  Vermilion  River.  He  moved,  with  his 
father,  to  the  place  where  he  now  lives  in  1836,  and  here  he  has  re- 
sided since.  Mr.  Pngh  has  held  the  office  of  school  director  thirty 
years.  He  was  elected  justice  of  the  peace  one  term,  which  office  he 
honorably  filled.  He  was  reelected,  but  would  not  serve.  He  was 
also  supervisor  of  the  township.  He  was  married  on  the  31st  of 
May,  1856,  to  Lydia  Thompson.  She  was  born  in  Parke  county, 
Indiana,  on  the  7th  of  March,  1835.  They  are  the  parents  of  nine 
children,  eight  living:  John  J.,  Isaac  N.,  Ezra  K.,  Harris  J.,  Monroe, 
Howard,  Jane  E.  and  Lydia  D.  The  deceased  was  an  infant.  Mr. 
Pugh's  father  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  and  his  mother,  of  Mary- 
land. His  political  views  are  republican,  and  he  belongs  to  the  Friends 
church. 

Thomas  C.  Pees,  Ridge  Farm,  cabinet-maker,  was  born  in  this 
county  on  the  27th  of  July,  1833,  and  was  raised  on  a  farm  until 
twenty  }7ears  of  age.  He  learned  the  wagon-maker's  trade,  which 
occupation  he  followed  until  1878,  since  which  time  he  has  been  work- 
ing at  the  cabinet  trade.  Mr.  Rees  has  been  three  times  married  :  first, 
on  the  21st  of  April,  1856,  to  Sarah  A.  Bales,  who  was  born  on  the 
3d  of  March,  1833,  and  died  on  the  14th  of  September,  1857.  They 
had  by  this  union  one  child,  who  is  now  deceased.  He  was  then  mar- 
ried on  the  20th  of  March,  1860.  This  wife  was  born  in  this  county 
on  the  2d  of  September,  1834,  and  died  on  the  15th  of  March,  1867. 
They  had  by  this  union  three  children  :  Mary,  born  on  the  10th  of 
November,  1861;  Ella,  born  on  the  10th  of  May,  1864;  Charles,  born 
on  the  10th  of  November,  1866.  Mr.  Rees  was  then  united  to  Charity 
Mendenhall  on  the  10th  of  November,  1871.  She,  too,  was  born  in  this 
county  on  the  4th  of  November,  1835.  They  are  the  parents  of  four 
children  by  this  union  :  Marcus  J.,  Marion  A.,  Frances  M.,  one  infant 
deceased.  Mr.  Rees  is  a  republican,  and  a  member  of  the  Friends 
church. 

Enoch  Brady,  Ridge  Farm,  miller,  was  born  in  Vermilion  county, 
Illinois,  on  the  16th  of  December,  1834.  He  was  brought  up  a 
farmer.  He  ran  a  threshing-machine  for  thirty  years  in  succession, 
and  at  one  time  sheared  one  hundred  head  of  sheep  in  twelve  hours. 
Mr.  Brady  enlisted  in  the  late  war,  and  went  forward  to  battle  for  the 
Union.  He  enlisted  in  1862  as  private  in  Co.  A,  79th  111.  Vol.  Inf., 
and  served  one  year;  was  discharged  in  consequence  of  disability  in 
1863.  He  reenlisted  in  1865  in  Co.  E,  150th  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  and  served 
one  year.  He  was  promoted  to  corporal.  Mr.  Brady  has  held  the 
office  of  constable  twelve  vears.    He  was  married  on  the  22d  of  March, 


ELWOOD   TOWNSHIP.  595 

1864,  to  Martha  Dicken,  who  was  born  in  this  county  on  the  14th  of 
December,  1848.  They  had  by  this  union  four  children,  one  living: 
Charles ;  and  the  names  of  the  deceased  are  Richard,  Marion  H,  and 
Mary  H.  Mr.  Brady's  father  was  a  native  of  South  Carolina,  and  his 
mother,  of  Indiana.  His  political  views  are  republican,  and  in  his 
religious  views  he  is  liberal. 

Uriah  Folger,  Eidge  Farm,  farmer  and  minister,  section  30,  was 
born  in  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  23d  of  April,  1834,  and 
spent  his  early  days  on  a  farm.  His  father  was  a  tanner  by  trade,  and 
one  of  the  pioneers  of  this  county,  having  come  here  in  1829.  Hence, 
he  helped  to  change  it  from  a  wilderness  to  its  present  prosperous 
condition.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  married  on  the  10th  of  De- 
cember, 1858,  to  Edith  C.  Dillen,  who,  too,  was  born  in  this  county. 
He  is  a  man  well  respected  by  all  who  know  him.  They  are  both 
members  of  the  Friends  church.     His  political  views  are  republican. 

Johnathan  Larrance,  Ridge  Farm,  farmer,  section  35,  was  born  in 
this  county  on  the  7th  of  June,  1834.  His  father  died  when  he  was 
but  three  years  of  age,  and  he  was  left  to  the  care  of  his  mother.  Mr. 
Larrance  was  married  on  the  5th  of  December,  1862,  to  Hannah  A. 
McGee,  who  was  born  in  Ohio  in  1837.  They  had  seven  children  by 
this  union,  six  living:  Perry  M.,  John  C,  Alice,  Laura,  Mark  and 
Martha.  The  name  of  the  deceased  is  Marion.  Mr.  Larrance  had  no 
property  when  he  first  married  ;  but,  by  good  management  and  hard 
labor,  he  now  owns  two  hundred  and  ninety-five  acres  of  good  land. 
He  belongs  to  the  Freemasons;  is  a  republican,  and  a  member  of  the 
Friends  church. 

Adam  M.  Mills,  Ridge  Farm,  lumber  dealer,  was  born  in  this  county, 
on  the  7th  of  December,  1834,  and  was  raised  on  a  farm  until  twenty- 
three  years  of  age,  at  which  time  he  commenced  clerking  in  a  store  one 
year;  then  commenced  buying  and  shipping  cattle,  which  he  continued 
at  intervals  until  1868,  at  which  time  he  went  into  the  mill  business. 
This  he  continued  until  he  went  into  the  lumber  trade,  in  1873.  His 
father  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  the  county,  coming  here  in  an  early 
day.  Mr.  Mills  was  married  on  the  22d  of  March,  1876,  to  Cynthelia 
Wall,  who  was  born  in  this  county  in  1840.  They  have  by  this  union 
one  child:  Frank,  born  on  the  10th  of  August,  1877.  Mr.  Mills  has 
held  the  office  of  village  trustee.  He  is  a  republican,  and  a  member  of 
the  Friends  church. 

William  F.  Dubre,  Ridge  Farm,  farmer,  section  26,  was  born  in 
Clark  county,  Illinois,  on  the  3d  of  March,  1836,  and  raised  on  a  farm. 
He  has  followed  that  occupation  through  life.  Mr.  Dubre  came  to  this 
county  in  1854,  and  settled  in  Pilot  Grove,  where  he  has  since  resided. 


596  HISTOKY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

He  was  married  in  this  state,  on  the  12th  of  September,  1861,  to  Sarah 
Folger,  who  was  born  in  this  county  on  the  19th  of  January,  1836. 
They  are  the  parents  of  eight  children,  four  of  whom  are  living: 
Rosetta,  Oscar,  Allen  and  Hattie;  deceased:  Nelson  R.,  Harry,  Elisa- 
beth, and  one  infant.  The  parents  of  Mr.  Dubre  were  natives  of  Ohio 
and  Illinois,  and  those  of  his  wife,  of  North  Carolina  and  the  island  of 
Nantucket.     He  is  a  republican,  and  belongs  to  the  Friends  church. 

John  Fletcher,  Ridge  Farm,  farmer  and  stock-dealer,  section  33,  was 
born  in  Clinton  county,  Ohio,  on  the  20th  of  May,  1815,  and  was  raised 
to  the  occupation  of  a  farmer,  which  he  has  followed  successfully 
through  life.  He  moved  with  his  father  to  this  state  in  1836,  and  set- 
tled near  Vermilion  Grove,  where  he  remained  until  1839,  and  then 
moved  to  Pilot  Grove.  Mr.  Fletcher  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  this 
county,  hence  he  knows  something  of  the  hardships  of  a  pioneer  life. 
He  is  considered  one  of  the  better  citizens  of  Vermilion,  is  straight  in 
all  his  dealings,  and  well  respected  by  all.  Mr.  Fletcher  has  been 
twice  married  :  first  to  Rachel  Ruth,  on  the  19th  of  October,  1835,  who 
was  born  in  Ohio  in  1815,  and  died  on  the  15th  of  September,  1862. 
They  had  by  this  union  seven  children,  six  of  whom  are  living:  Sarah, 
Henry,  Mary  A.,  J.  W.  F.,  Armanda,  and  James  P.  The  deceased  was 
William.  He  was  then  married,  in  1864,  to  Lydia  Haworth,  who  was 
born  in  Tennessee.  Mr.  Fletcher's  father  came  to  America  in  1793, 
from  Ireland.  He  had  no  property  when  he  first  moved,  but  by  in- 
dustry, hard  labor  and  economy  has  acquired  a  good  property  of  two 
hundred  and  thirty  acres  of  fine  land.  He  has  given  considerable  prop- 
erty to  his  children.  Fie  held  at  one  time  five  hundred  and  forty  acres 
of  land.     He  is  a  republican,  and  belongs  to  the  Friends  church. 

Levi  F.  Long,  Long,  farmer,  section  31,  was  born  in  this  county,  on 
the  6th  of  August,  1838.  His  father  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  this 
county,  having  come  here  in  1833.  He  cast  his  first  vote  for  General 
Jackson,  and  his  last  for  George  B.  McClellan.  The  subject  of  this 
sketch  had  but  little  with  which  to  commence  life,  but,  by  industry, 
economy  and  hard  labor,  he  has  acquired  a  good  property  of  three  hun- 
dred and  sixty-seven  acres  of  land.  He  carries  on  farming  quite  exten- 
sively, and  raises  some  horses,  cattle  and  hogs.  Mr.  Long  was  married 
on  the  7th  of  May,  1864,  to  Martha  Keen,  who  was  born  in  Parke 
county,  Indiana,  on  the  28th  of  August,  1840.  They  are  the  parents 
of  nine  children,  seven  of  whom  are  living:  James  B.,  Sallie  B.,  Will- 
iam F.,  John  L.,  Mattie  L.,  Eva  M.  and  Josephns.  The  deceased  were 
Flora  E.  and  Gracy.  Mr.  Long  has  held  the  office  of  school  director 
ten  years,  and  overseer  of  roads  five  years.  In  politics  he  is  a  democrat, 
and  a  Presbyterian  in  religion.    His  parents  were  natives  of  Kentucky. 


ELWOOD   TOWNSHIP.  597 

Robert  Mills,  Ridge  Farm,  butcher  and  grocer,  was  born  in  England, 
in  April,  1824.  He  left  there  when  twelve  years  of  age,  and  followed 
the  sea  thirteen  years.  He  sailed  on  the  Mediterranean  sea  six  years, 
then  went  to  China,  and  after  a  time  returned  to  England.  Afterward 
he  took  a  trip  to  the  Rio  Grande,  and  then  went  to  Constantinople,  the 
capital  of  Turkey ;  from  there  to  Rasida,  then  to  Liverpool,  and  then  to 
Greenland,  whale-fishing,  for  seven  years.  After  this  he  went  back  to 
England,  thence  to  the  Spanish  Main,  thence  to  Scotland,  and  after- 
ward to  Canada,  where  he  stayed  three  years,  working  on  a  farm.  He 
came  to  this  county  in  1838,  and  settled  in  Ridge  Farm,  where  he  has 
resided  since,  being  one  of  its  first  settlers.  He  is  the  oldest  settler  now 
living  in  Rido-e  Farm.  He  was  married  in  1858  to  Rachel  Nuckles,  who 
was  born  in  Indiana  in  1833.  They  have  had  six  children  by  this  union, 
three  of  whom  are  living:  Anna,  now  wife  of  J.  Harrold,  Mary  and 
Linnie.  The  deceased  were  John  and  two  infants.  He  enlisted  in  the 
late  war,  in  1865,  in  the  150th  111.  Yol.  Inf.,  Co.  E,  and  served  one 
year  as  private,  and  was  mustered  out  at  the  close  of  the  war. 

Henry  F.  Canaday,  Ridge  Farm,  farmer,  was  born  in  this  county  on 
the  12th  of  December,  1839,  and  is  a  son  of  Frederick  Canaday,  one  of 
the  first  settlers,  and  a  man  closely  identified  with  the  early  history  of 
this  county,  and  one  who  has  done  much  to  promote  the  interest  and 
welfare  of  the  same.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  enlisted  in  the  late 
war  in  Co.  A,  25th  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  and  was  in  the  battles  of  Murfrees- 
boro,  Mission  Ridge,  Lookout  Mountain,  Buzzard's  Roost,  and  several 
other  engagements.  He  served  three  years.  On  the  26th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1875,  he  was  married  to  Maggie  S.  Canaday.  Mr.  Canaday  is 
an  industrious  business  man,  well  respected  by  all  who  know  him. 
In  politics  he  is  republican.  He  owns  120  acres  of  land  worth  $50 
per  acre. 

Jacob  Kendall,  Long,  farmer  and  stock-dealer,  section  35,  was  born 
in  Greene  county,  Ohio,  on  the  17th  of  May,  1825,  and  was  raised  to 
the  occupation  of  a  farmer.  He  came  to  this  state  in  1839,  settling  in 
this  township.  He  had  but  little  property  with  which  to  commence 
life,  but  by  industry,  economy  and  fair  dealing  he  has  acquired  a  good 
property.  Mr.  Kendall  has  been  twice  married  :  first,  on  the  23d  of 
January,  1848,  to  Elisabeth  Hall,  who  was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  and 
died  in  1852.  They  became  by  this  marriage  the  parents  of  two  chil- 
dren, now  deceased.  Mr.  Kendall  was  then  married,  on  the  21st  of 
June,  1853,  to  Catharine  Patterson,  who  was  born  in  Tennessee  in 
1829.'  They  have  six  children  by  this  union,  four  of  whom  are  living. 
The  names  of  the  living  are  Enos,  John,  Joseph  and  Jacob;  of  the 
deceased,  Ivy  and   Jennie.     Mr.  Kendall  has   held  the  office  of  road 


598  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

commissioner  one  term,  and  he  is  considered  one  of  the  solid  men  of 
Yermilion.  His  political  views  are  democratic.  He  is  a  Freemason 
and  a  Presbyterian. 

Adam  Nier,  Ridge  Farm,  inn-keeper,  was  born  in  Pickaway  county, 
Ohio,  on  the  23d  of  November,  1826,  and  was  raised  on  a  farm.  He 
was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  this  county,  coming  here  in  1840,  and 
settling  near  Georgetown.  He  came  one  half  mile  north  of  Ridge 
Farm,  and  then  to  the  Ridge  in  1876,  and  engaged  in  his  present  busi- 
ness. Mr.  Nier  was  married  in  1852  to  Mary  Padget,  who  was  born 
in  Kentucky  in  1830,  and  died  in  1864.  They  had  by  this  union  six 
children,  four  of  whom  are  living:  Alfred,  Lillie,  William  and  Addie. 
He  was  then  married  to  Nancy  Morton  in  lb67.  She  was  born  in  Ken- 
tucky in  1831. 

Richard  Mills,  Vermilion  Grove,  farmer  and  stock-dealer,  is  a  native 
of  this  county,  and  was  born  on  the  21st  of  November,  1841.  His 
father  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  this  county,  having  settled  here 
in  1822 ;  hence  he  learned  some  of  the  realities  of  pioneer  life.  He 
remained  here  until  his  death  in  1852.  The  subject  of  this  sketch 
being  the  oldest  son,  the  responsibility  rested  upon  him.  He  has 
engineered  the  farm  well  in  partnership  with  his  brother,  W.  H.  They 
handle  about  one  hundred  head  of  cattle  a  year.  They  are  young  men 
of  good  business  tact,  well  respected  in  the  neighborhood  in  which  they 
reside.  Mr.  Mills  is  a  republican  in  politics  and  a  member  of  the 
Friends  church. 

A.  H.  Thompson,  Ridge  Farm,  farmer,  section  22,  was  born  in  this 
county  on  the  9th  of  May,  1842.  He  has  been  married  four  times: 
first,  in  1860,  to  Sarah  M.  French,  who  was  born  in  Indiana  on  the  23d 
of  July,  1841,  and  died  in  1860.  He  was  then  married,  in  1861,  to 
Emily  Wright,  who  was  born  on  the  9th  of  October,  1839,  and  died 
on  the  3d  of  August,  1867.  They  had  by  this  marriage  three  children, 
two  of  whom  are  living:  James  A.  and  Sarah  M. ;  deceased,  Charley. 
He  was  then  married  to  Miss  B.  C.  Underwood,  in  1868.  She  was  born 
in  Vermilion  county,  this  state,  in  1843,  and  died  in  1870.  They  had 
by  this  union  one  child  :  John  A.  Mr.  Thompson  was  then,  in  1871, 
united  to  Emma  McMasters,  who  was  born  in  Vermilion  county,  Indi- 
ana, in  1847.  They  have  by  this  union  two  children,  Nellie  C.  and 
Mary  O.  He  is  a  republican,  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church, 
and  also  of  the  l.O. O.F. 

Samuel  V.  Long,  Long,  farmer,  section  25,  was  born  in  Nicholas 
county,  Kentucky,  on  the  11th  of  September,  1819,  and  was  raised  a 
farmer,  and  this  occupation  he  has  followed  through  life.  Soon  after 
becoming  of  age  he  drove  a  four-horse  team  to  Missouri,  and  came  to 


ELWOOD    TOWNSHIP.  599 

this  state  in  1843,  settling  where  lie  now  lives.  Mr.  Long  had  but 
forty  acres  of  land  when  he  first  married,  but  by  industry,  economy 
and  perseverance  he  has  acquired  a  good  property  of  one  hundred  and 
forty-nine  acres.  He  has  been  twice  married  :  first,  on  the  14th  of 
October,  1845,  to  Margaret  Kendall,  who  was  born  in  Ohio.  They 
had  by  this  union  eight  children,  four  living:  Jemima,  James  W., 
Charley  and  Jacob.  The  deceased  were:  Lacon,  Mary  J.,  Lena,  and 
one  infant.  Mr.  Long  was  then  married,  in  May,  1869,  to  Barbara 
Prine,  who  was  born  in  1841.  They  have  one  child  by  this  union  : 
John  C.  Mr.  Long's  parents  were  natives  of  Maryland,  and  those  of 
his  wife,  of  Ohio.     He  is  a  republican  and  a  Methodist. 

Milo  H.  Waterman,  Georgetown,  farmer  and  stock-dealer,  section 
16,  was  born  in  Vermilion  county,  Indiana,  on  the  4th  of  March,  1844, 
and  lived  in  Eugene,  Indiana,  until  thirteen  years  of  age,  going  to 
school  most  of  the  time.  He  enlisted  in  the  late  war,  first  in  Co.  E, 
115th  Ind.  Vol.  Inf.,  and  went  forward  to  defend  his  country.  He 
served  six  months,  and  reenlisted  in  1865  in  Co.  E,  140th  Ind.  Inf., 
and  served  seven  months  as  first  surgeon.  He  was  married  in  1874  to 
Mary  E.  Case,  who  was  born  in  Vermilion  county,  Indiana,  on  the 
22d  of  June,  1848.  They  have  one  child  by  this  union,  Jane  C,  born 
on  the  7th  of  September,  1875.  In  politics  he  is  a  republican.  He 
owns  three  hundred  and  thirty-seven  acres,  worth  fifty  dollars  per  acre. 

Jonah  M.  Davis,  Ridge  Farm,  dealer  in  general  merchandise,  was 
born  in  North  Carolina  on  the  2d  of  March,  1824.  He  attended  board- 
ing-school at  Gilford  one  year,  and  then  went  to  the  Bloomingdale 
Academy  one  year.  He  has  taught  about  twenty-three  schools.  He 
came  to  this  state  in  1851,  and  settled  near  Vermilion  Grove,  taking 
charge  of  the  new  seminary  of  that  place.  He  had  charge  of  this  for 
five  years,  and  came  to  the  Ridge,  where  he  commenced  the  mercantile 
business  in  1856,  and  now  carries  about  six  thousand  dollars'  worth  of 
stock,  and  is  doing  a  good  business.  Mr.  Davis  is  one  of  the  best 
citizens  of  Vermilion.  He  was  married  in  1875  to  Ella  Jenkins,  who 
was  born  in  Indiana  on  the  26th  of  March,  1848.  Politically,  Mr. 
Davis  is  a  republican.  His  parents  were  natives  of  North  Carolina. 
He  belongs  to  the  Friends  church. 

Alexander  B.  Whinrey,  Ridge  Farm,  grain  dealer  and  general  mer- 
chandise, was  born  in  Tennessee  on  the  13th  of  September,  1829,  and 
was  raised  to  the  occupation  of  a  farmer  until  eighteen  years  of  age,  at 
which  time  he  learned  the  blacksmith  trade,  which  he  followed  for 
several  years.  He  came  to  this  state  in  1852,  and  settled  in  George- 
town, where  he  remained  one  year,  and  then  came  to  Ridge  Farm  in 
1853,  where  he  has  resided  since.     Mr.  Whinrey  commenced  general 


600  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

merchandising  in  1863,  and  now  carries  a  $5,000  stock  of  goods.  He 
does  a  good  business,  and  has  been  actively  engaged  in  buying  grain 
since  1873.  Mr.  Whinrey  has  been  twice  married  in  this  county:  first, 
in  1855,  to  Elisabeth  "Rice,  who  was  born  in  this  state,  and  died  in 
1861.  They  had  one  child,  now  deceased.  II~e  was  then  married,  in 
1863,  to  Emily  P.  Weeks,  avIio,  too,  was  born  in  this  state.  They  had  by 
this  union  six  children,  three  living:  James  M.,  Ada  A.  and  Henry  J. 
Mr.  Whinrev  has  held  the  office  of  road  commissioner  one  term.  He 
is  a  republican  in  politics,  and  a  member  of  the  Friends  church. 

Henry  J.  Cole,  Ridge  Farm,  farmer  and  stock-dealer,  is  a  native  of 
this  county,  and  was  born  on  the  3d  of  January,  1853,  and  is  a  son  of 
John  and  Nancy  Cole.  His  chances  for  an  early  education  were  good, 
having  attended  Hungerford  College,  New  York,  for  six  years,  and 
was  for  a  time  a  surveyor.  His  father  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  this 
county,  having  come  to  this  state  in  1833,  settling  on  what  is  now 
known  as  the  Draper  farm,  three  miles  south  of  Danville.  He  re- 
mained there  till  1852,  at  which  time  he  moved  one  mile  west  of  Ridge 
Farm,  where  the  subject  of  this  sketch  now  lives.  John  Cole  had  but 
little  property  with  which  to  begin  life;  but  he  accumulated  until,  at 
one  time,  he  had  $100,000  worth  of  property.  The  subject  of  this 
sketch  learned  the  art  of  painting.  He  has  given  a  good  manifestation 
of  his  skill  in  that  line  by  painting  four  fine  large  pictures,  which 
adorn  his  parlor,  a  very  beautiful  one  representing  autumn  in  the 
Catskill  mountains.  Mr.  Cole  was  married  on  the  7th  of  October, 
1875,  to  Anna  A.  Healy,  who  was  born  in  New  York  on  the  1st  of 
October,  1853.  They  have  one  child,  Florence,  born  on  the  1st  of 
August,  1877.  Mr.  Cole  owns  six  hundred  and  fifty-eight  acres  of 
land  in  this  county,  and  a  dwelling  which  cost  over  $10,000. 

John  P.  Stokes,  Long,  farmer,  section  24,  was  born  in  Ohio  on  the 
25th  of  January,  1823,  and  commenced  in  his  younger  days  to  learn 
the  blacksmith  trade,  at  which  he  worked  three  years,  but  quit  on  ac- 
count of  sore  eyes.  He  then  learned  the  trade  of  a  carpenter,  and 
afterward  clerked  in  store  for  three  years.  He  came  to  state  in  1855, 
settling  four  miles  east  of  Ridge  Farm.  Of  late  years  he  has  followed 
farming.  He  owns  one  hundred  and  twentv-four  acres  of  land  worth 
forty  dollars  per  acre.  Mr.  Stokes  was  married  to  Nancy  Long  on  the 
1st  of  August,  1857.  She  was  born  in  this  county  on  the  8th  of  July, 
1836.  They  are  the  parents  of  ten  children,  seven  living:  Sallie  A., 
Jodie  C,  Charley  B.,  Lewis  H.,  Mary  E.,  Mattie  B.  and  Eddy.  The 
deceased  were  James  W.,  Samuel  V.  and  Anna  D.  Mr.  Stokes  had 
but  little  property  when  he  was  married,  but  has,  by  hard  labor,  indus- 
trv,  economy  and  good  management,  got  a  good  home.     He  is  a  man 


ELWOOD   TOWNSHIP.  601 

well   respected  by  all  who  know  him.     His  parents  were  natives  of 
Pennsylvania. 

William  Brown,  Kidge  Farm,  farmer  and  stock-dealer,  was  born  in 
Butler  county,  Ohio,  on  the  4th  of  January,  1813,  and  was  raised  to 
the  occupation  of  farmer  and  handling  stock.  He  moved  with  his 
father  to  Indiana  when  he  was  but  twelve  years  of  age,  and  came  to 
this  state  in  1856,  settling  where  he  now  resides,  in  Pilot  Grove.  He 
claims  that  he  has  made  the  most  of  his  money  by  handling  sheep,  in 
which  he  has  engaged  quite  extensively  —  he  having  at  times  as  many 
as  two  thousand.  Mr.  Brown  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  solid  men  of 
Yermilion  county.  He  was  married  on  the  20th  of  August,  1848,  to 
Elyddia  Lusk,  who  was  born  in  Parke  county,  Indiana.  They  are  the 
parents  of  eight  children,  six  living:  Solomon  L.,  Commodore,  John, 
William,  Dick,  Benjamin.  The  names  of  the  deceased  are  Samuel  and 
Adam.  Commodore  is  practicing  medicine  in  Walnut  Grove,  Edgar 
county.  Mr.  Brown's  parents  were  natives  of  Pennsylvania.  He  is 
liberal,  both  in  his  political  and  religious  views.  He  owns  two  thou- 
sand acres  of  land, —  one  thousand  acres  in  the  home  place  in  Pilot 
Grove,  three  miles  southeast  of  Ridge  Farm. 

I.  C.  Mendenhall,  Ridge  Farm,  farmer  and  minister  of  the  gospel, 
section  35,  was  born  in  Green  county,  Ohio,  on  the  25th  of  April,  1834. 
He  was  raised  a  farmer,  and  this  occupation  has  followed  through  life. 
He  came  to  this  state  with  father  in  1857.  The  subject  of  this  sketch 
was  married  in  1855  to  Margaret  Bond.  She  was  born  in  Wayne 
county,  Indiana,  in  1831.  They  are  the  parents  of  eight  children,  seven 
living:  Mary,  Ward,  Alineda,  J.,  Charles,  James,  Maggie.  The  name 
of  the  deceased  was  Albert.  Mr.  Mendenhall  is  an  ordained  minister 
of  the  Christian  or  Newlight  Church.  He  is  well  respected  in  his  com- 
munity—  practicing  what  he  preaches.  He  has  charge  of  the  church 
at  Georgetown,  and  also  Church  No.  11.  He  is  Republican  in  politics. 
Mr.  Mendenhall  owns  eighty  acres  worth  $45  per  acre. 

Jesse  Gibson,  Vermilion  Grove,  general  merchandise  and  tile  fac- 
tory, was  born  in  Washington  county,  Tennessee,  on  the  9th  of  De- 
cember, 1835,  and  was  brought  up  a  farmer,  which  occupation  he  has 
followed  through  life  until  the  last  three  years,  since  which  time  he  has 
been  engaged  in  general  merchandising  in  Vermilion  Grove.  He  car- 
ries  three  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  goods  and  does  a  good  business. 
He  owns  five  acres  of  ground  with  store-house  and  dwelling-house; 
also  one  and  a  half  acres  with  tile  factory.  He  carries  on  tile-making 
extensively,  keeping  a  good  stock  of  tiling  constantly  on  hand.  He 
has  held  the  office  of  post-master  at  Vermilion  Grove,  three  years; 
commissioner  of  highways,  two  terms.     Mr.  Gibson  was  married  in  this 


602  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

state  on  the  12th  of  September,  1859,  to  Mary  Brown,  who  was  born 
in  this  county  on  the  27th  of  April,  1839.  They  are  the  parents  of 
six  children,  five  living:  Clarenda,  Allen,  Sylvanns,  Miles  and  Ada; 
deceased,  Juletta.  He  is  a  republican,  and  a  member  of  the  Friends 
church. 

M.  A.  Harrold,  Ridge  Farm,  dealer  in  general  merchandise,  was 
born  in  Green  county,  Tennessee,  on  the  26th  of  April,  1836,  and 
learned  the  blacksmith  trade  when  3'oung,  under  his  father,  who  fol- 
lowed that  trade.  He  followed  smithing  until  four  vears  ago.  when  he 
came  to  this  place  and  commenced  mercantile  business,  and  now  car- 
ries three  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  stock  and  is  doing  a  good  business. 
He  came  to  this  state  in  1861,  and  settled  in  Ridge  Farm,  where  he  car- 
ried on  blacksmithing.  Mr.  Harrold  is  dealing  in  grain  to  some  extent. 
He  was  married  on  the  15th  of  November,  1865,  to  Mary  L.  McFar- 
lane,  who  was  born  in  Wayne  county,  Ohio.  They  are  the  parents  of 
five  children,  two  living:  Charley  and  Franklin.  The  deceased  were 
Mary,  Harrison  and  James.     His  parents  were  natives  of  Tennessee. 

Rufus  H.  Davis,  Ridge  Farm,  farmer  and  stock-dealer,  was  born 
in  Carteret  county,  North  Carolina,  and  moved  with  his  parents  to 
Indiana  when  five  years  of  age,  settling  near  Knightstown.  He  fol- 
lowed the  occupation  of  a  farmer  at  intervals  through  life.  His  chances 
for  an  education  were  good.  He  attended  Earlham  College  two  years, 
and  at  Greencastle,  Indiana,  for  the  same  length  of  time.  He 
attended  the  Quaker  boarding-school  at  Richmond,  Indiana,  one  year, 
and  has  taught  school  about  ten  years.  Mr.  Davis  taught  different 
languages  and  all  the  different  branches.  He  has  held  the  office  of 
justice  of  the  peace  four  years ;  school  trustee  four  years ;  school 
director  several  years,  and  supervisor  of  township  six  years.  He  is  not 
only  a  classical  scholar,  but  is  well  known  as  one  of  the  leading  and 
prominent  men  of  Elwood  township.  Mr.  Davis  was  married  in 
April,  1866,  to  Lydia  Hornaday,  who  was  born  in  Clinton,  Ohio,  on 
the  25th  of  December,  1835.  They  are  the  parents  of  seven  children, 
four  living:  Sherman,  John,  Alice  and  Ella;  the  deceased  were  in- 
fants. Mr.  Davis  is  a  republican  and  belongs  to  the  Friends  church. 
He  owns  four  hundred  and  thirty-five  acres  of  good  land  adjoining 
Ridge  Farm,  one  lot  with  store-house,  and  ten  other  lots  in  Ridge 
Farm. 

A.  J.  Darnall,  Ridge  Farm,  dealer  in  general  merchandise,  a  son  of 
Aaron  Darnall,  of  Edgar  county,  a  Baptist  minister  of  considerable 
note,  was  born  in  Edgar  county,  this  state,  on  the  8th  of  November, 
1833.  and  was  raised  on  a  farm.  He  followed  the  occupation  of  a 
farmer  until  twenty-three  years  of  age,  at  which  time  he  commenced 


ELWOOD   TOWNSHIP.  603 

clerking  in  a  store  in  Bloomfield,  Edgar  county.  He  followed  this 
four  years  and  bought  his  employer  out,  and  continued  there  two 
years.  He  came  to  Ridge  Farm  in  1863  and  opened  a  general  mer- 
chandise store,  which  he  still  continues.  He  carries  a  stock  of  about 
ten  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  goods,  and  by  honesty  and  fair  dealing 
he  has  established  a  reputation  that  has  given  him  a  large  trade.  He 
also  owns  two  hundred  acres  of  good  land,  a  half  interest  in  the  flouring 
mill  in  Ridge  Farm,  one  lot  with  a  dwelling  house,  and  a  lot  on  which 
is  a  store.  Mr.  Darnall  was  married  on  the  4th  of  August,  1864, 
to  Mary  E.  Fair.  They  are  the  parents  of  five  children,  three  living: 
Minnie  B.,  Harley  and  Manford.  The  deceased  were  Frank  and  one 
infant.  Mr.  Darnall  is  a  democrat  and  his  religious  views  are  liberal. 
He  belongs  to  the  A.F.  &  A.M. 

J.  C.  Pierce,  Ridge  Farm,  dealer  in  groceries  and  agricultural  im- 
plements, was  born  in  Vermilion  county,  Indiana,  on  the  1st  of  Janu- 
ary, 1840,  and  was  raised  on  a  farm.  He  enlisted  in  the  late  war  in 
1861,  in  Co.  A,  25th  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  as  private,  and  was  in  the  battles  of 
Pea  Ridge,  Chickamauga,  Atlanta  and  Peachtree  Creek.  He  reen- 
listed  on  the  3d  of  February,  1865,  in  Co.  E,  150th  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  as 
quartermaster.  He  served  until  the  1st  of  February,  1866,  and  then 
came  to  Ridge  Farm  and  commenced  the  grocery  business.  He  started 
with  about  eight  hundred  dollars'  worth  of  groceries.  He  commenced 
selling  agricultural  implements  in  1869.  Mr.  Pierce  has  held  the  office  of 
supervisor  of  township  four  years,  and  justice  of  the  peace,  which  office 
he  still  holds.  He  was  married  on  the  1st  of  November,  1864,  to 
Lydia  B.  Smith,  who  was  born  in  this  county.  They  are  the  parents 
of  five  children  :  Frank,  Mark,  Mary,  Charley  and  Terrence.  Mr. 
Pierce  is  a  mason  and  a  republican.  His  parents  were  natives  of  Penn- 
sylvania. 

John  Guffin,  Ridge  Farm,  practicing  physician,  was  born  in  Indiana 
on  the  5th  of  June,  1833,  and  was  raised  on  a  farm.  When  eighteen 
years  of  age  he  attended  college  at  Antioch  one  year,  the  North- 
western University  at  Indianapolis  two  years,  and  the  Rush  Medical 
College  one  term,  also  the  Medical  College  in  Chicago  one  term,  at  the 
expiration  of  which  he  received  a  diploma  for  the  practice  of  medicine. 
Mr.  Guffin  first  commenced  practice  in  Cla37sville,  Indiana,  and  there 
continued  two  years.  He  was  assistant  surgeon  in  the  army  of  the 
late  war.  He  came  to  Ridge  Farm  and  commenced  the  practice  of 
medicine  in  1867,  where  he  has  been  following  his  profession  ever 
since,  gaining  quite  an  extensive  practice.  Mr.  Guffin  was  married 
on  the  26th  of  April,  1867,  to  Addie  Ward,  who  was  born  in  Fayette 
county,  Indiana.     They  have  no  children.     The  doctor  is  a  Mason. 


604  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

William  Hilyard,  Ridge  Farm,  farmer,  section  21,  was  born  in 
Greene  county,  Ohio,  on  the  24th  of  October,  1842.  He  was  raised  to 
the  occupation  of  a  farmer,  which  he  has  followed  through  life.  Mr. 
Hilyard  enlisted  in  the  late  war  and  went  forward  to  battle  for  the 
Union.  He  enlisted  first,  in  1861,  in  Co.  A,  25th  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  and 
was  in  the  battles  of  Pea  Ridge,  Corinth,  and  many  others.  He  served 
three  years  and  four  months.  He  enlisted,  in  1865,  in  Co.  E,-150th  111. 
Vol.  Inf.,  as  sergeant,  and  was  soon  after  promoted  to  first-lieutenant. 
Mr.  Hilyard  was  married  on  the  8th  of  December,  1868,  to  Mary  E. 
Wall.  She  was  born  in  this  county  in  1846.  They  are  the  parents  ot 
four  children  :  Joseph  T.  and  Sam.  The  deceased  are  Rufus  W.  and 
one  infant.  His  father  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  and  his  mother, 
of  Ohio.  He  is  a  republican.  He  and  his  wife  both  belong  to  the 
Cumberland  church.  He  owns  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  worth 
sixty  dollars  per  acre,  fifty  acres  of  which  is  timber. 

William  P.  Reynolds,  Georgetown,  farmer,  section  3,  was  raised  to 
the  occupation  of  a  farmer,  and  also  learned  the  trade  of  a  mechanic,  at 
wmich  he  has  worked  at  intervals  through  life.  He  was  married  on  the 
9th  of  April,  1868,  to  Angeline  Holladay.  They  are  the  parents  of 
two  children:  Addison,  born  on  the  27th  of  February,  1870,  and  Ma- 
nervie,  born  on  the  28th  of  August,  1877.  His  parents  were  natives  of 
North  Carolina.  Mrs.  Reynolds'  parents  were  natives  of  North  Caro- 
lina and  Tennessee.  He  owns  one  hundred  and  twenty-two  acres  of 
land,  worth  $50  per  acre. 

Rev.  S.  H.  Whitlock,  Ridge  Farm,  minister  of  the  gospel,  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  was  born  in  Montgomery  county,  Ohio, 
on  the  27th  of  April,  1836,  and  at  the  age  of  eighteen  learned  the  car- 
penter trade,  at  which  he  continued  until  1863.  He  commenced  pre- 
paring for  the  ministry,  and  became  a  member  of  the  Illinois  conference 
in  1868,  since  which  time  he  has  been  constantly  engaged  in  the  min- 
istry, having  charge  of  a  circuit.  Mr.  Whitlock  is  a  minister  of  no 
small  degree  of  ability.  He  makes  a  good  impression  wherever  he 
preaches.  He  has  charge,  at  present,  of  the  Ridge  Farm  circuit.  Mr. 
Whitlock  was  married  on  the  20th  of  January,  1860,  to  Mariah  J.  Hor- 
ton,  who  was  born  in  Miami  county,  Ohio,  on  the  25th  of  April,  1842. 
They  have  by  this  union  three  children  :  Minnie,  born  on  the  29th  of 
October,  1860;  Ward  B.,  born  on  the  18th  of  June,  1862,  and  Mabel, 
born  on  the  24th  of  August,  1869.  Mr.  Whitlock  has  two  brothers 
who  are  ministers.     His  political  views  are  republican. 

A.  A.  Sulcer,  Ridge  Farm,  pl^sician,  was  born  in  Butler  county, 
Ohio,  on  the  28th  of  February,  1839,  and  remained  on  the  farm  until 
eighteen  years  of  age,  at  which  time  he  commenced  the  study  of  medi- 


ELWOOD   TOWNSHIP.  605 

cine.  He  attended  Rush  Medical  College  two  terms,  at  the  expiration 
of  which  time  lie  received  a  diploma  for  the  practice  of  medicine.  He 
was  assistant  surgeon  in  the  113th  111.  Vol.  Inf.  three  years,  where  he 
had  occasion  frequently  to  perform  amputations  both  of  the  upper  and 
lower  extremities.  He  came  back  from  the  army  and  practiced  in 
Catlin  a  few  months;  then  went  to  Danville  and  there  practiced  three 
years.  He  came  to  the  Ridge  in  1869,  where  he  has  been  practicing 
since.  Mr.  Solcer  has  had  an  extensive  practice,  attended  with  remark- 
able good  success.  He  was  married  on  the  12th  of  January,  1870,  to 
Mary  J.  Duncan,  who  was  born  in  this  county.  The  Doctor  is  a  repub- 
lican, and  in  his  religious  views  he  is  a  liberal.  Mrs.  S ulcer  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Friends  church. 

J.  H.  Banta,  Ridge  Farm,  grain  merchant,  owns  ten  lots  in  Ridge 
Farm,  four  of  which  have  good  dwellings  on  ;  also  owns  a  half  interest 
in  the  mill  in  Ridge  Farm.  He  was  born  in  Boone  county,  Kentucky, 
on  the  14th  of  August,  1831,  and  spent  his  early  days  on  a  farm.  He 
came  to  this  state  in  1852,  and  settled  in  this  county.  He  tanned  until 
1869,  at  which  time  he  came  to  Ridge  Farm  and  opened  a  dry-goods 
store  in  connection  with  J.  Darnall,  for  eighteen  months.  He  con- 
tinued merchandising  until  the  fall  of  1872,  when  he  commenced  buy- 
ing grain,  in  which  business  he  has  been  actively  engaged  since.  In 
1872  he  built  the  elevator.  He  is  at  present  in  partnership  with  A.  B. 
Whinrey ;  is  a  thorough  business  man.  Mr.  Banta  has  in  his  possession 
a  very  ancient  relic,  in  shape  of  a  shot-pouch,  an  article  which  his 
grandfather,  who  came  from  Prussia,  carried.  Mr.  Banta  was  married 
in  Kentucky,  in  1851,  to  Mary  J.  Russell,  who  was  born  in  this  state 
in  1831.  They  have  had  eight  children,  seven  living:  James  A., 
Nancy  E.,  William  F.,  Margaret  E.,  Anna,  Andrew  J.,  and  John  H. 
The  deceased  was  Sally.  He  is  a  charter  member  of  the  Masons.  His 
political  views  are  democratic,  and  in  religion  he  is  liberal. 

John  Bolden,  Ridge  Farm,  blacksmith,  was  born  in  Kentucky,  on 
the  3d  of  March,  1836,  and  learned  the  blacksmith  trade  when  young. 
He  was  married  on  the  6th  of  February,  1865.  His  wife  was  born  in 
Montgomery  county,  Virginia,  in  1846.  They  are  the  parents  of  seven 
children,  four  living:  Laura  A.,  Girdner  C  Gr.,  Vinna  A.  and  John 
H.  W.  The  deceased  were  Manena  J.,  Charley  E.  and  Dealy.  He 
came  to  this  state  in  1870,  and  settled  in  Ridge  Farm.  He  has  here 
established  a  good  reputation  as  an  honest  workman  and  good  citizen, 
and  is  well  respected  by  all.  He  owns  two  town  lots  in  Ridge  Farm, 
on  one  of  which  is  a  dwelling,  and  also  a  half  interest  in  a  blacksmith 
shop  and  lot.     This  property  he  has  earned  lyy  his  hard  labor,  having 


606  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

been  a  slave  until  the  Emancipation  Proclamation,  and  worked  all  his 
early  days  for  his  master,  under  the  unjust  institution  of  slavery. 

Abraham  Holaday,  Ridge  Farm,  physician,  was  born  in  Parke  county, 
Indiana,  on  the  2d  of  March,  1833,  and  followed  the  occupation  of  a 
farmer  until  twenty-six  years  of  age.  He  attended  the  Academy  at 
Bloomingdale  under  Professor  Hobbs  for  four  years,  the  Rush  Medical 
College  two  sessions,  and  the  Long  Island  College  during  regular 
course,  when  he  received  a  diploma  for  the  practice  of  medicine.  He 
commenced  the  practice  in  1862,  and  has  followed  his  profession  con- 
stantly ever  since.  He  came  to  Ridge  Farm,  his  present  location,  in 
1870.  The  Doctor  has  had  a  good  practice,  and  it  has  been  attended 
with  excellent  success.  He  has  been  twice  married  :  first  on  the  21st 
of  October,  1857,  to  Agatha  Outland,  who  was  born  in  1839,  and  is 
now  deceased.  Mr.  Holaday  was  then  married,  in  1862,  to  Martha 
Henderson,  who  was  born  in  Vermilion  count}',  this  state,  February, 
1839.  They  had  by  this  union  nine  children,  seven  living:  Effie  E., 
Mary  A.  Sarkie,  Myrtilla  M.,  Samuel  A.,  Anna  B.,  William  and 
Thomas.  The  name  of  the  deceased  is  Adaline.  The  Doctor  is  an  Odd 
Fellow  and  a  Freemason.  He  is  a  republican,  and  his  religious  views 
are  liberal. 

G.  R.  Steele,  Ridge  Farm,  practicing  physician,  was  born  in  Put- 
nam county,  Ohio,  on  the  1st  of  October,  1848,  and  came  to  this  state 
in  1861.  He  settled  in  Edgar  county,  and  for  three  years  studied 
medicine  under  Dr.  Miller,  of  Paris,  Edgar  county.  He  attended  two 
courses  of  lectures  at  the  Miami  College,  at  the  expiration  of  which 
time  he  received  a  diploma  for  the  practice  of  medicine.  Mr.  Steele 
commenced  the  practice  of  medicine  in  Paris  in  the  spring  of  1875,  and 
continued  one  year.  He  then  practiced  one  year  in  Fairmount,  after 
which  lie  came  to  Ridge  Farm.  The  Doctor  has  had  quite  an  extensive 
practice  attended  with  good  success.  He  was  married  on  the  21st  of 
October,  1872.  His  wife  was  born  in  Edgar  county,  this  state,  on  the 
17th  of  October,  1853.  Mr.  Steele  is  a  member  of  the  A.F.  &  A.M., 
and  his  political  views  are  republican. 

John  Q.  Hoskins,  Vermilion  Grove,  minister  of  the  Friends  church, 
was  born  in  North  Carolina  in  1829,  where  he  remained  until  fifteen 
years  of  age.  He  moved,  with  his  parents,  to  the  state  of  Indiana  in 
1844,  where  he  resided  until  1872.  He  spent  his  early  days  farming, 
and  was  ordained  a  minister  of  the  Friends  church  in  1868.  He  has 
been  constantly  engaged  in  the  ministry  since,  and  is  quite  an  active 
laborer  in  the  cause.  He  is  a  man  of  considerable  ability  as  a  minister. 
Mr.  Hoskins  has  been  twice  married :  first  in  October,  1852,  to  Serem 
Siler,  now  deceased.     She  was  born  in  Parke  county,  Indiana,  in  1834. 


ELWOOD   TOWySHTP.  607 

They  had  by  this  union  four  children,  three  living:  Julia  S.,  Ella, 
George.  The  name  of  the  deceased  is  Laura.  Mr.  Iloskins  was  then 
married,  in  1865,  to  Elizabeth  Mendenhall,  who  was  born  in  Henry 
county,  Indiana,  in  1839.  They  have  three  children  by  this  union: 
Charley,  Emma  and  Alice.  Mr.  Iloskins'  parents  were  natives  of 
North  Carolina.     lie  is  a  republican  in  politics. 

W.  N.  Barkley,  Ridge  Farm,  telegraph  operator  and  express  and 
freight  agent,  was  born  in  Edgar  county,  Illinois,  on  the  13th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1S48.  His  father  died  when  he  was  but  twelve  years  of  age, 
and  he  was  then  left  to  the  care  of  his  mother.  He  acquired  a  pretty 
good  education  by  working  on  the  farm  in  summer  and  attending  school 
in  the  winter.  He  attended  the  high  school  at  Westfield,  Clark  county, 
this  state,  for  two  years,  and  then  the  school  at  Bloomfield,  Edgar 
county.  He  clerked  in  a  store  a  short  time,  and  afterward  went  in 
partnership  with  Mr.  Boles  in  a  drug  store,  where  he  remained  two 
years.  After  this  he  went  into  the  dry-goods  business,  and  in  eighteen 
months  came  to  Ridge  Farm.  In  1872  he  went  in  the  lumber  trade, 
starting  the  first  lumber  yard  in  the  place.  He  continued  this  one 
year.  While  in  the  lumber  trade  Mr.  Barkley  learned  telegraphy, 
and  was  soon  after  employed  as  operator  at  this  place,  which  position 
he  still  holds.  He  is  also  employed  as  express  and  freight  agent.  He 
has  been  twice  married  :  first,  in  1870,  to  Sarah  Porter,  who  was  born 
in  Edgar  county  in  1852.  They  had  one  child,  deceased.  Mr. 
Barkley  was  then  married  to  Naomi  E.  Banta  in  1874.  She  was  born 
in  this  county  in  1854.  They  have  by  this  union  two  children:  Harry 
C.  and  Ethel  N.  He  has  held  the  office  of  collector,  town  clerk,  and 
is  a  Freemason,  a  democrat  and  a  Methodist. 

A.  P.  Saunders,  Ridge  Farm,  general  merchandise  and  grain-dealer, 
was  born  in  what  was  then  Wirt  county,  Virginia,  on  the  7th  of  April, 
1850,  and,  his  father  being  a  farmer,  was  raised  to  that  occupation  until 
the  age  of  sixteen,  at  which  time  he  commenced  clerking  in  a  store. 
Although  he  did  not  have  a  good  chance  to  get  an  education,  by 
occupying  leisure  hours  in  home  study  he  managed  to  acquire  sufficient 
to  enable  him  to  carry  on  business.  He  came  to  this  state  in  1874,  and 
opened  out  his  present  general  merchandise  store  in  Ridge  Farm,  where  he 
carries  about  fifteen  hundred  dollars'  worth  of  stock.  He  is  doing  good 
business,  and  is  also  engaged  in  the  grain  trade.  Mr.  Saunders  was 
married  on  the  25th  of  April,  1877,  to  Ada  Lewis,  who  was  born  in 
this  state  in  1856.  He  belongs  to  the  A.F.  &  A.M..  and  his  political 
views  are  democratic. 

A.  W.  Mendenhall,  Ridge  Farm,  dentist,  was  born  in  Butler  county, 
Ohio,  on  the  12th  of  November,  1834,  and  came  to  this  state  in  1877, 


608  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

settling  in  Ridge  Farm.  He  received,  while  young,  a  good  education, 
which  he  has  applied  in  the  way  of  school-teaching,  commencing  at  the 
age  of  nineteen  years.  He  has  taught  about  fifteen  terms  of  six  months 
each.  Mr.  Mendeuhall  learned  the  trade  of  dentistry  in  1868,  which 
occupation  he  has  successfully  followed  since.  He  is  a  good  workman, 
as  well  as  a  straightforward,  upright  business  man,  well  respected  by 
all  who  know  him.  He  has  been  twice  married:  first, [on  the  22d  of 
September,  1858,  to  Sarah  Jay.  She  was  born  in  1834,  and  died  in 
1873.  They  had  by  this  union  five  children,  one  living:  Eva  L.  The 
names  of  the  deceased  are :  Mary,  Emma,  Alice  E.  and  Anna  C.  He 
was  then  married  on  the  6th  of  July,  1876.  His  wife  was  born  in 
Indiana  on  the  23d  [of  February,  1841.  They  have  by  this  union  one 
child :  William,  born  on  the  10th  of  May,  1879.  Mr.  Mendeuhall  is  a 
republican,  and  hejand  his  wife  both  belong  to  the  Friends  church. 

W.  R.  Nash,  Ridge  Farm,  physician,  was  born  in  Hendricks  county, 
Indiana,  on  the  12th  of  May,  1841.  His  father  died  when  he  was  but 
five  years  old,  and  his  mother,  when  he  was  twelve  years  of  age.  He 
followed  the  occupation  of  a  farmer  until  the  war  broke  out,  when  he 
enlisted,  [on  the  1st  of  June,  1861,  in  Co.  D,  25th  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  as 
private,  and  served  three  years.  He  was  in  the  battles  of  Pea  Ridge, 
Corinth,  Perryville,  Stone  River,  Chickamauga,  Lookout  Mountain, 
Nashville,  and  then  the  one  steady  fight  from  Chattanooga  to  Atlanta, 
he  receiving  in  all  these  but  a  flesh-wound.  Soon  after  the  close  of  the 
war  he  commenced  the  study  of  medicine :  first,  under  P.  T.  Cellers, 
for  two  years,  and  then  he  attended  the  Surgical  Institute  at  Indian- 
apolis for  two  years,  and  afterward,  several  different  courses  of  lectures 
at  different  colleges.  He  graduated  on  the  27th  of  February.  1877, 
received  a  diploma  for  practicing  medicine,  and  came  to  the  "  Ridge  " 
on  the  1st  of  April,  1877,  where  he  has  been  practicing  since.  Mr. 
Nash  has  been  practicing  at  intervals  for  several  years,  meeting  with 
quite  an  extensive  practice.  He  was  married  on  the  14th  of  May, 
1865,  to  Ruth  J.  Coy,  who,  too,  was  born  in  Hendricks  county,  Indi- 
ana, They  have  by  this  union  one  child  :  Effie  E.,  born  on  the  8th  of 
August,  1866.  Both  of  their  parents  were  natives  of  Kentucky.  He 
is  a  republican  ;  in  his  religion  he  is  liberal. 

Isaac  T.  Hunt,  Long,  general  merchandise,  was  born  in  Parke 
county,  Indiana,  on  the  30th  of  March,  1856,  and  was  raised  a  farmer 
until  the  age  of  seventeen,  at  which  time  he  commenced  clerking  in  a 
store.  He  attended  Waverly  College  for  one  term,  and  also  the  Bloom- 
ingdale  Academy  for  a  time.  He  is  a  young  man  of  good  habits  and 
good  business  tact,  and  we  may  safely  predict  for  him  success  in  busi- 
ness.    He  came  to  this  state  in  April,  1879,  opening  out  a  general 


CATLIN   TOWNSHIP.  609 

merchandise  store  at  Bethel,  on  the  state  line,  in  the  southeast  corner 
of  Vermilion  county.  He  has  a  good  stock  of  goods,  and  is  doing  a 
good  business.  Mr.  Hunt  was  married  in  Indiana  on  the  ]st  of  June, 
1879,  to  Dora  Towell.  She  was  born  in  Illinois  on  the  10th  of  October, 
1861.     Mr.  Hunt  is  a  republican,  and  is  deputy  postmaster  at  Long. 


CATLIN  TOWNSHIP. 

Catlin  occupies  the  center  of  the  southern  half  of  the  county,  and 
is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Oakwood  and  Danville,  on  the  east  by 
Danville  and  Georgetown,  on  the  south  by  Georgetown  and  Carroll, 
and  on  the  west  by  Vance  townships,  and  received  its  name  from  the 
station  on  the  railroad,  which  was  named  from  one  of  the  officers  of 
the  road.  It  embraces  all  of  the  nortli  half  of  town  18,  range  12;  six 
sections  off  the  east  side  of  the  north  half  of  town  18,  range  13 ;  all 
but  section  19  of  the  south  half  of  town  19,  range  12;  four  sections 
out  of  the  southeast  corner  of  town  19,  range  13,  and  a  section  and  a 
half  lying  out  by  itself  north  of  the  salt  works,  which  ought  to  be 
anchored  somewhere,  or  it  is  liable  to  get  lost  one  of  these  days ; 
making  in  all  somewhat  more  than  a  full  congressional  towmship  and 
a  quarter.  The  Salt  Fork  runs  along  its  northern  border,  having  along 
its  banks  a  belt  of  excellent  timber,  varying  from  a  mile  to  a  mile  and 
a  half  in  width.  The  "  points  "  made  by  these  elbows  of  timber  ex- 
tending out  into  the  prairie,  chief  among  which  was  Butler's  Point, 
were  a  principal  attraction  to  the  early  settlers.  The  old  salt  works, 
(which  is  fully  written  up  in  its  proper  place)  drew  in  the  first  settlers, 
which,  though  not  really  lying  in  its  present  territory,  was  so  close  by, 
that  that  portion  of  Catlin  township  was  known  first  of  any  locality  in 
the  county,  and  long  before  Danville  was  dreamed  of.  Its  first  selec- 
tion by  the  authorized  commission  as  the  proper  place  for  the  county 
seat  was  not  due  so  much  as  some  suppose  to  its  being  the  geograph- 
ical center  of  the  county,  for  it  was  not.  The  county  at  that  time 
extended  to  the  lake,  and  its  geographical  center  was  not  far  from  the 
thriving  city  of  Kankakee.  While  the  geographical  center  of  the 
county,  by  its  present  limits,  is  exactly  six  miles  north  of  the  locality 
indicated  (being  on  section  21,  a  little  north  of  the  original  settlement 
of  Mr.  Blount,  whose  name  was  given  to  that  township),  its  selection 
was  made  on  account  of  its  being  central  to  the  population  then  here, 
and  those  whom  it  was  then  believed  would  in  future  occupy  the 
county.  The  state  road,  from  Crawfordsville,  Indiana,  to  Decatur, 
39 


610  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

runs  through  the  town,  keeping  along  where  the  prairie  line  broke 
away  from  the  timber,  midway  between  the  railroad  and  the  stream. 
Along  this  road  on  either  side  are  situated  some  of  the  finest  farms  in 
the  town,  and  which  have  few  superiors  in  the  county.  These  were  of 
course  the  first  to  be  brought  into  cultivation,  and  it  was  many  years 
after  that  those  on  the  prairie  south  of  the  railroad  were  settled.  The 
township  was  laid  off  from  Danville,  Vance,  Carroll  and  Georgetown 
in  1858.  This  was  after  the  railroad  was  built,  and  after  the  station 
had  been  sometime  known  as  Catlin. 

The  railroad  was  one  of  the  first  chartered  in  the  state.  At  the 
time  the  legislature  thought,- — an  opinion  which  the  people  at  large 
shared,  —  that  all  that  was  necessary  to  develop  the  state  was  to  make 
a  liberal  shower  of  railroad  charters,  and  a  system  of  state  improve- 
ments was  inaugurated  which,  for  extent,  has  never  been  equaled  by 
any  state  in  America.  Of  the  lines  which  were  chartered,  this  one, 
known  as  the  "Northern  Cross-road,"  was  commenced  and  considera- 
ble work  done  on  it  before  the  crash  of  1837  stopped  all  undertakings 
and  burst  every  financial  bnbble  in  the  country.  This  road  was  act- 
ually graded  from  Danville  nearl}'  or  quite  through  this  town;  the 
abutments  were  built  and  the  timbers  hewn  to  build  the  bridges  before 
the  compan}T  failed  and  left  their  contractors  unpaid  and  laborers  with- 
out a  dollar.  It  was  a  serious  time  for  the  men  who  had  undertaken 
to  do  this  job.  From  the  height  of  financial  hopes  in  1836,  when  it 
looked  as  though  every  one  was  going  to  get  rich,  and  the  country 
develop  at  once  into  a  great  agricultural  and  commercial  empire,  to 
the  deep  despondency  of  1837,  when  all  business  stopped  and  no  one 
could  get  pay  for  what  he  had  done,  or  a  hope  for  anything  in  the 
future,  with  what  money  there  was  next  to  worthless  and  the  state 
itself  bankrupt,  was  a  step  from  the  brightest  day  to  the  darkest  night. 
Men  who  were  supposed  to  be,  and  who  really  were,  rich  yesterday  ? 
were  bankrupt  to-day.  The  state  of  Illinois,  while  it  never  in  fact 
repudiated  its  debt,  could  not  provide  the  interest,  and  for  nineteen 
years  was  in  default;  yet  the  entire  debt  was  less  than  the  annual 
taxes  now  raised  in  the  state.  The  Northern  Cross  railroad  got  no 
farther  at  this  end  of  the  route  than  the  grading  of  a  few  miles  of  its 
road,  but  from  Springfield  to  the  Illinois  River  was  finished,  as  rail- 
road builders  understood  the  matter  in  those  days,  and  a  kind  of  a 
locomotive  was  purchased  that  actually  run  on  the  old  strap-rail  track, 
drawing  a  few  cars  nearly  as  fast  as  a  hen  could  run.  It  fell  off  into 
the  ditch  one  day,  and  the  officials  seemed  to  lack  the  knowledge,  or 
the  wish,  to  put  it  on  the  track  again  and  put  on  a  pair  of  fleet-footed 
mules  to  do  the  locomotive  work.     The  timbers  which  were  hewn  for 


CATLIJST   TOWNSHIP.  611 

bridges  were  carried  off  by  men  to  build  log  houses,  and  nothing  re- 
mained bnt  a  bank  of  earth  and  a  load  of  debt.  Later,  when  railroad- 
building  was  again  revived,  a  company  was  formed  which  built  the 
Great  Western  road  on  the  same  line,  using  this  grade  as  far  as  it  was 
made. 

Along  the  southern  line  of  the  township  is  a  high  elevation  of  land, 
which  forms  the  "divide"  between  the  Salt  Fork  and  the  Little  Ver- 
milion. All  the  land  of  the  town  sheds  toward  the  Salt  Fork,  except 
a  small  portion  on  the  extreme  southern  edge.  As  early  as  1850  all 
the  portion  north  of  the  railroad  had  been  brought  into  cultivation  ; 
the  Sandusky  farm  had  been  improved,  and  the  large  brick  house  at 
the  mound  south  of  the  village  of  Catlin  had  been  built.  Following 
the  building  of  the  road,  all  the  land  along  its  line  was  taken  up  by 
eastern  speculators,  and  settlers  found  it  to  their  advantage  to  go 
farther  south  to  get  cheaper  lands.  Ity  1858  all  this  land  southwest 
of  the  station  was  taken  and  made  into  farms. 

The  point  of  timber  running  out  into  the  prairie  west  of  the  present 
village  of  Catlin  was  the  place  of  the  first  settlement,  and  is  historic. 
It  was  called  Butler's,  from  James  Butler,  who  was  the  first  settler, 
and  in  the  course  of  time  the  whole  settlement  came  to  be  known  by 
that  name,  and  continued  to  be  so  called  until  the  railroad  officials 
called  the  name  of  their  station  here  Catlin. 

James  Butler  came  from  Vermont  in  1820.  Before  the  county  was 
organized  it  was  a  part  of  Edgar  county,  and  the  people  here  at  an 
early  day  found  Paris  the  most  convenient  place  for  trade,  and  had  to 
go  there  for  their  official  business.  Butler,  Elliot,  Whitcomb  and 
Woodin  were  the  first  to  live  here,  and  all  performed  important  parts 
in  the  early  matters  which  transpired  here.  Mrs.  Stansbury,  who  is 
now  the  oldest  inhabitant  of  the  township,  and  whose  memory  is  good 
in  regard  to  affairs  here,  has  placed  the  writer  under  many  obligations 
for  valuable  information.  She  says  that  in  publications  in  regard  to 
early  matters,  the  names  of  prominent  actors  have  been  mixed  up. 
The  first  county  commissioners'  courts  were  held  at  the  house  of  James 
Butler,  he  being  one  of  the  commissioners.  It  was  here  that  the  com- 
mission which  had  been  appointed  by  the  legislature  to  locate  the 
county  seat  made  its  report  to  the  county  commissioners,  wherein  they 
reported  in  favor  of  locating  it  on  the  high  bluff  south  of  the  salt 
works.  Some  persons,  who  thought  the  commissioners  did  not  know 
their  business,  reported  around  that  folks  could  never  get  water  up 
there,  and  a  new  commission  was  appointed,  which  decided  on  Danville. 

Mrs.  Stansbury  gives  the  following  circumstantial  account  of  the 
first  marriages  which  occurred  in  this  county  before  it  was  organized, 


til 2  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

which  differs  considerably  from  the  published  account,  but  which  she 
knows  to  be  correct.  Cyrus  Douglas  had  made  up  his  mind  to  marry 
Ruby  Bloss,  and  she  was  willing,  but  a  troublesome  brother-in-law, 
Mr.  Denio,  objected.  After  the  plan  was  well  matured,  Douglas  went 
to  Paris  and  got  the  license,  and  bought  a  pair  of  shoes  for  Ruby,  for 
he  objected  to  marrying  her  bare-footed,  —  not  that  he  cared  so  much 
about  shoes,  but  he  thought  a  decent  regard  for  public  sentiment  ought 
to  be  maintained,  and  he  hated  to  have  it  said  that  the  first  girl  mar- 
ried in  this  community  had  to  go  to  her  own  wedding  barefooted.  He 
hid  the  shoes  at  Mr.  Woodin's  house,  and  she  got  away  from  her  unsus- 
picious brother-in-law,  came  to  Woodin's,  put  on  her  new  shoes  (her 
other  necessary  dry  goods  were  on  before  coming  there),  which  she  de- 
clared were  "  a  mile  too  big,"  and  walked  to  'Squire  Treat's,  where  the 
ceremony  was  performed.  They  then  went  to  Mr.  Butler's  house. 
Marcus  Snow  was  married  the  same  day  to  Annis  Butler,  and  the  two 
newly  married  couples  met  at  Mr.  Butler's  that  evening.  Douglas  was 
a  hatter  by  trade,  and  went  to  Yankee  Point  and  commenced  business. 
He  and  Mr.  Snow  both  bought  farms  there,  and  each  raised  quite  a 
family  of  children.  Mr.  Snow  and  Mrs.  Douglas  dying  a  few  years 
since,  the  relicts  of  each  intermarried,  and  now  live  happily  at  Fairmount. 
Asa  Elliott,  who  was  the  first  justice  of  the  peace  in  the  county, 
came  here  to  live  at  Butler's  Point  in  1822.  He  was  a  man  of  good 
business  capacity,  and  a  successful  man.  It  was  at  his  house  that  the 
first  circuit  court  was  held.  The  house  was  situated  about  one  fourth 
of  a  mile  from  the  west  line  of  Catliu  village.  He  had  a  log  house, 
which  is  now  used  by  Hon.  J.  H.  Oakwood  for  a  stable,  and  was  build- 
ing a  larger  one  when  the  court  came  in  on  him  rather  unexpectedly, 
before  it  was  completed.  It  stood  near  where  Betty  Sandusky  now 
lives.  The  floor  had  not  yet  been  placed  in,  and  the  attendants  on 
court  sat  on  the  floor  timbers  for  seats;  there  being  no  cellar  under  the 
house,  they  made  very  comfortable  seats.  A  story  is  told,  which,  it  is 
well  to  say,  lacks  confirmation,  that  Abraham  Lincoln,  who  a  few  years 
later  than  this  date  was  in  the  habit  of  practicing  in  this  court,  came 
along  to  see  how  matters  were  going  on,  and  found  the  court  sitting  on 
one  of  the  sleepers,  paring  his  toe-nails;  while  standing  around  (for 
his  legs  were  too  long  for  him  to  sit  with  any  comfort  on  the  floor 
timbers),  the  bailiff  came  in  and  reported  to  the  court  that  he  had  got 
six  of  the  grand  jury  securely  chained,  and  the  hounds  were  chasing 
the  others  through  the  adjoining  timber.  Mr.  Lincoln,  who  had  not 
yet  got  used  to  that  way  of  serving  processes,  climbed  up  a  tree  near 
by,  and  sat  a-straddle  of  a  safe  limb  until  they  called  off  the  dogs. 
James  Butler  died  here,  and  his  son  afterward  sold  the  farm  to  Mr. 


CATLIN   TOWNSHIP.  613 

Sandusky  and  moved  to  Kansas.  Mrs.  Stansbury,  who  at  that  time 
was  plain  Jane  Woodin,  came  here  to  the  salt  works  in  1824.  Francis 
Whitcomb  and  John  Vance  were  then  carrying  on  the  salt  business. 
Mr.  Woodin  was  a  cooper,  and  was  at  work  at  his  trade  there.  He 
worked  there  three  years  and  then  entered  four  hundred  acres  of  land 
near  Catlin,  which  is  now  owned  by  Charles  Gones.  At  that  time 
Paris  was  the  place  of  trade  and  milling,  but  afterward  they  used  to  go 
to  Eugene.  They  took  their  produce  to  Hubbard  and  other  traders, 
and  took  their  furs  to  Lafayette,  where  they  could  always  get  cash  for 
them.  Mr.  Woodin  kept  boarders  for  $1.50  per  week.  At  that  time 
salt  sold  for  $1.50  per  bushel.  Mrs.  Stansbury  went  to  Danville  once 
to  a  party.  There  was  only  one  house  on  the  road,  at  the  head  of  the 
Froman  hollow.  Dan  Beckwith  was  keeping  bachelor's  hall  at  D., 
and  was  very  attentive  to  the  party  which  had  done  his  new  town  the 
honor  of  a  visit. 

The  first  school  that  was  kept  here  was  taught  by  Hiram  Ticknor, 
just  south  of  where  Thomas  Keeney  now  lives.  The  children  from  the 
salt  works  had  to  go  three  miles  to  this  school.  Pie  was  a  good  teacher, 
and  put  his  fifteen  scholars  through  readin',  'ritin'  and  'rithmetic  in  a 
satisfactory  way. 

The  first  meetings  were  held  at  the  house  of  Asa  Elliott.  Father 
Kingsbury,  who  came  here  to  preach  to  the  Indians,  occasionally 
preached  for  the  people  at  the  salt  works.  The  first  Sabbath-school  in 
the  county  was  established  by  the  Methodists  at  Mr.  Elliott's,  probably 
about  1836.  Mr.  Woodin  died  here  in  1837.  Of  ten  children,  only 
four  are  living.  Mrs.  Stansbury  and  Mrs.  Price  live  in  this  county. 
When  the  first  court  was  held  at  Elliott's,  Mrs.  Stanbury  went  over  to 
help  Mrs.  Elliott  to  do  the  house-work. 

Francis  Whitcomb  was  for  several  years  engaged  in  the  salt  works. 
He  came  there  in  1821.  He  afterward  took  up  the  farm  which  Rich- 
ard Jones  lived  on.  He  worked  this  farm  for  several  years,  and  sold 
it  to  Henry  Jones,  and  went  to  McLean  county,  and  lived  on  the 
Kickapoo,  seven  miles  this  side  of  Bloomington,  where  some  of  his 
family  still  reside. 

Amos  Williams,  from  Pennsylvania,  lived  here  at  Butler's  Point 
a  short  time.  He  was  the  first  county  clerk  after  the  county  was  or- 
ganized, and  had  been  a  teacher  and  surveyor,  and  county  clerk  of 
Edgar  county  before.  He  was  a  man  of  most  accurate  habits.  The 
records  show  more  in  his  favor  than  any  other  pen  can  tell.  He  was 
circuit  clerk,  probate  justice  of  the  peace,  poundmaster,  postmaster  at 
Danville,  and  may  have  held  all  the  other  offices  too.  He  helped  to 
survey  out  the  town,  and  was  almost  the  first  to  become  interested  in 


614  HISTORY    OF   YERMILIOX    COUNTY. 

having  good  schools.  He  was  a  competent  surveyor,  a  thorough 
teacher,  a  natural  clerk.  If  he  could  not  do  everything,  it  is  evident 
that  he  did  everything  well  which  he  undertook  to  do  at  all,  which  is 
better.     He  died  in  1857,  and  his  children  still  reside  in  Danville. 

John  Payne,  the  father  of  a  family  that  has  since  the  very  first  his- 
tory of  the  county  been  an  important  factor  in  its  affairs,  came  from 
Orange  county,  New  York,  to  Indiana,  and  from  there  here,  in  1827, 
and  took  up  land  where  the  Poor  Farm  now  is,  in  section  21.  His 
family  all  came  with  him,  and  for  some  time  lived  around  him  here. 
He  was  a  man  of  great  force  of  character,  with  strong  will  and  energy, 
and  he  soon  made  himself  felt  in  the  affairs  of  the  new  county.  Late 
in  life  he  sold  out  here  and  went  to  Livingston  county,  where  two  of 
his  sons  resided,  and  died  there  about  1864.  He  left  a  family  of  nine 
children,  who  have  long  been  known  as  among  the  most  enterprising 
and  public-spirited  citizens.  His  son  Peter  went  to  California.  William 
Milton  was  at  one  time  sheriff  of  Yermilion  county,  and  now  resides 
in  Danville.  Captain  Morgan  L.  Payne,  another  son,  who  has  recently 
died  in  Livingston  county,  has  left  a  record  of  which  any  man  or  fam- 
ily might  well  feel  proud.  He  raised  a  company  here  for  the  Black- 
hawk  war,  and  marched  at  its  head  to  the  relief  of  the  beleaguered 
citizens  on  Fox  River.  He  owned  a  farm  here,  and  during  the  era  of 
railroad  building,  in  1836,  took  a  large  contract  of  grading  the  North- 
ern Cross  road  through  this  township.  By  the  failure  of  the  company 
he  was  ruined  and  went  to  Texas,  hoping  to  recover  his  fortunes.  At 
the  breaking  out  of  the  war  with  Mexico,  he  commanded  a  company, 
doing  good  service  until  the  expiration  of  his  term  of  enlistment,  when 
he  returned  to  his  former  home  in  Indiana  to  raise  another  company. 
The  close  of  hostilities  occurring  before  he  could  accomplish  his  desire, 
he  again  engaged  in  farming  and  removed  to  Livingston  county,  in  this 
state.  At  the  breaking  out  of  the  rebellion  he  raised  a  company  which 
did  gallant  service  in  defending  the  old  Hag.  He  again  engaged  in 
farming,  and  later,  while  keeping  hotel  in  Pontiac,  lost  all  by  a  fire, 
and  when  seventy  years  old  served  as  constable  and  deputy  sheriff  to 
earn  an  honest  living,  until  stricken  with  disease,  which  proved  fatal. 
He  was  a  man  of  most  intense  patriotism,  and  showed  it  by  gallant 
heroism  in  three  wars,  and  never  lagged  when  duty  called.  An  inci- 
dent which  occurred  is  so  characteristic  of  the  two  principal  actors  that 
it  is  recorded  here:  While  engaged  in  grading  the  railroad  in  Catlin,  a 
dispute  arose  with  a  Mr.  Frazier  in  regard  to  his  right  to  cross  the 
latter's  land,  Mr.  Frazier  claiming  that  he  was  a  trespasser  in  going  on 
his  land  to  grade  the  road.  The  result  was  a  fight,  in  which  the 
pluck  and  fighting  qualities   of   both  participants   were  pretty   fully 


CATLIN   TOWNSHIP.  615 

tested.  After  a  most  fearful  contest,  in  which  the  captain  seemed  to 
be  the  victor,  a  contest  in  the  court  followed,  which  created  a  good 
deal  of  interest.  Mr.  Lincoln  was  at  Danville,  attending  court,  and 
became  much  interested  in  the  matter,  and  could  not  but  admire  the 
pluck  of  the  captain,  who  contested  his  case  as  stoutly  in  court  as  he 
had  on  the  field.  While  he  was  serving  in  the  rebellion  he  was  home 
on  furlough,  and  not  getting  back  on  time  was  mustered  out  of 
service.  This  was  not  what  he  had  gone  to  war  for,  and  he  set  about 
getting  the  order  mustering  him  out  set  aside.  Procuring  the  names 
of  all  the  officers  to  his  petition,  he  sent  it  on  to  Washington,  to  his 
old  friend  Ward  Hill  Lamon,  whom  he  rightfully  supposed  could  get 
the  ear  of  the  President  on  all  occasions.  When  the  matter  was 
brought  to  the  attention  of  the  President  he  looked  it  over,  noticing  the 
name.  The  old  affair  with  Frazier  at  once  came  back  to  him.  "  See 
here,  Hill,"  said  he,  "  is  this  the  Captain  Payne  who  had  the  fight  with 
Frazier  about  that  railroad  grading  down  in  Danville?"  Being  told 
it  was,  he  said  :  "  Well,  it's  my  opinion  that  he's  just  the  kind  of 
fighters  we  want  down  there,"  and  at  once  wrote  the  order  to  reinstate 
him  in  his  position.  Squire  L.  Payne,  another  son,  is  an  extensive 
farmer  near  Chenoa.  John,  Jr.,  was  killed  in  a  riot  in  Danville,  in 
the  summer  of  1863.  The  affair  was  unfortunate  in  all  its  bearings. 
He  left  seven  children,  four  of  whom  live  in  this  county.  Martin, 
another  son,  went  to  Oregon.  Mrs.  Miles  lived  near  here.  Mrs.  Thomas 
Douglas,  who  lived  near  here,  had  a  large  family  of  children,  several 
of  whom  still  live  here.  Mrs.  Thompson  lived  here  on  the  farm  until 
her  husband  died,  and  now  resides  in  Danville. 

John  Thompson  came  from  Canada.  He  came  here  with  his  father- 
in-law,  John  Payne,  and  took  up  a  farm  in  1827  about  one  mile  north- 
east of  Catlin.  He  died  there  in  1864.  One  son  is  now  a  prominent 
citizen  of  Rossville.  He  was  a  good  citizen,  and  a  very  worthy  and 
successful  farmer.  Some  of  his  children  live  here  yet,  and  are  among 
the  well  known  citizens  of  Vermilion  county. 

Charles  Caraway  entered  land  here  in  1824.  He  lived  in  Virginia, 
and  had  an  interest  in  the  Sulphur  Springs  in  Green  Briar  county. 
He  entered  about  a  section  of  land  in  all,  and  came  here  to  live  in 
1829,  and  made  his  home  on  section  33,  where  Hon.  J.  H.  Oakwood 
now  resides.  He  was  a  man  of  education  and  enterprise,  and  at  once 
became  thoroughly  interested  in  the  affairs  of  the  new  county.  He 
died  early  in  1836,  before  his  plans  had  become  fully  developed.  He 
left  one  son  and  four  daughters.  His  son  Charles  still  lives  in  the 
township.  One  daughter,  Mrs.  Oakwood,  lives  on  the  farm  her  father 
made  here.     Mrs.  Arrowsmith  removed  to  Iowa,  where  she  still  re- 


616  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

sides;  Mrs.  Buoy  went  to  Oregon,  and  died  in  California,  and  Mrs.  G. 
W.  Wolfe  still  lives  here.  The  three  brothers  McCorkle,  who  were 
brothers  of  Mrs.  Charles  Caraway,  came  here  from  Virginia  with  the 
latter  in  1829.  J.  S.  McCorkle  took  up  a  farm  northeast  of  Catlin  in 
section  23,  and  was  a  very  prosperous  and  successful  farmer.  He  en- 
gaged in  stock-raising  and  feeding,  and  acquired  considerable  property. 
He  died  in  1858,  and  his  family  are  scattered,  a  portion  of  them  still 
residing  here.  The  other  brothers  engaged  in  teaching  and  other 
vocations  for  a  time.  Thomas  H.  McKeeney  came  here  at  the  same 
time,  and  took  up  land  in  section  28,  where  he  still  resides,  though 
bed-ridden  for  some  years.     He  has  four  children  residing  here. 

Noah  Guymon  came  from  Ohio  in  1830.  He  came  on  foot,  bring- 
ing his  wife  —  known  all  over  this  country  as  "Grandma"  Guymon  — 
on  horseback,  which  conveyance  also  served  to  pack  what  earthly 
possession  the  two  jointly  and  severally  owned.  He  took  a  claim 
on  section  29,  and  got  up  a  little  cabin,  which  served  the  double 
purpose  of  residence  and  a  place  of  shelter  for  the  faithful  old  mare, 
which  had  transported  his  plunder  from  Ohio.  They  proved  an  in- 
dustrious and  economical  couple,  and  soon  prospered  in  their  worldly 
affairs.  Mrs.  Givymon  was  a  Connecticut  Yankee,  and,  in  the  crowd 
of  folks  with  whom  she  found  herself  here,  whose  ideas  of  a  live 
Yankee  were  purely  traditional  —  which  traditions  were  strained 
through  several  generations  of  stories  and  theories, —  she  was  fond  of 
boasting  of  her  pure  New  England  nativity.  It  is  needless  to  say  that 
she  was  never  called  on  to  prove  her  identity,  for,  with  the  native 
shrewdness  of  a  born  Yankee  of  the  typical  kind,  she  made  the  most 
of  the  situation  and  surroundings.  She  almost  at  once  commenced 
the  practice  of  a  profession,  then,  and  since,  in  universal  demand. 
Doctors  were  not  numerous  here  in  the  early  days,  and  for  miles 
around,  this  patron  saint  of  the  "  rising  generation,"  went  the  darkest 
nights  and  in  all  sorts  of  weather  to  aid  the  cause  of  progressive 
humanity.  The  walls  of  her  sitting-room  are  hung  with  the  portraits 
of  the  great  men,  living  and  dead,  of  republican  views. 

"By  these  insignia,"  said  her  visitor,  "we  are  led  to  mistrust  that 
you  have  been  a  republican  in  your  sentiments?" 

"Yes,"  she  replied,  "a  real  abolitionist!  and  when  the  war  was  go- 
ing on  it  seemed  as  if  I  must  read  everything  about  it.  I  could  count 
almost  a  regiment  of  my  boys  there, —  that  is,  of  those  whom  I  had 
dressed  the  rirst  time;  and  I  read  so  much  that  I  almost  destroyed  my 
eyes.  Oh  !  it  was  awful  to  think  of  those  brave  men  starving  in  rebel 
prison  pens ! " 

Now  at  the  age  of  86,  though  her  eye  is  dimmed  and  her  step  feeble, 


CATLIN   TOWNSHIP.  017 

her  mind  is  as  free,  her  voice  as  clear,  and  her  laugh  as  hearty  as  it 
was  fifty  years  ago,  when  she  first  set  foot  on  the  soil  of  Vermilion 
county.  Her  life  has  been  an  active  one ;  both  she  and  her  husband 
worked  hard  and  managed  frugally,  have  accumulated  and  saved.  In 
the  place  of  the  old  log-cabin  of  which  they  were  joint  occupants  the 
first  year  of  their  life  here,  a  tidy  brick  house  was  built.  Few  people 
who  have  lived  in  Catlin  during  the  past  fifty  years  will  ever  forget 
"Widow  Guymon." 

Alexander  Church  came  from  Virginia  in  1830,  and  farmed  a  part 
of  Mr.  Caraway's  land  for  ten  years,  when  he  bought  the  land  where 
he  now  is,  in  section  28.  This  was  the  school  section  which  had  been 
given  in  lieu  of  the  Saline  section  16.  The  law  of  congress  gave  all 
sections  16  to  the  state  for  school  purposes,  but  another  law  reserved 
to  the  state  all  Saline  lands.  The  Saline  section  had  been  taken  pos- 
session of  by  the  men  who  were  making  salt  and  living  there ;  hence 
this  section  was  given  in  lieu  of  that. 

John  Boggess  took  up  land  in  sections  29  and  30,  in  1830.  He 
made  a  considerable  farm,  and  continued  to  live  there  until  1875,  when 
he  died.  His  son  resides  on  the  farm.  The  old  log  house  still  stands 
there,  which  his  father  built  nearty  fifty  years  ago.  Joseph  Davis  set- 
tled here  on  section  36  (19-13),  in  1830.  He  was  an  energetic  man, 
and  acquired  ownership  of  considerable  land.  He  engaged  in  raising 
and  feeding  stock,  and  used  to  drive  to  Ohio  frequently.  He  was  a 
very  successful  farmer.  His  son  Jesse  still  lives  here.  Frank  Foley 
settled  on  section  36  in  1831.  He  was  here  when  the  soldiers  were 
going  to  the  Black  Hawk  war.  He  sold  to  J.  Allen  in  1835,  and 
went  to  Stephenson  county,  where  he  entered  land  which  has  since  be- 
come a  portion  of  the  city  of  Freeport.  Jacob  Hickman  came  in  1831 
and  took  up  land  in  section  35  (19-13).  He  died  there  in  1842.  He 
had  ten  children.  His  son  R.  C.  Hickman  still  lives  on  the  farm.  One 
son,  Hiram,  kept  hotel  a  long  time  in  Georgetown,  and  was  sheriff  of 
the  county  about  1845.  He  had  been  very  successful  in  business,  but 
complications  growing  out  of  his  office  embarrassed  him.  William 
Youst  came  on  a  farm  in  the  western  part  of  the  county  in  1830.  He 
lived  there  the  winter  of  the  deep  snow,  and  then  settled  on  section  36, 
where  he  died  soon  after.  His  wife  died  in  1872.  His  son,  James  T. 
Youst,  lives  on  the  farm  still,  and  his  daughter  is  the  wife  of  Joel 
Acree.  Ephraim  Acree,  and  his  son  Joel,  came  here  in  1830,  and  took 
up  land  where  the  latter  lives  now.  There  had  been  a  short  corn  crop 
that  year,  and  when  the  deep  snow  followed  they  were  just  able  to 
hive  up  for  the  winter  like  the  bees.  At  this  time  game  of  all  kinds 
was  plenty,  but  that  winter  made  it  very  scarce.      The  snow  was  so 


618  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

deep  that  there  was  nothing  for  the  game  to  live  on.  The  wolves 
seemed  to  prosper.  Joel  Acree  still  lives  on  the  farm  which  his  father 
took  up  fifty  years  ago.  W.  II.  Butler  was  an  old  settler  near  Dan- 
ville;  he  settled  on  section  35  (19-13)  in  1834.  G.  W.  Pate,  whose 
name  and  whose  life  is  so  identified  with  the  growth  and  progress  of 
the  Methodist  church  in  this  portion  of  the  county,  was  born  in  Indi- 
ana in  1815,  and  came  here  to  Butler's  Point  with  his  father,  Adam 
Pate,  about  1830.  He  was  converted  under  the  preaching  of  Father 
Anderson,  and  at  once  commenced  his  labors  in  the  cause  of  religion. 
He  was  selected  as  class-leader,  and  soon  commenced  preaching.  He 
lived  in  the  house  which  stands  opposite  the  fair  grounds,  where  his 
widow  still  resides,  and  kept  a  country  tavern  there  for  many  years. 
Very  early  preaching  service  was  held  at  Elliott's  house,  at  Adam 
Pate's,  and  later  at  the  school-house.  Rev.  James  McKain,  Mr.  Hall 
and  Mr.  French  were  among  the  first  preachers.  The  circuit  was  a 
four  weeks'  one,  and  the  intervening  Sabbaths  called  for  the  services  of 
Mr.  Pate  and  other  local  preachers.  He  was  ordained  a  deacon  by 
Bishop  Scott,  in  1857.  Most  of  his  time  was  spent  on  the  farm,  of 
course,  but  he  was  often  called  away  on  various  matters  in  which  he 
took  a  deep  interest.  He  was  long  a  member  of  the  Masonic  order, 
and  was  held  in  high  estimation  by  members  of  the  craft  for  his  faith- 
ful devotion  to  the  principles  of  the  order.  He  was  a  man  of  kind, 
conciliating  disposition,  and  loved  the  peace  and  good  of  the  church 
and  the  neighborhood.  He  died  a  few  years  since.  His  widow  is  still 
living,  and  his  only  daughter,  whose  husband,  Thomas  Keeney,  was 
killed  in  the  army.  Two  sons  of  the  latter  are  left  to  honor  the  mem- 
ory of  their  father  and  grandfather. 

John  Reynolds,  a  In-other  of  Mrs.  Pate,  was  a  prominent  promoter 
of  the  cause  of  religion.  He  was  a  man  of  no  especial  culture  for  the 
work,  but  was  zealous  and  earnest.  He  preached  all  over  this  country, 
from  Georgetown  to  Homer,  for  twenty  years.  It  was  never  too  stormy 
nor  cold  for  him  to  go  forth  to  fill  an  appointment,  or  to  perform  an 
act  of  kindness  to  the  sick  or  suffering.     In  1850  he  went  to  Iowa. 

Mrs.  Ray  came  here  with  her  seven  children,  from  Indiana,  in  1842. 
Though  not  among  the  earliest  settlers,  she  and  her  family  took  an  im- 
portant part  in  strengthening  the  religious  interests  of  the  town.  She 
was  a  sincere  christian  mother,  whose  every  thought,  wish  and  desire 
was  for  the  cause  of  religion  and  for  her  children's  best  interests.  She 
died  at  the  age  of  eighty-seven,  in  1877,  sincerely  loved  by  the  entire 
community.     Her  sons  William  and  S.  S.  still  reside  here. 

Henry  Oak  wood  came  from  Ohio  in  1833,  and  took  up  a  farm  in 
what  is  now  Oakwood  township.      He  was  a  prominent  and  public- 


CATLIN   TOWNSHIP.  619 

spirited  man.  His  son,  Hon.  J.  H.  Oakwood,  came  to  reside  in  Catlin, 
where  be  now  lives,  in  1851,  on  section  33.  He  has  always  been  a 
leader  in  public  matters;  was  one  of  the  earliest  and  stannchest  friends 
of  the  County  Agricultural  Society,  and  of  every  matter  of  permanent 
interest.  He  has  been  in  past  years  largely  engaged  in  farming  and 
cattle-raising.  Mr.  Oakwood  was  elected  to  the  legislature  in  1872, 
and  served  during  the  protracted  sessions  of  1873  and  1874,  at  the  time 
when  the  revision  of  the  statutes  was  being  passed  upon.  As  the 
personal  representative  of  a  farming  community,  while  he  did  not  for- 
get his  duties  as  a  representative  of  other  interests,  he  became  strongly 
identified  with  every  matter  which  had  a  bearing  on  the  farm.  Mr. 
Oakwood  was  again  elected  in  1876,  and  proved  a  very  valuable  and 
useful  member.  During  this  last  term  he  was  the  colleague  of  Hon. 
Alvan  Gilbert,  one  of  Vermilion  county's  most  honored  and  valuable 
citizens. 

Henry  Jones  came  here  from  England  in  1849.  He  had  amassed 
a  considerable  fortune  in  the  energetic  prosecution  of  his  trade,  and, 
having  a  large  family  of  boys,  came  here  to  make  his  home.  He  bought 
the  Whitcomb  farm,  and  entered  and  bought  land  all  around  it,  until 
he  had  about  three  thousand  acres.  He  provided  himself  with  fourteen 
yoke  of  cattle  to  break  prairie  with,  and  stocked  up  pretty  heavily  with 
cattle.  He  was  a  very  large  man,  weighing  over  three  hundred  pounds, 
and  had  all  the  traits  of  a  hospitable,  well  educated  "'English  gentle- 
man ;  one  of  the  real  old  stock."  He  engaged  in  partnership  with 
William  Bently  and  William  Hinds,  in  the  tanning  business,  and  did 
a  pretty  fair  business;  but  they  were  never  able  to  get  enough  bark,  the 
people  all  being  too  busy  with  their  farm  work  when  bark -peeling  was 
in  its  prime.  Nothing  is  left  of  the  old  tan-yard  but  a  fine  spring  of 
water.  The  eldest  son,  Richard,  was  the  first  station  agent  and  first 
business  man  of  Catlin  ;  was  in  trade  a  long  time;  was  frequently  elected 
supervisor,  and  was  president  of  the  town  board.  His  tragic  death — 
tragic  in  its  surroundings  —  will  never  be  forgotten  by  the  citizens  of 
Catlin.  His  sister,  Mrs.  Church,  was  entertaining  her  family  and 
friends  in  honor  of  her  fiftieth  birthday.  Dinner  was  served  at  six 
o'clock,  and  at  the  moment  when  joy  and  music  were  filling  the  man- 
sion of  the  hospitable  lady,  and  everyone  present  was  given  over  to 
gladness,  three  young  ladies  were  invited  to  sing.  They  commenced 
to  sing  a  sad,  though  favorite  song,  "Mother,  I've  come  home  to  die," 
when  Mr.  Jones  straightened  back  in  his  chair  and  expired  in  an 
instant.  The  sadness  which  shrouded  that  gay  company  when  it  was 
known  that  death  had  taken  from  their  very  midst  the  good  man  who, 
since  the  death  of  his  father,  had  been  looked  up  to  by  every  member 


620  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

of  the  family  as  their  head,  was  terrible  to  endure.  The  descent  from 
unmixed  joy  and  hilarity  into  the  grief  which  surrounds  death,  was 
shocking,  if  not  tragic. 

Soon  after  the  railroad  was  in  operation,  and  Catlin  had  begun  to 
grow  into  a  place  of  note,  the  people  concluded  to  have  an  "old- 
fashioned  Fourth  of  July  celebration."  It  was  one  of  Henry  Jones' 
favorite  desires  to  show  these  Yankees  how  they  would  celebrate  such 
an  occasion  in  England,  if  they  had  ever  been  so  fortunate  as  to  have 
such  an  affair  there.  He  had  been  brought  up  under  the  "  lion  and 
the  unicorn,"  and  had  never  been  accustomed  to  see  a  "  Fourth  of 
July,"  and  had  held  to  the  traditions  of  his  fathers,  that  "  St.  George 
was  a  bigger  man  than  ever  fourth  of  July  was."  But,  on  coming  to 
America,  he  changed  his  mind,  and  became  a  thorough  Yankee.  To 
have  the  biggest  celebration  ever  seen  in  the  Wabash  Valley  was  what 
the  people  of  Catlin  proposed,  and  preparations  were  made  accord- 
ingly. Mr.  Jones  told  them  to  go  into  his  herd  and  slaughter  all  the 
fat  steers  they  wanted.  "  If  a  dozen  won't  do  'em,  take  a  hun'erd,"  said 
the  earnest  Jonathan;  "give  'em  enough  to  eat,  or  they  can't  be 
'appy."  He  was  unanimously  chosen  president  of  the  day.  The  prep- 
arations went  forward  on  the  grandest  scale.  Twenty  stalwart  men 
were  sent  out,  who  spent  a  week  soliciting  provisions.  Wagon  trains 
were  pressed  into  service  to  bring  in  of  the  abundance  of  the  land. 
No  such  sight  was  ever  seen  until  the  commissary  trains  of  the  grand 
army  of  the  Union  took  up  the  line  of  march  into  the  sacred  soil  of 
Virginia.  The  best  band  in  Indiana  was  engaged,  and  Daniel  Voor- 
hees  was  sent  for,  but  previous  engagements  prevented  his  attendance, 
and  Dan  Beckwith  came  in  his  stead.  The  preparations  which  had 
been  going  on  for  weeks  finall}7  ushered  in  the  glorious  day.  A  whole 
flock  of  eagles  could  not  have  added  to  the  patriotic  enthusiasm  of  the 
occasion.  Crowds  of  people  came  in  from  all  the  surrounding  country, 
and  father  Jones  was  '"appy."  Catlin  had  not  as  yet  been  captured  by 
the  Good  Templars,  and  the  boys  did  not  forget  to  drink  bumpers  to 
the  old  Englishman  who  had  been  converted  into  a  live  Yankee.  The 
fund  of  provisions  was  ample,  and  the  baskets  full  of  fragments  which 
they  took  up  were  never  counted,  but  there  was  enough  to  keep  Jones' 
hogs  for  weeks,  after  having  given  away  to  all  the  poor  they  could 
find.     Catlin  can  be  depended  on  when  her  citizens  get  aroused. 

Below  is  a  list  of  the  township  officers  elected  in  Catlin  since  it  was 
set  off  as  a  separate  township  in  1858: 


CATLIN   TOWNSHIP. 


621 


Date. 

1858. 

1859. 

1860. 

1861. 

1862. 

1863. 

1864. 

1865. 

1866. 

1867. 

1868 

1869. 

1870. 

1871. 

1872. 

1873. 

1874. 

1875. 

1876. 

1877. 

1878. 

1879. 


Vote.  Supervisor.  Clerk. 

Jesse  Burroughs  .  . .  J.  M.  Goss 

Jesse  Burroughs  . .  .W.  R.  Timmons. 

.208. .  .Jesse  Burroughs  . . . J.  Crosby 

.153... G.  W.  Pate J.  Crosby 

.247. . .  A.  G.  Olmstead  ...  .J.  Crosby 

.274. .  .Jesse  Burroughs  . .  .G.  W.  F.  Church. 

.168. .  .Richard  Jones W.  L.  Hind 

.  190 . . .  Richard  Jones S.  Calvert •• . 

A.  G.  Olmstead  . . .  .A.  A.  Sulcer  . . .'. 

, J.  A.  Church C.  L.  Pate 

Richard  Jones P.  Hains 

G.  W.  Pate P.  Hains 

, G.  W.  Wolfe J.  H.  Hartley  . . . 

G.  W.  Wolfe J.  H.  Oakwood  . . 

G.  W.  Wolfe Ed.  Winter 

..160...G.  W.  Wolfe Ed.  Winter 

.  .221. .  .G.  W.  Tilton W.  R.  Timmons  . 

. .  199 . . .  Richard  Jones F.  Tarrant 

.  .211 . . . Richard  Jones Albert  Church. . . 

.  .195. .  .G.  W.  Wolfe Albert  Church. . . 

.  .239. .  .G.  W.  Wolfe Albert  Church. . . 

.  .246..  .J.  W.  Newlon Albert  Church.  .. 


Assessor. 
Noah  Guymon. 
,C.  L.  Pate. 
,J.  Thompson  . . 
.J.  Thompson  . . 
,N.  C.  Howard. 
.N.  C.Howard  .. 
.H.  J.  Oakwood 
.F.  Allhands  ... 
.R.  Clearwater  . 
.E.  P.  Boggess  . 
.W.  M.  Ray.... 
.W.  M.  Ray  . . . 
,W.  M.  Ray.... 
.W.  M.  Ray..-. 
.W.  M.  Ray.... 
.W.  M.  Ray.... 
.J.  W.  Newlon  . 
.J.  A.  Church  . . 
.J.  A.  Church  . . 
.Wm.  Jameson  . 
.Win.  Jameson  . 
.Wm.  Jameson  . 


Collector. 


J.  A.  Church. 
G.  W.  Cook. 
G.  W.  Cook. 
J.  A.  Church. 
J.  A.  Church. 
F.  Allhands. 
R.  Clearwater. 
E.  P.  Boggess. 
W.  M.  Ray. 
J.  W.  Newlon. 
J.  W.  Newlon. 
S.W.  Black. 
S.W.  Black. 
W.  F.  Wolfe. 
W.  F.  Wolfe. 
Henry  Lloyd. 
Henry  Lloyd. 
G.W.Wolfe,  jr. 
.  Albert  Church. 
.  Albert  Church. 


RELIGIOUS    ORGANIZATION. 

It  is  believed  that  Eev.  James  McKain,  who  was,  as  early  as  1828 
or  1829,  minister  in  charge  of  the  Eugene  circuit,  was  the  first  Meth- 
odist minister  to  preach  in  this  part  of  the  county.  Mrs.  Pate  speaks 
of  him  and  of  Messrs.  Hall,  Anderson  and  French,  as  among  the  first 
preachers  here,  and  says  the  earlier  preaching  services  were  held  at 
Father  Pate's,  and  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Elliott.  Her  husband  and  her 
brother,  Mr.  Reynolds,  are  deserving  of  mention  as  among  the  early 
local  preachers  who  in  those  times  had  much  of  the  pastoral  labors  put 
on  them.  Father  Kingsbury  is  the  only  minister  of  the  Presbyterian 
denomination  found  mentioned  at  that  early  day,  and  the  names  of 
none  of  other  denominations  are  found  in  any  account,  or  in  the  mem- 
ory of  any  of  the  oldest  inhabitants.  About  ten  years  later,  Rev.  James 
Ashmore,  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterians,  commenced  preaching  in 
the  western  part  of  this  town. 

The  first  edifice  erected  by  the  Methodists  was  the  small  building 
now  occupied  by  Mr.  Tarrant  at  Catlin  village.  It  was  built  a  half 
mile  north  of  its  present  location.  Francis  Whitcomb,  David  Finley, 
Adam  Pate,  Thomas  Keeney  and  wife,  John  Finley  and  wife,  Mrs. 
Ray  and  her  children,  were  the  Jeaders  in  getting  up  this  house  of 
worship.  Rev.  Mr.  York  was  then  pastor,  and  the  charge  belonged  to 
the  Danville  circuit.  The  building  was  20  x  30,  and  was  built  by  Mr. 
Mills,  probably  in  1842.     The  charge  was  soon  after  this  made  a  part 


622  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUJSTY. 

of  the  Homer  circuit.  The  present  house  was  built  in  1857,  under  the 
preaching  of  Rev.  Peter  Wallace.  G.  W.  Pate,  Thomas  Williams, 
Thomas  Keeney,  the  Ra}7s,  Isaac  Wolf,  Truman  Williams  and  several 
others  were  active  in  the  work  of  building  this.  It  is  36x46,  with  a 
steeple,  and  is  a  comfortable  house.  It  cost  about  $1,500.  The  num- 
ber of  members  is  about  forty.  It  afterward  was  changed  to  Fairmont 
circuit,  and  is  now  Catlin  circuit.  The  Shiloh  Methodist  Society  was 
organized  in  1854.  Hamilton  Boggess  was  the  first  class-leader,  and 
continued  his  faithful  service  in  that  position  until  he  went  to  the 
army,  where  he  remained  faithful  to  every  trust,  as  indeed  he  did 
everywhere,  until,  stricken  down  by  disease,  he  was  called  up  higher. 
He  died  in  the  hospital  at  Nashville,  a  sacrifice,  like  thousands  of 
others,  to  the  unity  of  this  nation.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  H.  Boggess,  Miss 
Pritchard,  John  Aldrige,  Martin  Roof  and  wife,  John  Busby  and  wife, 
Peter  Conrad  and  wife,  M.  B.  Boggess  and  wife,  Edwin  Busby  and 
wife,  and  William  Busby  and  wife,  were  the  members  of  this  class 
which  became  the  Shiloh  charge.  William  Busby  was  another  of  this 
little  band  who  gave  his  life  to  his  country.  Rev.  George  Fairbanks, 
who  resided  in  Homer,  first  preached  here  once  in  four  weeks.  Rev. 
George  Bates  is  the  present  preacher  in  charge.  Services  are  held  in 
the  school-house.  The  charge  has  usually  numbered  about  thirty-five. 
A  union  Sabbath-school  is  maintained  in  connection  with  the  Cumber- 
land Presbyterian.     W.  Douglass  is  superintendent. 

The  Fairview  M.  E.  Church  is  on  the  line  between  Catlin  and 
Georgetown.  The  Bethel  M.  E.  Church  was  organized  as  a  class  in 
1869,  with  fifteen  members.  Under  the  preaching  of  Rev.  John 
Helmic,  who  held  a  protracted  meeting  in  the  school-house  here,  a 
church  of  thirt}7-five  members  was  organized.  Preaching  was  held  in 
the  school-house  until  1876,  when  the  church  was  built.  The  building 
is  28x40,  a  neat  and  tasty  edifice,  with  a  steeple,  well  painted  and 
comfortably  seated.  It  cost  $1,400.  The  Rays,  Thomas  Williams, 
E.  P.  Boggess  and  Clark  Fetterplace  were  leading  men  in  getting  this 
work  forwarded.  The  membership  is  about  forty.  A  Sabbath-school, 
under  the  superintendency  of  William  M.  Ray,  numbers  about  thirty- 
five. 

A  Sabbath-school  was  first  taught  by  G.  W.  Pate  in  the  little  cabin 
which  was  used  for  a  school-house  as  early  as  1838.  Coffeen's  Hand- 
book of  Vermilion  County  says,  p.  24:  "The  first  Sunday-school  in 
the  county,  as  also  probably  the  first  M.  E.  Church,  was  organized  at 
Asa  Elliott's  cabin."  No  dates  are  given,  and  no  names;  but  it  is 
probable  that  those  pioneers  of  religious  effort,  the  Pates  (father  and 
son),  and  Reynolds  and  Elliott,  were  the  promoters  of  this  school,  and 


CATLIST   TOWNSHIP.  623 

that  the  date  was  possibly  anterior  to  the  one  given  above  on  the 
authority  of  Mr.  Kay.  Jacob  Wright,  an  elder  of  the  Christian  church, 
preached  here  irregularly  for  two  years,  commencing  in  1865,  and 
organized  a  church.  The  building  was  erected  in  1873.  It  is  32  x  50, 
with  steeple,  and  cost  $1,800.  Joel  Acrec,  Henry  Foster  and  D. 
Runyon  were  the  leading  men  in  erecting  the  house.  Elder  John 
Myers  is  the  present  preacher.  Preaching  service  is  held  every  two 
weeks,  and  disciple  school  each  alternate  Sabbath. 

The  Cumberland  Presbyterian  church,  known  as  Mt.  Vernon,  was 
organized  by  Rev.  James  Ashmore,  of  Foster  Presbytery,  in  1840. 
Mr.  Ashmore  has  been  the  pioneer  preacher  of  that  denomination  for 
all  this  portion  of  the  county,  having  labored  here  for  nearly  fifty 
years,  and  organized  churches,  preached  the  gospel,  and  labored  faith- 
fully here  during  nearly  all  of  his  life.  He  now  resides  in  Fairmount, 
under  which  heading  the  reader  will  find  a  more  extended  notice  of 
this  excellent  man.  Mr.  Ashmore  came  here  to  preach  in  the  Jordan 
school-house  in  June,  1840,  and  Mount  Vernon  church  was  organized 
in  the  fall  of  that  year,  with  about  twenty  members.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Oakwood,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Buoy,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Allen,  Mr.  Hardin  and 
family,  Mr.  Davis  and  family,  Mrs.  McKinney  and  family,  Mr.  Martin 
and  family,  were  the  first  members.  The  first  elders  were:  John 
Allen,  Laban  Buoy,  Jesse  Burroughs  and  T,  H.  Morgan.  For  two 
years  this  church  was  in  a  constant  state  of  revival,  and  Mr.  Ashmore 
carried  on  the  work  with  the  assistance  of  Rev.  Mr.  Hill.  At  one 
time  it  numbered  two  hundred  and  fifty  members.  Its  numbers  were 
greatly  reduced  by  death  and  removal.  More  than  forty  members 
went  to  Oregon,  and  not  less  than  one  hundred  of  them  sleep  in  the 
little  church-yard.  The  pastors  of  the  Mount  Vernon  church  who 
followed  Father  Ashmore  were:  Rev.  Henry  Woodward,  who  died  in 
Kansas;  Rev.  David  Vandeventer,  who  lives  near  Delevan ;  Rev. 
Allen  Whitlock,  now  dead  ;  Rev.  Jesse  Beals,  at  Mattoon  ;  then  Father 
Ashmore  again.  At  present,  Rev.  W.  R.  Hendrick  is  pastor.  A  Sab- 
bath-school numbering  eighty,  with  Mr.  Albert  Voores  superintendent, 
is  kept  up. 

COAL. 

They  have  abundance  of  good  coal  at  Catlin,  but  the  depression  in 
the  coal  trade  has  been  so  great  that  the  enterprises  have  proved  finan- 
cial failures.  The  Hinds  shaft  was  sunk  in  1862  by  William  Hinds. 
It  passed  successively  through  the  hands  of  Mr.  Henderson,  Isaac  Wolf 
and  Mr.  Jenkins,  since  which  it  has  been  closed.  John  Faulds  put 
down  a  shaft  near  the  railroad,  west  of  town,  in  1863.  He  reached  a 
six-foot  vein  one  hundred  and  forty-seven   feet  below  the  surface.     It 


624.  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION"   COUNTY. 

was  thought  to  be  a  great  strike  at  that  time,  and  men  of  figures 
showed  by  slate  and  pencil  that  the  coal  under  each  section  of  land 
would  be  worth  about  $12,000,000.  The  event  was  celebrated  by  a 
grand  banquet  in  June,  1864,  at  which  Capt.  W.  R.  Timmons  was 
called  on  to  preside,  and,  amid  feasting  and  good  cheer,  G.  W.  Tilton, 
the  poet  laureate  of  Catlin,  sang  an  original  song,  displaying  in  stately 
numbers  the  beauties  and  utilities  of  this  grand  "Hole  in  the  Ground." 
The  occasion  was  one  of  delight,  such  as  the  wideawake  citizens  of 
Catlin  are  pleased  to  engage  in.  Mr.  Faulds  supplied  it  with  all  the 
necessary  machinery,  and  run  it  until  1870.  Messrs.  McXair  and 
Sweany  then  worked  it  for  a  while,  when  it  went  into  disuse. 

The  Ohio  shaft,  one  and  one-half  miles  east  of  Catlin,  was  sunk  by 
a  company  of  men  from  Youngstown,  Ohio,  in  1865.  They  found  coal 
at  a  depth  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet.  This  has  changed  hands 
often,  and  has  proved  a  financial  loss.  Charles  Gones,  who  purchased 
the  old  Woodin  farm,  put  down  a  shaft  one  mile  northwest  of  Catlin, 
near  the  stream.  He  struck  a  six-foot  vein  at  the  depth  of  seventy 
feet,  and  at  an  expense  of  about  $1,500.  It  is  now  leased  by  James 
Payne,  who  is  carrying  it  on  successfully. 

CATLIN    VILLAGE. 

When  the  Great  Western  railroad  was  built,  a  station  was  estab- 
lished on  section  34,  and  in  1856,  Guy  Merrill  and  Josiah  Hunt  laid 
out  the  village  of  Catlin  on  that  section.  It  consisted  of  twelve  blocks 
north  and  south  of  the  depot  grounds.  At  the  same  time  Harvey 
Sandusky  laid  out  and  platted  an  addition  lying  south  of  and  running 
from  the  railroad  west  of  the  original  town  as  far  east  as  that  plat  did. 
On  the  18th  of  March  Josiah  Sandusky  platted  an  addition  between 
this  last  and  the  railroad.  April,  1858,  Josiah  platted  and  laid  out  his 
second  addition  west  of  the  original  town.  In  1863  J.  H.  Oakwood 
laid  out  an  addition  of  two  blocks  north  of  the  original  town,  and  in 
October,  1867,  McNair  &  Co.  laid  out  and  platted  the  Coal  Shaft  addi- 
tion along  the  railroad  west,  and  west  of  Sandusky's  second  addition. 
The  place  had  been  known  so  long  as  Butler's  Point,  that  it  at 
once  became  a  place  of  considerable  importance.  Some  of  the  most 
enterprising  citizens  of  the  county  have  done  business  here. 

Richard  Jones  was  the  first  to  begin  business  here  after  the  railroad 
was  built.  He  was  station  agent,  bought  grain  and  sold  goods,  and 
continued  in  active  business  here  for  several  years.  Capt.  W.  R.  Tim- 
mons came  here  from  Indiana  in  1855,  before  the  railroad  was  built, 
and  commenced  selling  goods  in  a  room  which  he  rented  of  G.  W. 
Pate,  just  west  of  town.    The  place  was  known  then  as  Butler's  Point. 


8S5-  '•■i.-'::^\ 


CATLIN   TOWNSHIP.  625 

It  was  on  the  old  stage  road  between  Crawford svi lie,  Indiana,  and 
Springfield.  Mr.  Pate  was  postmaster.  Timmons  had  one  room  of  the 
house,  which  at  that  time  served  for  residence,  store,  post-office  and 
country  tavern.  When  the  village  was  laid  out  he  built  the  store  now 
standing  in  the  northern  part  of  the  village,  and  moved  his  store  there, 
still  keeping  on  the  state  road,  and  was  appointed  the  first  postmaster 
of  Catlin.  He  continued  in  trade  here  for  more  than  fifteen  years. 
Harvey  Sandusky  was  a  partner  while  he  remained  in  the  store  on  the 
state  road,  and  Mr.  Wolf  for  ten  years  after. 

Capt.  Timmons  raised  Co.  A  of  the  25th  Reg.  111.  Vol.,  but  was 
prevented  by  sickness  from  going  with  them.  He  raised  Co.  D  of  the 
35th  Keg.,  and  rendezvoused  on  the  fair-ground.  He  marched  with 
them  and  led  them  to  victory  for  two  years,  when  his  health  again 
giving  out,  he  was  obliged  to  return  home.  Fred  Tarrant  and  John 
Swanell  had  a  nice  drug  store,  which  was  continued  for  some  years. 
Henry  Church  commenced  the  grocery  trade,  and  in  1857  S.  Calvert 
commenced  selling  goods,  and  J.  H.  Oakwood  and  G.  W.  Pate  opened 
a  general  retail  store.  Goss  &  Sandusky  commenced  trade  about  the 
same  time,  or  soon  after,  and  were  succeeded  by  Goss  &  Lee. 

About  the  close  of  the  war,  G.  W.  and  S.  R.  Tilton  came  here. 
They  were  enterprising  and  thoroughly  educated  young  men,  have 
continued  in  business  till  the  present  time,  and  have  done  their  full 
share  toward  the  advancement  of  Catlin.  J.  C.  Clayton  was  the  first 
blacksmith.  He  had  a  large  establishment,  and  engaged  in  making 
mole-ditchers  for  B.  Stockton,  who  had  the  right  for  several  counties. 
Addison  Neff  also  had  a  blacksmith  shop.  Crosby,  Cook  &  Co.  com- 
menced, in  1858,  the  manufacture  of  chairs,  furniture,  etc.,  a  business 
which  they  continued  for  some  years.  They  employed  six  or  eight 
hands,  and  did  a  large,  and  for  a  time  a  very  successful,  business,  but 
the  changed  condition  of  manufacture  and  the  demands  of  the  times 
have  driven  this  line  of  business  entirely  out  of  the  small  villages,  and 
now  everybody  has  to  go  to  the  large  cities  for  his  chairs  or  a  bedstead. 
Albert  Heath  came  here  in  1857,  and  erected  the  huge  pile  just  south 
of  the  railroad  known  as  "  Heath's  Folly."  The  building  is  40  x  75, 
three  stories  high,  with  a  large  addition  on  the  south  side.  It  wa6 
built  to  contain  three  stores  on  the  ground  floor,  a  hotel  in  the  second, 
and  a  ball-room  in  the  third.  It  was  the  largest  building  of  any  kind 
in  this  part  of  the  county,  and  far  too  large  for  Heath's  purse  or  for 
the  demands  of  the  times.  AVhen  he  got  it  inclosed  he  failed  and  ran 
away.  Six  years  later  the  citizens  bought  it  and  presented  it  to  Mr. 
Jenkins,  who  put  a  steam  grist-mill  into  it.  Mr.  Jenkins  had  had  a 
considerable  experience  in  milling,  and  did  a  good  business.  It  had 
40 


nit)  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

two  run  of  burrs,  and  was  successful  until  Mr.  Jenkins'  death.  The 
building  was  never  occupied  either  as  a  store  or  hotel.  Capt.  Timmons 
was  the  first  postmaster,  and  was  followed  by  the  following  officials  in 
turn:  J.  K.  Turner,  Thomas  Church,  Albert  Church,  Sam.  R.  Tilton, 
L.  C.  Kyger  and  Arthur  Jones. 

INSTITUTIONS. 

The  Catlin  Brass  Band  was  organized  in  1866  by  Frank  Champion, 
and  has  been  kept  up  ever  since. 

The  Catlin  graded  school  is  under  the  efficient  management  of  the 
School  Board,  of  which  G.  Wilse  Tilton  is  president,  and  A.  G.  Payne, 
secretary.  The  school  is  under  Principal  W.  J.  Brinckley.  The  house 
is  a  large  and  roomy  three-stoiy  brick  building,  about  45  x  60,  the  up- 
per story  of  which,  however,  belongs  to  the  Masonic  order,  under  a  con- 
tract which  was  entered  into  at  the  time  of  building.  The  school  has 
always  been  well  conducted,  and  is  evidently  in  good  hands.  Pupils 
are  carried  through  all  the  higher  branches:  rhetoric,  botany,  geome- 
try, zoolog}',  higher  arithmetic,  physical  geography  and  natural  philoso- 
phy, preparing  graduates  for  first  grade  certificates  under  the  laws  of 
this  state.     The  school  year  is  eight  months  with  three  vacations. 

The  Vermilion  County  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  Association 
was  organized  in  1850.  The  first  fair  was  held  at  Danville  where  the 
Presbyterian  church  now  stands.  They  elected  officers,  held  the  fair, 
declared  premiums,  all  in  one  day.  There  was  no  gate  fee  charged,  and 
only  about  forty  dollars  paid  in  premiums.  It  does  not  appear  where 
the  money  to  pay  this  princely  sum  came  from,  but  probably  from 
license  fees  charged  to  those  who  kept  stands  on  the  ground.  The 
second  fair  was  held  down  on  the  bottom  near  the  Red  Bridge.  This 
was  such  a  decided  improvement  on  the  first  one,  that  the  farmers  be- 
gan to  take  heart.  No  fee  was  charged.  People  thought  it  was  about 
all  it  was  worth  to  come  the  distance  they  must  to  see  a  fair.  Harvey 
Sodasky,  Samuel  Baum,  Martin  Moudy  and  P.  S.  Spencer  showed  fine 
cattle,  and  Ward  H.  Lamon,  afterward  President  Lincoln's  marshal  and 
biographer,  showed  a  fast  horse  and  a  monkey.  Mr.  J.  H.  Oakwood,  Mr. 
Milligan  and  Mr.  Catlett  were  appointed  a  committee  to  fix  up  a  plan 
of  organization.  Nearly  all  the  fine  stock  was  then  owned  by  the  men 
living  in  this  part  of  the  county,  and  it  was  thought  more  convenient 
to  locate  it  at  Butler's  Point,  where  suitable  grounds  could  be  got  at 
very  reasonable  rental.  Fortv  acres  of  ground  was  rented  and  fenced, 
a  good  track  laid  out,  an  amphitheatre,  floral  and  mechanical  halls 
erected,  and  good  fairs  have  been  held  each  year.  Last  year  it  was 
thought  best  to  hold  it  at  Danville.     The  present  officers  are  G.  W. 


CATLIN   TOWNSHIP.  627 

Tilton,  president;  W.  T.  Sandusky,  vice-president;  W.  S.  McClenna- 
than,  secretary ;  D.  Douglas,  treasurer.  The  fairs  have  increased  in 
general  interest  each  year,  and  have  generally  proved  financially  suc- 
cessful. 

The  Oakridge  Cemetery  was  organized  under  the  laws  of  the  state 
in  August,  1868.  Two  burying-grounds  had  been  previously  occupied 
for  resting-places  for  the  dead.  The  old  ground  is  near  the  railroad, 
three-fourths  of  a  mile  from  the  village.  It  was  the  first  place  for 
burial  of  the  dead  in  this  part  of  the  county,  and  was  never  properly 
platted  and  mapped ;  very  many  of  the  graves  are  not  marked,  and  the 
surface  indications  have  become  obliterated,  so  that  it  was  difficult  to 
tell  where  new  graves  might  be  dug  without  breaking  into  old  ones. 
Henry  Jones  laid  out  a  family  burying-ground  on  his  own  lands  which 
has  been  used  by  some. 

The  necessity  was,  therefore,  apparent  for  a  regular  place  to  lay 
away  the  dead  in  their  last  resting-place  in  an  orderly  way.  A  beauti- 
ful spot  was  selected,  two  acres  of  ground  purchased  and  properly 
platted.  Hon.  J.  H.  Oakwood  is  president;  G.  W.  Tilton,  secretary; 
G.  W.  Wolf,  E.  P.  Boggess  and  W.  M.  Kay,  directors. 

Catlin  Lodge,  No.  285,  Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  was  instituted 
October  7,  1858.  The  charter  members  were:  Dr.  Allen  Lathram, 
W.M.,  J.  H.  Goss,  Albert  Heath,  David  M.  Woolin,  Henry  Oarigan, 
William  Kyle  and  W.  R.  Timmons.  The  latter  is  the  only  one  left  of 
the  original  charter  members.  This  has  been  the  parent  lodge  of 
Masonry  in  this  portion  of  the  county.  One  hundred  and  forty  inter- 
mediate, Passed  and  Accepted  Masons  have  been  put  through  the 
course  of  instruction  which  entitles  them  to  position  in  the  order. 
Twelve  were  sent  out  from  here  to  start  the  Fairmount  lodge,  and 
fifteen  to  Newtown,  and  some  to  others.  No.  285  is  everywhere  recog- 
nized as  one  of  the  best  lodges  in  this  part  of  the  state.  It  now  num- 
bers sixty-five.  Its  successive  masters  in  turn  have  been  :  Dr.  Lathram, 
J.  H.  Oakwood,  W.  R.  Timmons,  J.  H.  Goss,  A.  G.  Olmstead,  J.  A. 
Frazier,  G.  W.  Tilton,  J.  C.  Vance,  Peter  Wolf,  J.  H.  Crosby  and  A. 
G.  Payne.  It  practically  owns  the  room  which  is  the  third  story  of 
the  seminary  building,  having  paid  for  it  when  it  was  built,  and  have 
a  ninety-nine  years  lease.  The  present  officers  are:  A.  G.  Payne, 
W.M.;  D.  Douglas,  S.W. ;  J.  W.  Newlon,  J.W. ;  Albert  Church, 
secretary  ;  J.  W.  Crutchley,  treasurer;  S.  McGregor,  S.D. ;  J.  D.  Culp, 
J.D. ;  M.  Lenon,  T.  Lodge  meets  second  and  fourth  Saturdays  in 
each  month. 

Catlin  Lodge,  I.O.O.F.,  No.  538,  was  constituted  October,  1874. 
Joseph  Buckingham,  N.G. ;  Henry  Martin,  Y.G.;  J.  C.  Thorp,  R.S. ; 


628  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Silas  Clark,  treasurer,  and  William  Jameson,  were  charter  members. 
Seven  were  initiated  the  first  night,  making  twelve  original  members. 
The  lodge  has  always  been  a  prosperous  one.  The  Noble  Grands  have 
each  hung  their  portraits  in  the  lodge-room.  The  present  officers  are: 
Silas  Clark,  N.G. ;  F.  F.  Torpenning,  Y.G. ;  Thomas  Dale,  secretary; 
G.  W.  Tilton,  treasurer.     The  lodge  numbers  thirty-three. 

The  Catlin  Grange,  No.  4,  Patrons  of  Husbandry,  was,  as  its  num- 
ber indicates,  one  of  the  first  organized  in  the  state.  The  charter 
members  were  Jesse  Davis,  H.  M.  Payne,  Joseph  Culp,  J.  C.  Sandusky, 
J.  H.  Hartley,  A.  G.  Payne  and  J.  C.  Yance.  It  was  strong  in  men 
and  firm  in  the  faith,  and  probably  did  its  share  in  increasing  the  crops, 
killing  off  the  middle-men,  and  making  the  politicians  dread  the  tillers 
of  the  soil.     It  maintained  an  efficient  organization  for  five  years. 

The  Sons  of  Temperance  organized  in  1871  and  the  Good  Templars 
in  1864.  At  the  time  of  their  organization  there  were  four  licensed 
saloons  in  Catlin.  They  lived  and  did  good  work  in  their  respective 
orders  until  the  last  saloon  was  closed,  and  then  disbanded.  Catlin  has 
been  a  temperance  village  since  then. 

VILLAGE    ORGANIZATION. 

March  24, 1863,  an  election  was  held  to  vote  for  or  against  incorpora- 
tion, Sanford  Calvert  presiding.  Twelve  votes  were  cast  for,  and  none 
against  incorporation.  April  3  an  election  was  held  for  five  trustees. 
The  result  was:  for  S.  Hodges,  11 ;  S.  Calvert,  9 ;  J.  C.  Clayton,  10 ;  G. 
W.  F.  Church,  8 ;  Thos.  Church,  8 ;  A.  C.  Cord,  R.  Wilson,  U.  Winters, 
each  6.  S.  Calvert  was  chosen  president ;  G.  W.  F.  Church,  clerk,  and 
Dr.  Richardson  was  chosen  trustee  in  place  of  J.  C.  Clayton,  who  de- 
clined to  serve.  Clayton  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  first  citizen  of 
the  town  who  declined  official  preferment,  and  some  suppose  him  the 
last.  The  corporate  limits  were  fixed  as  the  west  half  of  section  35  and 
east  half  of  section  34.  At  an  election  for  police  magistrate,  July  25, 
twenty-eight  votes  were  cast,  and  S.. Calvert  was  elected.  The  new 
board  established  a  set  of  ordinances  to  govern  the  town.  The  present 
officers  are :  S.  Hodges,  president;  J.  F.  Crosby,  C.  Gones,  L.  C.  Kyger, 
A.  G.  Payne  and  S.  W.  Jones,  trustees;  D.  H.  Hazelrigg,  police  mag- 
istrate; Albert  Church,  clerk;  D.  H.  Torpenning,  street  commissioner. 

BIOGRAPHICAL. 

D.  B.  Douglass,  Catlin,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in  Ver- 
milion county,  Illinois,  on  the  11th  of  October,  1827,  and  is  the  son  of 
Cyrus  and  Ruby  Douglass,  who  were  natives  of  Virginia  and  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  came  to  the  county   in  an   early  day,  and  were  the  first 


CATLIN   TOWNSHIP.  629 

■couple  married  in  the  county.  Mr.  D.  B.  Douglass  made  a  trip  to 
California  in  1853,  and  in  1864  went  to  the  western  territories,  re- 
turning in  1866.  He  was  married  on  the  5th  of  September,  1855,  to 
Miss  Ann  Downing,  a  native  of  Kentucky,  born  on  the  25th  of  De- 
cember, 1825.  They  have  three  sons  and  two  daughters:  Samuel, 
Eliza,  Allen,  Bell  and  George.  Mr.  Douglass  has  three  hundred  and 
twenty-six  acres  of  land  with  good  improvements,  which  are  the  fruits 
of  his  own  management  and  attendance  strictly  to  his  own  affairs.  He 
has  thus  gained  the  good  will  of  all  his  neighbors,  and  is  respected 
by  all  who  know  him. 

Lura  Guyman,  Catlin,  farmer,  was  born  in  Hartford,  Connecticut, 
on  the  20th  of  August,  1793,  and  was  married  to  Noah  Guyman,  May, 
1812,  who  was  a  native  of  North  Carolina  and  came  to  Yermilion 
county  in  1829,  and  resided  where  Mrs.  Guyman  now  lives  until  his 
death  in  1861.  He  served  in  the  Blackhawk  war  in  1832,  under  Col. 
Moore.  She  is  the  mother  of  one  son  and  one  daughter  now  living : 
Franklin  N.  and  Mary  H.  Payne,  who  is  the  mother  of  three  children  : 
Milton  N.,  Lura  E.,  wife  of  George  Trimmell,  and  Jessie  L.,  wife  of 
J.  G.  Redmon.  Mrs.  Guyman  has  been  a  practicing  physician  in  the 
county  for  sixty  years,  and  has  been  at  the  births  of  over  one  thousand 
children,  always  making  her  visits  on  horseback;  consequently  she  has 
ridden  more  miles  on  horseback  than  any  other  woman  in  the  state. 
She  is  now  eighty-six  years  of  age,  and  attends  a  garden  of  one-fourth 
of  an  acre,  that  would  do  credit  to  any  man  in  the  county. 

James  T.  Yount,  Fairmount,  farmer,  was  born  in  Gallion  county, 
Kentucky,  on  the  30th  of  March,  1813,  and  came  to  Vermilion  county 
with  his  parents  in  1829,  and  first  located  eight  miles  west  of  where 
M.  Yount  now  resides.  One  of  Mr.  Yount's  brothers  was  in  the  Black- 
hawk  war.  Mr.  Yount  has  been  twice  married.  His  former  wife  was- 
Emaline  Halden.  They  were  married  in  1857.  She  was  born  in 
Monroe  county,  Virginia,  on  the  23d  of  March,  1811,  and  died  in  1864. 
His  second  marriage  was  to  Eliza  E.  Worl,  on  the  22d  of  June,  1877. 
She  was  born  in  1819.  Mr.  Yount  has  two  children  by  his  former 
wife:  Mary  E.  and  William  G.,  and  one  by  his  present  wife:  Charles. 

Joel  Acree,  Catlin,  farmer,  with  his  father  and  family,  arrived  in 
this  county  in  1829,  and  located  in  Catlin  township,  coming  from  Ala- 
bama. His  father  bought  one  hundred  and  thirty  acres  of  raw  land 
and  built  a  cabin,  and  the  second  year  put  in  cultivation  thirty  acres 
and  became  one  of  the  prominent  farmers  of  the  county.  Milling  was 
difficult  on  account  of  the  long  distances  and  unbridged  streams. 
When  a  bov,  Mr.  Acree  has  often  taken  a  single  sack  of  corn  on  horse- 
back  as  tar  as  ten,  and   sometimes  fifteen,  miles  in  order  to  obtain  a 


630  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

little  meal  for  immediate  family  use.  For  a  number  of  vears  after  the 
death  of  his  father  (who  died  in  1835)  Mr.  Acree  continued  to  reside 
with  his  mother  and  family,  filling,  to  the  best  of  his  ability,  the  posi- 
tion naturally  devolving  upon  him  as  the  eldest  son.  In  1848  he  took 
to  himself  a  wife,  the  object  of  his  choice  being  Miss  Eloessa  Yount, 
daughter  of  William  and  Cathrine  (Sacra)  Yount,  old  settlers  of  the 
county.  Mr.  Acree  remained  on  the  old  homestead  and  bought  out 
the  other  heirs,  and  became  sole  proprietor.  He  has  added  to  it  until 
the  farm  now  embraces  four  hundred  and  eighty-five  acres  of  well- 
improved  land.  Mr.  Acree  is  to  be  congratulated  on  his  past  success, 
and  it  is  but  just  to  add  that  in  a  large  measure  he  has  been  assisted 
by  a  noble,  self-denying  wife  wTho  has  not  only  saved  her  husband's  hard 
earnings,  but  has  materially  added  from  time  to  time  thereto.  Two 
children  only  are  spared  to  them  as  the  fruits  of  their  marriage :  Mrs. 
Mary  C.  (Tho.  A.  Taylor)  and  Mattie,  wife  of  L.  McDonald. 

J.  W.  Acree,  Fairmount,  farmer,  was  born  in  Alabama  on  the  15th 
of  October,  1825,  and  came  with  his  parents  to  Vermilion  county  in 
1829.  On  the  4th  of  March,  1852,  Mr.  Acree  took  himself  a  life- 
partner,  his  choice  being  Miss  Lydia  Brady,  daughter  of  John  and 
Rosanna  Brady,  who  were  early  settlers  of  this  county.  She  was  born 
in  Brown  county,  Ohio,  on  the  6th  of  November,  1832.  They  have 
been  blessed  with  a  family  of  two  sons  and  one  daughter:  Jerod 
Rosanna  (now  wife  of  E.  C  Lee),  and  Wallace.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Acree 
are  both  united  with  the  C.  P.  Church.  Mr.  Acree  owns  a  fine  farm 
of  two  hundred  and  thirty-five  acres,  which  is  the  fruit  of  his  own 
industry. 

John  A.  Church,  Catlin,  was  born  in  Greenbrier  county,  in  what  is 
now  West  Virginia,  on  the  20th  of  August,  1827.  In  the  fall  of  1830 
his  family  moved  to  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  and  settled  at  Butler's 
Point.  Mr.  Church's  father  still  resides  on  the  place  originally  settled, 
and  is  now  in  the  seventy-third  year  of  his  life.  Mr.  Church's  mother, 
formerly  Miss  Ruth  Caraway,  died  on  the  14th  of  February,  1850,  and 
was  buried  at  Butler's  Point.  She  was  the  mother  of  ten  children, 
seven  of  whom  were  raised,  and  five  are  now  living:  John  A.,  William, 
Sarah,  Joseph  and  Charles,  all  of  Catlin  township.  Mary,  the  wife  of 
Frank  Gnyman,  and  Ruth,  both  died  in  the  same  township,  the  former 
in  1862,  and  the  latter  about  1854.  Mr.  Church  was  about  three  years  of 
age  on  his  arrival  in  this  county,  and  has  lived  all  his  life  within  a  mile 
of  the  place  first  settled.  He  was  married  to  Miss  Mary  Lore  on  the  27th 
of  September,  1849,  at  the  house  of  the  bride's  parents  in  Catlin  town- 
ship. He  settled  down  immediately  to  farm-life,  and  taught  school  in 
the  winter  for  some  three  years.     By  strict  economy,  and  the  simplest 


CATLIN    TOWNSHIP.  631 

mode  of  living,  enough  money  was  saved  up  the  first  six  years  to  make 
a  payment  of  $500  on  an  improved  forty  acres  of  land,  on  which  he 
immediately  moved,  and  which  was  paid  for  in  due  time,  and  now 
forms  a  part  of  the  present  fine  farm  of  one  hundred  and  seventy 
acres,  lying  two  miles  northwest  of  Catlin,  and  on  which  the  proprietor 
lived  till  the  fall  of  1874,  when  he  settled  in  Catlin,  where  he  has 
bought  a  handsome  little  property.  As  the  fruits  of  their  marriage. 
Mr.  Church  and  lady  have  been  blessed  with  two  bright,  interesting 
daughters:  Miss  Edwina  and  Miss  Clara.  Alexander,  Mr.  Church's 
father,  was  also  raised  and  married  in  Virginia,  in  the  county  already 
mentioned,  and  is  now  one  of  the  old  and  honored  pioneers  of  Ver- 
milion county.  Mrs.  Church's  ancestry,  the  Loves,  are  also  of  an  old 
and  well-known  Virginia  family,  and  were  also  settlers  in  that  state 
when  it  was  a  British  colony.  Her  father,  William,  was  born  in  the 
same  state  in  1803.  He  married  a  Miss  Elizabeth  Gish,  and  immedi- 
ately moved  to  Highland  county,  Ohio,  where  they  landed  about  1826. 
They  arrived  in  Danville,  Illinois,  in  1830,  where  they  resided  till  1839. 
when  they  moved  to  Catlin  township,  where  they  both  died,  he  in  the 
spring  of  1868,  and  she  in  the  spring  of  1871. 

Thomas  H.  Keeney,  Catlin,  section  32,  farmer,  was  born  in  what 
was  then  known  as  Greenbrier  county,  Virginia,  on  the  12th  of  March, 
1803,  and  came  to  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  in  1831.  He  is  now 
living  close  to  where  he  settled  when  he  first  came  to  the  county. 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  Keeney,  wife  of  Thomas  H.  Keeney,  was  a  native  of 
Greenbrier  county,  Virginia.  She  was  born  on  the  31st  of  March, 
1810,  and  died  on  the  8th  of  August,  1868.  Mr.  Keeney  is  the  father 
of  six  sons  and  three  daughters  by  his  first  wife,  of  whom  four  are  liv- 
ing :  Hamilton  F. ;  Lucretia ;  William  F. ;  and  Amanda.  The  names 
of  the  deceased  are :  John  A. ;  David ;  Mary  E.  ;  James  T. ;  and 
Joseph  S.  Mr.  Keeney  has  been  a  constant  member  of  the  M.  E. 
church  for  thirty-five  years. 

John  Thompson,  deceased,  was  born  in  Erie  county,  Pennsylvania, 
on  the  21st  of  May,  1797.  He  was  a  youth  of  spirit  and  adventure, 
and  though  only  sixteen  years  of  age,  served  as  a  courier  in  the  war  of 
1812.  When  the  Americans  crossed  into  Canada  at  Niagara,  on  the 
night  of  the  12th  of  October,  1812,  and  seized  the  heights  of  Queens, 
town,  he  volunteered  to  go  with  the  assaulting  column,  and  as  the  fruit 
of  his  daring,  ever  after  bore  on  his  left  arm  an  ugly  saber  scar.  He 
taught  school,  and  traveled  extensively  in  the  United  States,  passing 
over  thirteen  of  them  and  the  upper  British  provinces  before  he  Avas 
twenty-seven  years  old.  About  this  time  (1824)  he  was  married  to 
Ester  Payne,  in  Dearborn  county,  Indiana,  where  he  had  located   the 


632  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

year  before.  In  the  fall  of  1831  he  removed  to  Vermilion  county,  Illi- 
nois, and  settled  two  miles  north  of  Catlin,  where  he  died,  on  the  13th 
September,  1861.  He  was  an  early  assessor  and  county  commissioner; 
farmed,  taught  school,  and  always  in  business,  —  a  man  of  sound  judg- 
ment, large  experience  and  practical  talents.  His  sons  were  Louis  M., 
Sylvester  D.,  Philander  (dead),  John  P.  (dead).  Daughters:  Melissa, 
wife  of  Sale  S.  Ray  ;  Martha  J.,  wife  of  Maj.  Wilson  Burroughs ;  Mary 
H.,  wife  of  Rev.  Isaiah  Villars ;  and  Harriet,  wife  of  Dr.  John  J.  Mc- 
Elroy. 

Dennis  Rouse,  Catlin,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in  Scioto 
county,  Ohio,  on  the  14th  of  February,  1828,  and  came  to  Yermilion 
county  in  1832  with  his  parents,  and  first  settled  two  and  one-half 
miles  east  of  Danville,  his  parents  dying  when  he  was  quite  young. 
He  started  without  anything,  and  at  the  present  is  the  owner  of  a  fine 
farm  of  seven  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  within  eight  miles  of  Dan- 
ville, which  is  the  result  of  his  own  labor.  On  the  29th  of  October, 
1850,  Mr.  Rouse  was  married  to  Miss  Louisa  Olehy,  a  native  of  Scioto 
county,  Ohio,  born  on  the  20th  of  December,  1834.  By  their  marriage 
they  have  three  children  :  Reazon,  Lillie  J.  and  Dennis  A.  One  child 
died  —  Emma. 

Thomas  Brady,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  section  2,  Catlin  township, 
is  the  son  of  John  and  Rosanna  Brady.  He  was  born  in  what  is  now 
Catlin  township,  on  the  8th  of  October,  1832.  His  father  was  a  native 
of  Virginia,  but  removed  to  Brown  county,  Ohio,  as  early  as  the  year 
1825.  In  1832  he  again  moved,  this  time  locating  in  Vermilion  coun- 
ty, Illinois.  Being  one  of  the  early  pioneers,  he  had  the  choice  of  loca- 
tion, and  being  from  a  timbered  country,  he  located  in  the  timber  near 
where  the  county  farm  now  is.  Here  he  improved  a  large  farm,  and 
raised  a  family  of  fourteen  children,  five  sons  and  nine  daughters,  of 
whom  there  are  now  only  seven  daughters  and  three  sons  living:  Han- 
nah A.,  who  has  been  an  invalid  since  four  years  old.  She  resided  in 
this  county  until  1876,  and  then  moved  to  Kansas  and  began  farming 
on  her  own  account  on  quite  an  extensive  scale.  Sarah,  wife  of  the 
deceased  M.  Oakwood ;  Ailcy,  wife  of  the  deceased  J.  Burroughs,  and 
now  wife  of  J.  Wherry ;  Johnathan  T. ;  Lidy,  wife  of  J.  W.  Acree ; 
Thomas,  the  subject  of  our  sketch ;  Marsala,  formerly  wife  of  Wm. 
McCoy,  deceased,  and  now  wife  of  H.  Leonard  ;  Rosanah,  wife  of  Wm. 
Finley  during  his  life,  and  now  wife  of  Wm.  Gerling,  who  is  exten- 
sively engaged  in  gold  mining  in  California ;  John,  now  on  the  old 
home  farm ;  Jane,  wife  of  L.  Burroughs  till  his  death,  and  now  wife  of 
N".  R.  Mills.  The  names  of  the  deceased  are:  Nancy,  Joseph,  Mary 
and  Ennis.     Thomas  Brady,  the  subject  of  our  sketch,  was  united  in 


CATLIN   TOWNSHIP.  633 

marriage  to  Miss  America  Finley,  daughter  of  Maholon  and  Margaret 
Finley,  on  the  1st  of  March,  1855.  She  also  is  a  native  of  Vermilion 
county,  Illinois.  She  was  born  on  the  4th  of  May,  1833,  and  is  a 
woman  seldom  equaled  in  her  taste  of  decorating  and  making  a  home 
pleasant.  Until  1874  he  had  resided  three  miles  west  of  Danville. 
He  then  removed  to  his  present  home  in  Catlin  township,  where  he 
owns  a  fine  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty-five  acres,  beautifully  lo- 
cated, within  one  mile  of  the  village  of  Catlin,  this  being  his  home 
farm.  He  also  owns  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  where  he  formerly 
resided,  west  of  Danville.  This  tine  property  has  been  the  result  of 
his  own  energy,  industry  and  economy. 

B.  C.  Pate,  Catlin,  section  21,  son  of  Adam  and  Elizabeth  Pate,  was 
born  in  Catlin,  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  12th  of  July,  1832. 
His  father  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  the  county,  coming  in  1829, 
and  settling  where  B.  C.  Pate  now  resides.  He  was  a  native  of  Mont- 
gomery county,  Virginia,  born  on  the  19th  of  December,  1791,  and 
died  on  the  8th  of  February,  1867.  His  wife,  Elizabeth,  was  a  native 
of  Virginia,  born  on  the  12th  of  December,  1794,  and  died  on  the  8th 
of  October,  1874.  They  both  remained  at  the  old  homestead  until 
their  death.  B.  C.  Pate  was  united  in  marriage  on  the  22d  of  Decem- 
ber, 1857,  to  Miss  Rebecca  Tanner.  She  was  born  in  Vermilion  county, 
Illinois,  in  1839.  They  have  been  blessed  with  five  children  :  Lafay- 
ette P.,  Horace  M.,  Asa  Clay,  Oiver  C.  and  George  W.  Mrs.  P.  is  a 
member  of  the  M.  E.  church.  Mr.  P.  is  a  member  of  the  A.F.  &  A.M., 
Catlin  Lodge,  No.  285. 

Reece  Cook,  Catlin,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  bom  in  Ripley 
county,  Indiana,  on  the  25th  of  April,  1817,  and  came  to  Vermilion 
county  in  1831.  He  first  settled  at  Grape  Creek,  and  in  1834  removed 
five  miles  southwest  of  Danville,  where  his  mother  now  resides.  His 
father  died  in  1846.  On  the  30th  of  January,  1845,  Mr.  Cook  married 
Miss  A.  J.  Hartley.  She  is  a  native  of  what  was  then  Monongalia 
county,  Virginia,  and  was  born  on  the  19th  of  June,  1821.  She  came 
to  Vermilion  county  in  1830.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Cook  are  pioneers  of  this 
county,  and  are  respected  by  the  citizens  of  the  county.  They  are 
members  of  the  C.  P.  church. 

W.  A.  Church,  Catlin,  farmer,  was  born  in  Catlin  township,  Ver- 
milion county,  Illinois,  on  the  13th  of  July,  1833,  and  has  never  been 
out  of  the  county  over  a  month  at  a  time.  He  was  married  in  1853  to 
Miss  Hester  A.  Douglass,  who  was  born  on  the  7th  of  October,  1834,  in 
Vermilion  county.  They  have  three  sons  and  two  daughters :  Sarah 
D.,  wife  of  J.  Acree;  William  J.,  Laura  A.,  wife  of  L.  Busby;  Thos. 
W.  and  Charles  S.     Mr.  Church  owns  a  fine  farm  of  three  hundred 


634  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

and  thirty-five  acres,  with  good  improvements,  most  of  which  he  has 
made  himself. 

Hon.  Jacob  H.  Oakwood,  Catlin,  was  born  in  Brown  county,  Ohio, 
on  the  18th  of  November,  1828.  In  1833  his  parents  and  family 
arrived  in  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  and  made  a  settlement  in  what 
is  now  Oakwood  township,  near  the  present  little  town  of  Oakwood, 
both  named  in  memory  of  this  family.  Here  Mr.  Oakwood's  father 
continued  to  reside  till  removed  by  death  in  1855,  and  his  remains  now 
repose  in  the  Mount  Yernon  Church  cemetery,  of  Catlin  township,  a 
congregation  that  he  was  largely  instrumental  in  building  up,  and  of 
which  he  became  a  member  about  the  time  of  its  organization,  and 
where  he  continued  to  worship  up  to  the  time  of  his  decease.  His 
wife,  still  living,  now  in  the  eighty-sixth  year  of  her  life,  has  also  been 
for  many  years  a  member  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church,  and 
is  now  one  of  the  venerable  pioneer  ladies  of  the  county.  They  raised 
a  family  of  nine  children,  four  of  whom  are  yet  living :  Henry,  Michael, 
a  Methodist  clergyman,  and  Mrs.  Margaret  (George  A.)  Fox,  residents 
of  Oakwood  township,  and  Jacob,  of  Catlin.  The  others,  Mrs.  Amanda 
(Rev.  Eli)  Helmick,  Samuel,  Mrs.  Matilda  (Henry)  Sallie,  Martin  K. 
and  Morgan  H.,  all  died  in  this  county,  and  near  the  old  homestead. 
Those  living  are  well-to-do  in  life,  respected  and  well  known  through- 
out the  county.  Their  opportunities  of  a  literary  character  were  rather 
limited,  as  was  commonly  the  case  in  the  first  settlement  of  the  country ; 
nevertheless,  bv  a  diligent  use  of  the  means  afforded,  they  each  became 
very  fair  scholars  for  the  times,  and  five  of  the  brothers  became  teachers, 
including  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  who  commenced  the  business  when 
only  about  twenty  years  old,  and  continued  it  some  four  years,  during 
the  winter  seasons.  On  the  14th  of  February,  1851,  he  was  united  in 
marriage  to  Miss  Mary  I.  Caraway,  daughter  of  Charles  and  Elizabeth 
(McCorkle)  Caraway,  old  settlers  of  this  county  and  of  Catlin  town- 
ship. This  marriage  has  been  productive  of  eight  children,  four  living: 
Charles  H.,  George  "W.,  Miss  Emma  J.  and  Annie.  Three  died  in 
infancy,  and  Mary  E.,  the  eldest,  a  bright,  promising  daughter.  A^ker 
his  marriage  Mr.  Oakwood  settled  down  upon  a  farm,  and  turned  his 
attention  to  agriculture,  and  has  given  it  that  scientific  consideration 
now  regarded  as  essential  to  this  all-important  industry.  In  a  short 
time  his  knowledge  and  proficiency  became  such  that  he  was  elected 
to  the  presidency  of  the  Yermilion  County  Agricultural  Society,  which 
he  has  served,  either  in  the  capacity  of  president  or  secretary,  excepting 
a  few  intervals,  for  the  last  twenty  years.  With  other  leading  agricul- 
tural gentlemen  of  his  county,  he  has  used  his  best  influences  to  secure 
the  introduction  of  suitable  and   improved  farming  implements  and 


CATLIN   TOWNSHIP.  635 

thorough-bred  stock,  and  has  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  a  vast  im- 
provement in  the  mechanical  tillage  of  the  soil,  and  in  the  quality  of 
the  different  breeds  of  live-stock.  He  has  not  only  been  actively  en- 
gaged in  furthering  the  material  developments  of  the  country,  but  has 
given  a  large  share  of  his  attention  to  political  questions  and  public 
measures.  His  first  presidential  vote  was  given  for  Gen.  Winfield 
Scott,  the  last  but  unsuccessful  whig  nominee.  Upon  the  dissolution 
of  this  organization,  he  went,  with  the  great  majority  of  the  whigs  of 
the  north,  into  the  republican  party,  the  organization  of  which  was 
completed  in  1856,  and  he  has  acted  in  conjunction  with  this  party 
ever  since.  In  1872  he  was  elected  to  the  state  legislature,  as  one  of 
the  representatives  on  the  republican  ticket,  for  the  thirty-first  sena- 
torial district,  including  Vermilion  and  Edgar  counties.  While  in  the 
legislature  he  proved  himself  active,  capable  and  efficient,  and  secured 
the  passage  of  several  important  bills,  among  which  are  the  present 
road  law,  the  modification  of  the  school  law  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
grant  certificates  of  second  grade  to  teachers  qualified  in  what  is  com- 
monly known  as  the  seven  branches,  the  original  criterion  of  qualifica- 
tion ;  and  the  cutting  down  of  the  homestead  and  exemption  law  to  a 
definite  sum,  not  exceeding  fifteen  hundred  dollars — a  thousand  dollars 
of  real  estate,  and  five  hundred,  personal  property.  He  served  on  the 
committees  of  public  charities,  civil  service  and  retrenchment,  and  while 
engaged  in  these  duties,  visited  the  public  charitable  institutions  of  the 
state,  in  order  to  perfectly  acquaint  himself  with  their  actual  condition 
and  wants,  and  to  render  himself  better  qualified  to  assist  in  necessary 
appropriations,  without  voting  away  the  people's  money  in  response  to 
unnecessary  demands,  which  are  more  or  less  made  upon  every  legis- 
lature. During  his  entire  incumbency  his  official  action  compares  well 
with  that  of  other  capable  gentlemen  who  have  heretofore  represented 
the  people  of  his  district,  and  as  he  is  yet  young,  we  confidently  expect 
that  his  name  will  again  appear  in  connection  with  some  of  the  honor- 
able positions  within  the  gift  of  the  people.  Mr.  Oakwood's  family  are 
ofGerman  descent  through  both  lines.  His  father,  Henry,  was  born 
in  East  Tennessee;  moved  early  to  Kentucky,  where  he  married  Miss 
Margaret  Remley,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  whose  parents  were  also 
early  settlers  of  Kentucky,  coming  down  the  Ohio  River  in  a  fiat-boat 
■when  hostile  bands  of  savages  menaced  the  emigrant  from  either  shore. 
A  short  time  after  their  marriage  they  moved  to  Brown  county,  Ohio, 
the  native  county  of  General  Grant,  with  whose  parents  they  were 
well  acquainted  and  upon  intimate  terms  of  friendship.  Mrs.  Sarah 
Hickman,  deceased,  of  Vermilion  county,  is  the  only  sister  of  his  father 
that  Mi-.  Oak-wood   recollects,  and  the  presumption  is  the  family  was 


636  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

composed  of  only  the  brother  and  sister.  Owing  to  the  loss  of  early 
records,  the  origin  of  the  family  cannot  be  definitely  traced  in  its  more 
early  settlement  in  this  country  farther  than  is  already  given  in  the 
preceding  sketch. 

Jesse  Davis,  Catlin,  farmer,  section  36,  was  born  in  Pickaway 
county,  Ohio,  on  the  24th  of  October,  1832.  He  came  with  his  parents 
to  Vermilion  county  in  1833,  and  settled  where  Mr.  Davis  now  resides. 
His  parents  were  natives  of  Virginia,  and  removed  to  Ohio  in  an  early 
day;  thence  to  this  county,  where  they  remained  until  their  death. 
Mr.  Davis  died  in  1834.  and  Mrs.  Davis  in  1870.  Jesse  Davis  was 
united  in  marriage  to  Miss  M.  E.  Hyett,  a  native  of  Davis  county, 
Kentucky,  born  on  the  24th  of  Xovember,  1838.  They  have  two 
sons  and  two  daughters:  Clara  J.,  Yan  C,  Scott  G.  and  Minnie  L. 
Mr.  Davis  is  member  of  A.F.  &  A.M.,  Catlin  Lodge,  No.  285. 

Samuel  Cook,  "Westville,  farmer,  Catlin,  was  born  in  Clermont 
county,  Ohio,  on  the  4th  of  October,  1825.  He  came  west  and  settled 
in  Vermilion  county,  on  the  4th  of  October,  1834.  He  remained  with 
his  parents  in  Georgetown  township  for  some  time.  He  has  been 
twice  married :  first,  to  Amanda  M.  Graves.  She  was  born  in  this 
county  on  the  18th  of  August,  1833,  and  departed  this  life  on  the  19th 
of  August,  1866.  The  second  time  he  married  to  Martha  E.  Citizen, 
on  the  14th  of  April,  1870,  a  native  of  Warren  county,  Indiana,  born 
on  the  25th  of  July,  1839.  He  had  six  children  by  his  former  wifei 
Georg  W.,  James  P.,  Mary  E.  (now  wife  of  J.  A.  Wherry),  Charles, 
and  two  deceased:  Margaret,  Ellen.  By  his  present  wife  he  is  the 
father  of  three  children  :  Freddie,  Bertie  J.  and  John  F.  Mr.  Cook 
owns  a  fine  farm  of  two  hundred  and  eighty  acres,  with  good  improve- 
ments. He  has  been  an  industrious  and  public-spirited  man,  and  is 
respected  by  all  who  know  him. 

G.  W.  Wolfe,  Catlin,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  section  33,  is  a  son  of 
Henry  an  Aim  Wolfe,  and  was  born  in  Sullivan  county,  Tennessee,  on 
the  22d  of  February,  1832.  At  two  and  a  half  years  of  age  he  came, 
with  his  parents,  to  Illinois,  and  settled  writhin  four  miles  of  where  Mr. 
Wolfe  now  resides.  They  first  located  on  what  is  now  known  as  the 
J.  H.  Oakwood  farm,  where  they  remained  until  their  death.  G.  W. 
Wolfe,  who  is  the  subject  of  our  sketch,  was  united  in  marriage  on  the 
22d  of  October,  1854,  to  Miss  Ann  Caraway,  a  daughter  of  Charles  and 
Elisabeth  Caraway,  who  were  among  the  early  settlers  of  the  county. 
They  are  blessed  with  a  family  of  five  children,  three  sons  and  two 
daughters:  Charles  H.,  John  M.,  Abraham  L.,  Martha  B.,  Bertha. 
One  child  died  in  infancy.  Mr.  Wolfe  has  held  the  office  of  supervisor 
for  seven  years,  and  other  local  offices  of  the  township.     He  is  a  member 


CATLIN   TOWNSHIP.  637 

of  the  A.F.  &  A.M.,  of  Catlin  Lodge,  No.  285,  and  politically  is  a 
staunch  republican.  He  and  his  wife  are  regular  members  of  the  C.  P. 
church.  Mr.  Wolfe  owns  a  fine  farm  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  acres, 
on  which  he  has  made  most  of  the  improvements. 

John  W.  New  Ion,  Catlin,  section  12,  is  a  son  of  Thomas  B.  and 
Angeline  Newlon.  She  was  the  daughter  of  S.  Griffith,  who  was  one 
of  the  pioneers  of  the  county,  coming  in  1822.  Thomas  B.  Newlon, 
John  W.  Newlon's  father,  was  a  native  of  Virginia,  and  removed  to 
Champaign  county,  Ohio,  at  an  early  day;  thence  to  Vermilion  county 
in  the  fall  of  1835.  J.  W.  Newlon,  the  subject  of  our  sketch,  was 
born  in  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  13th  of  June,  1840.  He 
took  an  active  part  in  the  late  rebellion.  He  enlisted  in  Co.  I,  35th 
Keg.  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  on  the  3d  of  July,  1861,  and  was  at  the  battles  of 
Pea  Ridge,  Stone  River,  Chickamauga,  Mission  Ridge,  and  all  the 
battles  attending  Sherman's  campaign  to  Atlanta.  He  was  at  the 
siege  of  Atlanta,  and  was  mustered  out  on  the  19th  of  September, 
1864.  He  returned  to  Vermilion  county,  and  was  united  in  marriage 
on  the  19th  of  September,  1865,  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Taylor,  who  is  the 
daughter  of  Thomas  B.  and  Ivea  Taylor.  She  was  born  in  Tippecanoe 
count}',  Indiana,  on  the  2d  of  February,  1845.  They  have  five  chil- 
dren—  one  son  and  four  daughters:  Tempie  I.,  Norah,  Mildred  A., 
Evaline  and  Lowell  T.  Mr.  Newlon  is  now  township  supervisor.  He 
has  served  as  assessor  and  township  collector.  He  also  is  a  member 
of  the  A.F.  &  A.M.,  Catlin  Lodge,  No.  285. 

Charles  T.  Caraway,  Catlin,  section  29,  was  born  in  Catlin  town- 
ship, Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  22d  of  October,  1838.  His 
parents  came  to  the  county  in  1829-30.  His  father  was  born  in  Green- 
brier county,  Virginia,  in  1787,  and  died  in  1838.  His  mother  was 
also  a  native  of  Virginia,  and  died  in  1S48.  Mr.  Caraway  was  united 
in  marriage,  in  1865,  to  Miss  Jennie  Dougherty,  a  native  of  Ohio 
county,  Indiana.  She  was  born  on  the  20th  of  October,  1844.  They 
have  three  children :  Warren  E.,  Charles  H.,  Nellie  B.  Mr.  Caraway 
is  a  member  of  the  A.F.  &  A.M.,  Catlin  Lodge,  285.  He  served  in  the 
late  rebellion,  in  Co.  I,  35th  Reg.  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  and  was  in  the  battles 
of  Pea  Ridge,  Stone  River,  Perryville,  Chickamauga,  Mission  Ridge, 
where  he  was  wounded,  and  was  at  the  siege  of  Corinth. 

A.  G.  Payne,  Catlin,  son  of  John  and  Verlitta  Pajme,  was  born  in 
Danville  township,  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  20th  of  May, 
1838.  On  the  2d  of  January,  1859,  he  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss 
Rhoda  Green,  a  native  of  Jefferson  county,  Indiana,  born  on  the  13th 
of  January,  1840.  By  this  union  they  have  been  blessed  with  five 
children,  of  whom  three  are  living:  Charles  W.,  John  H.  and  Udocia 


638  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION*    COUNTY. 

V.  The  names  of  the  deceased  are  Margaret  M.  and  Hettie  H.  Mr. 
Payne  is  a  chapter  member  of  the  Masonic  lodge,  No.  82,  Danville, 
and  also  a  member  of  Catlin  lodge,  No.  285.  Mr.  Payne  took  an  active 
part  in  the  rebellion.  He  enlisted  on  the  14th  of  September,  1861,  as 
private  in  Co.  C,  5th  111.  Cav.  On  the  21st  of  August,  1862,  he  was 
appointed  corporal,  and,  on  the  13th  of  March,  1863,  sergeant.  He 
reenlisted  on  the  1st  of  January,  1861,  in  the  same  regiment  and  in  the 
same  company,  and  was  appointed  quartermaster-sergeant  on  the  1st 
of  September,  1864.  On  the  17th  of  February  of  that  year  he  was 
made  first  sergeant,  and  first  lieutenant  on  the  19th  of  May,  1865.  He 
was  promoted  to  brigade  provost-marshal  on  the  25th  of  August,  1865 
and  to  captain  of  Co.  D  on  the  4th  of  October,  1865.  Mr.  Pa}-ne  was 
at  the  siege  of  Yicksburg  and  Champion  Hill,  Yazoo  City,  Jackson, 
Mississippi,  Grand  Gulf,  and  others.  He  was  mustered  out  on  the 
27th  of  October,  1865,  and  returned  to  Vermilion  count}-,  where  he 
engaged  in  farming  until  1871,  and  since  then  he  has  been  in  the  mer- 
cantile business,  the  firm  being  now  known  as  Payne  &  Crutchley. 

S.  T.  Ellsworth,  Westville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Shelby  county,  Ohio, 
on  the  11th  of  October,  1817,  and  came  to  Vermilion  county  in  1838. 
He  then  went  to  Springfield,  Illinois,  and  there  remained  for  a  while, 
and  then  returned  to  Ohio  in  1839.  He  came  back  to  this  county  in 
1840,  and  purchased  his  present  farm  in  1853,  where  he  has  been  a 
prominent  resident  ever  since.  On  the  17th  of  August,  1841,  he  was 
married  to  Miss  A.  Graves,  a  native  of  Bourbon  county,  Kentucky. 
She  was  born  on  the  15th  of  October,  1822,  and  came  to  this  county  in 
about  1828.  They  have  had  a  family  of  seven  children  :  Mary  E.,  wife 
of  I.  Burroughs  ;  Margaret  M.,  wife  of  W.  W.  Current  during  her  life ; 
Jacob  P. ;  Sarah  M.,  wife  of  W.  D.  Parker;  Evaline  M.,  wife  of  G.  H. 
Watson;  Levi  L.  and  Catharine.  Mr.  Ellsworth  owns  one  hundred  and 
sixty-live  acres  of  land,  on  which  he  has  made  the  improvements.  His 
political  views  are  republican. 

C.  F.  Pillars,  Oak  wood,  farmer,  section  25,  son  of  Samuel  and  Icy 
Pillars,  was  born  in  Kosciusko  county,  Indiana,  on  the  16th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1836.  He  came  to  Vermilion  county  with  his  parents  in  1842,  and 
settled  near  Danville.  Here  he  remained  two  years,  and  then  went  to 
Oakwood  township,  and  from  there  to  where  he  now  resides.  He  served 
in  the  rebellion,  in  the  35th  111.  Vol.  Inf.  He  was  married  to  Miss 
Ann  E.  Seymore,  on  the  14th  of  May,  1862.  She  is  a  native  of  Mont- 
gomery county,  Indiana,  and  was  born  on  the. 23d  of  December,  1S37. 
They  are  the  parents  of  five  children  :  Eva  M.,  Alvina,  Martha,  Cor- 
nelia, and  Emma,  deceased.  Mr.  Pillars  is  a  member  of  the  I.O.O.F. 
lodge.     He  owns  one  hundred  and  ninety-six  acres  of  land. 


CATLIN    TOWNSHIP.  639 

John  Parker,  Catlin,  fanner,  was  born  in  Bourbon  county,  Ken- 
tucky, on  the  19th  of  March,  1819,  and. removed  to  Marion  county, 
Indiana,  in  1836,  where  his  parents  were  among  the  early  settlers. 
His  father  died  in  1812.  Mr.  Parker  came  to  Vermilion  county  in 
JS44,  and  settled  at  Brooks  Point,  where  he  remained  eight  years. 
He  then  removed  to  where  he  now  resides.  He  was  married  on  the  23d 
of  November,  1821,  to  Hannah  Clark,  and  they  have  eleven  children  : 
Drusilla,  Sarah,  Mary  E.,  William  D.,  John  M.,  Ann  E.,  James  W., 
Oscar  F.,  George  W.,  Henry  P.,  and  Clinton  W. 

J.  Col.  Vance,  Oakwood,  section  20,  was  born  in  Vermilion  county, 
Illinois,  on  the  2d  of  June,  1844.  His  father,  John  W.,  came  to  Ver- 
milion county  in  about  1823  or  1824,  where  he  was  one  of  the  first  set- 
tlers of  the  county.  He  was  born  in  Champaign  county,  Ohio,  on  the 
18th  of  March,  1782,  and  died  where  his  son  now  resides,  on  the  6th 
of  May,  1857.  He  was  elected  representative  two  terms  in  an  early 
day.  His  wife,  Deziah  Rathburn,  was  born  in  Meigs  county,  Ohio, 
on  the  2d  of  September,  1813,  and  died  on  the  23d  of  November,  1865. 
Their  family  consisted  of  two  sons  and  four  daughters:  Horace  W. ; 
Helen,  wife  of  J.  Wilson,  and  Bridget  A. ;  J.  Col.,  the  subject  of  our 
sketch;  Lura  G.,  wife  of  S.  R.  Tilton,  and  Josephine  L.,  wife  of  L. 
Steele,  and  three  deceased  :  Marion  W.,  Mariah  C.  and  Joseph  C.  J. 
Col.  Vance  took  an  active  part  in  the  rebellion.  He  enlisted  in  1862, 
in  Co.  A,  71st  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  and  served  his  time  out,  and  enlisted  in 
1864  in  Co.  F,  26th  Peg.  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  and  served  until  the  close  of 
the  war.  He  was  engaged  in  the  battles  of  Resaca,  Atlanta  and  others. 
He  was  with  Sherman  on  the  march  to  the  sea ;  at  the  battle  of  Savan- 
nah city,  Columbia,  South  Carolina,  Fayetteville,  Goldsborough,  and 
was  at  the  general  review  at  Washington,  District  of  Columbia.  He 
returned  home  in  July,  1865,  and  was  united  in  marriage  on  the  19th 
of  November,  1868,  to  Miss  Lydia  E.  Mathewman,  born  in  Jefferson 
county,  Iowa,  on  the  18th  of  July,  1851.  By  their  union  they  have 
been  blessed  with  four  children  :  Alta  D.,  John  F.,  Alice  A.,  Clara  J., 
and  one  deceased,  —  Frank.  Mr.  Vance  is  a  member  of  the  A.F.  &  A. 
M.,  Catlin  Lodge,  No.  285. 

A.  A.  Taylor,  Catlin,  farmer,  was  born  in  Tippecanoe  county,  Indi- 
ana, on  the  9th  of  December,  1832,  and  came  to  Vermilion  county  with 
his  parents  in  1845.  Mr.  Taylor  served  in  the  army,  enlisting  in  Co. 
I,  35th  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  in  1861,  and  served  three  years.  He  was  in  the 
battles  of  Stone  River  and  Chickamauga, —  in  which  he  was  severely 
wounded, —  Mission  Ridge  and  Atlanta.  Soon  after  the  war  he  came 
home,  and  was  married  to  Miss  Anna  Mevill.  They  have  one  son 
and  one  daughter:  Jennie  M.  and  George  A. 


640  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION   COUNTY. 

H.  H.  Catlett,  Fairmount,  farmer,  was  born  in  Albemarle  county,  Vir- 
ginia, on  the  21st  of  October,  1823,  and  in  1828  went  with  his  parents 
to  Alabama.  He  went  to  Tennessee  in  1830,  arid  to  Fayette  county, 
Ohio,  in  1835.  In  1846  he  came  to  Vermilion  county,  and  soon  after 
purchased  the  farm  where  his  brother  now  resides.  Mr.  Catlett  was 
united  in  marriage  in  1858  to  Miss  Lucinda  Koudebnsh,  a  native  of 
Clermont  county,  Ohio,  born  in  1838.  By  this  union  they  have  four 
children :  Nellie  T.,  George  B,.,  Percy  L.,  Corinne  C.  '  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Catlett  are  members  of  the  Baptist  church,  and  Mr.  C.  is  a  member  of 
A.F.  &  A.M. 

W.  T.  Sandusky,  Fairmount,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  is  the  son  of 
William  and  Julia  Sandusky,  who  were  natives  of  Kentucky  and  Vir- 
ginia, and  resided  in  Bourbon  county,  Kentucky,  at  the  time  of  the 
birth  of  W.  T.  Sandusky,  on  the  11th  of  March,  1829,  but  removed, 
however,  to  Shelby  county,  Illinois,  the  same  year,  where  his  father 
died,  1830,  and  his  mother  in  1839,  leaving  Mr.  Sandusky  to  act  for 
himself.  Mr.  Sandusky  came  to  Vermilion  county  having  only  a 
horse  and  sixteen  dollars  in  money.  He  followed  herding  cattle  and 
driving  them  to  the  eastern  market,  working  iive  years  for  ten  and 
thirteen  dollars  per  month.  In  1853  he  went  to  California  where  he 
followed  mining  and  superintending  a  farm.  He  then  returned  to  this 
county  in  1856,  and  hence  to  Putnam  county,  Indiana,  where  he  en- 
gaged in  the  hotel  business  until  1866.  He  then  again  returned  to  Ver- 
milion county  and  purchased  his  present  farm  of  five  hundred  acres, 
which  is  adapted  to  his  business  of  stock-raising.  On  the  1st  of  De- 
cember, 1859,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Emily  Clements,  a  native  of 
Ohio,  born  in  1839.     They  have  two  daughters:  Maggie  and  Katie. 

Frederick  Jones,  Catlin,  dry -goods,  was  born  in  London,  England, 
on  the  28th  of  May,  1844,  and  came  with  a  colony  of  twenty-four  per- 
sons to  this  county  in  1849,  and  settled  at  Butler's  Point.  The  family 
consisted  of  seven  children  :  Arthur,  Kichard  (now  deceased),  Sarah 
E.,  Eliza,  Emily,  Louisa  and  our  subject.  Mr.  Jones  was  united  in 
marriage  on  the  5th  of  December,  1866,  to  Miss  Harriet  A.  Dickinson, 
who  was  born  in  England  on  the  28th  of  December,  1847.  By  this 
union  they  have  seven  children  :  James,  Emma,  Kichard,  Harriet  A., 
Sarah,  Frederick  and  Elizabeth. 

Arthur  Jones,  Catlin,  merchant,  was  born  in  London,  England,  on 
the  14th  of  July,  1848,  and  came  to  this  county  in  1849,  and  located 
at  Brooke's  Point  (now  Catlin),  where  he  has  resided  ever  since.  On 
the  22d  of  January,  1871,  he  married  Miss  Emma  Dickinson,  who  was 
born  in  England  on  the  25th  of  December,  1852.  They  are  the 
parents  of  four  children,  of  whom   only  two  are  living :  Edward  A., 


CATLIN    TOWNSHIP.  641 

William  H.  The  names  of  the  deceased  are  Cora  M.  and  Nettie  B. 
Jones  Bros,  are  honest,  energetic,  and  courteous  to  their  many  cus- 
tomers, and  have  gained  a  wide  circle  of  friends. 

Thomas  Church,  Catlin,  section  35,  son  of  Henry  and  Sophia 
Church,  was  born  in  London,  England,  on  the  7th  of  September,  1838. 
He  came  to  America  -with  his  mother  and  two  sisters:  Jane,  wife  of  F. 
Champion,  and  Sarah,  wife  of  Henry  Lloyde,  in  1850.  His  lather  came 
in  1849,  and  settled  three  miles  south  of  Catlin,  where  they  resided 
until  1855,  and  then  removed  to  Catlin,  where  they  remained.  His 
father  died  in  1859,  and  his  mother  in  1874.  Thomas  Church  was 
united  in  marriage  on  the  6th  of  May,  1861,  to  Miss  Louisa  Jones, 
daughter  of  Henry  and  Sarah  Jones,  who  were  among  the  early  set- 
tlers of  the  county.  By  this  union  they  have  four  daughters  and  two 
sons:  Sophia  L.,  Herbert  A.,  Ellen  E.,  Ada  E.,  Frederic  H.  and 
Sarah  A.  Mr.  Church  is  a  member  of  the  A.F.  &  A.M.,  Catlin  Lodge, 
No.  285,  and  he  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  M.  E.  church. 

Thomas  Williams,  Catlin,  farmer,  section  28,  was  born  in  the  county 
of  Cornwall,  England,  on  the  8th  of  February,  1804,  and  came 
with  his  parents,  William  and  Loveday  Williams,  to  Federal  City,  D.C., 
in  1820,  where  his  mother  died  in  September  of  1821.  His  father 
and  the  family,  consisting  of  nine  children,  came  to  Dearborn  county, 
Indiana,  in  1822,  where  they  were  among  the  early  settlers.  His  father 
remained  there  until  his  death,  1849.  Mr.  Williams  has  been  thrice 
married:  his  first  wife  was  Miss  Paulina  Pate,  married  on  the  19th  of 
March,  1826 ;  born  in  Dearborn  county,  Indiana,  on  the  17th  of  July, 
1808,  and  died  on  the  7th  of  November,  1850.  His  second  wife  was 
Mrs.  Katharine  Pate.  They  were  married  on  the  14th  of  February, 
1851.  She  was  born  in  North  Carolina,  on  the  6th  of  April,  1799,  and 
died  on  the  17th  of  June,  1862.  His  third  marriage  was  to  Mrs.  Mar- 
garet Patterson  (formerly  Miss  Fruits),  on  the  27th  of  October,  1862. 
She  is  a  native  of  Indiana,  born  on  the  8th  of  January,  1817.  Mr. 
Williams  has  six  daughters  by  his  first  wife:  Jane,  wife  of  S.  Lewis; 
Loveday,  wife  of  W.  S.  Pate;  Paulina,  wife  of  J.  Thomas;  Catharine 
W.,  wife  of  deceased  H.  Ludington  ;  Mary  E.,  wife  of  F.  Burroughs; 
Grace,  wife  of  William  Cole.  There  are  six  deceased  :  Rachel,  Will- 
iam, Elizabeth,  Phoebe  A.,  George  A.,  Emily.  Mr.  Williams  came  to 
Vermilion  county  in  1S51,  and  settled  where  he  now  resides.  He  owns 
three  hundred  and  fifty-one  acres  of  land,  of  which  he  has  improved 
two  hundred  acres. 

Frederic  Tarrant,  Catlin,  groceries  and  provisions,  was  born  in  Berk- 
shire, England,  on  the  15th   of  May,  1824.     He  came  to  Catlin,  Ver- 
milion county,  Illinois,  in  1853,  and  here  has  made  his  home  ever  since. 
41 


642  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Fie  was  united  in  marriage  to  Mrs.  Eliza  Brown,  formerly  Miss  Jones. 
By  this  union  they  have  had  nine  children,  six  of  whom  are  living: 
Sarah  L.,  now  Mrs.  C.  P.  Williams;  Miriam  W.,  Arthur  H.,  Jessie  B., 
Thomas  A.,  Alice  B.  The  names  of  the  deceased  are  Frederic  R., 
Helen  E.  and  Elsie  K.  Mrs.  Tarrant  has  one  child  by  her  former  hus- 
band :  Emily  E.,  now  Mrs.  James  E.  White.  Mr.  T.  is  a  member  of 
the  A.F.  &  A.M.,  of  Catlin,  No.  285,  and  he  and  his  wife  are  members 
of  the  M.  E.  church.     Came  to  Catlin  as  one  of  the  first  settlers. 

S.  W.  Barker,  Fairmount,  farmer,  was  born  in  what  was  then  known 
as  Hardy  county,  Virginia,  on  the  5th  of  January,  1816.  His  father 
died  when  he  was  two  and  a  half  years  of  age,  when  he  and  his  mother 
moved  to  Fayette  county,  Ohio,  and  while  there  he  married  Amanda 
Ocultree,  in  1840.  She  is  a  native  of  that  county,  and  was  born  in 
1822.  He  removed  to  Kosciusko  county,  Indiana,  and  remained  seven 
years,  and  in  1853  came  to  Vermilion  county,  which  has  been  his  home 
ever  since.  He  has  a  family  of  three  children  :  Amos  B.,  Luther  L. 
and  Mary.  One  of  the  children  died :  Orange  B.  Mr.  Barker  and  his 
wife  have  been  constant  members  of  the  M.  E.  church  for  many  years. 

George  Hoyles,  Catlin,  farmer,  section  15,  is  the  son  of  Jacob  and 
Sarah  Hoyles,  who  were  natives  of  Pennsylvania.  G.  Hoyles  was 
born  in  Washington  county,  Pennsylvania,  in  1830,  and  came  to  Ver- 
milion county  in  1853.  On  the  22d  of  February,  1854,  he  married 
Mrs.  Mary  J.  Guy  man,  daughter  of  Isaac  Sandusky,  who  was  an  early 
settler  of  this  county.  She  was  born  in  the  county  on  the  29th  of 
February,  1829.  Her  parents  brought  the  first  stove  in  the  county. 
Mr.  Hoj'le  lived  in  the  house  in  which  the  first  court  ever  convened  in 
this  county  was  held.  Here  he  remained  about  twenty-three  years, 
but  at  the  present  time  he  has  a  fine  residence.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
A.F.  &  A.M.,  also  a  Royal  Arch  Masoii  of  Vermilion  Chapter,  No.  82. 
He  has  one  daughter,  Agnes  O.,  and  three  children  deceased :  Euphas 
J.,  Morning  and  George.  Mr.  H.  has  been  hard  working  and  ener- 
getic, and  at  present  owns  eight  hundred  acres  of  fine  farming  land  in 
the  county. 

Charles  Gones,  Catlin,  farmer,  son  of  Michael  and  Polly  Gones, 
was  born  in  what  was  then  known  as  Hardy  county,  Virginia,  on  the 
8th  of  August,  1818.  He  went  with  his  parents  to  Clark  countjT,  Ohio, 
in  1832,  and  then  to  Madison  county,  where  lie  was  united  in  marriage 
on  the  22d  of  February.  1844,  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Price,  daughter  of 
John  and  Elizabeth  Price.  She  was  born  in  Ross  county,  Ohio,  on  the 
6th  of  April,  1825.  By  their  union  they  have  been  blessed  with  six 
children  :  Mary  J.,  the  wife  of  Jacob  Sandowsky,  Thomas,  John,  Sa- 
rine,  now  Mrs.  Bentley,  Charles  H.   and   Hannah,  now  Mrs.  Hoges. 


CATLIN   TOWNSHIP.  643 

Mr.  Gones  came  to  Vermilion  comity  in  1854  and  settled  where  he 
now  resides.  He  is  a  member  of  the  A.F.  &  A.M.,  Catlin  Lodge,  No. 
285. 

William  McBroom,  Fairmonnt,  section  35,  was  born  in  Kentucky 
on  the  22d  of  April,  1815.  In  1827  he  came  with  his  parents  to 
Crawfordsville,  Indiana,  where  they  were  among  the  early  settlers. 
They  resided  there  four  years,  and  then  removed  to  New  Richmond, 
in  the  same  state,  where  they  remained  until  his  father's  death  in  1841. 
His  mother  went  to  Nebraska,  where  she  remained  until  her  death. 
Mr.  McBroom  has  been  thrice  married.  His  first  wife  was  Miss  Rhoda 
A.  Stover,  and  they  were  married  in  1833;  she  died  the  same  year. 
His  second  marriage  was  to  Elizabeth  Boyd,  daughter,  of  Joseph 
Hanks,  in  1839;  she  was  born  in  Ohio  on  the  16th  of  January,  1816, 
and  died  in  1849.  Mr.  McBroom  married  again  in  1851,  this  time  to 
Mrs.  Emily  Snyder,  daughter  of  Judge  Allen.  She  was  born  in  Ken- 
tucky, in  1818.  Mr.  McBroom  is  the  father  of  two  children  by  his 
second  wife :  John  and  Joseph  ;  and  by  his  present  wife  four :  Alfred, 
Josephine,  now  wife  of  R.  R.  Shephard,  William  Jester  and  John. 
Mr.  McBroom  came  to  Vermilion  county  on  the  28th  of  October,  1854, 
and  settled  where  he  now  resides. 

John  Harvey,  Catlin,  section  22,  business  at  present,  farming  and 
stock-raising,  was  born  in  Pickaway  county,  Ohio,  on  the  21st  of 
April,  1830,  where  he  remained  until  he  was  nineteen  years  of  age. 
He  then  came  to  Tippecanoe  county,  Indiana,  where  he  was  united 
in  marriage,  on  the  22d  of  December,  1851,  to  Miss  Margaret  A. 
Taylor,  daughter  of  Thomas  A.  and  Ivea  Taylor.  She  was  born  in 
Lafayette,  Indiana,  on  the  7th  of  July,  1831.  By  this  union  they 
have  been  blessed  with  one  daughter:  Ellen  T.;  and  by  adoption 
they  have  one  son :  Frederick  M.  Mr.  Harvey's  father  was  in  the 
war  of  1812.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Harvey  have  been  long  united  with  the 
C.  P.  church. 

W.  S.  Pate,  Catlin,  section  21,  was  born  in  Ripley  county,  Indi- 
ana, on  the  24th  of  March,  1286.  His  parents  were  natives  of  Vir- 
ginia; they  came  to  Dearborn  county,  Indiana,  in  an  early  day,  and 
remained  there  until  their  death.  His  father,  Jeremiah  Pate,  died 
on  the  8th  of  July,  1852,  and  his  mother,  Martha  A.,  died  in  1836. 
Mr.  Pate  was  united  in  marriage  on  the  14th  of  September,  1852, 
to  Miss  Loveday  A.  Williams,  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Paulina 
Williams.  She  was  born  in  Ripley  county,  Indiana,  on  the  11th  of 
January,  1829.  They  have  two  sons  and  one  daughter:  Rebecca  J., 
Thomas  and  George  A.  Four  of  their  children  are  dead:  Paulina  E., 
Mary  D.,  Ohioselestie  and  Martha  A.     Mr.  Pate  came  to  Vermilion 


644  HISTORY    OF    VERMILIOiN    COUNTY. 

count}-  in  1855,  and  settled  where  he  now  resides.  He  served  in  the 
Mexican  war  two  years,  was  at  the  battle  of  Cerro  Gordo,  National 
Bridge,  Pueblo,  and  at  the  City  of  Mexico.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
I.O.O.F.,  Catlin  Lodge,  No.  538.  His  father  served  in  the  war  of  1812. 
Mr.  Pate  and  his  wife  are  constant  members  of  the  M.  E.  church. 

W.  R.  Nesbitt,  Catlin,  farmer,  was  born  in  Washington  county, 
Ohio,  in  1830,  and  removed  to  Gallia  county,  Ohio,  in  1837,  where  his 
mother,  Mary,  died.  Mr.  Nesbitt  was  married  in  1853,  to  Miss  Eliza- 
beth Dye,  a  native  of  Gallia  county,  Ohio.  She  was  born  in  1832. 
Mr.  Nesbitt  came  to  Vermilion  county  in  1855,  and  has  been  farming 
and  dealing  in  stock.  He  came  to  the  county  without  anything,  and 
by  his  own  industry  owns  two  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  fine  im- 
proved land,  and  has  raised  a  family  of  six  sons  and  one  daughter : 
Daniel,  Robert  C,  Areus  F.,  Mary  E.,  Charles  E.,  John  W.  and  Ed- 
ward A. 

Joseph  Wherry,  Catlin.  farmer,  was  born  in  Mason  county,  Ken- 
tucky, on  the  24th  of  February,  1819,  and  came  to  McLean  county, 
Illinois,  in  1853.  He  has  been  twice  married.  His  former  wife  was 
Harriet  Barclay,  and  they  were  married  in  1838,  and  she  died  in  1861. 
His  second  marriage  was  to  Alcy  Burroughs,  in  1863.  He  has  two 
children  by  his  former  wife:  William  S.  and  John  ;  and  by  his  present 
wife :  Ida,  Hannah,  Mary  J.,  wife  of  W.  Cook,  and  Arminta,  wife  of 
R.  Downing.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wherry  are  members  of  the  C.  P.  church. 
She  was  born  in  Brown  count}',  Ohio,  on  the  20th  of  May,  1829,  and 
came  to  this  county  in  1833. 

Albert  Yoorhes,  Fairmount,  farmer,  is  a  son  of  Andrew  W.  and 
Mary  Voorhes,  and  was  born  in  Washington  county,  Pennsylvania,  on 
the  26th  of  December,  1833.  He  came  to  Edgar  county,  Illinois,  in 
1856,  where  he  remained  about  three  years.  He  then  removed  to  Ver- 
milion county,  where  he  has  made  a  permanent  home.  On  the  2d  of 
September,  1855,  he  was  united  in  the  bonds  of  matrimony  with  Miss 
Sarah  J.  Baker.  She  is  a  native  of  Washington  county,  Pennsylvania, 
and  was  born  on  the' 19th  of  December,  1839.  The  result  of  their 
union  is  a  family  of  seven  children  living,  and  one  dead.  The  living 
are :  Samuel  W.,  C.  L.,  Linie  I.,  Dillie  J.,  Florence  B.,  Henry,  Kim- 
brough  E.  Mr.  Yoorhes  came  to  this  country  without  any  means,  and 
by  industry  has  provided  a  good  home  for  his  family.  He  and  wife 
are  members  of  the  C.  P.  church. 

W.  J.  Brinckley,  Catlin,  principal  of  school,  was  born  in  Sussex 
county,  Delaware,  on  the  9th  of  March,  1835,  where  he  received  his 
early  education,  and  followed  teaching  school  for  some  time.  In  1856 
he  came  to  Vermilion   county  and   located   in   Catlin,  and   has  been 


CATLIN    TOWNSHIP.  (i45 

engaged  as  principal  of  the  Catlin  schools.  Mr.  Brinckley  served  three 
years  in  the  rebellion,  in  Co.  D,  125th  111.  Yol.  Inf.,  serving  in  that 
regiment  eighteen  months,  then  serving  as  ordnance  sergeant  in  the 
second  division,  14th  Army  Corps,  until  the  close  of  the  war.  Mr. 
Brinckley  attended  Rush  Medical  College  during  the  term  of  1873-4. 
The  only  brother  Mr.  Brinckley  had  that  lived  to  be  a  man  served  in 
Co.  C,  25th  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  and  died  while  in  the  army.  In  1856  Mr. 
Brinckley  was  joined  in  marriage  to  Miss  Mary  A.  Bradway,  a  native 
of  Salem  county,  New  Jersey.  She  was  born  on  the  12th  of  June, 
1838.  They  are  the  parents  of  one  sou,  William  J.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Brinckley  are  members  of  the  M.  E.  church,  and  in  politics  M.  Brinck- 
ley is  a  republican. 

J.  M.  Crutchley,  Catlin,  was  born  in  Northumberland  county,  Penn- 
sylvania, on  the  22d  of  May,  1836,  and,  about  the  year  1844,  came  with 
his  grandparents  to  Hendricks  county,  Indiana,  where  he  remained 
until  1857.  He  then  removed  to  Vermilion  count}',  Illinois,  where  he 
engaged  in  farming  and  coal  mining  until  1874.  Since  then  he  has 
been  in  the  mercantile  business,  being  connected  with  the  firm  now 
known  as  Payne  &  Crutchley.  Mr.  Crutchley  served  in  the  rebellion, 
in  Co.  A,  70th  Beg.  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  serving  his  time  out  in  that  regiment. 
He  reenlisted  in  1864  in  the  135th  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  and  served  his  time 
out  in  that  regiment.  He  was  united  in  marriage  on  the  29th  of  July, 
1859,  to  Miss  Cynthia  Tanner,  a  native  of  White  county,  Indiana,  born 
on  the  9th  of  July,  1837.  Mr.  Crutchley  is  a  member  of  the  A.F.  & 
A.M.,  Catlin  Lodge,  No.  285. 

J.  F.  Crosby,  Catlin,  insurance  agent,  was  born  in  Shelby  county, 
Indiana,  on  the  6th  of  December,  1834,  and  came  west,  locating  in 
Catlin,  Vermilion  county,  in  1857.  His  parents  also  came  to  this 
county.  His  father,  Joseph,  served  in  the  late  war,  and  resided  in  the 
county  until  his  death  in  1866.  His  mother,  Mary,  died  soon  after 
they  came  to  this  county.  Mr.  Crosby  served  in  the  late  rebellion,  in 
Co.  K,  125th  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  as  second  lieutenant.  He  served  one  year 
and  then  resigned.  On  the  23d  of  October,  1873,  he  was  married  to 
Miss  Louisa  Olmsted,  daughter  of  George  Olmsted.  She  was  born  in 
Vermilion  county,  Illinois.  They  have  one  daughter:  Myra,  and  one 
son,  deceased,  Harry. 

William  Hawkins,  Catlin,  farmer,  section  7,  was  born  in  Wayne 
county,  Indiana,  on  the  1st  of  January,  1831,  and  came  to  Vermilion 
county  in  1859.  He  was  married  on  the  28th  of  March,  1855,  to  Miss 
Duanna  Burgoyne,  a  native  of  Muskingum  count}7,  Ohio.  She  was 
born  on  the  20th  of  August,  1835.  They  have  four  children:  Sarah 
E.,  wife  of  G.  Patterson ;  Nora  B.,  Lue  E.,  Marietta,  and  one  deceased  : 


646  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

William  N.  Mr.  Hawkins  served  in  the  late  war.  He  enlisted  on  the 
11th  of  August,  1862,  in  Co.  G,  125th  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  and  served  until 
the  close  of  the  war.  He  was  in  the  battles  of  Mission  Ridge,  Buz- 
zard's  Roost,  Perryville  and  Atlanta.  He  was  with  Sherman  on  his 
march  to  the  sea,  and  was  in  all  the  battles  in  which  the  regiment  was 
engaged,  except  Chickamauga.  He  was  at  the  general  review  at  Wash- 
ington. 

James  White,  Catlin,  farmer,  was  born  in  Baltimore,  Maryland,  on 
the  4th  of  July,  1S12.  His  father,  William,  was  in  the  war  of  1812, 
and  was  wounded,  from  the  effects  of  which  he  died.  His  mother, 
Julia  White,  died  when  he  was  seven  years  of  age,  leaving  him  with- 
out parents  or  money.  He  engaged  as  cabin-boy  on  one  of  the  steamers 
on  the  Chesapeake  Bay  for  fifty  cents  per  month.  He  then  worked  on 
a  farm  for  four  and  five  dollars  per  month,  in  Pennsylvania,  and  in 
1859  came  to  Vermilion  county.  He  has  been  twice  married.  His 
former  wife  was  Hannah  Rodgers;  they  were  married  in  1840,  and 
she  died  in  1846.  His  second  marriage  was  to  Frances  Sanders ;  they 
were  united  in  1849.  She  was  born  in  1829.  Mr.  White  is  the  father 
of  three  children  by  his  former  wife:  William,  Samuel  and  Hannah, 
now  wife  of  C.  Dopp.  By  his  present  wife  he  has  James  E.,  Frank, 
Josephine,  wife  of  H.  Finley;  Charley,  Robert,  Ellen,  Roker,  Jesse, 
Julia,  Elizabeth.  Mr.  White  has,  by  hard  work  and  economy,  become 
the  owner  of  six  hundred  and  seventy-two  acres  of  land. 

Samuel  R.  Tilton,  Catlin,  merchant,  was  born  in  Beaver  county, 
Pennsylvania,  in  1840.  In  1844  his  father  moved  to  Ripley  county, 
Indiana,  where  S.  R.  grew  to  manhood,  and  in  1862  came  to  this 
county.  Soon  after,  in  response  to  a  call  of  his  country  for  troops,  he 
enlisted  in  the  service,  and  participated  with  his  regiment  in  the  bat- 
tles of  Perryville,  Chickamauga,  Mission  Ridge,  Resaca,  Allatoona, 
Kenesaw  Mountain,  and  many  other  engagements  of  less  note.  He 
was  severely  wounded  in  a  charge  on  Kenesaw  Mountain,  Georgia,  on 
the  27th  of  June,  1864  —  a  musket  ball  penetrating  his  right  breast. 
The  ball  afterward  was  extracted  from  his  back,  and  is  yet  preserved 
by  himself  as  a  souvenir  of  the  bloody  days  of  our  late  civil  war,  and 
the  excruciating  suffering  which  he  endured.  He  at  times  still  suffers 
severely  from  the  effect  of  his  wound.  Although  his  wound  was  of 
such  a  severe  character  as  to  unfit  him  for  active  military  duty,  he  after 
a  few  months  rejoined  his  regiment  at  Goldsborough,  Xorth  Carolina, 
and  continued  with  it  until  the  close  of  the  war.  Then  he  returned  to 
the  residence  of  his  parents  in  Indiana.  In  December,  1866,  he  re- 
turned to  Catlin  and  took  charge  of  the  railroad  station.  After  act- 
ing in  the  capacity  of  agent  for  the  railroad  company  for  nearly  one 


CATLIN   TOWNSHIP.  64  t 

year,  he  embarked  in  the  drug  and  notion  business.  His  capital  and 
experience  in  the  business  were  both  limited,  but  by  his  straightforward 
dealing  and  never-tiring  industry,  his  small  beginning  has  increased 
until  he  now  has  three  tirst-class  stores  in  the  village  of  Catlin  :  a  gen- 
eral merchandise  store,  one  of  drugs  and  notions,  and  a  millinery  store. 
In  addition  to  these  he  owns  a  one-third  interest  in  a  general  store  at 
Pilot,  Illinois,  the  firm  name  being  Tilton  &  Bros.,  and  under  the  super- 
vision of  A.  B.  Tilton.  These  three  departments  are  so  complete  that 
almost  any  article  in  general  use  is  kept  in  stock.  He  is  not  naturally 
public  spirited,  but  has  served  the  people  of  Catlin  as  postmaster  nearly 
three  years,  resigning  on  account  of  ill  health.  He  is  a  Past  Grand  in  the 
I.O.O.F.  Lodge,  and  has  attained  to  the  degrees  of  knighthood  in  Ma- 
sonry, being  at  present  a  member  of  the  Danville  Commandery.  He 
is  not  a  member  of  any  church,  but  very  liberal  in  his  support  of  the 
different  denominations,  as  well  as  in  all  other  institutions  pertaining 
to  the  public  good.  Not  the  least  of  his  generous  traits  is  his  liberality 
to  the  poor,  of  which  there  is  abundant  evidence.  On  the  7th  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1868,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Lou  G.  Vance,  daughter  of  John 
Vance,  who  was  one  of  the  early  and  prominent  pioneers  of  this  county. 
Their  family  consists  of  Clinton  Clay,  born  on  the  10th  of  May,  1870, 
and  Ralph  Russel,  born  on  the  14th  of  March,  1877. 

G.  W.  Tilton,  Catlin,  dry -goods,  groceries,  etc.,  son  of  the  Rev. 
Enoch  and  Elizabeth  (Wilson)  Tilton,  came  to  Vermilion  county  in  1862, 
being  at  that  date  twenty-six  years  of  age.  His  first  occupation  after 
arriving  and  locating  at  Catlin.  was  to  take  charge  of  the  Catlin  schools, 
which  were  under  his  supervision  for  four  years  following  this  date. 
He  then  engaged  with  Richard  Jones  in  his  store  as  book-keeper  and 
salesman,  in  the  village  already  mentioned.  At  the  expiration  of  two 
years  he  formed  a  copartnership  with  J.  C.  Sandusky,  in  a  store  of 
general  merchandise,  under  the  firm  name  of  Sandusky  &  Tilton. 
Five  years  afterward  Mr.  S.  retired  from  the  firm,  selling  his  interest 
to  L.  C.  Kyger,  the  firm  name  changing  to  Tilton  &  Kyger.  This 
copartnership  lasted  for  five  years,  when  Mr.  Kyger  retired,  since  which 
time  Mr.  Tilton  has  conducted  the  business  alone.  The  first  five  years' 
business  of  the  firm  amounted  to  but  $11,000,  but  by  steady  applica- 
tion, good  management  and  indomitable  perseverance,  the  sales  have 
steadily  increased  until  they  have  reached  nearly  $50,000  per  annum. 
Mr.  Tilton  is  also  interested  in  two  other  mercantile  houses  with  his 
brothers  :  one  at  Pilot  and  another  at  Palermo,  Illinois.  In  1862  he 
became  identified  with  the  Vermilion  County  Agricultural  and  Me- 
chanical Association,  and  has  since  taken  an  active  part  in  the  work 
and  interests  of  that  society.     He  has  served  as  secretary,  vice-president 


6iS  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

and  president,  filling  the  latter  position  for  three  years,  and  is  its  pres- 
ent incumbent.  He  has  also  served  one  term  in  the  county  board  of 
supervisors,  representing  Catlin  township.  At  the  age  of  fourteen 
years  he  became  a  member  of  the  Baptist  church,  and  at  sixteen  years 
of  age  taught  his  first  school.  Until  his  advent  in  this  county,  at  the 
age  of  twenty-six  years,  he  was  variously  engaged  at  farming,  carpen- 
tering, teaching  and  surveying.  In  1862  he  was  married  to  Miss  Eliz- 
abeth Allbright,  a  native  of  Ohio.  The  fruits  of  this  union  are  Charlie 
Vigil,  Elsie  Venus  and  Bertie  Victor,  aged  respectively,  fifteen,  thir- 
teen and  ten  years.  According  to  the  best  information  available,  the 
Til  ton  family  in  this  country  owe  their  origin  to  three  brothers  who 
came  over  from  England  at  the  same  time,  during  the  colonial  period 
of  the  nation's  history.  Most,  if  not  all,  bearing  this  name  in  the 
United  States,  trace  their  ancestry  back  to  this  source.  Previous  to 
this  no  knowledge  of  their  predecessors  is  known.  In  writing  the  his- 
tory of  the  county,  personal  sketches  of  old  settlers  and  some  of  the 
more  prominent  business  gentlemen,  we  deem  it  but  proper  to  devote 
at  least  a  short  space  to  the  Tilton  brothers,  five  of  whom  have  found 
a  location  in  Vermilion  county.  Their  father,  Enoch  Tilton,  was  born 
in  Fayette  county,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  22d  of  July,  1811,  and  is  of 
English  descent.  He  was  married  on  the  12th  of  September,  1832,  to 
Miss  Elizabeth  Wilson,  who  was  born  on  the  12th  of  January,  1811, 
and  whose  ancestry  came  from  Ireland.  In  1844  they  came  to  Ripley 
county,  Indiana,  where  Mr.  Tilton  has  been  known  for  a  number  of 
years  as  a  leading  minister  of  the  Baptist  church.  Although  now  sixty- 
eight  years  old,  he  has  the  pastoral  care  of  four  congregations,  and  con- 
ducts a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres. 

David  Shaver,  Catlin,  section  18,  farmer,  was  born  in  Muhlenburg 
county,  Kentucky,  on  the  8th  of  October,  1824.  His  father  was  a 
native  of  Virginia,  and  was  born  in  1790.  He  came  to  Kentucky  in 
1814,  and  was  in  the  war  of  1812.  His  mother,  Nancy  Peters,  was 
born  in  Rockingham  comity,  Virginia,  in  1799,  and  died  in  Kentucky 
in  1878.  Mr.  Shaver  married,  on  the  14th  of  February,  1847,  Mildred 
A.  Taylor,  daughter  of  John  A.  Taylor.  She  was  a  native  of  Ohio 
county,  Kentucky,  and  was  born  on  the  17th  of  October,  1828.  Her 
father  was  born  in  the  fort  tiear  Hartford,  Kentucky,  in  1767,  and  was 
the  second  child  born  in  that  town  —  Hartford.  He  was  one  of  the 
pioneers  of  Greene  River  county.  He  made  various  business  trips  from 
Frederick  county  to  Virginia,  in  which  he  passed  through  wildernesses, 
being  entrusted  with  agencies  for  land  speculations.  He  superintended 
the  locations  of  their  claims  amidst  danger.  Mr.  Shaver  removed  to 
Vermilion  county  in  1864,  where  he  has  become  one  of  the  industrious 


CATLIN   TOWNSHIP.  649 

and  respected  citizens  of  the  county.  He  has  raised  a  family  of  seven 
children :  Leander,  Elizabeth  A.,  wife  of  C.  T.  Dye,  Sarah  M.,  wife  of 
A.  Richards,  Nancy  D.,  Peter  L.,  Bertha,  William,  W.  C.  One  child, 
John  A.,  died. 

A.  J.  Yillars,  Catlin,  section  9,  farmer,  was  born  in  Clinton  county, 
Ohio,  on  the  22d  of  May,  1843.  He  was  married  on  the  25th  of  May, 
1865,  to  Miss  Harriet  Smith,  a  native  of  Clinton  county,  Ohio,  and 
born  on  the  16th  of  May,  1844.  In  the  same  year  of  his  marriage  he 
came  to  Vermilion  county,  and  here  he  has  been  engaged  in  farming 
and  school  teaching  since.  Mr.  Yillars  served  in  the  rebellion,  in  Co. 
G,  11th  Ohio  Vol.  Inf.,  and  was  in  several  hard  battles,  —  the  second 
battle  of  Bull  Run,  South  Mountain,  Chickamauga,  Mission  Ridge, 
Resaca,  and  thirty-two  skirmishes.  He  was  taken  prisoner  at  Liberty, 
but  was  paroled  soon  after. 

J.  P.  Guyer,  Catlin,  railroad  agent,  was  born  in  Philadelphia,  Penn- 
sylvania, on  the  22d  of  December,  1843.  He  came  to  Wisconsin  with 
his  parents,  where  they  remained  for  a  short  time,  and  then  returned 
to  Philadelphia.  In  1859  they  removed  to  Missouri,  where  they  left 
him  and  returned  east.  Mr.  Guyer  enlisted  in  the  army  in  1861  for 
three  years.  He  was  at  the  battles  of  Boonesville,  Wilson's  Creek,  and 
several  skirmishes.  In  1863  he  came  to  Springfield,  Illinois,  where  he 
engaged  as  bill  clerk  for  the  Chicago  &  Alton  railroad.  He  also  was 
with  the  Springfield  &  Southeastern  railroad  as  agent  for  five  years. 
He  came  to  Catlin  on  the  9th  of  November,  1875,  where  he  has  acted 
as  agent  for  the  Wabash  railroad.  Mr.  Guyer  was  united  in  marriage 
in  1873,  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Goodrich,  a  native  of  Urbana,  Ohio,  born 
on  the  17th  of  February,  1855.  Mr.  Guyer  is  a  member  of  the  A.F.  & 
A.M.  He  has  crossed  the  sea  twice,  and  has  been  to  South  America 
and  Liverpool. 

S.  W.  Jones,  physician  and  surgeon,  Catlin,  son  of  H.  and  Luzena 
Jones,  was  born  in  Guilford  county,  North  Carolina,  on  the  15th  of 
November,  1851,  where  he  remained  until  twenty-one  years  of  age. 
Being  an  energetic  young  man,  and  wishing  to  make  his  mark  in  life, 
he  started  for  himself,  and,  in  1859,  came  to  Hamilton  county,  Indiana, 
where  he  engaged  in  teaching  school  and  reading  medicine.  In  1874 
he  attended  the  Ohio  Medical  College,  and  in  1875  came  to  Catlin, 
Illinois,  where  he  practiced  medicine  until  the  fall  of  1877.  He  then 
returned  to  Cincinnati,  and  took  a  course  of  lectures  and  received  his 
diploma,  on  the  17th  of  February,  1878.  He  returned  to  Catlin,  and 
purchased  a  stock  of  drugs  from  T.  H.  Runion,  and,  by  attending  to 
his  profession,  now  ranks  with  the  older  physicians  of  the  county.  On 
the  28th  of  February,  1876,  he  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  F.  D. 


650  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Timmons,  a  native  of  this  county,  born  on  the  15th  of  December, 
1858.     By  this  union  they  have  one  child  :  Ethelberth  T. 

A.  M.  F.  McCollough,  Catlin,  physician,  was  born  in  Monroe 
county,  Ohio,  on  the  26th  of  November,  1852.  His  father,  Dr.  Mc- 
Collough,  was  born  in  Eastern  Ohio  in  1826,  and  is  of  Scotch-Irish 
descent.  He  received  his  education  at  Franklin  College,  Ohio,  and 
read  medicine  under  Dr.  John  Findley  for  some  years.  In  1848  he 
located  in  Monroe  county,  Ohio,  and  there  was  actively  engaged  in  the 
practice  of  medicine  until  the  year  1874,  when  he  removed  to  Bellaire, 
Belmont  county,  Ohio,  where  he  has  since  resided.  He  was  married  in 
the  fall  of  1849  to  Miss  Margrey  A.  Brokaw,  of  Harrison  county, 
Ohio.  They  are  the  parents  of  three  children  :  Isaac  N.,  A.  M.  F. 
and  W.  S.  At  the  age  of  seven  years  Isaac  N.  died.  W.  S.,  now 
twenty-four  years  of  age,  is  a  promising  druggist  in  Wheeling,  West 
Virginia.  A.  M.  F.,  the  subject  of  our  sketch,  received  his  education 
at  Vermilion  College,  Ashland  county,  Ohio  (now  merged  intoWooster 
University).  In  the  year  1868  he  began  the  study  of  medicine  under 
the  instruction  of  his  father  and  Dr.  Armstrong.  In  the  year  1872  he 
attended  medical  lectures  at  Miami  Medical  College,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 
The  following  year  was  spent  in  pharmaceutical  rooms  in  Pittsburgh, 
Pennsylvania.  About  1876  he  attended  a  course  of  lectures  at  Jeffer- 
son Medical  College,  Philadelphia,  receiving  from  that  time-honored 
institution  his  desired  diploma.  Refreshed  anew  with  vigor,  he  wended 
his  way  westward,  accidentally  dropping  in  the  village  of  Catlin,  where 
he  located  in  the  fall  of  1877.  After  a  residence  here  of  about  eighteen 
months  he  chose  for  his  wife  Miss  Emma  A.  McClenathan,  daughter  of 
G.  S.  McClenathan,  a  resident  of  the  county  for  about  twenty-five 
years,  and  formerly  from  Washington  county,  Pennsylvania.  The 
Doctor,  since  his  residence  at  Catlin,  has,  by  an  honest  and  candid 
treatment  of  patients,  as  well  as  a  polite  and  courteous  treatment  of 
associates,  surrounded  himself  with  a  large  circle  of  friends.  Though 
he  has  been  a  resident  of  the  county  but  a  few  years,  he  is  already 
associated  with  the  old  phvsicians  of  the  countv.  This  alone  is  the 
best  of  guarantees  of  his  ability  as  a  physician  and  surgeon. 


ROSS   TOWNSHIP.  651 

ROSS  TOWNSHIP. 

Ross  township,  one  of  the  largest  and  wealthiest  in  the  county, 
embraced,  in  the  original  division  of  the  county  into  political  towns, 
nearly  all  of  the  northeastern  quarter  of  the  county,  and  contained  all 
of  congressional  townships  23  N.  11  W.,  23  N.  12  W.,  22  N.  11  W., 
22  N.  12  W.,  half  of  21  N.  11  W.,  half  of  21  N.  12  W.,  and  the  frac- 
tions of  21,  22  and  23  N.  10  W.,  which  lie  between  these  former  and 
the  Indiana  line — more  than  rive  congressional  towns  in  all.  In  1862 
it  was  divided  by  a  line  through  the  center  of  it,  and  now  embraces  the 
north  half  qf  townships  21-11  and  21-12,  and  all  of  22-11  and  22-12, 
except  the  northern  tier  of  sections  and  north  half  of  the  second  tier. 
The  north  fork  of  the  Vermilion  river  runs  nearly  through  its  center,, 
from  north  to  south,  cutting  the  northern  line  a  little  west  of  its  center, 
running  in  a  southeasterly  direction,  and  leaving  it  a  little  east  of  the 
middle  of  its  southern  border,  with  an  eastern  branch,  which  is  joined 
by  another  branch  called  the  Jordan  (from  some  supposed  relation,  by 
the  eye  of  faith,  to  the  good  old  river  of  "stormy  banks"),  running 
from  its  eastern  borders.  Bean  creek,  a  tributary  to  the  middle  fork, 
runs  through  the  northwestern  portion  of  the  town  in  a  westerly  direc- 
tion. Numerous  small  streams  and  rivulets,  fed  by  living  springs,  feed 
these  streams,  making  Ross  one  of  the  best  watered  regions  in  the 
county.  Along  all  these  streams  a  splendid  growth  of  native  forests 
grew,  a  portion  of  which  has,  of  course,  been  cut  off,  the  land  being 
made  into  farms;  while  in  many  places  where  there  was  only  a  scant 
growth,  kept  down  by  frequent  rires,  now  a  strong,  heavy  growth 
shows  the  rapid  increase  of  western  forests. 

"  Hubbard's  Trace,"  the  original  highway  of  travel  between  this 
southern  country  and  Chicago,  ran  through  the  town,  and  in  time  gave 
place  to  the  old  "Chicago  road,"  which  was  known  farther  north  as 
"State  road,"  and  in  Chicago  itself  became  known  as  State  street,  a 
name  it  yet  bears.  Along  this  timber  and  near  this  road  the  first  set- 
tlements wrere  made,  very  soon  after  the  county  was  organized;  and 
its  prairies  early  became  the  homes,  first  of  the  great  herds  which 
pioneered  these  natural  fields,  and  later  of  the  thrifty  men  and  women 
who  brought  its  broad  acres  into  use. 

Ross  is  preeminently  a  farming  township.  With  the  exception  of 
the  pleasant  little  village  of  Rossville,  on  its  northern  border,  where  a 
few  families  collected  along  the  timber  long  known  as  Liggett's  grove, 
where  the  Attica  road  crosses  the  Chicago  road,  and  which  in  time 
grew  into  one  of  the  prettiest  little  western  villages  in  all  this  country, 
and  one  or  two  mills,  her  entire  enterprise  was  agricultural.    The  sick- 


652  HISTOKY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

ness  which  is  consequent  upon  every  early  settlement,  made  havoc 
with  the  early  calculations  of  many  a  family ;  but  the  great  natural 
resources  of  the  rich  country  they  had  come  into,  needing  only  the 
rasping  of  the  plow  and  the  raking  in  of  the  golden  grain  to  put  its 
energetic  laborers  into  the  possession  of  competence  and  wealth,  those 
who  first  learned  that  the  prairies  would  support  human  life  reaped  the 
richest  rewards  of  their  superior  judgment  or  experiments.  The 
Gundys,  Gilberts,  Greens,  Davisons,  Chenoweths,  Manns  and  others 
found  in  Ross  the  full  fruition  of  youthful  hope  in  the  landed  prosperity 
of  maturer  years.  For  a  long  time,  and  up  to  within  the  last  decade, 
the  people  were  not  vexed  with  railroads  or  "those  bonds"  which  even 
in  apostolic  times  were  a  chief  source  of  regret.  In  1872  the  Chicago, 
Danville  &  Vincennes,  now  known  as  the  Chicago  &  Eastern  Illinois 
railroad,  was  built  through  the  center  of  the  town,  giving  rail  con- 
nection with  the  county  seat  on  the  south  and  Chicago,  and  in  1877  the 
Havana,  Rantoul  &  Eastern  road  was  built  through  nearly  the  center 
of  the  township  east  and  west,  so  that  they  are  supplied  with  all  the 
railroads  they  will  ever  need,  to  the  remotest  point  of  time.  The 
latter  is  a  narrow-gauge  road,  and  as  far  as  this  portion  of  the  state  is 
concerned,  is  a  pioneer  effort.  While  it  is  claimed  to  be  a  financial 
success,  it  is  still,  probably,  a  problem  to  be  solved  by  time,  whether 
it  will  follow  the  wake  of  all  the  more  recently  built  roads  into  the 
wreckers'  hands. 

As  early  as  1836  Elihu,  Isaac  and  Nathaniel  Chauncey  entered  a 
large  part  of  the  land  in  township  21  north,  range  11  east,  in  this  and 
the  adjoining  town.  The  same  parties  entered  a  large  amount  of  land 
in  other  townships.  They  were  Philadelphians,  and  never  came  west 
to  live.  Their  affairs  in  this  county  were  managed  by  Henry  L.  Ells- 
worth, who  also  entered  considerable  land  about  the  same  time.  These 
parties  are  all  dead,  and  the  lands  have  been  divided  among  their  de- 
scendants. This  land  has  mostlv  been  sold,  but  some  still  remains 
unsold  and  uncultivated. 

The  town  took  its  name  from  Jacob  T.  Ross,  who  owned  a  tract  of 
land  in  section  9  (21-11),  from  which  the  timbers  for  the  old  mill  which 
was  built  by  Clausson  on  section  5,  about  1835,  were  cut  and  hewn. 
He  seems  to  have  had  an  interest  in  the  mill,  for  he  furnished  the  tim- 
bers, and  afterward  became  the  owner.  For  a  long  time  it  was  known 
as  Ross'  Mill,  and  there  the  early  elections  and  town  meetings  were 
held,  and  very  naturally  gave  name  to  the  town,  although  there  was 
an  attempt  to  call  it  North  Fork. 

The  Davison  family  and  their  relatives,  the  Gundys,  were  probably 
the  first  white  people  to  find  a  permanent  home  in  Ross.     If  any  were 


ROSS  TOWNSHIP.  653 

living  here  before  them  there  is  no  means  of  now  verifying  it,  although 
Mr.  Horr  and  Mr.  Liggett  may  have  been  here  a  few  months  earlier. 
The  writer  has  been  placed  under  many  obligations  to  Mr.  Thomas 
Gundy  for  many  of  the  facts  in  regard  to  early  settlements,  which  he 
believes  will  be  found  substantially  correct.  With  a  mind  clear  and 
accurate,  Mr.  Gundy  seems  not  to  be  distracted  by  cares  of  family,  mer- 
chandise or  politics,  so  that  he  has  been  a  very  valuable  assistant. 

Andrew  Davison  and  wife  came  here  from  Franklin  county,  Ohio, 
after  they  had  brought  up  a  considerable  family,  in  1828,  and  took  up 
land  in  section  13  (21-12),  near  Myersville.  He  had  a  little  means, 
and  his  children  a  good  deal  of  pioneer  strength  and  energy.  He  had 
long  hoped  to  find  a  new  home,  where  land  was  cheaper,  so  that  his 
children  could  secure  farms  for  themselves.  They  had  seven  children  : 
James,  Robert,  Sally,  Jane,  Susana,  Betty  and  Polly.  Two  of  these, 
James  and  Mrs.  Joseph  Gundy,  were  married  when  they  came,  and 
soon  after,  young  Joseph  Kerr  took  the  trail  which  the  retreating  Da- 
visons  had  followed,  and  came  through  the  timber  of  Indiana  and  mar- 
ried the  Davison  of  his  choice.  Andrew  Davison  saw  his  children  all 
nicely  fixed,  having  taken  up  land  all  around  him,  before  death  called 
him  away  in  1841.  The  land  office  at  this  time  was  in  Palestine,  in 
Crawford  county,  a  now  almost  forgotten  country  village,  but  there 
the  pioneers  of  Vermilion  had  to  go  to  enter  their  land,  until  the  land 
department  was  convinced  that  it  ought  to  be  removed  to  Danville. 
The  seven  children  of  Mr.  Davison  grew  up  and  became  one  of  the 
most  important  families  in  settling  this  wild  country.  James  lived  on 
the  farm  which  he  had  entered  until  1873,  when  he  moved  to  Danville, 
where  he  died.  He  left  two  children  :  a  son  at  Myersville,  and  a 
daughter,  Mrs.  Tattle,  at  Danville.  Robert  carried  on  a  farm  in  sec- 
tion 8  (21-11),  one  mile  south  of  the  present  village  of  Alvin,  till 
1843,  when  he  died,  leaving  a  family  of  five  children.  His  son,  John, 
continued  to  work  the  farm  until  the  first  call  for  troops  rung  along 
the  banks  of  North  Fork,  when  he  enlisted  in  the  4th  Cavalry,  and  did 
as  valiant  service,  stamping  out  rebellion  as  he  had  done  in  killing  out 
the  rattlesnakes  on  his  ancestral  acres.  Since  his  return  he  has  been 
engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits  at  Rossville.  James,  another  son,  lives 
on  the  old  homestead.  He  also  served  in  the  army.  Robert,  the  third 
son,  a  young  man  of  much  promise,  went  with  his  brothers,  but  did 
not  return  with  them.  He  gave  his  young  life  to  his  country,  —  a  sac- 
rifice to  national  unity.  He  died  at  Salem,  Arkansas,  a  member  of 
the  25th  111.  Mrs.  Ingruham  lives  near  the  old  homestead,  and  Mrs. 
Magee  in  Indiana.  Of  the  daughters  of  Mr.  Andrew  Davison,  Mrs. 
Joseph  Gundy  died  before  her  husband  ;  Mrs.  Joseph  Kerr  died  some 


654  HISTOBY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

years  since,  leaving  five  children,  who  live  in  the  vicinity  of  Myers- 
ville ;  Mrs.  Josiah  Henkle  died  early,  leaving  three  daughters;  Mrs. 
Mathers  lived  with  her  parents,  and  at  her  death  left  one  daughter. 
Jacob  Gnndy,  the  father  of  the  family  of  that  name,  who  have  been 
prominent  for  half  a  century  in  the  history  of  Ross  and  of  Yermilion 
county,  had  been  a  soldier  in  the  revolutionary  wrar,  and  had  moved 
early  from  Pennsylvania  to  Chillicothe,  Ohio,  where  he  lived  on  a  farm 
until  he  followed  his  son  Joseph  here  in  1830.  Joseph  had  immigrat- 
ed here  with  the  Davisons.  William  and  Thomas,  and  Mrs.  Abram 
Woods  came  with  their  father.  Jacob,  Jr.,  came  here  a  few  years 
afterward,  and  soon  after  went  to  Missouri.  Mr.  Gundy,  Sen.,  was  a 
widower,  and  made  his  home  around  with  his  children  ;  he  died  at  a 
good  old  age,  in  1842,  and  was  buried  at  the  Gundy  burial  ground 
near  Myersville.  They  made  their  first  settlement  near  the  south  line 
of  Ross  township,  near  where  Joseph  lived.  Joseph  came  here  to  find 
a  new  country,  where  land  would  be  cheap,  and  as  soon  as  he  got  across 
the  state  line  he  expected  to  find  things  as  he  wanted.  He  took  up 
the  first  land  he  could  find,  subject  to  "  squatter  sovereignty,''  or  entry. 
He  carried  on  farming  very  successfully,  and  acquired  nine  hundred 
acres  of  land  ;  raised  stock  largely,  bought  and  fed,  but  did  not  adopt 
the  more  hazardous  and  speculative  undertakings;  he  sold  his  stock  to 
drovers.  He  often  sold  to  the  Funks,  to  Williamson  on  Sugar  Creek, 
to  Ohio  men,  and  to  others  from  Pennsylvania.  He  had  two  children 
when  he  came  here,  and  ten  were  born  to  them  here,  four  of  whom  are 
now  dead.  Of  the  eight  living  children  all  but  one  live  in  the  county : 
Mrs.  Isaac  Chrisman,  in  Ross ;  Mrs.  Dr.  Henton,  in  Danville ;  Mrs. 
John  Davison  and  Mrs.  Milton  Lee,  at  Rossville ;  Andrew  was  a  large 
and  successful  farmer  and  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits,  was  largely 
interested  in  public  affairs,  was  a  member  of  the  legislature  in  1875, 
and  proved  by  his  long  acquaintance  with  the  wants  of  the  people  and 
the  breadth  of  his  general  intelligence  a  useful  and  safe  legislator. 
After  the  failure  of  Hon.  John  C.  Short,  Mr.  Gundy  and  some  others 
undertook  to  stand  in  the  breach  and  save  the  important  coal  interest 
which  Mr.  Short  held,  but  the  continued  depression  of  trade  and  the 
large  shrinkage  of  values  was  more  than  they  could  stand,  and  financial 
failure  followed.  There  was  little  reason  to  doubt  that  the  immense 
coal  fields  controlled  and  owned  by  the  Exchange  bank,  would  event- 
ually pay  all  the  debts  of  that  concern,  but  the  depression  of  the  coal 
trade  so  reduced  the  profit  that  they  ceased  to  be  a  source  of  revenue. 
Mr.  Gundy  is  now  engaged  in  farming  near  Bismark.  Francis  and 
Joseph  have  been  engaged  in  farming  and  in  trade.  Thomas  Gundy 
was  killed  by  lightning  in  1855  ;  he  was  fixing  a  fence  when  the  storm 


ROSS  TOWNSHIP.  655 

approached,  and  started  to  go  across  the  field  to  the  house  when  the 
sad  accident  occurred.  Joseph  Gundy,  Sen.,  died  at  Myersville  in 
1865,  closing  a  useful  and  successful  life.  William  Gundy,  the  other 
brother,  who  came  with  his  father  in  1830,  married  and  raised  a  family 
of  seven  children,  who  are  now  scattered,  the  sons  living  in  Missouri. 
He  and  his  wife  died  in  1851.  Mrs.  Abram  Woods,  after  her  hus- 
band's death,  went  with  her  five  children  to  Missouri.  Thomas  Gun- 
dy, who  now  lives  at  Rossville,  has  been  a  prosperous  farmer,  and  now 
has  practically  retired  from  hard  work.  He  owns  the  Abram  Woods 
farm,  a  farm  near  Alvin,  one  at  Gilbert  Station,  and  three  small  farms 
east  of  Bismark.  He  has  been  remarkably  prosperous  in  all  respects. 
He  has,  however,  never  aspired  to  official  position,  though  he  has  been 
occasionally  pressed  into  township  office.  He  has  seen  this  county 
grow  from  a  wilderness  to  a  fruitful  field. 

John  Demorest  came  here  from  Shawnee  Prairie,  Indiana,  where 
he  had  buried  his  wife  with  his  three  daughters,  about  1828,  and 
entered  land  in  section  6  (21-11),  and  in  section  1  (21-12).  He  owned 
about  four  hundred  acres  of  land.  He  was  a  local  preacher,  and  for 
years  gave  his  time  very  largely  to  the  work  of  building  up  Christianity 
in  this  county.  He  was  a  strict  man  in  all  that  pertained  to  religion, 
morality  and  family  government,  and  as  strict  and  honest  in  his  deal- 
ings with  his  fellow-men.  He  and  Daniel  Fairchild  were  much  together 
in  the  ministry,  and  went  here  and  there  holding  meetings.  No  one 
can  over-estimate  the  results  for  good  of  these  earnest,  plain  men,  who 
preached  as  they  went,  and  worked  for  the  kingdom  continually. 
Father  Demorest  sold  his  farm  to  Reuben  Ray  in  1866,  and  soon  after 
went  to  Ohio,  returned  here,  and  removed  to  Kansas  in  1870,  where 
he  died.  His  daughter,  Mrs.  Eli  Fairchild,  resides  in  Blount  town- 
ship. 

Probably  no  person  has  ever  been  identified  more  largely  in  every- 
thing which  pertains  to  the  welfare  of  Ross  than  Alvan  Gilbert.  His 
father,  Samuel  Gilbert,  writh  two  brothers,  came  from  Ontario  county, 
New  York,  to  Danville,  in  1826.  They  had  but  little  idea  where  they 
were  going  when  they  made  their  way  down  the  Alleghany  River,  and 
were  probably  attracted  here  more  by  the  fact  that  the  salt  works  were 
here  in  the  county  than  any  other  one  thing.  The  Gilberts  established 
a  ferry  at  Danville,  and  built  a  mill.  It  w7as  rather  a  cheap  affair,  but 
was  not  cheaper  than  the  custom  of  the  country.  With  corn  only  six 
cents  to  ten  cents  per  bushel,  and  wheat  about  fifty  cents  per  bushel, 
it  could  hardly  be  expected  that  grinding  for  the  tenth  bushel  would 
pay  a  return  on  a  very  large  investment.  Alvan  worked  around  Dan- 
ville about  six  years,  tending  mill  and  such   other  work  as  he  could 


656  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

find  to  do,  until  1832,  when  he  married  a  daughter  of  Robert  Horr, 
and  bought  his  interest  in  the  land  he  (Horr)  had  lived  on,  in  section 
25,  where  the  Chicago  road  crosses  the  north  fork.  His  house  was  a 
little  log  cabin  directly  in  the  road  leading  to  the  old  bridge  before 
the  road  was  changed  to  the  new  bridge.  He  afterward,  in  1839,  sold 
this  place  to  his  father,  Samuel  Gilbert,  and  bought  the  Liggett  farm 
at  what  is  now  Rossville.  Mr.  Samuel  Gilbert  was  soon  after  appointed 
postmaster  of  the  new  post-office,  North  Fork.  Dr.  Brickwell,  who 
was  a  neighbor  of  Gilbert's  at  this  time,  says  that  at  one  time  the  mail 
was  delayed  six  weeks  by  high  water,  and  when  it  did  finally  arrive, 
and  the  great  rush  of  mail  matter,  dammed  up  for  six  long  weeks,  fell 
into  the  goodly  people  around  where  Mann's  chapel  now  stands,  and 
postmaster  Gilbert  had  called  in  a  bee  of  the  citizens  to  help  him 
open,  sort,  distribute,  arrange,  count,  and  deliver  —  for  there  were  no 
railroad  post-offices  in  those  times  —  it  was  found  that  there  was  just 
one  letter  in  the  mail,  all  told ;  and  the  Doctor  thinks  that  had  the 
flood  lasted  another  six  weeks  it  would  have  "dried  up"  the  post-office 
itself,  so  that  no  further  mail  matter  would  ever  have  come  there. 
Samuel  Gilbert's  house  was  one  of  the  early  preaching-places  of  the 
Methodists,  and  was  the  real  forerunner  of  Mann's  chapel,  which 
stands  very  near  the  spot  where  his  house  was.  It  was  cnstomaiw  for 
the  worshipers  to  take  their  rifles  along  with  them  when  they  went 
to  church,  and,  when  returning,  should  a  stray  deer  come  waltzing 
around  in  an  ungodly  crusade  against  the  quiet  of  the  Sabbath,  he  was 
very  apt  to  get  shot  for  his  temerity.  Few  such  Sabbath-breaking  deer 
were  ever  actually  known  to  return  to  the  cool  retreats.  Samuel  Gil- 
bert died  in  1855,  leaving  four  children.  His  two  daughters  had  mar- 
ried, and  gone  west,  his  two  sons  living  here.     Both  are  now  dead. 

Mr.  Alvan  Gilbert,  mentioned  at  length  in  a  subsequent  part  of 
this  township,  almost  immediately,  on  his  settlement  in  Ross,  became 
recognized  as  one  of  the  most  useful,  well  informed  and  public  spirited 
men  of  the  county. 

John  Liggett,  who  lived  at,  and  gave  the  name  to  Liggett's  Grove, 
came  to  the  place  where  the  late  Hon.  Alvan  Gilbert  long  lived,  about 
1829,  and  took  up  land  in  section  11  (22-12).  This  place  was  on  the 
Chicago  road,  and  was  a  place  for  travelers  to  stop  ;  although  he  did 
not  claim  to  keep  hotel.  He  died  in  1838,  and  was  buried  near  the 
present  residence  of  Dr.  Brickwell.  His  widow  and  children  remained 
here  some  years  and  then  went  to  Oregon. 

Thomas  McKibben  first  settled  with  his  father  in  section  32(22-11), 
in  1830;  he  afterward  lived  in  different  parts  of  the  county,  but  this 
was  his  first  place  of  residence.     He  was  in  the  Blaekhawk  war,  was 


ROSS   TOWNSHIP.  (357 

the  first  deputy  sheriff,  and  served  two  terms  as  sheriff.  He  took 
greater  delight  in  hunting  a  horse-thief  than  in  eating  a  meal  of  victuals. 
He  was  a  very  popular  man  in  the  early  days,  and  a  very  competent 
officer.  People  always  slept  soundly  when  they  knew  he  was  sheriff. 
He  at  one  time  owned  a  farm  a  little  south  of  where  Hoopeston 
now  is. 

Oliver  Prickett  came  from  Brown  county,  Ohio,  with  his  father,  in 
1832.  They  farmed  a  while  on  the  Spencer  farm  and  on  the  Crockett  farm 
south  of  Danville,  and  then  came  to  where  Rossville  now  stands.  Asel 
Gilbert  had  entered  a  quarter-section  joining  Liggett's  north.  There 
were  no  families  in  that  part  but  Liggett's,  Gilbert's  and  Bicknell's, 
the  latter  two  in  what  is  now  Grant  township.  At  this  time,  in  fact  imme- 
diately after  the  close  of  the  Blackhawk  war,  Chicago  became  a  place  of 
trade  for  all  this  country.  Instead  of  sending  their  produce  down  the 
river  on  flatboats,  they  began  to  team,  or  "  haul,"  everything  to  Chi- 
cago, and  look  to  Chicago  for  everything  they  had  to  buy.  Very  soon 
people  began  to  bring  salt  from  there  that  was  boiled  in  Syracuse,  New 
York,  in  place  of  that  made  at  Danville.  The  "Board  of  Trade"  is 
not  more  disastrous  in  its  fluctuations  and  prices,  no  more  uncertain 
in  Chicago  to-day,  than  they  were  in  those  old  times.  Farmers  took 
oats  to  Chicago  and  sold  for  $1.50  per  bushel ;  at  another  time  they 
would  hardly  bring  "a  bit  a  bushel."  Corn  had  no  market  price,  but 
hides  and  pelts  were  always  cash.  'Pork  was  very  regular  in  price,  and 
usually  brought  enough  to  pay  the  farmer  ten  cents  for  his  corn,  that  is, 
after  about  1838.  Before  that,  for  a  few  years,  the  high-pressure  specula- 
tive times  of  1835-6,  and  the  consequent  crash  of  1837,  changed  the 
prices  of  every  commodity  from  a  normal  to  an  abnormal  condition. 

Albert  Comstock,  now  of  Rossville,  entered  land  in  25  (22-12),  in 
1837  ;  a  few  years  later  he  sold  to  his  brother-in-law,  Clark  Green,  and 
established  himself  at  "  Bicknell's  Point,"  which  was  the  point  of  tim- 
ber north  of  Rossville,  and  the  most  ^northern  of  any  timber  on  the 
Chicago  road  until  you  reached  the  waters  of  the  Iroquois.  The  beau- 
tiful farms  which  spread  over  this  delightful  "divide"  hardly  suggest 
the  scenes,  the  trials,  the  suffering  consequent  upon  the  droughts  of 
summer  and  the  severe  cold  of  winter,  crossing  this  wide  stretch  be- 
tween the  Vermilion  and  the  Iroquois.  "  Extremes  meet,"  the  philos- 
ophers tell  us.  Those  who  have  crossed  this  arm  of  the  "  Grand  Prai- 
rie" can  testify  to  the  rugged  truth  of  this  in  their  experience.  No 
roads  were  ever  nicer  than  these  prairie  roads  when  the  weather  was 
favorable.  The  smooth  even  surfaces  where  the  wheels  run,  divided 
evenly  by  the  strip  of  turf  a  few  inches  wide  in  the  middle,  were  per- 
fection itself.  Not  a  jolt  or  jar  marred  the  even  tenor  of  the  teamster's 
42 


r,.",s  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUXTY. 

wagon  ;  no  load  was  too  heavy  for  the  ordinary  team  ;  and  when  during 
the  long  pleasant  falls  which  were  common  in  this  state,  the  fresh  prairie 
breezes  fanned  the  fatigue  from  faint  teams  and  drivers,  no  labor  was 
pleasanter  than  this.  When  long-continued  rains  had  swelled  the 
sloughs  to  swimming  rivers,  and  ruts  had  been  worked  into  the  "  black 
stick''  of  the  prairies  deep  enough  to  sink  a  horse,  and  black  night  had 
overtaken  worn  out  nature,  and  the  terrible  storms  which  swept  these 
great  prairies  held  sway  where  so  recently  all  was  lovely,  the  change 
may  be  partially  imagined  by  the  reader  of  to-day,  but  never  realized. 
The  extremes  of  pleasurable  travel  and  disastrous  suffering  met  where 
now  the  finest  farms,  the  most  pleasant  villages,  and  comfortable  rail- 
roads rule. 

The  old  mill,  still  in  good  running  order,  standing  a  little  northwest 
of  Alvin,  is  historic.  Mr.  Clawson  put  up  a  saw-mill  in  1838,  and  a 
year  or  two  later  added  a  grist-mill.  Soon  after  this,  the  two  Chris- 
mans  and  Sommerville  were  at  work  building  a  mill  at  Mversville. 
One  of  the  Chrismans  was  killed  by  the  falling  of  earth  from  a  race- 
way  which  they  were  attempting  to  tunnel.  This  circumstance  induced 
them  to  abandon  the  work  at  Mversville,  which  they  sold  to  Myers, 
and  bought  the  Clawson  mill.  They  run  it  with  very  good  success  until 
1848,  when  they  sold  to  John  Hoobler,  from  Perrysville,  Indiana,  a 
preacher  of  the  United  Brethren  denomination,  and  the  pioneer  of  that 
church.  In  1851  he  sold  to  Jacob  T.  Ross,  who  had  taken  an  interest 
in  its  building  as  before  noticed,  and  it  came  to  be  called  from  that 
time  Ross'  Mill.  Ross  put  in  a  small  stock  of  goods  for  the  accommo- 
dation of  the  neighbors,  which  was  the  first  store  in  the  township. 
Here  the  first  town  meetings  and  elections  were  held.  Mr.  Ross  sold 
the  mill  in  1858  to  John  L.  Persons,  who  after  running  it  a  few  years 
was  murdered,  about  1862,  by  four  men  who,  the  evidence  showed,  had 
formed  a  conspiracy  to  kill  him  on  account  of  a  dispute  about  a  pocket 
book.  Miller  and  Persons  had  disputed  about  the  settlement  of  an 
account  of  less  than  live  dollars,  at  the  store.  Getting  angry  while  he 
had  his  pocket-book  in  his  hand,  he  laid  it  down,  and  forgetting  it 
he  went  home.  He  afterward  hired  the  three  men  —  Sanders,  Smith 
and  Moore  —  to  get  his  pocket-book,  or  in  case  they  did  not  succeed,  to 
kill  Persons,  giving  them  a  gallon  of  whiskv,  and  agreeing  to  give  half 
the  money  that  was  in  the  pocket-book  (about  ten  dollars).  The  men 
agreed  to  go  together  at  a  given  hour  and  make  a  demand  on  him,  ex- 
pecting,  of  course,  to  get  the  pocket-book  without  further  trouble ;  but 
Moore,  who  it  seems  had  the  custod}"  of  the  whisky,  took  down  more 
of  it  than  just  enough  to  keep  his  pluck  up  to  killing  point,  and  sallied 
out  and  killed  Persons  on  Bight,  without  even  demanding  satisfaction. 


ROSS   TOWNSHIP.  659 

He  then  hunted  up  his  confederates  and  told  them  their  help  was  not 
needed.  Smith  was  arrested  and  turned  state's  evidence.  Sanders  got 
a  short  term  in  the  penitentiary,  and  Moore  went  into  the  army.  On 
Persons'  death  the  property  came  into  the  hands  of  Sangster&  Swazey, 
of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  and  about  1867  John  Mains,  the  present  proprie- 
tor, bought  it.     It  stands  practically  as  it  did  forty  years  ago. 

A.  J.  Miller  took  up  land  three  miles  east  of  Rossville  in  1834. 
He  increased  his  farm  to  about  six  hundred  acres,  and  remained  on  it 
till  he  died,  in  1871,  and  his  family  reside  there  yet.  Willard  Brown 
came  from  New  York  and  took  up  a  farm  a  little  southeast  of  where 
Alvin  now  is  in  1835,  and  remained  there  until  he  died,  in  1878.  He 
was  a  good  specimen  of  the  hardy  pioneer;  a  hardy,  honest,  upright, 
true  man  ;  a  good  citizen  and  faithful  father.  Several  of  his  children 
still  live  here  to  honor  and  revere  the  memory  of  his  upright  life.  L. 
M.  Thompson  entered  land  southeast  of  Rossville.  He  now  lives  in 
the  village.  He  has  long  been  interested  in  everything  pertaining  to 
the  public  affairs  of  his  town,  and  is  a  public-spirited  and  useful  citizen. 
Abram  Mann,  who,  on  account  of  his  intelligence,  education,  great 
worth  and  wealth,  held  a  commanding  position  in- the  new  settlement, 
came  here  first  in  1836.  He  was  an  Englishman,  and  had  been  only  a 
short  time  in  this  country,  living  for  a  year  in  Herkimer  county,  New 
York,  where  Abijah  and  Charles  A.  Mann, —  prominent  then  and  since 
in  the  politics  and  business  relations  of  central  New  York, —  lived. 
When  he  came  to  this  county  he  lived  in  Danville  a  year,  and  entered 
several  sections  of  land  around  where  he  afterward  made  his  home, 
and  the  next  year  commenced  his  large  farming  operations  here.  His 
wife  dying,  he  took  his  four  children  back  to  England  in  1839,  for  a 
few  years,  and  engaged  Dr.  Brickwell,  then  an  energetic  and  progress- 
ive young  man, —  now  an  honored  and  esteemed  physician  of  Ross- 
ville,—  to  superintend  his  affairs.  After  his  return  from  England  he 
put  his  large  estate  into  productive  cultivation.  He  went  largely  into 
cattle-feeding,  aiming  to  feed  up  all  that  was  raised  on  his  large  farm. 
He  was  a  strong  friend  of  education  and  religion,  and  exerted  a  good 
influence  by  his  example  and  the  liberal  use  of  his  means, —  never 
ostentatious,  but  always  giving  a  generous  support  to  all  that  was  good. 
He  lived  here  until  1865,  bringing  up  his  four  children  to  honest  and 
frugal  industry,  inculcating  the  spirit  of  strong  religious  faith  which 
possessed  him,  and  the  liberal  sentiments  which  were  a  marked  trait  in 
his  character.  One  act  which  marks  the  character  of  the  man  may  be 
mentioned.  In  1856,  believing  that  the  society  then  worshiping  in  the 
school-house  needed  a  church,  he  offered  to  make  and  furnish  all  the 
brick  necessary  to  put  up  such  a  church  as  the  society  should  choose 


660  HISTOKY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

to  build  —  the  larger  they  should  decide  to  build  the  better.  Messrs. 
James  Gilbert,  Messic,  Demorest,  B.  C.  Green  and  R.  R.  Ray  were 
selected  by  the  church  to  see  that  a  good  house  of  worship  was  put  up. 
The  building  is  30  x  45,  and  cost,  including  the  donations  made,  83,300. 
Of  Mr.  Mann's  children,  two  were  married  and  have  died.  The  other 
two  remain  on  the  farm.  In  1875  they  built  probably  the  finest  resi- 
dence in  Vermilion  county,  at  a  cost  of  $25,000,  brick. 

John  Ray,  about  1835,  came  to  live  where  his  three  sons,  George 
T.,  ¥m.  G.  and  John,  now  live,  near  the  junction  of  the  East  and 
North  Forks.  The  "  Ray  boys,''  as  they  are  still  called,  are  good  citi- 
zens, and  have  the  reputation  of  excellent  men  among  their  neighbors. 
B.  C.  Green  came  here  from  Ontario  county,  New  York,  about  1840. 
He  was  a  young  man  without  means,  with  fair  common-school  educa- 
tion, and  had  heard  of  the  Gilberts  who  had  preceded  him  some  years. 
He  first  bought  a  piece  of  land  west  of  Rossville,  where  Thomas  Arm- 
strong now  lives.  He  afterward  sold  this,  and  bought  forty  acres  and 
entered  forty  acres  east  of  Rossville,  but  sold  again  and  bought  where 
he  now  resides,  of  Mr.  Comstock.  For  several  years  he  worked  around 
as  he  could  find  work  to  do,  splitting  rails,  working  out  by  the  day, 
or  at  the  stone  mason  trade.  He  worked  in  Danville,  taking  down  the 
old  buildings  there  and  making  them  into  barns,  sheds  and  shops,  for 
by  this  time  Danville  began  to  put  on  airs,  and  must  get  rid  of  the  old 
buildings  which  did  not  comport  with  increased  prosperity.  He  tells 
with  a  commendable  pride  about  walking  from  Danville,  losing  two 
days  work  there,  to  vote  for  building  the  first  frame  school-house, 
"  when  as  yet  he  had  no  child."  School-houses  were  not  so  popular 
then,  and  the  plan  of  having  the  best  school-house  in  the  county  was 
likely  to  fail.  Green's  children  have  since  enjoyed  the  blessings  of 
free  schooling  in  that  little  frame  house,  which  has  been  used  from 
that  time  to  this,  but  has  recently  been  supplanted  by  a  finer  new  one. 
In  1845  he  had  got  a  few  dollars  ahead,  and  commenced  making  what 
is  now  one  of  the  best  farms  in  Ross  township,  consisting  of  one  thou- 
sand acres  in  ranges  11  and  12,  just  north  of  the  timber. 

All  settlers  hugged  the  timber  line,  for  the  protection  which  that 
natural  barrier  presented.  Wild  game  was  plenty.  You  could  shoot 
prairie  chickens  from  the  roofs  of  the  houses.  Wild  geese  were  plenty 
on  the  prairies,  staying  here  awhile  spring  and  fall.  Deer  were  so 
plenty  as  hardly  to  attract  much  comment,  and  wolves  would  hardly 
keep  away  from  the  doorvard.  Sheep  could  hardly  be  protected  from 
them  day  or  night.  The  farmers  used  to  make  the  trip  to  Chicago 
with  a  drove  of  hogs,  and  return  in  about  ten  days.  Hogs  could  travel 
in  those  days.     They  used  to  run  in  the  timber  till  corn  harvest,  and 


ROSS   TOWNSHIP.  661 

then  they  were  collected  and  fed  until  they  were  in  "light  marching 
order," —  fat  enough  that  they  would  not  actually  run  away  from  the 
herd,  —  and  then  start  Chicagoward.  Of  course  the  large  hogs  we 
have  now,  well  fatted,  could  never  make  the  trip  as  they  did  then. 
Sometimes  when  they  "got  their  hogs  up''  to  commence  feeding,  they 
were  so  wild,  having  run  in  the  timber  all  the  year,  that  they  were 
afraid  to  eat,  and  as  a  precautionary  measure,  the  corn  was  put  into 
the  pen  on  the  sly,  so  that  the  stubborn  fellows  would  not  get  the  hint 
that  they  were  expected  to  eat  it;  and  again,  it  sometimes  became 
necessarv  to  hunt  them  down  with  dogs  and  bring  them  in  one  at  a 
time, —  a  custom  which  gave  rise  to  the  story  which  has  been  so  often 
told  about  the  first  sheriff  of  Vermilion  county  (which  the  writer  is 
happy  to  say  lacks  confirmation),  that  when  he  was  sent  out  to  bring 
in  the  first  grand  jury  to  serve  at  Butler's,  he  found  them  so  wild  and 
afraid  of  the  officer  that  he  had  to  "  let  slip  the  dogs  "  and  hunt  them 
as  the  farmers  hunted  their  hogs. 

There  were  times  of  prevailing  sickness  among  the  settlers,  and  cer- 
tain diseases  which  were  more  or  less  prevalent  at  all  times.  Especially 
was  this  so  of  those  who  settled  along  the  streams.  Many  injured 
their  constitutions  by  overwork,  or,  rather,  by  careless  work. 

RELIGIOUS. 

The  early  religious  life  of  the  people  in  a  new  country,  and  the 
faithful  labors  of  the  early  preachers,  are  always  subjects  of  deep  in- 
terest, but  seldom  of  record  here.  There  seems  to  have  been  a  pre- 
vailing opinion  that  the  record  of  their  labors  would  be  kept  in  a 
higher  book  than  those  we  inspect  here;  so  that  very  much  of  it  has 
to  be  collected  from  those  whose  memories  are  not  now  the  best.  There 
seems  to  be  no  doubt  that  Rev.  Enoch  Kingsbury  was  the  pioneer 
Presbyterian  minister  in  Ross.  He  wTas  engaged  in  preaching  in  the 
county  almost  from  its  first  settlement.  His  general  labors  through 
the  county  are  frequently  spoken  of.  His  particular  labors  at  Ross- 
ville  in  organizing  and  ministering  to  the  church  there  are  a  matter  of 
record.  This  church  was  organized  at  Mr.  Gilbert's  house  in  1850,  by 
Mr.  Kingsbury,  six  members  uniting  to  form  the  church  :  Joseph 
Hains,  Millie  Bicknell,  Eliza  Kingsbury,  David  and  Elizabeth  Strain, 
and  Mrs.  Nancy  Gilbert.  Mrs.  Gilbert  is  only  left  of  those  who  there 
pledged  their  lives  to  the  cause.  Mr.  Gilbert  did  not  himself  join  the 
church  till  some  months  after.  Services  were  held  in  Mr.  Gilbert's 
house  until  the  Odd-fellows  built  their  hall,  when,  in  common  with  all 
other  denominations,  services  were  held  there.  Mr.  Kingsbury's  long 
service  terminated  in  1868,  when  Rev.  W.  N.  Steele  was  employed, 


t;<;2  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

and  continued  to  minister  to  the  church  until  1874.  At  that  date 
Rev.  John  H.  Dillingham,  the  present  pastor,  who  had  been  for 
several  years  city  missionary  at  St.  Louis,  was  employed,  and  has  con- 
tinued to  serve  the  church  till  now.  They  have  a  pleasant  house  of 
worship,  and  the  membership  now  numbers  eighty-seven.  The  first 
Sabbath-school  at  Rossville  was  the  Union  school,  held  in  the  hall 
until  the  churches  were  built,  and  Mr.  E.  Townsend  acted  as  superin" 
tendent.     After  this  each  denomination  held  its  own  school. 

Like  most  other  localities,  the  Methodists  were  largely  in  the  ma- 
jority among  the  early  preachers  of  the  gospel  here.  The  absence  of 
all  formalities,  the  plain,  unvarnished  presentation  of  the  truth,  the 
acceptance  of  all  who  had  gifts  to  preach,  faith  to  pray,  and  willingness 
to  work,  and,  more  than  all,  the  free  salvation  they  preached,  made 
that  denomination  the  great  civilizer  and  christianizer  of  scattered 
communities,  and  the  barrier  against  utter  want  of  religious  teaching. 
The  preaching  of  the  early  fathers  was  maintained  with  much  regu- 
larity in  their  times,  but  at  irregular  places :  at  first  in  the  cabins  of 
the  people,  and  afterward  in  the  school-houses  as  they  were  erected. 
John  Demorest  was  one  of  the  first  local  preachers,  and,  with  Daniel 
Fairchild,  went  over  this  country  holding  their  two-days  meetings,  and 
helping  the  traveling  preachers  continually.  Samuel  Gilbert's  house, 
near  where  Mann's  chapel  was  afterward  built,  was  one  of  the  earliest 
points;  after  this  at  Ray's  school-house,  at  Goudy's  school-house,  at 
Myersville,  and  the  Asbury  chapel,  near  the  state  line.  At  first  it 
belonged  to  the  Danville  circuit,  but  about  1855  it  was  cut  off  and 
made  the  Myersville  circuit.  During  the  former  period  the  Munsells, 
W.  T.  Moore,  Elliott,  Crane  and  Bradshaw  were  the  preachers.  Dur- 
ing the  latter,  Messrs.  Muirhead,  Horr,  Huckstip,  Lyon  and  Edward 
Rutledge  preached.  During  this  period  the  appointments  were:  North 
Fork,  Asbury,  East  Fork,  Myersville,  State  Line  and  Fairchilds.  The 
books  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  writer  do  not  show  any  written 
record  farther  back  than  1864.  At  this  time  Rev.  W.  H.  H.  Moore 
was  presiding  elder;  J.  Muirhead,  preacher,  and  the  appointments 
were:  Ross,  East  Fork,  Mann's,  Rossville  and  Myersville.  In  1865 
A.  Shinn  was  presiding  elder;  Mr.  Muirhead,  preacher.  In  1866  and 
1867  D.  P.  Lyon  was  preacher.  In  1868  it  became  Rossville  circuit, 
with  appointments  at  Rossville,  Eight  Mile.  Mann's  and  at  a  school- 
house;  J.  A.  Kumler,  preacher.  In  1870,  Preston  Wood  was  presiding 
elder,  and  Kumler,  preacher;  in  1871,  B.  F.  Hyde,  preacher;  in  1873, 
T.  W.  Phillips,  presiding  elder;  J.  Miller,  preacher;  in  1874,  J.  H. 
Noble,  presiding  elder.  In  1876,  J.  Shaw  was  preacher,  whose  pastorate 
still  continues  ;  in  1878,  J.  McElfresh,  presiding  elder.     Houses  of  wor- 


ROSS  TOWNSHIP.  663 

ship  are  now  occupied  at  Rossville,  Mann's  and  at  East  Fork,  one  mile 
east  of  Alvin.  The  Sabbath-school  at  Rossville  numbers  eighty-five, 
and  is  under  the  superintendency  of  Mr.  D.  C.  Deamude.  Mr.  John 
Johns,  of  Danville,  pretty  good  authority,  says  he  believes  Rev.  J;imes 
McKain  was  the  first  Methodist  preacher  who  labored  in  the  northern 
half  of  the  county.  He  preached  here  when  it  belonged  to  the  Eugene 
circuit,  as  early  as  1829,  though  he  does  not  know  that  he  preached  in 
what  is  now  Ross. 

About  1848  several  families  belonging  to  the  United  Brethren  de- 
nomination settled  in  the  western  part  of  Ross  and  along  Bean  creek. 
William  Cork,  the  Albrights,  Caleb  Bennett,  Mr.  Putnam,  and  others 
of  that  faith,  were  anxious  for  preaching  there.  Rev.  Joel  Cougill,  a 
member  of  the  upper  Wabash  conference,  was  appointed  there  in  1851, 
and  organized  a  class,  with  Samuel  Albright  as  class-leader.  He  was 
followed  in  succession  by  Messrs.  Pencer,  Edmonson  and  Coffman.  In 
1873  a  church  was  built  there,  on  section  30,  36x50,  with  belfry.  A 
little  later  a  church  was  formed  at  Rossville,  and  these,  with  Hoopeston, 
became  the  Rossville  circuit.  Messrs.  Anderson,  Jones  and  Cork  have 
preached  here.  There  are  now  twenty-four  members.  They  have 
purchased  the  Christian  church,  and  have  maintained  a  Sabbath-school. 
Mr.  A.  Boardman  is  class-leader  and  superintendent  of  Sabbath-school. 

Below  is  a  list  of  those  who  have  been  elected  to  township  office 
since  the  organization  of  the  township: 

Date.      Vote.  Supervisor.  Clerk.  Assessor.  Collector. 

1851. . .  49. .  .John  Hoobler.  .R.  Brickwell A.  Gilbert James  Gilbert. 

1852...  47... T.  MeKibben..R.  Brickwell A.Gilbert James  Gilbert. 

1853. . .  60. .  .T.  McKibben.  .R.  Brickwell James  Holmes- . .  .T.  Armstrong. 

1854. . .  59. .  .T.  McKibben.  .L.  M.  Thompson.  .James  Holmes J.  Holmes. 

1855.  . .  96. .  .T.  McKibben.  .L.  M.  Thompson.  .James  Holmes J.  Holmes. 

1856. . .   82. .  .A.  Gilbert.    . .  .L.  M.  Thompson.  -James  Holmes. . .  .J.  Holmes. 

1857. . .  72. .  .A.  Gilbert L.  M.  Thompson.  .James  Holmes J.  Holmes. 

1858. .  .107. .  .A.  Gilbert L.  M.  Thompson.  .James  Holmes J.  Holmes. 

1859. .  .191. . .  J.  R.  Stewart.  .L.  M.  Thompson.  .J.  H.  Gilbert J.  Holmes. 

1860. .  .170. .  .J.  R.  Stewart.  .L.  M.  Thompson.  .A.  M.  Davis L.  M.  Thompson. 

1861... 207...  J.  R.  Stewart. .A.  M.  Davis. . . ..  .A.  M.  Davis A.  T.  Search.  ' 

1862.  .  .110. .  .A.  Gilbert S.  W.  Harris Jacob  Helmick  . .  .Thomas  Gundy. 

1863. .  .170. .  .A.  Gilbert L.-M.  Thompson.  .G.  A.  Collings. . .  .Thomas  Gundy. 

1864. .  .127. .  .J.  J.  Dale Geo.  W.  Smith. .  .G.  A.  Collings. . .  .Geo.  A.  Collings. 

97. . .  A.  Gilbert G.  W.  Smith A.  Davison T.  McKibben. 

.A.  Gilbert Henry  Boyd J.  W.  Dale J.  W.  Dale. 

132. ..A.  Gilbert J.  D.  Bingham. ..J.  W.  Dale J.  W.  Dale. 

.A.  Gilbert Wm.  I.  Allen J.  W.  Dale J.  W.  Dale. 

•  A.  Gilbert Wm.  I.  Allen F.  F.  Randolph. . .  J.  W.  McTaggart. 

.A.  Gilbert J.  D.  Bingham  —  J.  J.  Davison T.  W.  McTaggart. 

.A.  Gilbert J.  D.  Bingham. ..  .A.  T.  Search J.  Fisher. 

1872. .  .217.  .  .A.  Gilbert G.  W.  Smith J.  W.  McTaggart, .  J .  T.  Search. 


1865. 

, .   97. 

1866.. 

.   80. 

1867.. 

.132. 

1868.. 

.139. 

1869.. 

.  87. 

1870.. 

.138. 

1871., 

.193. 

664  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION   COUNTY. 

Date.      Vote.  Supervisor.  •  Clerk.  Assessor.  Collector. 

1873. . .  199  . .  A.  Gilbert G.  W.  Smith J.  W.  McTaggart. .  J.  T.  Search. 

1874... 261... A.  Gilbert G.  W.  Smith J.  Fisher W.  H.  Collings. 

1875... 168... A.  Gilbert G.  W.  Smith A.  T.  Search J.  H.  Braden. 

1876... 204... A.  Gilbert G.  W.  Smith A.  T.  Search W.  D.  Foulke. 

1877... 210... A.  Gilbert J.  H.  Williams ...  John  Cook A.  T.  Search. 

1878... 360... W.  Chambers.. H.  Shannon J.  Fisher J.  C.  Gundy. 

1879. .  .340. . .  W.  Chambers.  .D.  C.  Deamude. . .  J.  S.  Tursher J.  C.  Gundy. 

Justices  of  the  peace :    James  Holmes,  J.  M.  Demorest,  L.  A.  Burd, 

Samuel  Albright,  J.  J.   Dale,  A.  Gilbert,  W.  I.  Allen,  W.  Salmons, 

W.  D.  Foulke,  John  Davison. 

ROSSVILLE. 

Rossville  is  situated  on  the  dividing  line  between  Ross  and  Grant 
townships,  at  the  point  where  the  state  road  from  Danville  to  Chicago 
crosses  the  old  state  road  running  from  Attica,  Indiana,  to  Blooming- 
ton.  Its  corporate  limits  now  include  what  used  to  be  known  as 
Liggett's  Grove  on  the  south  and  Bicknell's  Point  on  the  north.  The 
Chicago  &  Eastern  Illinois  railroad  runs  along  its  eastern  boundary. 
It  is  eighteen  miles  from  Danville,  and  about  six  from  Hoopeston. 
The  north  fork  runs  about  one  mile  west  of  it.  The  land  upon  which 
it  is  built  is  beautifully  rolling,  giving  natural  advantages  of  landscape 
which  have  been  well  used  in  beautifying  the  homes  of  its  citizens. 

The  first  settlement  within  its  limits,  as  has  been  before  stated,  was 
by  John  Liggett,  who  gave  his  name  to  the  locality.  His  early  death, 
however,  gave  the  place  to  Alvan  Gilbert,  whose  quick  eye  and  accu- 
rate judgment  readily  saw  that  in  course  of  time  there  would  be  a  trad- 
ing point  there,  and  perhaps  a  place  of  considerable  local  importance. 
The  building  of  the  La  Fayette,  Bloomingtoh  &  Muncie  through  the 
next  northern  tier  of  townships,  instead  of  following,  as  seemed  likely, 
the  old  traveled  road,  somewhat  changed  the  anticipations.  For  a 
while  it  was  called  Bicknell's  Point,  and  again  it  was  known  far  and 
near  as  "  Henpeck,"  though  who  gave  it  this  name,  and  why,  is  not 
now  very  apparent. 

After  the  tide  of  immigration  which  was  consequent  upon  the  rail- 
road building  of  1851  to  1855  had  filled  these  prairies  around  the 
groves  with  hardy  settlers,  it  became  evident  that  some  one  must 
u  keep  store  at  Henpeck,"  and  Samuel  Frazier,  of  Danville,  put  in  a 
stock  of  goods  there  in  1856,  and  continued  to  sell  for  four  vears.  The 
depression  consequent  upon  the  financial  storm  of  1857  put  back  the 
enterprise  of  the  little  village  some  years,  and  it  was  not  until  after  the 
close  of  the  rebellion  that  it  may  really  have  been  said  to  grow  much. 
Several  business  ventures  were  tried,  few  of  which  proved  successful. 
In  1857  Thomas  Armstrong  and  the  North  Fork  Odd-Fellows  Lodge 


ROSS   TOWNSHIP.  * W J  ~» 

built  the  two-story  frame  store  now  standing  on  the  southwest  corner 
of  the  principal  cross-roads.  It  was  built  as  a  joint  enterprise,  the 
I.O.O.F.  owning  the  upper  story.  This  room,  although  belonging  to 
a  secret  and  rather  exclusive  society,  has  been  for  many  years  the  only 
"public  hall"  -an  apparent  contradiction  of  terms  in  Kossville.  Here 
all  the  societies  and  lodges  ever  organized  at  Rossville  have  found  their 
homes,  and  for  years  the  gospel  was  preached  by  those  advanced  guards 
of  religious  instruction  and  higher  civilization,  the  traveling  and  local 
humble  Methodist  preachers,  and  by  old  Father  Kingsbury,  the  pioneer 
Presbyterian  preacher  of  this  county.  Some  worthy  poet  ought  to  tell, 
in  measures  which  the  historian  cannot  hope  to  reach,  how  here  the 
glad  tidings  of  free  salvation  reverberated  through  the  room,  while 
righteousness  was  dressed  to  "square  and  compass"  by  Masonic  goat- 
riders.  Here  the  stern  decrees,  popularized  in  more  austere  communi- 
ties by  calvinistic  doctrinaires,  and  election,  preordination  and  predes- 
tination, were  made  household  words,  while  rabid  grangers  held  the 
mythical  middleman  by  the  nape  of  the  neck  over  a  boiling,  seathing, 
sulphurous  perdition,  ready  to  let  him  fall  at  the  drop  of  the  hat. 
Here  for  years  the  long-to-be-remembered  union  Sabbath-school  was 
held,  which  crowded  the  hall  to  its  fullest  capacity,  where  many  a  dear 
little  one  now  singing  the  glad  song  of  the  redeemed  in  heaven  learned 
to  lisp  the  simple  truths  of  religion.  It  does  take  off  the  rough  edges 
of  those  who  are  opposed  to  secret  societies  to  recall  the  good  which 
has  been  done  in  that  plain  old  hall.  The  store-room  in  the  first  story 
was  occupied  as  soon  as  built  by  Whitcomb  &  Upp,  with  a  general 
stock  of  goods,  with  George  S.  Cole  as  clerk.  In  the  spring  of  1859 
W.  R.  Gessie  opened  a  stock  of  goods  here,  with  Win.  Mann  as  man- 
ager. It  was  in  operation  for  some  time,  and  the  goods  were  then 
shipped  back  to  Ohio. 

The  spring  of  1862  brought  to  Rossville  a  man  who,  from  that 
time  to  the  present,  has  been  one  of  the  most  important  factors  in  its 
business  prosperity.  Perhaps  no  man  in  the  community  has  been  more 
thoroughly  energetic  (with  the  possible  exception  of  Mr.  Alvan  Gil- 
bert, who  was  to  all  intents  the  father  of  Rossville,)  in  building  up  the 
young  town  than  W.  J.  Henderson.  He  opened  up  a  general  stock  of 
goods  in  1862,  and  the  people  soon  learned  that  he  had  come  to  stay. 
'In  1864  he  built  the  frame  store  which  so  long  stood  on  the  ground 
upon  which  now  stands  his  magnificent  brick  block,  since  which  time 
he  has  been  engaged  in  trade,  in  farming,  keeping  hotel  and  looking 
after  all  the  interests  of  Rossville.  In  1859  Gideon  Davis  built  the 
south  part  of  the  large  hotel  and  occupied  it  until  he  sold  it  to  John 
Smith,  who  in  turn  traded  it  to  Dr.  M.  T.  Livingood,  who  purchased 


666  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

it  with  a  view  to  enlarge  and  improve  it  for  the  better  accommodation 
of  the  traveling  public.  In  1873  he  bnilt  the  north  part,  24x44,  two 
stories  high,  at  an  expense  of  nearly  $4,000.  It  could  hardly  be  called 
a  financial  success,  but  the  Doctor  accomplished  his  purpose  of  giving 
to  Rossville  the  best  hotel  in  the  county  north  of  Danville.  About 
1862  Alvan  Gilbert  built  the  store  now  occupied  by  J.  R.  Smith,  on 
the  corner  north  of  the  Odd-Fellows'  building,  which  was  occupied  by 
Short  Brothers,  of  Danville,  with  a  general  stock  of  goods  for  two 
years. 

Jonas  Sloat  opened  a  blacksmith  shop  in  1857.  The  post-office 
known  as  North  Fork  was  established  in  1839  at  Gilbert's,  near  Mann's 
Chapel,  and  in  1853  it  was  removed  here  and  Alvan  Gilbert  appointed 
postmaster.  It  continued  to  bear  that  name  until  Rossville  was  laid 
out,  when  the  name  was  changed.  Alvan  Gilbert  and  Joseph  Satter- 
thwait  laid  out  and  recorded  the  original  town  of  Rossville  about  1857. 
It  contained  only  four  blocks  at  the  crossing  of  the  Chicago^and  Attica 
roads,  and  the  two  principal  streets  were  named  so  from  that  fact.  Gil- 
bert and  Satterthwait's  first  addition  was  laid  out  and  recorded  in 
April,  1862,  lying  all  around  the  original  town.  Gilbert's  second 
addition  lay  south  and  east  of  this,,  seventeen  blocks.  W.  T.  and  W. 
H.  Livingood's,  of  eighteen  blocks,  is  east  of  the  original  town.  W.  J. 
Henderson  laid  out  an  addition  of  nine  blocks  north  of  this,  and  Gil- 
bert a  third  addition  south  of  the  former.  It  was  incorporated  under 
the  general  incorporation  act  in  force  July,  1872.  As  soon  as  the  act 
was  in  force  a  petition  was  signed  and  the  county  court  ordered  an 
election  under  the  act  to  be  held  on  the  27th  of  July,  to  vote  for  or 
against  incorporating,  which  election  resulted  in  favor  of  incorporation 
by  a  vote  of  53  to  15.  Under  this  petition  the  bounds  were  fixed  as 
all  of  the  'east  half  of  section  11  and  west  half  of  section  12,  town  22, 
range  12,  embracing  one  mile  square,  the  north  half  of  which  is  in 
Grant  and  the  south  half  in  Ross.  On  the  24th  of  August  an  election 
was  held  for  six  trustees,  clerk  and  police  magistrate,  resulting  in  the 
election  of  R.  E.  Purviance,  Isaac  B.  Warner,  W.  C.  Tuttle,  William 
Laidlow,  W.  F.  Lefevre,  Ira  Green,  trustees;  B.  Z.  Duly,  clerk;  J. 
W.  McTaggart,  police  magistrate.  These  officers  put  the  new  village 
into  successful  operation  and  provided  a  code  of  ordinances  under 
which  it  has  prospered  without  licensing  dram  shops. 

The  present  officers  are:  J.  C.  Gundy,  president;  William  Thomas, 
E.  M.  Gilbert,  James  Stafford,  J.  Warner,  trustees;  R.  S.Williams, 
clerk;  Mr.  Deamude,  treasurer;  W.  S.  Demoree,  police  magistrate; 
D.  C.  Lee,  constable.  The  clerk  receives  one  dollar  per  meeting;  trus- 
tees, fifty  cents  when  present;  treasurer,  one  per  centum. 


ROSS   TOWNSHIP.  667 

The  progressive  growth  of  the  village  has  been  uninterrupted  since 
that  time,  several  good  buildings  have  been  erected,  and  many  pleasant 
residences.  Putnam  &  Albright  built  the  nice  brick  block  on  the  north- 
east corner  of  Attica  and  Chicago  streets  in  1873.  It  is  two  stories 
high,  sixty-five  feet  deep,  and  twenty  feet  wide  in  front  by  thirty-three 
in  the  rear.  It  is  occupied  below  by  a  store  and  bank,  and  by  offices 
above.  It  is  neatly  and  substantially  built.  W.  J.  Henderson  built 
the  fine  brick  block  which  he  occupies,  in  1875.  It  is  35  x  90,  two 
stories,  having  a  good  public  hall  above.  The  store-room  is  one  of  the 
finest  in  the  county,  thirty-three  feet  wide  in  the  clear,  with  counting- 
room  and  safety-deposit  vault,  neatly  finished  off  in  oiled  hard-wood, 
and  presents  anything  but  a  rural  appearance.  It  cost  $7,500.  Mr. 
Deamude  built, the  fine  brick  block  which  stands  next  to  Henderson's, 
in  1876.  It  is  24x80,  two  stories,  having  office  and  tin  shop  above. 
It  was  built  for  the  hardware  trade,  which  Mr.  Deamude  has  so  long 
carried  on  here,  and  occupied  by  him  until  his  retirement  from  trade 
last  year,  and  is  now  used  by  his  successor. 

The  original  brick  two-story  school-house  was  built  in  1868,  36  x  65, 
and  was  occupied  the  next  year.  In  1874  it  was  found  too  small, 
and  a  two-story  addition,  30  x  40,  was  built.  The  grounds  are  ample 
and  neat.  The  entire  cost,  furnished,  was  about  $10,000.  The  school 
is  graded,  and  employs  six  teachers,  and  is  run  eight  months.  It  is 
justly  the  pride  of  the  district. 

The  Methodist  church  was  built  in  1869.  It  is  brick,  34x56,  and 
cost  $5,500.  It  was  dedicated  in  July,  1870,  by  Elder  Moody,  "the 
fighting  parson,"  who  acquired  his  title  while  serving  as  chaplain  in 
the  arnry,  by  the  business-like  way  with  which  he  upheld  the  "  sword 
of  the  Lord  and  of  Gideon,"  by  praying  all  night  and  fighting  all  day 
with  just  the  same  spirit  and  faith. 

The  Presbyterian  church  was  built  about  the  same  time,  and  is  a 
neat  frame  building  32  x  54,  with  vestibule  at  the  corner  surmounted 
by  a  belfry.  It  cost  about  $3,000,  and  was  dedicated  in  October,  1870. 
The  Christians  built  a  church  which  is  30  x  46,  which  they  afterward 
sold  to  the  United  Brethren. 

The  Rossville  Mill,  a  large  and  in  every  respect  a  first-class  mill, 
was  built  by  Tuttle  &  Ross  in  1875,  and  the  large  elevator  of  Corn- 
stock  &  Co',  40  x  60,  in  1873. 

North  Fork  Lodge,  I.O.O.F.,  No.  245,  was  chartered  in  1857. 
James  Holmes,  Lewis  A.  Burd,  J.  H.  Gilbert,  Fulton  Armstrong,  A. 
Gilbert,  J.  R.  Stewart,  J.  Dixon,  John  Rudy,  J.  Helmick,  J.  P.  Jones 
and  L.  M.  Thompson  were  charter  members,  of  whom  the  last  is  the 
only  one  left  in  the  lodge.    The  first  officers  were:    Fulton  Armstrong, 


•"»•'»*  HISTORY    OF   VERMILIOX   COUXTT. 

N.G. ;  Alvan  Gilbert,  Y.G. ;  L.  M.  Thompson,  secretary;  J.  R. 
Stewart,  treasurer;  L.  A.  Burd,  chaplain  ;  J.  Uler,  lodge  deputy.  The 
lodge  owns  its  hall,  and  has  been  fairly  prosperous,  especially  since  the 
war:  during  that,  the  number  did  not  often  exceed  six  or  eight.  The 
present  officers  are:  W.  W.  Phillips,  KG.;  W.  W.  Lettrill,  Y.G.; 
D.  W.  Foulke,  secretary;  L.  M.  Thompson,  treasurer. 

The  first  meeting  of  Rossville  Lodge,  A.F.  &  A.M.,  working  under 
dispensation,  was  held  November  23,  1866.  Henry  C.  Ellis,  W.M.; 
John  Ridgway,  S.W. ;  N.  Griffing,  J.W.  pro  tern.  •  R.  Potter,  S.D. 
pro  tern.;  J.  Y.  Blackburn,  J.D.  pro  tern. ;  E.  S.  Pope,  secretary  pro 
Um.;  Jacob  Haas,  tyler  pro  tern.  Rossville  Lodge,  No.  527,  was 
chartered  October  1, 1867.  The  charter  members  were  John  Rido-way, 
S.  D.  Lewis,  H.  C.  Ellis,  E.  S.  Townsend,  D.  P.  Haas,  Jphn  R,  Jerauld, 
H.  D.  Campbell,  A.  M.  Davis,  William  York,  J.  D.  Bingham  and 
Jacob  Haas.  The  first  officers  were :  John  Ridgway,  "W.M. ;  H.  C. 
Ellis,  S.W. ;  James  D.  Bingham,  J.W.  The  charter  was  signed  by 
Jerome  R.  Gorin,  grand  master,  and  H.  G.  Reynolds,  grand  secretary. 
The  lodge  has  at  present  some  forty  or  forty-five  members.  The 
present  officers  are:  W.  W.  Phillips,  W.M. ;  Harry  Shannon,  S.W. ; 
J.  C.  Gundy,  J.W. ;  J.  R.  Livingood,  secretary;  D.  C.  Deamude, 
treasurer;  E.  F.  Birch,  S.D. ;  Patrick  Pendergrast,  J.D. ;  Thomas 
Dengler,  tyler. 

The  Rossville  Lodge,  No.  650,  Knights  of  Honor,  was  chartered  by 
the  Supreme  Lodge  of  the  World,  May,  1877.  The  charter  members 
were  J.  J.  McElroy.  W.  D.  Foulke,  AVilliam  Yining,  G.  G.  Ruth,  J.  C. 
Gundy,  John  Milligan,  J.  Warner,  A.  Grant,  J.  R.  Livingood,  S.  A. 
Watson,  W.  H.  Oakwood.  J.  C.  Gundy  was  past  dictator;  W.  D. 
Foulke,  dictator;  J.  R.  Livingood,  vice  dictator;  J.  B.Warner,  assist- 
ant dictator;  J.  Milligan,  chaplain  ;  S.  A.  Watson,  guide;  G.G.Ruth, 
reporter;  A.  Grant,  treasurer:  Messrs.  Gundy,  Milligan  and  Yining, 
trustees.  The  lodge  meets  in  the  Odd-Fellows'  hall.  Their  objects 
are  not  unlike  those  of  the  Odd-Fellows  order,  having  an  established 
widows'  fund,  in  addition  to  other  regular  beneficiaries.  The  supreme 
lodge  makes  regular  assessments  on  subordinate  lodges  to  meet  the 
necessities  of  obligations  to  the  representatives  of  deceased  members. 
During  the  devastations  of  the  yellow  fever  last  year  the  lodge  was 
taxed  heavily,  assessments  following  each  other  in  quick  succession,  all 
of  which  were  promptly  met  in  the  spirit  which  actuates  the  order. 
There  are  now  eighteen  members.  The  present  officers  are:  J.  C. 
Gundy,  dictator;  J.  R.  Livingood,  vice  dictator;  J.  J.  McElroy,  assist- 
ant dictator;  William  Yining,  chaplain;  A.  Grant,  guide:  W.  D. 
Foulke,  reporter. 


ROSS   TOWNSHIP.  669 

In  1873  the  Rossville  "  Observer,"  a  six-column  folio,  was  started 
by  Mr.  Moore.  It  was  republican  first,  but  in  1876  went  with  the 
"  greenback  "  or  national  cause.  Mr.  Moore  discontinued  its  publica- 
tion after  three  years,  and  removed  to  Champaign,  where  he  became 
connected  with  the  "  Union."  In  1876  Mr.  J.  Cromer  commenced  the 
publication  of  the  "Enterprise,"  a  republican  paper,  and  continued  it 
for  nearly  two  years.  He  then  went  to  Homer,  where  he  is  still  en- 
gaged in  publishing.     Rossville  now  has  no  paper. 

ALVIN. 

When  the  Havana,  Rantoul  &  Eastern  railroad  was  built  it  was  ap- 
parent that  at  its  crossing  with  the  Chicago  &  Danville  road  there 
would  a  station  of  some  importance  grow  up.  As  early  as  1872  a  sta- 
tion had  been  established  on  the  Chicago  &  Danville  road  a  mile  south 
of  where  Alvin  now  is,  called  Gilbert,  from  Hon.  Alvan  Gilbert,  who 
had  been  so  long  identified  with  all  the  material  interests  of  Ross,  and 
who  had  been,  more  than  any  other  man,  instrumental  in  saving  the 
township  aid  which  had  been  voted  by  Ross  to  this  railroad.  A  post- 
office  was  established,  which,  for  some  reason,  did  not  bear  the  name 
of  the  station  —  probably  because  of  the  similarity  between  its  name 
and  that  of  some  other  post-office  in  the  state.  To  compromise  mat- 
ters, they  attempted  to  name  the  post-office  for  Mr.  Gilbert's  given 
name,  which  was  Alvan ;  he  always  persisting  in  that  spelling,  which 
violated  the  theories  and  practices  of  the  post-office  department,  and  by 
the  officials  it  was  spelled  as  indicated  at  the  head  of  this  article. 

L.  T.  Dixson  laid  out  the  town  of  Gilbert  on  section  8  (21-11),  and 
Bruce  Peters  and  D.  McKibben  started  a  store.  Peters  was  postmaster. 
Soon  after  this  the  store  was  sold  to  J.  D.  Williams,  and  he  was  ap- 
pointed postmaster.  John  Davison  afterward  bought  it,  and  put  in  a 
stock  of  dry-goods.  Dr.  G.  W.  Akers  started  in  the  drug  business  in 
August,  1875,  and  continued  there  for  one  year,  at  which  time  the 
narrow-gauge  road  was  a  fixed  fact,  and  drugs,  store,  post-office,  station 
and  all  moved  a  mile  farther  north,  and  Gilbert  went  where  Jim  Fisk's 
profits  in  the  great  "  crop-moving  "  Wall  street  speculation  went. 

In  laying  out  and  giving  name  to  the  new  town  the  officials  showed 
the  good  judgment  of  following,  not  only  the  name  but  the  spelling  of 
the  post-office  which  was  moved  there  from  Gilbert. 

The  building  of  this  road  only  called  for  private  subscriptions,  as 
the  law  and  the  constitution  under  which  the  people,  the  townships, 
cities  and  counties  had  run  headlong  into  debt  in  aid  of  useless  railroads 
had  been  repealed,  and  the  voting  "  local  aid  "  is  among  the  things  of 
the  past.     The  company  bought  twelve  acres  of  land  of  Samuel  Kuns, 


670  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

on  section  5,  eight  of  which  they  laid  out  in  town  lots  and  recorded  as 
the  town  of  Alvin.  John  Davison  and  W.  D.  Fonlke  laid  out  additions 
west  of  this,  and  Samuel  Kuns  north  of  it.  J.  W.  Stansbury  laid  out 
an  addition  west  of  these,  making  in  all  about  seventy  acres  now 
within  the  unincorporated  village  of  Alvin. 

Riley  Yatman,  a  carpenter,  built  the  first  house  in  Alvin,  which  he 
sold  to  James  Caldwell  and  went  to  Monticello.  Abram  L.  Buckles 
built,  in  December,  1875,  the  hotel  building  at  the  railroad  crossing, 
which  he  now  occupies.  Dr.  G.  W.  Akers  built  the  drug  store  he  now 
occupies  in  1876.  George  Ford,  an  old  resident  of  Knox  county,  came 
here  from  Rantoul  in  1876  and  put  up  the  fine,  large  boarding-house, 
the  "Alvan  House,,'  which  he  now  occupies.  This  was  built  on  the 
original  town. 

Rev.  J.  D.  Jenkins  (Presb}7terian)  commenced  preaching  here  occa- 
sionally in  1877,  and  in  the  spring  of  1878  a  petition  was  presented  to 
the  Bloomington  Presbytery  to  send  a  commission  to  organize  a  church 
here,  according  to  the  rules  of  that  church.  The  prayer  was  granted, 
and  Rev.  Mr.  Brooks,  of  Danville,  Rev.  John  H.  Dillingham  and 
Elder  Grant,  of  Rossville,  were  appointed  to  visit  Alvin  and  organize 
a  church.  April  30  Messrs.  Dillingham  and  Grant  organized  a  church 
of  nineteen  members,  ten  of  whom  came  by  letter  and  nine  on  profes- 
sion of  their  faith.  It  was  decided  by  the  church  to  adopt  the  rotary 
system  of  eldership,  and  George  L.  Caldwell,  Charles  Peterson  and 
Dr.  Akers  were  elected  elders;  J.  O.  Andrews,  Dr.  G.  W.  Howard 
and  J.  Q.  Tyler  were  elected  deacons.  A  Sabbath-school  was  estab- 
lished, of  which  Mr.  Tyler  was  elected  superintendent.  Jas.  McDonald, 
S.  Kuns  and  Dr.  Akers  were  elected  trustees,  and  the  church  engaged 
Mr.  Jenkins  to  preach  each  alternate  Sabbath.  The  trustees  at  once 
set  about  building  a  church  edifice,  28x40,  and  have  it  so  far  completed 
that  they  have  been  occupying  it  during  the  winter.  It  has  been  used 
by  the  district  school  for  the  winter,  as  the  district  has  no  school-house. 
It  is  proposed  to  complete  the  church  as  fast  as  means  are  collected  for 
that  purpose. '  It  will  cost,  completed,  $1,000.  There  are  now  twenty- 
five  residences  in  Alvin,  and  the  grain  trade  amounts  to  about  forty-five 
thousand  bushels  annually.     J.  H.  Braden  is  postmaster. 

Rayville  is  a  station  on  the  Havana,  Rantoul  &  Eastern  railroad, 
with  a  post-office  and  one  store,  established  on  the  land  of  R.  R.  Ray,  of 
Rossville. 

BIOGRAPHICAL. 

Alvan  Gilbert,  deceased,  was  born  in  Ontario  county,  New  York,  on 
the  11th  of  July,  1810,  and  was  a  son  of  Samuel  and  Mary  (Morse) 
Gilbert.     About  1825  he  emigrated  with  his  parents  and  two  younger 


ROSS   TOWNSHIP.  H71 

brothers  (James  H.  and  Elias  M.)  to  Crawford  county,  Ohio,  and  tarry- 
ing there  a  year,  continued  their  removal  westward,  settling  in  Ver- 
milion county,  Illinois,  two  miles  south  of  Danville,  at  which  place  no 
settlement  was  begun  till  about  two  years  later.  His  father  having 
become  early  interested  in  a  ferry, —  the  first  ever  established  at  Dan- 
ville,—  he  was  employed  some  years  as  ferryman,  transporting  men  and 
teams  across  the  North  Fork  of  the  Vermilion.  In  1831,  on  the  18th 
day  of  April,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Matilda  Horr,  a  daughter  of 
Robert  Horr.  In  the  spring  of  1835  he  moved  on  a  farm  situated  on 
the  north  side  of  the  North  Fork,  west  of  the  Chicago  State  road,  and 
opposite  Mann's  Chapel,  which  he  had  purchased  from  his  father-in-law. 
When  he  had,  by  successive  additions,  increased  the  area  to  two  hun- 
dred and  forty  acres,  he  sold  it  to  his  father  and  younger  brother,  James 
H.,  and  bought  another  from  his  uncle,  Solomon  Gilbert,  which  in- 
cluded the  present  northern  limits  of  Rossville.  After  occupying  this 
place  three  years  he  again  sold,  and  bought  the  Daniel  Liggett  home- 
stead, embracing  the  present  southern  limits  of  Rossville,  on  which  he 
afterward  lived  and  died.  Subsequently  he  dealt  largely  in  real  estate 
and  personal  property.  He  owned  at  the  time  of  his  death  nearly  one 
thousand  acres,  besides  some  valuable  lots  in  Danville  and  Chicago,  and 
a  tract  of  land  in  Iowa.  His  business  transactions  were  distinguished 
by  the  utmost  fairness  and  the  strictest  honesty.  His  first  wife  died  on 
the  13th  of  March,  1849,  leaving  two  children :  Sarah  E.,  wife  of  Geo. 
C.  Dickson,  and  Nancy  J.,  wife  of  Frederick  Grooms,  both  residents 
of  Vermilion  county.  His  second  wife,  sister  to  the  deceased,  to  whom 
he  was  married  on  the  11th  of  November,  1849,  was  formerly  Miss 
Nancy  Horr,  and  relict  of  Samuel  Elzy.  She  was  born  Sunday,  on 
the  20th  of  January,  1815.  Mr.  Gilbert  was  one  of  the  first  volunteers 
in  the  Sac  war,  and  was  enrolled  under  Capt.  Dan  W.  Beckwith. 
After  his  return,  a  young  man  of  resolution  was  required  to  convey  dis- 
patches to  Gen.  Atkinson,  at  Ottawa.  The  distance  was  two  hundred 
miles  and  the  country  infested  with  hostile  Indians,  but  he  volunteered 
to  perform  the  mission  at  every  hazard  ;  and  taking  another  young  man 
of  daring  qualities  in  his  company,  he  successfully  executed  his  trust, 
being  but  once  chased  by  the  red  foe.  Mr.  Gilbert  was  prominently 
before  the  public  man}'  years,  and  his  name  was  a  household  world. 
He  was  honored  beyond  most  men  of  local  reputation,  and  in  spirited 
contrast  to  the  aspiring  demagogues  who  throng  the  arena;  his  stead- 
fast integrity,  uniform  goodness  and  strength  of  character,  his  even, 
unvarying  merit,  preceded  and  invited  every  honor.  He  was  one  of 
the  commissioners  appointed  by  the  legislature  to  divide  Vermilion 
county  into  townships,  on  the  adoption  by  the  county  of  that  system  of 


672  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

organization.     He  was  one  of  the  three  commissioners  to  divide  the 
swamp  lands  between  this  county  and  Ford,  when  the  territory  of  the 
latter  was  detached  from  Vermilion, —  himself  and  Mr.  Lamb  acting  on 
behalf  of  the  old  county,  and  Judge  Patton  of  the  new.     Their  labors 
covered  a  period  of  three  months,  and  gave  entire  satisfaction  to  both 
sections.     In  1876  he  was  elected  to  the  state  general  assembly.     He 
was  a  member  of  one  of  the  visiting  committees,  and  while  in  perform- 
ance of  his  duty  inspecting  some  public  work,  the  chilly,  humid  atmos- 
phere within  the  freshly  erected  walls,  caused  him  to  contract  a  violent 
cold  which  brought  on  an  excruciating  attack  of  rheumatism,  pros- 
trating him  several  weeks,  and  from  the  effects  of  which  he  never  com- 
pletely recovered.      He  was  a  member  of  the  board  of  supervisors 
eighteen  years,  and  chairman  of  that  honorable  body  most  of  the  tin*e 
during  his  faithful  service.     He  was  intimately  associated  with  the  ma- 
terial growth  and  prosperity  of  the  county.     When  a  young  man  he 
hauled  material  to  build  the  old  court-house,  and  as  chairman  of  the 
board  and  of  the  building  committee,  assisted  in  the  erection  of  the  new. 
His  quiet  but  useful  life  terminated  on  the  18th  of  October,  1878.    The 
following  honorable  tribute  to  his  character  is  taken  from  the  "  Hoopes- 
ton  Chronicle,"  of  October  24th :     "Alvan   Gilbert  was  a  man  who 
loved  his  fellow-men,  and  in  turn  was  held  in  close  affection  by  all 
who  knew  his  noble  qualities.     He  was  the  self-constituted  guardian  of 
the  poor  and  oppressed  in  his  vicinity.     They  felt  that  no  harm  could 
befall  them,  no  grinding  landlord  could  turn  them  into  the  street,  so 
long  as  their  benefactor  lived.     In  every  public  enterprise,  in  every 
private  benefaction,  in  all  enterprises  redounding  to  the  general  good, 
Mr.  Gilbert  was  ever  in  the  van,  and  his  hand  was  ever  willing  to  be- 
stow an  equable  portion  of  his  substance,  not  for  ostentatious  display, 
but  purely  and  simply  out  of  his  native  generosity.     Prominent  in 
local  matters,  he  was  equally  conspicuous  in  the  developments  of  the 
county  where  he  passed  more  than  half  a  century.     Elevated  to  posi- 
tions of  honor  and  trust,  he  performed  his  duty  faithfully  and  well." 
The  "Danville  News"  of  the  25th,  contained  the  following:  "At  the 
outbreak  of  the  rebellion  his  whole  soul  was  enlisted  in  the  cause  of 
maintaining  the  Union.     His  activity  as  a  private  citizen,  and  in  his 
public  capacity  on   the  board  of  supervisors,  was  untiring  in   keeping 
the  quota  of  Vermilion  county  more  than  full  in  the  Held,  while  his 
generosity,  aid  and  sympathy,  through  all  the  war,  was  liberally  —  nay, 
even  bountifully  —  bestowed  upon  the  wife,  children  and  parents  of 
the  absent  soldier.    Of  the  thousands  of  men,  the  patriotism  and  benev- 
olence of  Alvan   Gilbert  shone  through,  conspicuously,  all  the  dark 
hours  of  that  terrible  struggle.    The  soldiers  and  their  families,  of  Ver- 


s 


6 


DECD. 
D  AN  vYllE 


ROSS  TOWNSHIP.  B73 

milion  county,  can  never  forget  this  noble  trait  of  his  character.  He 
was  a  public  spirited  man  in  every  sense  of  the  term.  Anything  that 
would  promote  the  general  good,  whether  of  religion,  education,  public 
roads  and  railroads,  always  found  him  an  early  and  persistent  friend.1* 
He  was  a  consistent  and  liberal  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church, 
and  aided  largely  by  his  influence  and  means  to  build  up  the  denomi- 
nation. Politically,  he  was  firm  in  his  principles,  but  moderate  in 
the  expression  of  his  views,  and  charitable  toward  opponents;  first  a 
whig  and  afterward  a  republican.  Mr.  Gilbert's  funeral  was  the  largest 
ever  had  in  Vermilion  county, —  over  a  thousand  people  turning  out  to 
testify  how  deeply  the  public  heart  was  moved,  and  how  sincerely  his 
loss  was  deplored.  The  Rev.  J.  H.  Dillingham,  of  the  Presbyterian 
church,  conducted  the  service,  assisted  by  the  Rev.  James  Shaw  of  the 
Methodist  denomination.  There  were  one  hundred  and  seventy-five 
carriages  and  wagons  in  the  procession,  which  was  just  one  mile  and  a 
half  long.  He  was  buried  in  the  cemetery  at  Mann's  chapel,  three 
miles  south  of  Rossville,  with  the  honors  of  Odd-Fellowship.  The 
Gilbert  family  are  descendants  of  English  stock,  and  their  ancestors 
wrere  early  settlers  of  Massachusetts  colony.  Mr.  Gilbert's  grandfather 
was  a  native  of  that  commonwealth,  and  a  soldier  in  the  war  of  the  rev- 
olution. His  uncle,  Solomon,  served  in  the  war  of  1812,  and  in  1831 
migrated  to  this  county  and  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life.  His 
grandfather,  Zebediah  Morse,  was  also  a  revolutionary  soldier,  and  a 
progenitor  of  the  celebrated  Morse  family,  including  the  inventor  of 
the  electric  telegraph  —  Prof.  S.  F.  B.  Morse.  This  family  traces  its 
lineage  to  pilgrims  of  the  Mayfknver.  Mrs.  Gilbert's  ancestors,  the 
Horrs,  formed  a  part  of  the  first  hardy  band  of  pilgrims.  Her  father, 
grandfather  and  great-grandfather,  each  bore  the  christian  name  of 
Robert,  and  her  father  and  grandfather  were  each  born  in  the  same 
house  in  the  town  of  Plymouth  and  near  the  Plymouth  Rock.  Her 
grandfather  bore  arms  for  his  country  in  the  revolution,  and  her  father 
in  the  war  of  1812.  The  latter,  Robert  Horr,  was  born  on  Monday, 
January  19,  1781,  as  has  been  already  stated,  in  Plymouth,  Massachu- 
setts. In  1812  he  moved  to  Niagara  Falls.  The  American  troops,  in 
winter  quarters  at  that  place,  were  destitute  of  clothing,  and  Mr.  Horr 
conceived  the  idea  of  making  a  supply,  not  hesitating  to  ply  the  needle 
with  his  own  hands,  though  he  had  never  done  so  before.  Taking  in 
company  with  him  a  seamster,  they  wrent  to  work,  and  with  the  help 
of  a  force  of  sewing  girls,  during  the  winter,  furnished  the  soldiers  a 
complete  outfit.  At  the  close  of  the  war  he  came  west  and  settled 
where  Columbus,  Ohio,  is  situated,  and  bought  a  tract  of  land  on 
which  the  state  penitentiary  has  since  been  built.  In  1827  he  sold  his 
43 


»>74  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

home  and  removed  to  Illinois,  stopping  the  following  winter  with  Gnr- 
don  S.  Hubbard,  at  Bunkum,  a  trading  post  on  the  Iroquois  River. 
Hubbard  had  opened  a  small  store  in  Danville,  at  this  time,  and  a  few 
families  had  knotted  together  in  a  settlement.  Next  spring  Air.  Horr, 
accompanied  by  Hubbard,  came  and  looked  out  a  place  on  the  North 
Fork  of  the  Vermilion,  a  little  distance  west  of  the  present  site  of 
Mann's  chapel.  Here  he  died  on  the  10th  of  August,  1834,  aged  fifty- 
three  years,  ten  months.  The  death  of  his  wife,  Lavina  (Hamm)  Horr, 
who  was  born  Tuesday,  August  1,  1782,  followed  close  upon  his  own, 
occurring  on  the  26th  of  October,  1834. 

James  H.  Gilbert,  deceased,  was  born  in  Rushville,  New  York,  on 
the  15th  of  August,  1S17.  When  a  small  boy,  his  parents,  Samuel  and 
Mary  (Morse)  Gilbert,  moved  to  Danville,  Illinois.  After  a  few  years' 
residence  there  the  family  moved  up  on  the  North  Fork,  a  short  dis- 
tance west  of  where  Mann's  Chapel  now  stands.  He  was  married  on 
the  14th  of  October,  1838,  to  Elizabeth  W.  McIIenry,  who  died  on  the 
1st  of  May,  1844.  He  was  married  again,  on  the  10th  of  July,  1845, 
to  Sarah  Mather,  who  was  born  in  Franklin  county,  Ohio,  on  the  11th 
of  March,  1822.  Mrs.  Mary  Mather,  Mrs.  Gilbert's  mother,  spent  the 
latter  part  of  her  life,  a  considerable  period,  with  her  daughter.  She 
was  a  sister  to  James  Davison,  Mrs.  Joseph  Kerr,  and  Mrs.  Joseph 
Gundy,  all  pioneeig  of  Vermilion  county.  Mr.  Gilbert's  family  con- 
sisted of  nine  children,  as  follows:  Samuel,  born  on  the  15th  of 
August,  1839;  died  on  the  26th  of  August,  1839.  Twin  brother  (un- 
named), born  on  the  29th  of  November,  1840;  died  on  the  24th  of 
January,  1841.  William  Henry,  born  on  the  29th  of  November,  1840; 
died  the  same  day.  Alvan  Ambrose,  born  on  the  26th  of  July,  1842; 
died  on  the  9th  of  August.  1842.  Lydia  A.,  born  on  the  9th  of  August, 
1846;  Elias  M.,  born  on  the  13th  of  May,  1848;  Mary  Elizabeth,  born 
on  the  27th  of  August,  1850  ;  died  on  the  13th  of  January,  1866.  Jane, 
born  on  the  1st  of  July,  1S52;  Samuel  H.,  born  on  the  12th  of  April, 
1854.  Mr.  Gilbert  died  on  the  15th  of  January,  1861.  His  influence 
was  always  felt  for  good,  and  he  was  highly  esteemed  by  all  who  knew 
him.  He  was  charged  by  his  fellow-citizens  with  the  duties  of  town- 
ship offices  at  different  times.  He  was  descended  from  the  Puritans, 
his  ancestors  having  been  among  those  who  embarked  in  the  Ma}^- 
fiower;  and  was  remotely  related  to  Prof.  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse,  inventor 
of  the  magnetic  telegraph. 

John  H.  Johnson,  Bismark,  farmer,  was  born  in  Jackson  county, 
Ohio,  on  the  3d  of  January,  1S21,  and  is  a  son  of  Richard  and  Milbrey 
(Graves)  Johnson.  He  was  reared  behind  the  counter  of  a  dry-goods 
store.    At  the  age  of  twenty-six  he  engaged  in  trafficking  and  farming. 


ROSS   TOWNSHIP.  675 

His  operations  have  always  been  confined  to  the  Wabash  Valley.  In 
1826  his  parents  removed  and  settled  at  Fort  Harrison,  Vigo  county, 
Indiana,  bnt,  remaining  there  only  a  short  time,  went  to  Lafayette, 
where  his  father  died  on  the  30th  of  August,  1830.  Mr.  Johnson  has 
held  various  township  offices;  was  alderman  of  the  fourth  ward  in 
Danville  four  years.  In  1866  he  was  elected  secretary  of  the  Wabash 
General  Association  of  Detective  Companies,  which  position  he  has 
held  to  the  present  time.  He  was  an  old-line  whig,  sealing  his  fealty 
to  that  party  by  voting  for  Henry  Clay  in  1844.  He  has  been  an  odd- 
fellow since  1846.  His  family  now  consists  of  six  living  children  :  Ora 
C,  Mary  H.,  Annie,  Richard,  Edward  II.,  and  Barton.  He  owns  three 
hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land,  worth  $9,500.  His  political  views 
are  republican. 

Louis  M.  Thompson,  Rossville,  farmer,  was  born  on  the  31st  of 
May,  1829,  in  Dearborn  county,  Indiana,  and  is  the  son  of  John  and 
Esther  (Payne)  Thompson.  He  came  with  his  parents  to  Vermilion 
county,  Illinois,  in  the  fall  of  1831,  and  has  lived  here  since  that  time. 
He  was  married  on  the  17th  of  August,  1848,  to  Judith  A.  Burroughs, 
and  the  same  year  moved  and  settled  in  Ross  township,  on  the  farm  he 
still  owns,  which  lies  southeast  of  Rossville,  and  corners  with  that  cor- 
poration. Since  1873  his  family  has  lived  in  the  village.  Mr.  Thomp- 
son is  a  stirring  man;  a  community  with  a  few  such  never  stagnates. 
He  has  farmed,  bought,  raised  and  sold  stock;  been  town  clerk  of  Ross 
seven  years,  collector  twice,  road  commissioner,  taught  school  one  term. 
He  is  the  father  of  six  living  children:  Viola,  Mary,  John,  Etta,  Lena, 
Hattie.  He  owns  seven  hundred  and  eighty  acres  of  land,  worth 
$23,000.     In  politics  he  is  a  republican. 

William  Songer,  Rossville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Danville  township, 
Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  26th  of  June,  1832.     He  is  the  son 
of  Samuel   and   Sarah   (Parker)  Songer.     His  father  was  a  native  of 
Virginia  and  Ins  mother  of  Maryland.     He  was  married  on  the  19th  of 
May,  1857,  to  Miss  Sarah  A.  Daugherty,  who  was  born  on  the  30th  of 
October.  1839.     In  1867  he  moved  on  the  farm  which  he  now  owns, 
three  miles  southeast  of  Rossville,  which  lies  in  sections  17  and   18, 
town  22,  range  11.     He  is  at  present  commissioner  of  highways  for 
Ross  township.     He  carries  on  a  considerable  stock  business  in   con- 
junction with  farming.    He  is  the  father  of  four  living  children  :  Charles 
W.,  born  on  the  4th  of  August,  1858;  Mary  Adeline,  born  on  the  1st 
of  March,   1860;  Samuel   W.,   born   on   the  28th   of  July,  1862;  and 
Gilbert  W.,  born  on  the  15th  of  May,  1S68.     He  owns  two  hundred 
and  sixteen  acres  of  land,  worth   $6,500.     He  is  a  greenback  republi- 
can in  politics. 


676  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Abraham  Mann,  Rossville,  farmer,  was  born  at  Leighton  Buzzard. 
Bedfordshire,  England,  on  the  17th  of  February,  1830.  He  is  the  son 
of  Abraham  Mann.  About  1835  his  father  immigrated  to  America, 
and  after  stopping  a  few  months  in  New  York,  came  to  Vermilion 
county  and  purchased  a  large  tract  of  land,  embracing  several  thousand 
acres,  in  Ross  township,  making  his  residence  in  Danville  for  a  while 
at  first.  Soon  afterward  Mrs.  Mann  died,  and  in  about  1840,  the  fam- 
ily returned  to  England  and  remained  until  about  1846.  the  children 
being  educated  in  the  meantime.  From  1846  to  1851,  Mr.  Mann, 
together  with  his  sons,  Abraham  and  John,  made  several  trips  between 
the  two  countries,  but  finally,  in  the  latter  year,  settled  down  and 
resided  permanently  in  America.  The  family  had  valuable  landed 
interests  in  England,  which  they  retained  until  a  recent  date.  The 
head  of  the  family,  Abraham  Mann,  Sr.,  died  on  the  17th  of  October, 
1865.  He  was  a  large-hearted,  benevolent  man.  Instances  of  his 
generosity,  and  of  his  concern  for  the  welfare  of  his  neighbors  are  men- 
tioned by  early  settlers.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  had  a  sister  older, 
and  a  brother  and  a  sister  younger,  than  himself.  His  brother  John 
took  great  delight  in  the  chase,  and  always  kept  mettled  horses  and  a 
pack  of  English  hounds.  His  fine  social  qualities,  kind  heart  and 
obliging  nature  made  him  greatly  beloved  ;  and  while  he  lived  he  was 
a  leading  man  in  the  community  and  enjoyed  a  wide  and  honorable 
reputation.  His  death  occurred  on  the  19th  of  October,  1873.  Mr. 
Mann  is  one  of  the  largest  farmers  and  stock-raisers  in  eastern  Dlinois. 
His  estate  comprises  upward  of  four  thousand  acres  of  rich  farming 
land,  with  an  abundance  of  good  timber.  His  mansion,  whose  erection 
was  begun  in  August,  1874,  and  which  was  finished  the  next  summer, 
and  occupied  in  November  following,  is  the  finest  edifice  of  its  kind  in 
Vermilion  county.  It  contains  twenty  spacious  rooms,  including  dairy 
and  laundry,  and  exclusive  of  the  large  halls,  closets  and  garret.  It 
was  built  at  a  cost  of  about  830,000.  The  adjoining  grounds  are  laid 
out  with  taste  and  planted  with  flowers  and  evergreens.  A  greenhouse 
is  attached  to  the  premises.  Mr.  Mann  is  an  extensive  stock-raiser, 
and  a  lover  of  fine  horses,  of  which  he  keeps  a  considerable  number, 
mostly  English  draft.  He  is  fond  of  sport  and  recreation,  and  often 
makes  considerable  trips,  generally  to  the  west,  with  a  party  of  his 
chosen  fellows,  to  hunt,  travel  and  otherwise  seek  adventure  and 
amusement.  He  is  liberal  to  all  worthy  objects  of  charity,  and  emi- 
nently  public-spirited.  His  donations  to  schools  and  churches  and  the 
various  public  institutions  reach  a  large  sum.  Honest  worth  and  enter- 
prise find  him  a  ready  patron  :  and  the  poor  have  learned  that  his  kind- 
ness is  as  abundant  as  the  sunshine.     His  genial  nature  makes  him  the 


ROSS  TOWNSHIP.  677 

soul  of  every  private  gathering.  He  is  plain  and  simple  in  his  habits 
and  manners.  His  modesty  is  a  conspicuous  trait  that  is  equaled  only 
by  his  goodness  of  heart,  and  the  universal  esteem  which  he  enjoys  by 
virtue  of  his  many  excellences  of  character.  He  is  a  republican  in 
politics,  and  has  been  an  active  member  of  the  Methodist  church  thirty 
years.  The  Mann  family  have  always  been  noted  for  their  hospitality, 
and  their  careful  avoidance  of  notoriety. 

John  Davison,  Rossville,  collecting  agent,  was  born  in  Ross  town- 
ship, Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  12th  of  February,  1837,  and 
is  the  son  of  Robert  and  Melinda  (Chenowerth)  Davison.  He  was 
brought  up  to  farm  labor.  In  the  fall  of  1856  and  the  next  winter  he 
attended  school  at  Perrysville,  Indiana,  and,  the  following  summer, 
clerked  at  Myersville  for  Andy  Gundy.  He  spent  the  next  winter  at 
Perrysville,  and  the  succeeding  spring  at  Danville,  in  school  again. 
On  the  26th  of  September,  1858,  he  was  married  to  Maria,  daughter  of 
Joseph  Gundy.  He  enlisted  in  Co.  F,  4th  111.  Cav.,  in  July,  1861,  and 
was  in  the  battles  of  Fort  Henry  and  Fort  Donelson  ;  was  discharged 
in  August,  1862.  Mr.  Davison  returned  to  farming.  From  1873  to 
1876  he  was  employed  in  mercantile  pursuits.  He  was  elected  justice 
of  the  peace  in  1877,  and  since  then  has  been  in  the  collecting  busi- 
ness. He  has  three  living  children  :  Willie  L.,  Charley  F.,  Ferdinand. 
Mr.  Davison  is  a  republican. 

Anthony  T.  Search,  Alvin,  farmer,  was  born  in  Bucks  county,  Penn- 
sylvania, on  the  16th  of  August,  1814.  He  is  a  son  of  Christopher 
and  Ann  (Miles)  Search.  He  learned  the  tailor's  trade,  and  followed 
it  a  number  of  years.  In  April,  1837,  he  started  for  Illinois,  stopping 
and  working  at  his  trade  at  different  places  on  the  route,  and  arrived 
at  Danville  in  August.  He  was  married  on  the  18th  of  February, 
1839,  to  Miss  Eliza  McKibben.  In  1840  he  went  to  Cape  Girardeau 
county,  Missouri,  and  lived  there  until  1850,  when  he  crossed  the 
plains  to  California.  He  remained  there  mining,  doing  moderately 
well,  till  1856,  at  which  time  he  returned  to  the  states  by  steamship, 
stopping  a  few  months  in  New  York  and  Philadelphia,  and  reaching 
Danville,  Illinois,  in  February,  1857.  He  then  devoted  himself  to 
farming  until  the  breaking  out  of  the  war.  In  August,  1861,  he  re- 
cruited Co.  F,  4th  111.  Cav.,  Col.  Lyle  Dickey.  He  was  commissioned 
captain  on  the  27th,  and  mustered  into  the  United  States  service  the 
next  month.  He  was  engaged  in  the  battles  of  Forts  Henry  and 
Donelson,  and  Shiloh  and  Coffeeville,  and,  as  usual  with  cavalry,  in 
numberless  skirmishes.  When  the  term  of  service  of  his  regiment 
expired,  one  battalion  veteraned,  and  he  was  commissioned  major. 
This  was  in  September,  1864.     Subsequently,  he  participated  in  an 


678  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

engagement  at  Egypt,  Mississippi,  under  Gen.  Grierson,  and  later,  at 
the  battle  of  Franklin,  Tennessee.  His  service  extended  into  the 
states  of  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Alabama,  Mississippi,  Arkansas,  Louis- 
iana and  Texas.  He  was  president  one  year  of  the  Department  Court- 
martial,  which  held  its  sittings  sometimes  at  Houston  and  at  others  at 
Galveston,  Texas.  He  was  twice  breveted  in  the  field  for  meritorious 
service:  first,  lieutenant-colonel,  and  next,  colonel.  His  son  Henry 
volunteered  in  the  fall  of  1863,  and  was  mustered  into  his  company. 
He  was  accidental!}7  thrown  from  his  horse  while  doing  duty  in  Hous- 
ton, and  received  mortal  injuries.  This  sad  event  took  place  on  the 
31st  of  October,  1865,  and  he  lingered  till  the  2d  of  November,  when 
he  expired.  His  remains  were  brought  home  and  interred  at  Danville. 
Another  son,  Griffith,  enlisted  in  Capt.  Samuel  Fraziers  company,  12th 
111.,  Col.  McArthur,  for  three  months.  He  reenlisted  in  his  father's 
company  in  August,  1861,  and  served  three  }7ears.  Major  Search  was 
mustered  out  of  the  service  in  April,  1866.  He  was  elected  sheriff  of 
Vermilion  county  in  1868,  and  filled  that  office  two  years.  He  has 
been  assessor  and  collector  of  Ross  township,  each  three  terms.  He 
is  the  father  of  six  children:  Ann  (relict  of  William  Pierce),  Henry, 
Griffith,  Joeddy,  William  and  Sarah  (wife  of  Henry  Marshall),  who 
died  on  the  12th  of  August,  1876.  He  owns  one  hundred  and  twenty 
acres,  worth  $3,600.     He  is  a  stalwart  republican  in  politics. 

Joseph  C.  Gundy,  Rossville,  merchant,  was  born  in  Vermilion 
county,  Illinois,  on  the  15th  of  February,  1838,  and  is  the  son  of  Jo- 
seph and  Sally  (Davison)  Gundy.  He  was  enrolled  on  the  1st  of  June, 
1861,  in  Co.  B,  25th  111.  Vol.,  and  was  engaged  in  the  following 
battles:  Pea  Ridge,  Perryville,  Stone  River,  Chickamauga,  Mission 
Ridge  and  Kenesaw  Mountain.  His  service  on  the  Atlanta  campaign 
terminated  on  the  26th  of  August,  when  his  regiment  withdrew  pre- 
paratory to  returning  home,  as  their  period  of  enlistment  had  about 
expired.  He  was  commissioned  second-lieutenant  of  his  company  on 
the  17th  of  February,  1862,  and  first-lieutenant  on  the  14th  of  April, 
1863.  He  was  brigade  commissary  from  the  time  Bnell  advanced 
from  Louisville  until  after  the  battle  of  Perryville,  and  post  commis- 
sary at  Cleaveland,  East  Tennessee,  in  the  winter  of  1863-4.  He  has 
been  collector  of  Ross  township,  and  is  now  president  of  the  board  of 
trustees  of  Rossville.  Mr.  Gundy  was  married  on  the  29th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1865,  to  Miss  Anna  Tuttle.  They  are  the  parents  of  two  living 
children  :  Flora  and  Maud  M.      His  political  opinions  are  republican. 

Daniel  C.  Deamude,  Rossville,  merchant,  was  born  in  Vermilion 
county,  Illinois,  on  the  26th  of  July,  1839,  and  is  the  son  of  Samuel 
and  Eleanor  (Hillery)  Deamude.     He  was  reared  a  farmer.     Mr.  Dea- 


ROSS   TOWNSHIP.  679 

mnde  enrolled  in  Co.  D,  35th  111.  Vol.,  on  the  3d  of  July,  1861,  and 
mustered  into  the  United  States  service  on  the  28th  of  August  follow- 
ing1. These  are  the  chief  engagements  in  which  he  participated  :  Pea 
Ridge,  Corinth,  Mumfordsville,  Perry  ville,  Stone  River,  Chickamauga, 
Mission  Ridge,  Charleston,  Term.,  Rocky  Face  Ridge,  Buzzard  Roost. 
Resaca  and  Burnt  Hickory.  At  Chickamauga  he  was  slightly  wounded  ; 
received  nine  bullets  through  his  clothing,  two  of  them  taking  hair 
from  his  head ;  at  Mission  Ridge  he  received  a  flesh  wound  in 
his  right  arm;  at  Burnt  Hickory  on  the  26th  of  May,  1864,  he  was 
severely  wounded  in  the  left  side.  He  was  mustered  out  with  his 
regiment  at  Springfield,  Illinois,  on  the  27th  of  September,  1864.  On 
the  1st  of  January  following  he  recruited  Co.  K,  150th  111.  Vol.,  and 
was  mustered  in  as  first-lieutenant  on  the  14th  of  February ;  he  was 
mustered  out  earlv  in  1866.  Mr.  Deamude  married,  on  the  29th  of 
November,  1866,  to  Harriet  a  Moshcr.  The  past  ten  years  he  has 
been  in  the  hardware  trade  in  Rossville.  He  is  a  republican  and  a 
Methodist. 

Thomas  J.  Allison,  Alvin,  tanner,  was  born  on  the  30th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1840,  in  Newell  township,  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  and  is  the 
son  of  Otho  and  Mary  (Leonard)  Allison.  He  enlisted  on  the  15th  of 
August,  1861,  in  Co.  K,  of  which  he  was  fifth-sergeant,  37th  111.  Vol., 
Col.  J.  C.  Black.  He  participated  in  the  battles  of  Pea  Ridge,  Prairie 
Grove,  Van  Buren,  Ark. ;  Sugar  Creek,  Neosho,  Newtonia,  Cape 
Girardeau  and  Chalk  Bluffs,  Mo.,  and  the  siege  of  Vicksburg.  He 
was  taken  prisoner  in  Louisiana  on  the  29th  of  September,  1863,  and 
held  in  confinement  until  the  22d  of  July,  1864.  He  was  married  on 
the  26th  of  March,  1867,  to  Samantha  Cunningham.  They  have  two 
living  children  :  Bertha  and  Charley.     He  is  a  republican  in  politics. 

John  Lytle,  Rossville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Clinton  county,  Ohio, 
on  the  10th  of  August,  1825.  He  is  the  son  of  John  and  Batlisheba 
(Babb)  Lytle.  When  four  years  old  his  parents  removed  to  Fountain 
county,  Indiana,  and  in  1843  he  came  to  Vermilion  county,  Illinois, 
and  lived  on  the  Covington  road  three  miles  east  of  Danville,  two 
years,  then  on  the  North  Fork  one  season,  and  the  rest  of  the  time,  till 
1856,  on  the  East  Fork  of  the  Vermilion,  when  he  went  west  and 
remained  over  winter.  He  returned  the  next  spring  and  settled  where 
he  now  lives,  one  mile  east  of  Rossville.  He  has  one  brother,  Isaac, 
and  six  sisters:  Mary,  Anna,  Hannah,  Eliza,  Sarah  and  Martha.  His 
father  died  on  the  7th  of  August,  1836,  and  his  mother  on  the  27th  of 
March,  1854.  He  owns  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  worth  $3,500. 
He  is  a  republican  in  politics. 

Cornelius  W.  Miller,  Thomas,  Warren  county,  Indiana,  farmer,  was 


680  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

born  in  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  23d  of  September,  1843. 
He  is  a  son  of  Andrew  J.  and  Catharine  (Mover)  Miller.  He  was 
married  on  the  11th  of  February,  1877,  to  Mary  Lloyd,  who  was  born 
on  the  11th  of  April,  1854.  He  owns  one  hundred  and  ninety-two 
acres  of  land,  which  lies  in  sections  19.  town  22,  range  10,  and  24, 
town  22.  range  11.  He  is  the  father  of  two  children:  James  U.,  born 
on  the  4th  of  February,  1878,  and  Ida  May,  born  on  the  7th  of  April, 
1879.     In  politics  he  is  a  democrat. 

George  W.  Miller,  Rossville,  farmer,  was  born  on  the  26th  of  No- 
vember, 1841,  in  Vermilion  county,  Indiana.  When  two  years  old  his 
parents,  Andrew  J.  and  Catharine  (Mover)  Miller,  removed  to  the 
present  limits  of  Ross  township,  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  where  he 
has  since  lived.  His  farm  of  two  hundred  and  eighty-five  acres,  valued 
at  $8,500,  lies  principally  in  sections  8,  9  and  16,  town  22,  range  11. 
He  was  married  on  the  15th  of  February,  1872,  to  Viana  C.  Haas, 
who  was  born  on  the  27th  of  November,  1852.  They  have  four  chil- 
dren :  Louisa  C,  born  on  the  8th  of  March,  1873;  Andrew  D.,  born 
on  the  12th  of  October,  1874;  Samuel  J.,  born  on  the  13th  of  October, 
1876 ;  Mary  E.,  born  on  the  27th  of  December,  1878.  Mr.  Miller  is  a 
greenback  democrat,  strongly  tinctured  with  independence  of  all  parties. 

Andrew  Miller,  deceased,  was  born  in  Kentucky  on  the  31st  of  De- 
cember, 1812.  He  was  the  son  of  Cornelius  and  Alice  (Bairden) 
Miller.  He  came  with  his  parents  to  Vermilion  county,  Indiana,  about 
1831.  In  1843  he  permanently  settled  in  Vermilion  county,  Illinois, 
where  he  died.  In  1845  he  began  improvement  on  the  place  where 
his  widow  now  resides.  He  was  successful  in  his  business,  and  acquired 
considerable  property.  At  one  time  he  owned  twelve  hundred  acres 
of  land.  He  sold  some  portions  of  this,  and  liberally  endowed  his 
heirs  with  the  remainder.     He  was  a  democrat. 

Isaac  Christman,  Rossville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Preble  county,  Ohio, 
on  the  27th  of  January,  1823.  He  is  the  son  of  Peter  and  Sarah 
i  Stout)  Christman.  In  1,n28  his  parents  removed  to  Tippecanoe 
county,  Indiana,  and  in  1830  to  Warren  county,  where  his  father  died 
on  the  3d  of  November,  1S59.  He  was  married  on  the  26th  of  No- 
vember, 1843,  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Gundy,  daughter  of  Joseph  Gundy. 
soon  afterward  he  moved  into  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  where  he  now 
resides,  and  lived  five  or  six  years;  but.  as  the  country  was  sickly,  he 
returned  to  his  large  estate  in  Indiana,  where  he  remained  until  1878, 
when  he  came  again  to  Vermilion  county,  and  resumed  the  improve- 
ment of  the  tract  of  eleven  hundred  and  twenty  acres  which  he  has 
owned  many  years.  Mr.  Chrifetman  has  always  been  an  extensive 
farmer  and  heavy  stock-raiser.     He  has  been  a  member  of  Williamsport 


ROSS   TOWNSHIP.  681 

Lodge,  No.  38,  A.F.  &  A.M.,  twenty  years.     He  inclines  to  independ- 
ence in  politics. 

Milton  Lee,  Rossville,  merchant,  was  born  in  Springfield,  Clark 
county,  Ohio,  on  the  3d  of  March,  1837,  and  is  the  son  of  James  and 
Mary  (Williams)  Lee.  In  1844  he  accompanied  his  parents  on  their 
removal  to  Vance  township,  Vermilion  comity,  Illinois,  where  he  lived 
until  1866,  when  he  removed  to  Rossville,  where  he  has  been  employed 
the  past  six  years  in  merchandising.  He  enrolled  in  Captain  Frazier's 
Co.  (C),  12th  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  in  April,  1861,  being  the  twelfth  man 
enlisted  in  Vermilion  county.  He  was  mustered  out  at  Cairo  about 
the  1st  of  August,  by  reason  of  the  expiration  of  enlistment,  which 
was  for  three  months.  In  the  same  month  he  reenlisted  in  Co.  I, 
35th  111.  Vols.  The  second  lieutenant  of  his  company  having  died, 
Mr.  Lee  was  elected,  at  Sedalia,  Missouri,  by  the  enlisted  men,  to 
that  vacancy,  being  promoted  from  third  sergeant.  He  served  in  the 
siege  of  Corinth,  and  on  Buell's  retreat  to  Louisville,  subsequently 
taking  part  in  the  battle  of  Perryville,  shortly  after  which  he  wa6 
promoted  to  first  lieutenant.  In  November,  1862,  a  pioneer  corps, 
consisting  of  two  enlisted  men  from  each  company  and  one  lieutenant 
from  each  regiment,  was  organized ;  and  the  several  detachments  from 
the  35th  111.,  81st  Ind.,  4th  Iowa  and  the  25th  111.  constituting  his 
brigade,  were  formed  into  Co.  K,  2d  Battalion,  Pioneer  Brigade,  com- 
manded by  Captain,  afterward  Brevet  Brig.-Gen.  Morton,  and  Lieut. 
Lee  was  given  the  command  of  this  company,  which  he  led  in  the 
battle  of  Stone  River.  He  was  sent  back  from  Elk  River  to  Nashville 
to  fit  out  the  pontoon  train,  and  was  employed  in  the  organization  of 
the  pontooniers,  whom,  with  the  train,  he  conducted  across  the  Cum- 
berland Mountains.  He  held  a  position  at  the  mouth  of  Battle  Creek 
throughout  the  intensive  and  critical  period  of  affairs  at  Chickamauga. 
This  pioneer  corps  was  disbanded  in  June,  1864,  and  the  men  and 
officers  returned  to  their  regiments.  Lieut.  Lee  rejoined  the  35th  in 
front  of  Kenesaw  Mountain,  where  he  fought  on  the  27th  of  June. 
He  was  mustered  out  with  the  regiment  at  Springfield,  Illinois,  on  the 
27th  of  September,  1864.  He  was  married  on  the  7th  of  October, 
1868,  to  Catharine  Gundy.  They  have  two  children  living:  Herbert 
and  Catharine.     Mr.  Lee  is  a  republican  in  politics. 

Asa  W.  White,  Alvin,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in  Mus- 
kingum county,  Ohio,  on  the  12th  of  June,  1819,  and  is  a  son  of  John 
and  Mary  (Davis)  White.  When  he  was  twelve  years  old  his  parents 
removed  to  Licking  county,  where  he  lived  till  1841,  when  he  settled 
in  Ross  county.  In  1844  he  came  to  Illinois  and  located  in  Vermilion 
county,  near  the  present- site  of  State  Line  City.      He  has  lived  in  this 


i 

682  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

county  since.  Mr.  White  was  poor  for  many  years  after  he  came,  and 
lived  by  renting  farms.  At  length,  in  1860,  he  bought  the  first  farm 
he  ever  owned  in  Illinois.  By  unremitting  industry  and  careful  man- 
agement he  has  increased  it  to  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  worth 
$6,500.  He  has  ten  children  living:  John  W.,  born  on  the  1st  of 
March,  1846;  James  E. ;  Tichsh ;  Delia  A.,  born  on  the  6th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1847;  Martha,  born  on  the  2d  of  June,  1854;  Noah;  George 
H. ;  Elizabeth;  Sarah  E.,  born  on  the  9th  of  April,  1863;  Mary  A., 
born  on  the  19th  of  February,  1865.  Mr.  White  is  a  citizen  of  sterling 
integrity,  and  is  a  republican  in  politics. 

William  T.  Fairchild,  Rossville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Blount  town- 
ship, Vermilion  county,  on  the  9th  of  November,  1847,  and  is  the  son 
of  Zenas  and  Mary  Ann  (Hastings)  Fairchild.  He  was  reared  as  a 
farmer,  and  has  always  lived  in  the  county  in  which  he  was  born.  He 
was  married  on  the  12th  of  February,  1874,  to  Dialemma  Ann  Moss, 
who  was  born  on  the  5th  of  October,  1850,  and  died  on  the  16th  of 
December,  1875.  He  was  married  again,  on  the  4th  of  October,  1877, 
to  Eleanor  Busenbark,  who  was  born  on  the  19th  of  May,  1855.  Mr. 
Fairchild  is  the  father  of  two  children,  one  of  whom  is  living:  Lily 
May,  who  was  born  on  the  10th  of  November,  1878.  The  name  of 
the  deceased  is  Charles  Wesley,  who  was  born  on  the  11th  of  June, 
1875,  and  died  on  the  25th  of  September,  1875.  Mr.  Fairchild  is  a 
republican,  and  he  belongs  to  the  United  Brethren  church. 

Elias  Morse  Gilbert,  Rossville,  liveryman,  was  born  in  Ross  town- 
ship on  the  13th  of  May,  1848,  and  is  the  son  of  James  Harvey  and 
Sarah  (Mather)  Gilbert.  When  obtaining  his  education  he  spent  one 
year  at  Union  Christian  College,  Merom,  Indiana.  In  1873  he  started 
in  the  livery  business  in  Rossville,  and  now  has  a  tine  large  establish- 
ment, well  furnished  with  good  horses  and  carriages,  and  everything  in 
the  line  necessary  for  the  dispatch  of  business  or  the  promotion  of 
pleasure.  He  was  married  on  the  16th  of  June,  1875,  to  Belle  Wier, 
of  Ontario,  Canada,  who  was  born  on  the  20th  of  December,  1852. 
They  are  the  parents  of  two  sons:  Harvey,  born  on  the  12th  of  De- 
cember, 1876,  and  Robert  A.,  born  on  the  29th  of  September,  1878. 
He  is  a  republican  in  politics. 

Henry  W.  Harris,  Rossville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Philadelphia, 
Pennsylvania,  on  the  6th  of  July,  1827.  He  is  a  son  of  Jesse  and 
Lydia  Ann  (Warner)  Harris.  In  1841  his  parents  removed  to  Ross 
county,  Ohio,  and  lived  there  till  1848,  when  he  settled  in  Ross  town- 
ship, Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  near  the  present  site  of  Mann's 
Chapel,  and  removed  from  thence  in  1853  to  his  present  abode  on  the 
northeast  quarter  of  section  15,  town  22,  range  11.    He  was  married  on 


ROSS   TOWNSHIP.  683 

the  24th  of  November,  1853,  to  Nancy  Clark,  who  died  on  the  24th 
May,  1864.  He  was  married  again,  on  the  22d  of  June,  1865,  to  Mary 
E.  Money.  He  has  been  school  treasurer  of  town  22,  range  11,  since 
1875.  He  is  the  father  of  ten  living  children:  Prescott,  Mary  Emma, 
Isabella,  Stanton,  Olive,  Salome,  Lydia,  Josephine,  John  and  Minnie. 
He  owns  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land,  worth  $4,500.  He  is  a 
republican  in  politics. 

Josiah  Bivans,  Alvin,  farmer,  was  born  in  Franklin  comity,  Ohio, 
on  the  23d  of  December,  1832.  He  is  a  son  of  Thomas  and  Anna 
(Gundy)  Bivans.  In  the  fall  of  1849  he  came  to  Illinois,  and  settled 
on  the  east  fork  of  the  Vermilion,  in  the  present  limits  of  Ross  town- 
ship. He  was  married  on  the  23d  of  December,  1852,  to  Rebecca 
Gouty,  who  was  born  on  the  29th  of  January,  1834.  He  was  a  hearty 
supporter  of  the  war  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union,  and  subscribed 
liberally  to  a  fund  for  the  hiring  of  substitutes.  He  has  been  highway 
commissioner  twelve  or  fourteen  years,  and  constable  of  Ross  one 
term.  He  is  the  father  of  seven  children  :  Horatio  T.,  born  on  the 
26th  of  August,  1853;  Francis  M.,  March  15,  1856;  John  M.,  June 
12,  1858;  Martha  D.,  March  26,  1862;  Robert  T.,  June  10,  1S67 ; 
died  September  21,  1869;  William  J.,  December  18,  1869;  Henry  C, 
January  28,  1874.  In  politics  he  is  a  republican,  and  his  religious 
views  are  Methodist. 

Charles  A.  Allen,  Rossville,  attorney,  was  born  in  Danville,  Illi- 
nois, on  the  26th  of  July,  1851,  and  is  the  son  of  William  I.  and  Emily 
(Newell)  Allen.  His  mother  was  a  daughter  of 'Squire  James  Newell, 
for  whom  Newell  township  was  named.  Mr.  Allen  entered  the  law 
school  of  the  Michigan  University  in  September,  1872,  and  graduated 
on  the  25th  of  March,  1874.  He  immediately  located  in  Rossville' 
where  he  now  resides,  and  is  practicing  his  profession  with  gratifying 
success.  He  is  enterprising  and  public-spirited,  and  verifies  the  old 
adage  that  "  blood  will  tell."  He  married,  on  the  4th  of  April,  1878, 
to  Miss  Mary  Thompson.  In'  politics  he  is  a  republican,  and  his  re- 
ligious views  are  Methodist. 

Ainaziah  Davis,  deceased,  was  born  in  what  was  then  Morgan 
county,  Virginia,  on  the  2d  of  August,  1807.  He  was  a  son  of  Jona- 
than and  Margaret  (Hill)  Davis.  He  removed  with  his  parents  to 
Muskingum  county,  Ohio,  in  1812,  where  he  grew  up  and  spent  his 
life  farming  till  1851,  when  he  moved  to  Grant  township,  Vermilion 
county,  Illinois,  and  settled  on  a  farm  near  Rossville.  He  was  married 
on  jthe  24th  of  April,  1832,  to  Emily  Berry.  He  held  the  office  of 
road  commissioner  several  years;  was  a  republican  in  politics,  liberal 
in  his  views,  and  universally  respected  as  a  man  and  citizen.     He  was 


684  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

a  prominent  and  influential  member  of  the  United  Brethren  church 
over  thirty  years.  He  owned  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  choice 
farming  land.  His  death  occurred  on  the  10th  day  of  May,  1879. 
Two  of  his  sons  enlisted  at  the  same  time  in  Co.  A,  125th  111.  Vol., 
leaving  home  on  the  1st  of  February,  1864.  Their  service  was  of  brief 
duration,  both  dying  of  measles, —  the  elder,  Charles,  at  Nashville,  on 
the  1st  of  March  following,  and  Elias  at  Chattanooga,  on  the  5th.  Mrs. 
Davjs  was  born  on  the  2d  of  April,  1813,  in  Muskingum  county,  Ohio. 
Her  parents  were  James  and  Hannah  (Williams)  Berry. 

William  D.  Foulke,  Rossville,  retired  farmer,  was  born  in  Bucks 
county,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  5th  of  June,  1828,  and  is  a  son  of  Evard 
and  Fanny  (Watson)  Foulke.  From  the  time  he  was  seventeen  years 
old  until  he  became  of  age  he  clerked  in  a  dry-goods  house  in  Philadel- 
phia. In  1852  he  came  to  Vermilion  count}',  Illinois,  and  went  into 
the  stock  business,  buying  up  cattle  and  sheep  and  grazing  them.  He 
drove  the  first  lot  of  cows  and  sheep  ever  taken  from  this  section 
to  Lancaster  county,  Pennsylvania ;  before  this  it  was  supposed  to  be 
impossible  to  drive  sheep  so  far,  but  this  experiment  was  entirely  suc- 
cessful. He  had  at  the  same  time  an  interest  in  a  mercantile  house  in 
South  Charleston,  Clark  county,  Ohio.  This  business  was  swamped  in 
1855  by  the  potent  influence  of  wild-cat  money.  Again  in  1858  he 
came  to  Illinois  and  settled  on  a  farm  near  Rossville,  which  he  still 
owns.  He  has  conducted  farming  operations  since  that  time,  and  in  ad- 
dition done  a  good  deal  of  surveying.  He  surveyed  most  of  the  north 
part  of  the  county,  and,  besides,  laid  out  Hoopeston,  Rossville  and 
Alvan.  He  has  been  justice  of  the  peace  for  Grant  and  Ross  town- 
ships, collector,  and  at  present  commissioner  of  highways  for  the  latter. 
He  married  on  the  5th  of  April,  1854,  to  Alice  Thomas.  They  have 
four  living  children:  Susan  J.,  Ellen,  Jane  and  Lulu.  Mr.  Foulke  has 
been  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends  the  past  twenty-nine  years. 
He  is  a  republican,  and  owns  one  hundred  and  eighty  acres,  worth 
$5,500. 

Lewis  Coon,  deceased,  was  born  near  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  on  the  5th 
of  December,  1822.  He  was  the  son  of  John  and  Sarah  (Morehead) 
Coon.  His  parents  removed  to  Clinton  county,  Indiana,  when  he  was 
young,  and  he  was  reared  there  on  a  farm.  He  married  on  the  27th 
of  November,  1851,  to  Mary  Albright.  In  the  fall  of  1853  he  moved 
with  his  family  to  Illinois,  and  settled  where  his  widow  now  lives  in 
Ross  township,  Vermilion  county.  Both  he  and  Mrs.  Coon  became 
members  of  the  United  Brethren  church  in  1860.  He  was  a  life-long 
democrat,  and  was  greatty  esteemed  for  his  strict  integrity  and  neigh- 
borly qualities.     He  died  on  the  13th  of  May,  1870,  leaving  one  hun- 


ROSS  TOWNSHIP.  685 

dred  and  sixty-seven  acres  of  land  to  his  heirs.  The  following  were 
his  children  :  Sarah  Eliza,  Melissa  Belle,  Mary  Jane,  who  died  on  the 
29th  of  March,  1872,  John  D.,  Keturah  Ann,  Caroline,  Alantson, 
George  B.  M.,  who  died  on  the  5th  of  June,  1865,  and  Laura  Ellen. 
Mrs.  Coon  was  a  daughter  of  David  and  Phebe  (Newman)  Albright. 
Her  father  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  and  her  mother  of  New  York. 
The  former  died  on  the  28th  of  September,  1851 ;  and  the  latter  on 
the  7th  of  June,  1852. 

William  Chambers,  Rossville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Queen  Anne 
county,  Maryland,  on  the  26th  of  February,  1826.  He  is  a  son  of 
Matthew  B.  and  Letitia  (Broadaway)  Chambers.  When  very  young 
his  parents  moved  to  Franklin  county,  Indiana,  and  lived  there  till  he 
was  twelve,  when  they  went  to  Montgomery  county.  He  enlisted  in 
the  early  part  of  June,  1846,  in  Co.  H,  1st  Ind.  Vols.,  Col.  James  P. 
Drake.  At  New  Orleans  his  company  and  another  from  Hendricks 
county,  Indiana,  were  embarked  on  board  a  sailing  vessel  for  Point 
Isabel,  but  on  the  passage  she  grounded  while  under  full  sail.  This 
occurred  two  hours  before  daylight,  and,  when  morning  came,  Padre 
Island  was  discovered  half  a  mile  off.  Two  sailors,  taking  a  small 
line,  swam  to  land,  and  with  this  drew  a  rope  ashore,  by  means  of 
which  the  wreck  was  delivered  of  the  men  and  the  cargo,  ten  days 
being  consumed  in  the  removal  of  the  latter.  The  vessel  was  burned. 
This  regiment  passed  their  term  of  service  on  the  Pio  Grande,  guard- 
ing stores  and  doing  other  correspondingly  irksome  duty.  It  is  said 
that  a  too  ardent  fondness  for  the  "flowing  bowl"  in  the  commanding 
officer  determined  Gen.  Taylor  to  keep  them  in  the  rear,  and  thus  by 
the  sins  of  one  were  many  made  to  forfeit  a  share  in  the  glories  which 
clustered  around  the  national  standard  from  Palo  Alto  to  Buena  Vista. 
Mr.  Chambers  was  discharged  at  Point  Isabel  shortly  before  the  year 
for  which  he  had  volunteered  had  expired.  He  shipped  for  home  on  a 
rotten  craft,  and  drifted  about  the  gulf  thirty  days,  with  only  eight 
days'  rations  aboard.  The  suffering  from  hunger  was  great,  but  that 
from  thirst  was  exquisite.  A  Spanish  merchantman  heaving  in  sight, 
a  flag  of  distress  was  hoisted,  and  provisions  and  water  obtained.  The 
last  few  days  the  men  had  subsisted  on  rotten  oats.  Eleven  deaths 
occurred  before  they  arrived  in  port.  Mr.  Chambers  was  married  on 
the  10th  of  August,  1848,  to  Lydia  Phelps.  He  learned  the  carpenter 
trade,  and  divided  his  labors  between  that  and  farming  till  1853,  when 
he  moved  to  Waynetown,  Indiana,  and  sold  goods  two  years;  and  in 
April,  1855,  removed  to  Blue  Grass  Grove,  Vermilion  county,  Illinois, 
and  in  1865  to  Bean  Creek,  in  Ross  township,  where  he  now  lives.  In 
1861  and   1862  he   was   supervisor  of  Middle  Fork  township,  which 


686  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

then  embraced  the  town  of  Butler.  He  was  collector  of  that  town 
one  term,  and  has  been  supervisor  of  Ross  since  the  spring  of  1878. 
He  has  a  family  of  eight  children:  Sarah  Jane,  wife  of  James  D. 
Leonard;  John  B.,  Martha  Mel inda,  wife  of  Frank  Houchin ;  Melissa 
Ann,  wife  of  Asa  Allen  ;  Mary  Frances,  Elizabeth  Alice,  Richard, 
Charlie  (dead).  Mr.  Chambers  owns  seven  hundred  and  seventy-eight 
acres,  worth  $23,500.  He  is  a  conservative  democrat,  and  has  been  a 
member  of  the  Baptist  church  for  twenty-two  years. 

William  T.  Cunningham,  Rossville,  merchant,  was  born  in  Grant 
township,  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  1st  of  December,  1856, 
and  is  the  son  of  Humes  and  Elizabeth  (Winning)  Cunningham.  Both 
parents  died  when  he  was  very  young:  his  father  departed  this  life  on 
the  13th  of  February,  1859,  his  mother  having  previously  gone  to 
her  rest  on  the  1st  of  October,  1857.  Mr.  Cunningham  was  reared  by 
his  grandparents,  Thomas  R.  and  Elizabeth  Winning,  on  their  farm  in 
Grant  township.  In  the  fall  of  1874,  then  sixteen  years  old,  he  began 
for  himself  by  hiring  as  a  clerk  in  the  grocery  store  of  John  R.  Smith, 
Esq.,  of  Rossville,  where  he  remained  eighteen  months.  He  labored 
on  a  farm  a  year,  then  clerked  in  the  hardware  store  of  D.  C.  Deamude, 
Esq.,  of  Rossville,  a  year.  Resuming  farm  life  a  short  time  again,  on 
the  1st  of  October,  187S,  he  formed  a  copartnership  with  William  S. 
Lefever  in  the  mercantile  business  in  Rossville.     He  is  a  democrat. 

Alvan  W.  Gilbert,  Rossville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Ross  township, 
Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  20th  of  May,  1856,  and  is  the  son  of 
Alvan  and  Nancy  (Horr)  Gilbert.  He  was  bred  a  farmer.  He  was 
married  on  the  18th  of  April,  1878,  to  Miss  Meda  Carson,  who  was 
born  on  the  21st  of  February,  1856,  near  Franklin,  Johnson  county, 
Indiana,  and  reared  in  Indianapolis.  He  owns  one  hundred  and  ten 
acres,  worth  $5,000.     In  politics  he  is  a  republican. 

William  Biteler,  Alvin,  farmer,  was  born  in  Adams  county,  Penn- 
sylvania, on  the  9th  of  April,  1820,  and  is  a  son  of  Abraham  and  Eliza- 
beth (Overholser)  Biteler.  He  became  an  orphan  at  the  age  of  six  or 
seven  years,  and  immigrated  to  Madison  county,  Indiana,  in  1835, 
where  he  labored  seven  consecutive  years  clearing  land  and  log-rolling, 
doing  no  other  kind  of  work.  He  was  married  on  the  15th  of  April, 
1841,  to  Mary  Ray.  In  January,  1850,  he  settled  in  Warren  county, 
Indiana,  and  in  March,  1857,  removed  to  Ross  township,  Vermilion 
county,  Illinois,  and  located  where  he  now  lives.  Mr.  Biteler  has 
made  four  farms  in  the  course  of  his  life  —  two  were  cleared  up  in  the 
woods  and  two  were  on  prairie  land.  Has  worked  hard  always;  been 
frugal;  and  careful  in  his  business  transactions,  in  which  he  has  been 
uniformly  governed  by  the  strictest  principles  of  honesty.      He  had  at 


ROSS  TOWNSHIP.  687 

one  time  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  acres  in  Ross,  but  has  divided 
his  land  among  his  children,  retaining  but  eighty  acres.  His  son, 
James  Edward,  was  a  member  of  Co.  B,  125th  111.  Vols.  Soon  after 
the  battle  of  Perry  ville,  in  which  he  bore  a  share,  he  was  stricken  down 
with  measles,  which  ran  into  typhoid  fever,  and  his  life  terminated  at 
Bowling  Green,  Kentucky,  on  the  10th  of  December,  1862.  There  are 
now  four  living  children  :  Minerva;  Amanda;  Cornelius:  and  William 
H.  In  politics  he  is  a  greenbacker.  He  belongs  to  the  church  of 
God  ;  popularly,  soul  sleepers. 

William  Salmans,  Alvin,  farmer,  was  born   near  Zanesville,  Musk- 
ingum county,  Ohio,  on  the  29th  of  January,  1823,  and  is  the  son  of 
William  and  Fanny  (Wallace)  Salmans.     His  father  was  born  in  Dela- 
ware county,  Delaware,  on  the  5th  of  September,  1796,  and  his  mother 
was  a  native  born   Irish   woman.     Mr.   Salmans  was   bred   a  farmer. 
When  quite  young  his  father  settled  in  Guernsey  county,  Ohio,  mov- 
ing from   thence  in  April,  1839,  to  Jackson  county.     He  was  married 
on  the  10th  of  January,  1817,  to  Miss  Prudence  Phillips,  daughter  of 
Daniel  Phillips,  a  well-to-do  farmer  of  Jackson  county.     He  settled 
that  spring  on  an  eighty  acre  farm  which  he  owned;  living  there  until 
the  spring  of  1851,  farming  in  summer  and  teaching  school  in  winter, 
when  he  bought  a  small  stock  of  dry  goods  and  groceries  and  started  a 
country  store.     This  venture  not  paying  well,  he  went  into  partnership 
with  his  brother-in-law,  Dr.  Sylvester,  in  Marion,  Ohio ;  after  eighteen 
months  he  sold  out  to  the  doctor  and  dissolved  the  firm.     About  that 
time  Mr.  Salmans  bought  a  large  bankrupt  stock,  at  Sandfork,  Gallia 
county,  and  moved  to  that  point  and  spent  the  summer  selling  goods, 
closing  out  the  entire  concern  to  Dr.  Sylvester  <in  the  fall.     He  next 
bought  out  the  dry  goods  firm  of  Frazee  &  Co.,  in  Hamden,  Vinton 
county;  remained  in  business  thereuntil  the  spring  of '54,  selling  stock 
of  goods  to  W.  H.  Gleason,  and  his  town  property  to  Dr.  Arnold.     He 
moved  into  the  country,  traveled  during  the  summer,  and  in  the  fall 
resumed  school  teaching,  which  he  followed  three  years  without  inter- 
ruption, at  $100  per  quarter;  meantime  buying  and  shaving  notes  on 
the  Iron    Furnace   Company.     In    the   spring   of   1857   he   moved   to 
Charleston,    Coles    county,    Illinois,    moving    from    thence    to    Sugar 
Grove,  Vermilion  county,  in  the  fall ;  and  to  Ross  township  the  next 
spring,  where  he  has  since  resided  ;    teaching  the  district  school  the 
following  winter.     His  advantages  for  early  education  were  very  slight, 
and  he  could  only -read  and  write  indifferently  at  the  age  of  twenty; 
at  that  time  he  started  to  school,  traveling  two  and  a  half  miles,  morn- 
ing and  evening;  took   up  the  common   branches,  applying    himself 
with  energy  and  resolution  night  and  day  to  his  studies,  going  through 


688  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

in  twenty-two  days,  and  working  every  example  in  the  hardest  arith- 
metic then  in  use  —  the  Western  Calculator.  The  next  winter  he 
obtained  his  first  certificate  to  teach.  His  first  wife  having  died  on  the 
8th  of  February,  1807,  he  married  again  on  the  30th  of  September, 
1869,  to  Emma  Colvin.  He  is  serving  his  third  term  as  justice  of  the 
peace  of  Ross  township.  Mr.  Salmans  was  an  abolitionist  during  the 
early  agitation  of  the  slavery  question,  and  voted  first  for  Henry  Clay 
in  1844.  He  is  the  father  of  seven  living  children  :  Mark,  Robert, 
Daniel,  Emma,  George  William,  Sarah"  Jane,  and  Martha  Jane.  He 
owns  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land,  worth  ,$5,500.  He  is  a 
republican  and  a  Methodist. 

John  M.  Ross,  Alvin,  farmer,  was  born  in  Fleming  county,  Ken- 
tucky, on  the  19th  of  December,  1808,  and  is  the  son  of  Johnson  and 
Jane  (McMann)  Ross.  In  1823  his  father  moved  to  Warren  county, 
Ohio.  In  1831  the  subject  of  this  sketch  left  home  and  began  the 
study  of  dentistry,  practicing  until  1840,  live  years  of  the  time  being 
spent  in  western  Tennessee  and  northern  Alabama.  His  health  fail- 
ing, he  returned  to  Indiana  and  went  into  the  merchandising  business 
in  Cambridge  City,  Wayne  county.  In  1847  he  removed  to  Indian- 
apolis and  engaged  in  his  profession.  At  the  end  of  five  years  he 
re-located  at  Milton  Mills,  bought  that  property,  running  the  mills  and 
farming  in  the  meantime,  until  1858,  when  he  emigrated  to  Ross 
township,  where  he  now  resides.  He  was  married  on  the  27th  of  De- 
cember, 1840,  to  Ellen  H.  Hannah.  His  eldest  son,  Edward  H.,  en- 
listed in  Co.  B,  125th  111.  Vols.,  but  was  stricken  early  with  sickness, 
and  died  at  Jefferson  City,  Missouri,  on  the  8th  of  September,  1861. 
When  Mr.  Ross  settled  in  Vermilion  county  he  purchased  six  hundred 
and  forty  acres  of  prairie  land,  and  subsequently  seventy  acres  of  tim- 
ber; but  having  sold  and  given  some  to  his  children,  has  reduced  his 
homestead  to  three  hundred  and  ten  acres,  valued  at  $9,000.  He  was 
an  old  line  whig,  and  cast  his  first  vote  for  president  for  gallant  Harry 
Clay,  in  1832.  In  1836,  when  a  resident  of  Tennessee,  he  voted  for 
Davy  Crockett  for  congress.  He  is  the  father  of  four  living  children : 
Sarah  Eliza,  John  ]N\,  Charles  N.  and  Henry  H.  His  religious  opinions 
are  Methodist. 

John  Ross,  Rossville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Brown  county,  Ohio,  on 
the  22d  of  December,  1808.  He  is  a  son  of  Lazarus  and  Lydia 
(Prickett)  Ross.  He  lived  in- his  native  place,  farming,  and  for  some 
time  running  a  steam  grist-mill,  until  1859,  when  he  removed  to 
Illinois,  and  settled  on  a  farm  six  miles  east  of  Rossville,  Vermilion 
county.  His  two  sons,  Isaac  F.  and  Nelson  E.,  enlisted,  on  the  12th 
of  August,  1862,  in  Co.  B,  125th  111.  Vols.     They  bore  an  honorable 


ROSS   TOWNSHIP.  889 

part  in  the  battles  of  Perryville,  Chickamauga,  Mission  Ridge,  Kene- 
saw  Mountain,  Peach  Tree  Creek  and  Jonesborough ;  marched  with 
Sherman  to  the  sea ;  thence  on  the  longer  and  more  difficult  campaign 
through  the  Carolinas,  fighting  their  last  battle  at  Bentonville,  North 
Carolina.  They  marched  north  at  the  close  of  the  war  through  Rich- 
mond, Virginia,  to  Washington  City,  closing  their  active  military  life 
in  that  grandest  of  pageants  —  the  review  of  Sherman's  army,  on  the 
25th  of  May,  1805.  The  company  disbanded  at  Chicago,  Illinois,  on 
the  27th  of  June,  1865.  In  1872  the  subject  of  this  sketch  moved  into 
Rossville,  where  he  has  since  lived,  retired,  enjoying  a  hale  old  age  as 
the  fruit  of  a  well-spent,  industrious  life.  He  was  married  on  the  16th 
of  September,  1830,  to  Hannah  W.  Ferguerson,  who  was  born  on  the 
9th  of  May,  1810.  The}'  have  seven  living  children  :  William  A., 
Isaac  T.,  Samantha  E.,  wife  of  Peter  Reitz,  Nelson  E.,  Arminda  J., 
wife  of  John  W.  Calton ;  Mary  A.,  wife  of  Daniel  Romine ;  Orange 
L.  The  eldest  daughter,  Virginia  A.,  was  born  on  the  22d  of  March, 
1838,  married  Erastus  Reed,  and  died  on  the  21st  of  March,  1859, 
leaving  an  only  daughter,  Sarah  Luella,  five  months  old.  The  father 
died  in  1864,  and  the  grandparents  reared  Miss  'Ella,  who  lives  with 
them  and  imparts  the  sunshine  and  freshness  of  young  womanhood  to 
their  home.  Mr.  Ross  is  a  republican  ;  was  an  original  abolitionist 
and  under-ground  railroader,  and  takes  profound  satisfaction  in  know- 
ing that  he  has  kindled  the  fires  of  everlasting  gratitude  in  many  a 
negro  soul  by  helping  him  on  his  pursuit  of  freedom.  Both  he  and  his 
wife  have  enjoyed  an  experimental  knowledge  of  religion  for  forty-six 
years.     They  are  members  of  the  United  Brethren  church. 

Philip  Cadle,  Rossville,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in  Bed- 
fordshire, England,  on  the  22d  of  Februaiw,  1849.  He  is  the  son  of 
George  and  Elizabeth  (Saunders)  Cadle.  He  came  with  his  parents  to 
America  in  the  summer  of  1853,  and  settled  in  Attica,  Indiana ;  lived 
there  four  years,  then  moved  to  Iroquois  county,  Illinois,  and  located 
south  of  Milford,  where  he  remained  two  years,  and  in  1859  came  into 
Vermilion  county,  since  which  time  he  has  lived  in  different  parts  of 
the  northern  half  of  the  county.  In  1870  he  left  home  and  began  life 
on  his  own  account.  He  was  married  on  the  30th  of  May,  1871,  to 
Emma  Weaden,  who  died  on  the  23d  of  October,  1872.  He  married 
again  on  the  27th  of  October,  1875,  to  America  Seymour,  who  was 
born  on  the  9th  of  October,  1851.  He  owns  a  fine  farm  of  three  hun- 
dred and  eighty-one  acres,  valued  at  $13,000,  situated  two  ami  one-half 
miles  southeast  of  Rossville.  Stock-raising  comprises  a  large  part  of 
his  business.  Mr.  Cadle  traveled  one  season  in  California  with  an 
invalid  sister,  who  died  there.  He  is  the  father  of  three  children  : 
44 


690  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Mary  Annie,  who  died  on  the  28th  of  October,  1872;  Lilian  and  Ger- 
trude. He  is  a  republican  in  politics,  and  his  religious  views  are 
Methodist. 

Jacob  Dale,  Rossville,  fanner,  was  born  in  Clark  county,  Ohio,  on 
the  3d  of  December,  1836,  and  is  a  son  of  John  J.  and  Elizabeth 
(Davisson)  Dale.  In  the  fall  of  1856  he  settled  with  his  parents  in 
Warren  county,  Indiana,  and  in  February,  1860,  in  Ross  township, 
Vermilion  count}'.  He  has  since  lived  here  and  been  engaged  in 
farming.  He  was  married  on  the  6th  of  March,  1862,  to  Nancy  E. 
Prather,  who  was  born  on  the  27th  of  November,  1843,  and  died  on 
the  17th  of  March,  1877.  They  are  the  parents  of  four  children:. 
Mary  E.,  Benjamin,  John  P..  who  died  on  the  31st  of  May,  1874,  and 
James,  who  died  on  the  24th  of  June,  1876.  Mr.  Dale  has  an  undi- 
vided two-sevenths  of  three  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  worth  $4,500. 
He  is  a  republican,  and  a  member  of  the  M.  E.  church.  His  grand- 
father, Isaac  Davisson,  was  a  veteran  of  the  war  of  1812. 

John  J.  Dale,  deceased,  was  born  in  Maryland  on  the  2d  of  June, 
1809.  He  was  a  son  of  Jacob  and  Charlotte  (Jenkins)  Dale.  At 
fourteen  was  left  an  orphan  ;  the  next  two  or  three  years  he  was  at 
school,  after  which  he  was  thrown  on  his  own  resources.  He  learned 
the  tailor's  trade;  went  from  Maryland  to  Philadelphia,  thence  to 
Ohio,  and  settled  in  South  Charleston  in  1832.  He  was  married  to 
Miss  Elizabeth  Davisson  in  1834.  In  1856  he  moved  to  Indiana,  and 
in  1860  settled  in  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  where  he  bought  a  farm 
of  three  hundred  and  sixty  acres.  He  moved  to  Rossville  in  1875. 
In  1839  he  was  powerfully  converted,  and  united  with  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church,  and  for  many  years  filled  the  offices  of  class-leader, 
trustee  and  Sunday-school  superintendent.  His  integrity  and  virtue 
were  constant  and  conspicuous,  and  he  was  held  in  the  highest  esteem. 
His  two  sons,  Daniel  and  John  W.,  who  were  members  of  Co.  B, 
125th  Reg.  111.  Vols.,  did  gallant  service  for  their  country.  The  former 
was  killed  at  Stone  River,  and  the  latter  lost  his  left  arm  at  Chicka- 
mauga.  He  has  served  as  county  clerk  of  Vermilion  county  since 
1869.  In  politics,  Mr.  Dale  was  a  republican.  He  was  the  father  of 
nine  children  :  Sarah,  Jacob,  Martha,  Daniel,  dead,  John  W.,  Isaac,  a 
minister  of  the  M.  E.  church  and  member  of  the  Northwest  Indiana 
Conference,  Mary  Elizabeth,  dead,  Maggie  and  Emma.  He  died  on 
10th  of  July,  1877. 

William  H.  Compton,  Rossville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Hamilton 
county,  Ohio,  on  the  21st  of  December,  1821,  and  is  a  son  of  Nathan 
and  Jane  (Hankins)  Compton.  When  he  was  sixteen  years  old  his 
father  removed  to  Clay  county,  Indiana  —  lived  there  till  1848,  when 


ROSS   TOWNSHIP.  691 

he  went  to  Montgomer}^  county.  In  1860  he  came  to  Ross  township, 
this  county,  and  settled  near  where  he  now  lives.  He  was  married  on 
the  15th  of  June,  1844,  to  Emily  Stewart,  of  Clay  county,  Indiana, 
formerly  from  Massachusetts,  who  died  on  the  17th  of  September,  1850. 
The  issue  of  this  marriage  was  one  child,  named  Rhoda  Jane,  born  on 
the  30th  of  January,  1849,  who  is  now  wife  of  Joseph  Watts,  of 
Sugar  Grove,  Champaign  county.  Mr.  Compton  married  again  on  the 
22d  of  January,  1852,  to  Maria  Derby.  He  is  the  father  of  one  child 
by  this  wife,  named  Nathan,  born  on  the  12th  of  June,  1S54;  died  on 
the  17th  of  October,  1858.  Mr.  Compton  made  a  profession  of  Chris- 
tianity in  1842,  and  in  about  1856  was  licensed  to  preach  by  the  New 
Light  denomination.  He  is  a  republican  in  politics,  and  owns  two 
hundred  acres  of  land,  worth  $6,000. 

William  R.  Harker,  Rossville,  saddle  and  harness  maker,  was  born 
in  Salem  county,  New  Jersey,  on  the  17th  of  January,  1836,  and  is 
the  son  of  Jonathan  and  Sarah  (Royal)  Harker.  At  the  age  of  seven- 
teen he  was  apprenticed  to  the  saddle  and  harness  trade.  In  1856  he 
came  to  Illinois,  and  worked  at  his  trade  in  different  places,  beginning 
at  Jerseyville,  Jersey  county.  In  the  fall  of  1860  he  found  himself  in 
Danville,  where  he  worked  three  years.  Mr.  Harker  settled  in  Ross- 
ville in  the  fall  of  1864,  and  after  the  first  year  set  up  in  business  on 
his  own  account.  He  was  married  on  the  1st  of  January,  1866,  to 
Lizzie  Woodbury,  who  died  on  the  13th  of  January,  1873.  He  mar- 
ried again  on  the  17th  of  February,  1874,  to  Pauline  Davis,  daughter 
of  James  A.  Davis,  Esq.,  of  Danville.     He  is  a  republican  in  politics. 

William  Vining,  Rossville,  farmer  and  fruit  grower,  was  born  in 
Morrow  county,  Ohio,  on  the  7th  of  June,  1832.  He  is  a  son  of  Cal- 
vin and  Mary  Ann  (Noe)  Vining.  His  father  died  on  the  17th  of 
January,  1852,  and  he  remained  at  home  until  twenty-seven  years  of 
age,  when  he  came  to  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  and  settled  in  Ross 
township  (1861).  He  was  married  on  the  17th  of  August,  1858,  to 
Celestia  M.  Horr,  who  was  born  on  the  19th  of  October,  1832.  In 
1858  he  embarked  in  sheep-husbandry,  which  business  he  continued 
seven  years.  He  is  at  present  extensively  engaged  in  horticulture, 
being  well  situated  on  a  fine  fruit-farm  of  forty  acres,  lying  one  half 
mile  south  of  the  enterprising  and  flourishing  town  of  Rossville.  Dur- 
ing six  years  Mr.  Vining  was  deputy  sheriff  for  the  northern  part  of 
Vermilion  county.  He  has  a  family  of  two  living  children:  William 
F.,  born  on  the  22d  of  September,  1865 ;  Joseph  H.,  born  on  the  3d 
of  September,  1873.  He  has  been  a  member  of  the  M.  E.  church  for 
twenty-eight  years.     He  is  a  republican  in  politics. 

William  P.  Hannah,  Alvin,  farmer,  was  born  in  Centerville,  Wayne 


692  HISTORY    OF   VERMILIOX    COUNTY. 

county,  Indiana,  on  the  23d  of  August,  1827.     He  is  a  son  of  Samuel 
and  Eleanor  (Bishop)  Hannah.     His  father  for  over  forty  years  exer- 
cised a  wide-felt  influence,  first  in  political  offices,  and  next  in  com- 
mercial stations,  and  was  distinguished  for  his  enterprise  and  able  ser- 
vices in  the  internal  development  of  his  state.     He  was  sheriff,  clerk, 
and  a  member  of  the  board  of  justices  of  Wayne  county,  Indiana; 
postmaster  at  Centerville  under  John  Quincy  Adams,  and  one  of  the 
three  commissioners  appointed  by  the  legislature  to  locate  the  Michi- 
gan road  from  the  Ohio  river  to  the  lake,  and  to  select  the  lands  se- 
cured to  the  state  by  a  treaty  with  the  Indians,  made  on  the  upper 
Wabash  in  1826.     He  was  twice  elected  a  member  of  the  state  legis- 
lature.    In  1846  he  was  chosen  by  that  body  treasurer  of  state,  and 
served  three  years.     He  was  the  chief  promoter  of,  and  leading  spirit 
in,  the  construction  of  the  Indiana  Central  Railwav,  and  was  the  first 
president  of  the  road.     Later,  he  became  treasurer  of  the  Indianapolis 
&  Bellefontaine  Railroad  Company.     In  May,  1852,  he  accepted  the 
office  of  treasurer  of  the  Indiana  Central,  and  held  it  until  1864,  when 
he  retired  from  active  life.     At  different  times  during  his  incumbency 
of  this  office  he  was  also  secretary  for  the  same  company.     He  died  on 
the  8th  of  September,  1869,  aged  nearly  eighty  years.     The  subject  of 
this  sketch  passed  his  early  life  in  farming  and  in  clerking  in  a  store 
belonging  to  his  father.     He  studied  law  with  John  S.  Newman,  a 
brother-in-law,  afterward  prominent  in  business  and  political  circles, 
and  Oliver  P.  Morton,  who  were  law-partners.     At  the  age  of  twenty 
he  was  admitted  to  practice,  undergoing  examination  by  George  W. 
Julian,  George  H.  Whitman  and  Oliver  P.  Morton,  and  receiving  his 
license  from  Hon.  Jehu  T.  Elliott,  afterward  chief  justice  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  Indiana.      Soon   after  he  formed   a  law   partnership 
with  Hon.  John  S.  Newman,  which  was  continued  until  the  fall  of 
1S49,  when  he  accepted  the  position   of  deputy  United  States  marshal 
under  Gen.   Sol.   Meredith,   discharging  the  duties  of  the  same  till 
Xovember,  1850.     On  the  20th  of  that  month  he  was  united  in  mar- 
riage with  Miss  Margaret  A.  Dunham.    The  winter  of  1850-1  he  spent 
in  Iowa,  seeking  a  location  for  the  practice  of  his  profession,  but  not 
finding  one  suited  to  his  desires,  he  returned  to  Indianapolis  in  the 
spring,  and  engaged  in  railroad  business  on  the  Indiana  Central:  first 
as  a  clerk,    then    passenger   conductor,   next  receiver  of  funds,   and 
finally,  general   ticket  agent.      These  various  positions  he  occupied 
from  1853  to  1856.     In  the  former  year  he  was  engaged  by  the  city 
council  of  Indianapolis   to   re-duplicate   the  tax-list   of  that   city,  the 
original  being  so  full  of  errors  as  to  be  worthless  —  a  piece  of  work 
which  he  executed  with  accuracy  and  dispatch,  to  the  entire  satisfac- 


ROSS   TOWNSHIP.  693 

tion  of  the  council  and  the  tax-payers.  In  1856  he  opened  a  grocery 
store  in  Davenport,  Iowa,  and  the  next  year  removed  to  Blue  Earth 
county,  Minnesota,  where  he  preempted  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
of  land,  migrating  from  thence  in  the  fall  of  1858  to  Linn  county, 
Kansas.  Here  he  was  elected  to  the  office  of  county  assessor,  and 
served  one  term.  In  the  winter  of  1860-1,  succeeding  the  well-known 
drouth  of  the  previous  summer,  he  went  to  Kansas  City,  Missouri,  to 
winter  his  family,  intending  to  return  in  the  spring;  but  the  war  broke 
out,  and  he  moved  back  to  Illinois,  and  located  in  Ross  township,  Ver- 
milion county,  buying  a  farm  of  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  in 
February,  1863,  on  which  he  has  since  resided.  His  wife  died  that 
year,  and  he  was  again  married,  on  the  13th  of  December,  1866,  to 
Mrs.  Isabel  Warren,  formerly  Miss  Isabel  Kent,  daughter  of  Perrin 
Kent,  of  Warren  county,  Indiana.  He  has  ten  living  children,  all  of 
whom  are  either  at  home  or  settled  in  Vermilion  county,  except  his 
eldest  son,  Richard  H.,  who  is  married,  and  living  in  Phillips  county, 
Kansas.  This  son  is  a  graduate  of  the  Illinois  Industrial  University, 
and  was  at  one  time  florist  of  the  institution.  Mr.  Hannah  is  an  inde- 
pendent republican  ;  a  man  of  large  views,  good  information,  and  live 
business  talent.  He  owns  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land, 
worth  $11,500. 

William  W.  Phillips,  Rossville,  lumber  dealer,  was  born  in  Licking 
county,  Ohio,  on  the  4th  of  July,  1837,  and  is  the  son  of  John  and 
Matilda  (Pumphrey)  Phillips.  He  removed  with  his  parents  in  1842 
to  Van  Buren  county,  Iowa.  His  early  life  was  passed  in  cultivating 
the  soil.  He  enrolled,  on  the  28th  of  August,  1861,  in  a  militia  regi- 
ment, known  as  the  Northeast  Missouri  Regiment  of  Home  Guards 
(Col.  Moore),  and  served  the  full  term  of  enlistment  —  three  months. 
He  enlisted  again  on  the  13th  of  August,  1862,  in  Co.  F,  19th  Iowa 
Inf.,  and  was  discharged  on  the  28th  of  December,  1862,  on  account  of 
disability.  He  came  the  next  February  to  Danville,  Illinois,  but  was 
unsettled  until  1867,  being  engaged  in  the  meantime  in  carpentering 
and  traveling  from  place  to  place.  In  June,  1867,  he  became  employed 
as  salesman  in  A.  Leonard's  lumber  office,  Danville.  On  the  29th  of 
January,  1871,  he  was  married  to  Florence  Frazier,  youngest  daughter 
of  Samuel  Frazier  of  Danville.  In  August,  1871,  he  removed  to  Ross- 
ville and  opened  the  lumber  and  coal  trade,  in  which  he  is  at  present 
engaged.  Mr.  Phillips  has  been  village  trustee  four  years.  Pie  is  the 
father  of  two  children:  Edward,  born  on  the  18th  of  October,  1873; 
Alice,  born  on  the  28th  of  September,  1876.  He  has  been  a  member 
of  the  Methodist  church  upward  of  twenty  years.  He  is  a  republican 
in  politics. 


694  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Samuel  Cook,  Rossville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Fountain  county,  In- 
diana, on  the  12th  of  March,  1842,  and  is  the  son  of  William  and  Ocey 
(Vannesse)  Cook.  He  enrolled  in  Co.  H,  72d  Ind.  Vols.,  on  the  28th 
of  July,  1862,  and  mustered  into  the  United  States  service  early  the 
following  month.  After  the  battle  of  Stone  River  his  regiment  was 
attached  to  Gen.  Wilder's  famous  brigade  of  mounted  infantry,  and 
armed  with  the  celebrated  Spencer  rifles— seven-shooters.  Mr.  Cook 
fought  at  Hoover's  Gap  and  Chickamauga ;  went  on  the  expedition  to 
West  Point,  Mississippi,  under  Gen.  A.  J.  Smith,  in  concert  with  Gen. 
Sherman  on  his  Meridian  raid  ;  shared  in  the  operations  and  move- 
ments which  brought  Atlanta  to  the  feet  of  her  conquerors,  serving 
throughout  and  supporting  the  arduous  toils  and  constant  dangers  of 
that  one  hundred  days'  campaign,  participating  in  the  battles  of  Res- 
aca,  Big  Shanty  and  Jonesborongh.  He  was  engaged  during  his  term 
in  daring  and  hazardous  expeditions,  and  performed  the  excessive  duty, 
and  marching  and  skirmishing,  incident  to  the  mounted  service.  He 
was  under  Gen.  Wilson  on  the  pursuit  of  Jeff  Davis,  and  had  a  view 
of  that  traitor  directly  after  his  capture.  He  was  mustered  out  at  In- 
dianapolis, on  the  6th  of  July,  1865.  Mr.  Cook  was  married  on  the 
2d  of  May,  1869,  to  Annie  E.  Whitehall,  who  was  bom  on  the  25th  of 
February,  1848.  They  are  the  parents  of  two  living  children  :  Edith, 
born  on  the  14th  of  February,  1870,  and  Matie,  born  on  the  15th  of 
February,  1872.  In  politics  he  is  a  republican,  and  in  religion  a  Pres- 
byterian. 

Thomas  Bennett,  Rossville,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in 
Bedfordshire,  England,  on  the  24th  of  June,  1830.  He  is  a  son  of 
Thomas  and  Rebecca  (Stewart)  Bennett.  In  April,  1851,  he  emigrated 
with  his  parents  to  America,  and  settled  in  Danville.  In  the  fall  of 
1852  he  wTent  to  Covington,  Indiana,  to  reside  permanently,  and  the 
next  spring  engaged  in  the  butcher's  trade.  He  continued  in  this  busi- 
ness till  1866,  when  he  returned  to  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  and  set- 
tled on  a  farm  where  he  has  since  lived,  one  mile  and  a  half  south  of 
Rossville.  On  the  28th  day  of  October,  1858,  he  was  married  to  Miss 
Catharine  E.  Mann,  who  died  on  the  2d  of  January,  1873.  They  have 
one  child:  Mary  Ann,  born  on  the  3d  of  August,  1861.  Mr.  Bennett 
owns  twelve  hundred  acres  worth  $36,000.  He  is  a  republican  in  pol- 
itics, and  his  religious  views  are  Methodist. 

Solomon  I.  Bartges,  Alvin,  druggist,  was  born  on  the  17th  of  July, 
1845,  in  North  Georgetown,  Columbiana  county,  Ohio,  and  is  a  son  of 
John  M.  and  Sarah  (Kutz)  Bartges.  He  enlisted  in  Co.  G,  58th  Ohio 
Vols.,  on  the  21st  of  November,  1861,  he  then  being  but  sixteen  years  old. 
He  fought  at  Fort  Donelson  and  at  Pittsburgh  Landing ;  was  wounded 


ROSS   TOWNSHIP.  695 

at  the  latter  place  through  both  thighs,  on  the  last  day  of  the  battle, — 
on  the  7th  of  April,  1862.  He  was  sent  to  the  hospital  at  Louisville, 
Kentucky,  where  he  la}'  until  the  13th  of  May,  when  he  went  home  on 
a  discharge  furlough;  on  the  27th  of  July  following  he  was  enrolled  in 
the  107th  Ohio  Vols.,  but  was  rejected  for  his  minority.  He  enlisted 
the  third  time,  on  the  27th  of  July,  1863,  in  Co.  G,  46th  Penn.  Vols., 
and  was  engaged  at  Raccoon  Ford.  Lookout  Mountain,  Mission  Ridge, 
Resaca,  Burnt  Hickory  and  Peach  Tree  Creek.  He  marched  to  the 
sea,  through  the  Carolinas  and  Virginia,  to  Washington  City,  where 
his  active  military  career  terminated  in  the  grand  review  of  Sherman's 
army,  on  the  25th  of  May,  1865.  He  was  mustered  out  on  the  16th  of 
July  following.  Mr.  Bartges  was  married  on  the  23d  of  October,  1877, 
to  Mary  E.  Ford,  who  was  born  on  the  31st  of  January,  1852.  They 
have  one  child,  Olivena,  born  on  the  15th  of  December,  1878. 

Emory  F.  Birch,  Rossville,  druggist,  was  born  near  Attica,  Indiana, 
on  the  7th  of  October,  1845.  He  is  a  son  of  Thomas  and  Love  N. 
(Satchel)  Birch.  He  enrolled  in  Co.  G,  40th  Ind.  Vols.,  and  mustered 
into  United  States  service  on  the  10th  of  October,  1861 ;  fought  in  the 
battles  of  Shiloh,  Mission  Ridge,  Buzzard  Roost,  Rocky  Face  Ridge, 
Dallas,  Kenesaw  Mountain,  Peach  Tree  Creek,  Jonesborough,  Frank- 
lin and  Nashville.  Veteraned  on  the  1st  of  February,  1863,  and  was 
mustered  out  on  the  24th  of  February,  1866.  On  returning  from  the 
army  he  engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits  in  Attica,  Indiana,  and  has  fol- 
lowed the  same  since  that  time.  He  moved  and  located  at  Rossville, 
Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  at  the  close  of  the  year  1869.  Mr.  Birch 
was  married  on  the  7th  of  October,  1868,  to  Miss  Anna,  daughter  of 
Joseph  M.  Satterthwait,  who  was  born  on  the  2d  of  January,  1847. 
They  have  had  four  children  :  Earnest  L.,  Edith  L.,  Edgar  L.,  who 
died  on  the  11th  of  October,  1873,  and  Harry  W.  In  politics  he  is  a 
republican. 

Win.  S.  Demaree,  Rossville,  implement  dealer,  was  born  in  Park 
county,  Indiana,  on  the  5th  of  March,  1841,  and  is  the  son  of  Samuel 
and  Nancy  (Curry)  Demaree.  His  early  life  was  spent  in  cultivating 
a  farm.  On  the  17th  of  September,  1861,  he  enlisted  in  Co.  H,  38th 
Ind.  Vols.,  and  bore  an  honorable  part  in  the  battles  of  Perry  ville  and 
Stone  River.  He  was  mustered  out  in  May,  1863,  on  account  of 
chronic  diarrhoea,  from  the  effects  of  which  he  still  suffers  in  some 
degree.  He  was  married  on  the  30th  of  October,  1866,  to  Perlina  B. 
Watson.  In  1871  he  removed  to  Illinois,  and  located  near  Rossville, 
Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  where  he  farmed  until  the  spring  of  1875, 
when  he  rented  his  place  and  moved  to  Rossville  and  opened  an  agri- 
cultural implement  house.     He  is  still  pursuing  this  branch  of  trade. 


696  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Mr.  Deinaree  was  village  trustee  from  May,  1875,  to  May,  1876,  and  is 
now  police  magistrate  of  the  town.  He  is  the  father  of  five  living  chil- 
dren :  Omar  I.,  Mary  XL,  Nancylena,  Bertha  L.  and  Maggie  W.  He  is 
a  member  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  in  which  he  has  been  a  ruling 
elder  since  1874.     In  politics  he  is  a  republican. 

Francis  D.  Tomlinson,  Rossville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Warren  coun- 
ty, Indiana,  near  Marsh  field,  on  the  25th  of  March,  1842,  and  is  a  son 
of  Jesse  and  Mary  (McFarland)  Tomlinson.  In  1853  his  parents  died, 
leaving  him  an  orphan.  He  lived  with  his  brother-in-law,  Enoch  Wat- 
kins,  by  whom  he  was  raised,  until  of  age.  Afterward  he  attended  the 
Wabash  College,  at  Crawfordsville,  Indiana,  nearly  two  years;  then 
went  to  work  on  a  farm  of  four  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  wild  land 
which  had  descended  to  him  from  his  father's  estate.  This  is  situated 
in  sections  14,  19,  22,  23  and  24,  town  22,  range  11.  He  owns  twenty- 
nine  acres  near  Marshfield,  Indiana.  He  has  added  by  purchase  till 
now  his  landed  property  amounts  to  five  hundred  and  thirty-one  acres, 
valued  at  $16,000.  He  was  married  on  the  12th  of  November,  1872, 
to  Matilda  C.  Young,  daughter  of  Chas.  S.  Young,  an  old  and  wealthy 
settler  of  Vermilion  county.  Mr.  Tomlinson  is  the  father  of  the  fol- 
lowing children  :  Mary  Jessie,  who  died  on  the  10th  of  September, 
1874;  Walter  D.,  who  died  on  the  25th  of  July,  1876,  and  Elizabeth 
Frances.  He  is  a  member  of  the  republican  party,  and  his  wife  of  the 
M.  E.  church. 

Harry  Shannon,  Rossville,  postmaster  and  notary,  was  born  in 
Shelby  county,  Kentucky,  on  the  23d  of  April,  1841,  and  is  the  son  of 
Hugh  and  Catharine  (Harrod)  Shannon.  He  was  bred  to  agricultural 
pursuits.  He  enlisted,  on  the  4th  of  September,  1861,  in  Co.  H,  34th 
Ind.  Yol.  Inf.,  and  was  mustered  into  the  service  of  the  United  States 
on  the  21st  of  the  same  month.  The  following  are  the  conspicuous 
events  in  his  military  career:  Operations  at  Island  No.  10,  battles  of 
New  Madrid,  Port  Gibson,  and  Baker's  Creek  or  Champion  Hills,  and 
the  siege  of  Yicksburg.  He  reenlisted  on  the  14th  of  December,  1863, 
when  his  regiment  "  veteraned."  On  the  13th  of  May,  1865,  before 
news  of  the  termination  of  the  war  had  reached  that  distant  quarter, 
lie,  with  three  or  four  hundred  of  his  command,  fell  into  a  small  en- 
gagement on  the  Rio  Grande,  and  on  the  old  Palo  Alto  battle-ground. 
Eighty  of  them,  himself  with  the  number,  were  captured  and  held  as 
prisoners  of  war  eight  days,  when  they  were  released  on  parole.  He 
filled  all  the  non-commissioned  offices  in  his  company,  and  on  the  1st 
of  August,  1865,  was  commissioned  first  lieutenant.  He  was  mustered 
out  on  the  3d  of  February,  1866.  Immediately  on  quitting  the  army 
he  attended  two  terms  at  the  Kokonio  Normal  School,  and  after  that 


ROSS   TOWNSHIP.  697 

taught  for  several  years  during  the  winter  season.  He  was  married  on 
the  10th  of  October,  1872,  to  Mary  A.  Jones,  daughter  of  John  P. 
Jones,  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of  Vermilion  county,  Illinois.  He 
settled  in  Ross  township  in  1872,  and  has  been  postmaster  at  Rossville 
since  January,  1879;  and  was  connected  with  the  office  as  an  assistant 
for  three  years  prior  to  that  time.  He  is  the  father  of  one  child : 
Frank  Curtis,  born  on  the  29th  of  June,  1877.  He  is  a  republican,  and 
a  member  of  the  Christian  church. 

Emil  H.  Langhans,  Rossville,  merchant,  was  born  in  An  rich  King 
dom  of  Hanover,  German}',  on  the  9th  of  April,  1836,  and  is  the  son 
of  John  and  Louisa  (Clemens)  Langhans.  He  was  instructed  in  the 
regular  schools  of  the  country,  and  was  four  years  under  the  private 
tutorship  of  the  Rev.  Hulcher.  At  seventeen  he  came  from  the 
Fatherland,  and  settled  at  Canton,  Ohio,  where  he  was  employed  by 
his  uncle  in  a  store  four  years.  He  wrent  to  Wooster,  Ohio,  and  en- 
gaged in  business  for  himself  four  or  five  years ;  then  traveled  in  Mid- 
Tennessee,  looking  for  a  business  location ;  but  signs  of  the  war 
appearing,  he  returned  north,  and  went  into  business  in  Lafayette, 
Indiana,  part  of  the  time  as  principal,  part  of  the  time  as  employe. 
In  1862  he  employed  a  substitute  for  the  nine-months  service,  paying 
him  one  hundred  dollars.  He  served  in  Co.  K  of  an  Indiana  militia 
regiment  six  weeks,  in  pursuit  of  John  Morgan.  He  recruited  in  Co. 
K,  50th  Ind.  Vols. —  one-year  men, —  and  was  commissioned  captain. 
He  served  in  Virginia,  chiefly  in  the  Shenandoah,  participating  in  some 
skirmishes.  After  the  war  Mr.  Langhans  resumed  his  former  occupa- 
tion, a  portion  of  the  time  as  commercial  traveler  in  the  wholesale  dry- 
goods  business.  In  1873  he  settled  in  Rossville,  this  county,  where  he 
has  continued  in  mercantile  pursuits.  He  was  married  to  Elizabeth 
Black  in  January,  1855.  He  is  the  father  of  three  living  children  : 
Emil  D.,  Doretta  and  Edward  G.  He  is  an  independent  in  politics, 
and  a  Methodist. 

Ritchie  A.  S.  Williams,  Rossville,  music  teacher,  was  born  in  what 
Mas  then  Greenbrier  county,  Virginia,  on  the  18th  of  May,  1824,  and 
is  the  son  of  Richard  and  Thankful  (Morrison)  Williams.  He  was 
educated  at  Winchester,  Virginia,  and  afterward  took  a  full  course  of 
music  at  the  Friendship  Musical  Academy,  New  York.  He  followed 
the  profession  of  school-teaching  eight  or  ten  years  at  first,  but  after 
that  devoted  his  time  principally  to  instruction  in  music.  In  1846  he 
left  Virginia  and  settled  at  Lafavette,  Indiana.  He  lived  there  a  few 
years,  and  removed  to  Delphi,  where  he  married  Miss  Sarah  A.  Reed, 
on  the  13th  of  January,  1850.  In  1862  he  removed  to  Brookeston, 
residing  there  till  1873,  when  he  located  at  Rossville, Vermilion  count}7-, 


69.S  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Illinois.     Mr.  Williams  is  the  father  of  one  son,  Wright,  born  on   the 
10th  of  July,  1852.     He  is  a  republican  in  politics. 

Oscar  Soderberg,  Rossville,  railroad  agent  and  operator,  was  born 
near  Stockholm,  Sweden,  on  the  27th  of  Jnly,  1844.  He  is  a  son  of 
"Robert  and  Catharina  (Malmberg)  Soderberg.  He  was  educated  at  the 
high-school  at  Linkoping,  attending  there  most  of  the  time  before  he 
came  to  America,  in  1869,  and  acquiring  a  classical  education.  On  his 
arrival  from  Sweden  he  spent  two  years  working  on  a  farm  near  Mo- 
mence,  Kankakee  county,  Illinois,  after  which  he  became  employed  on 
the  Chicago,  Danville  &  Vincennes  railroad,  where  he  learned  tele- 
graphy. He  then  took  charge  of  the  Grant  office  above  Momence  one 
year,  when  he  was  transferred  to  Rossville,  where  he  has  remained  the 
past  five  years.  He  was  married  on  the  16th  of  October,  1872,  to  Miss 
Mary  Young,  daughter  of  Rev.  Timothy  C.  and  Margaret  Young. 
Mrs.  Soderberg  was  born  on  the  17th  of  April,  1852,  in  the  town  of 
Cornwall,  Connecticut,  and  became  an  orphan  by  the  death  of  her 
mother  on  the  23d  of  the  same  month.  They  have  two  children: 
Carl,  born  on  the  6th  of  October,  1873,  and  Walter,  born  on  the  15th 
of  September,  1876.  Mr.  Soderberg  is  a  republican,  and  both  he  and 
his  wife  are  members  of  the  Presbyterian  church. 

Washington  Watson,  Rossville,  banker,  was  born  in  Portage  county, 
Ohio,  on  the  16th  of  July,  1835,  and  is  the  son  of  Stephen  and  Eliza- 
beth (Clark)  Watson.  His  parents  moved  to  Parke  county,  Indiana, 
then  to  La  Salle  county,  Illinois,  when  he  was  quite  young.  His  early 
life  was  passed  on  a  farm.  Afterward  he  ran  a  combined  flouring  and 
planing  mill,  and  carried  on  the  building  business  in  conjunction  with 
it  until  1874,  when  he  settled  in  Rossville,  where  he  has  since  kept  a 
banking  house.  He  is  agent  for  the  German  Fire  Insurance  Co.  of 
Peoria,  and  loans  money  on  real  estate.  Mr.  Watson  was  married  on 
the  20th  of  August,  1854,  to  Charlotte  M.  Worth,  who  died  on  the 
22d  of  January,  1870.  He  then  married  again,  on  the  8th  of  Febru- 
ary, 1871,  to  Udora  W.  Dewalt. 

Newton  L.  Bowman,  Rossville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Lawrence 
county,  Indiana,  on  the  23d  of  May,  1853,  and  was  reared  a  farmer. 
He  attended  the  high  school  at  Bedford,  Indiana,  three  years,  and 
afterward  two  terms  at  college.  Quitting  school,  he  began  as  a  dry- 
goods  clerk  at  Assumption,  Illinois.  Four  years  later  he  went  to 
farming.  He  was  married  on  the  30th  of  October,  1878,  to  Olivia 
Maddox,  who  was  born  on  the  7th  of  December,  1848.  Her  mother 
died  when  she  was  very  young.  Her  father,  Nelson  Maddox,  was  a 
New  Light  minister,  and  preached  about  thirty-five  years.  He  filled 
the  offices  of  justice  of  the  peace  and  constable  in  Danville  township 


ROSS   TOWNSHIP.  699 

many  years,  and  was  an  extensive  dealer  in  cattle,  which  he  bought, 
fed  and  drove  to  Chicago.  He  was  born  on  the  10th  of  June,  1810, 
and  died  on  the  15th  of  March,  1875.  Her  brother  Franklin  was  born 
on  the  14th  of  December,  1850  ;  an  engraver  by  trade ;  was  apprenticed 
to  S.  N.  Monroe,  of  Danville,  with  whom  he  was  emplo}Ted  at  the 
time  of  his  death,  which  resulted  from  cerebrospinal  meningitis,  on 
the  12th  of  March,  1873.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Kimber  M.  E. 
Church  of  Danville,  very  exemplary  in  his  life,  and  a  great  favorite 
with  all.  Mr.  Bowman  is  a  republican.  He  owns  eighty  acres  of  land, 
worth  $2,500. 

John  Milligan,  Rossville,  grain  dealer,  was  born  in  the  county  of 
Fermanagh,  Ireland,  on  the  19th  of  February,  1835,  and  is  the  son  of 
John  and  Fanny  (Funston)  Milligan.  He  was  reared  a  farmer.  At 
the  age  of  seventeen  he  came,  in  company  with  his  brother  Oliver,  to 
Toronto,  Canada,  and  next  year  (1852)  the  whole  family  came  and 
bought  a  farm  of  two  hundred  and  nine  acres  in  the  county  of  Simcoe, 
fifty  miles  north  of  Toronto,  where  his  father  still  lives.  Here  the 
subject  of  this  sketch  worked  about  four  years,  when  he  obtained  the 
position  of  steward  of  the  Provincial  Lunatic  Asylum,  Toronto,  which 
he  retained  until  1863,  when  he  was  transferred  to  the  Maiden  Lunatic 
Asylum  at  Amherstburgh,  county  of  Essex,  continuing  in  this  position 
six  years.  He  was  married  on  the  26th  of  January.  1864,  to  Caroline 
Charlotte  Crane,  who  was  born  in  Suffolk,  England,  on  the  28th  of 
February,  1838,  and  emigrated  with  her  parents  to  Gait,  Canada,  in 
1853.  Mrs.  Milligan  was  appointed  matron  of  the  Maiden  Asylum, 
and  discharged  the  duties  of  that  position  three  years,  and  until  her 
husband  severed  his  connection  with  the  institution.  In  July,  1875, 
the  family  came  to  the  states  and  settled  in  Rossville,  Vermilion  coun- 
ty, Illinois,  where  Mr.  Milligan  opened  a  general  store  in  company 
with  his  brother-in-law,  Oscar  G.  Crane.  In  the  fall  of  1878  he  sold 
his  interest  to  his  partner,  and  is  now  engaged  in  handling  grain.  He 
is  the  father  of  three  children:  Mary  Maud,  Frances  Caroline  and 
Edith  Blanche.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Milligan  are  members  of  the  Episcopal 
church. 

George  W.  Akers,  Alvin,  physician  and  surgeon,  was  born  in  Put- 
nam county,  Indiana,  on  the  20th  of  March,  1839,  and  is  a  son  of 
Thomas  and  Margaret  (Allen)  Akers.  He  was  reared  a  farmer ;  studied 
medicine  under  Dr.  Cross,  a  prominent  physician  of  Bainbridge,  Put- 
nam county,  Indiana,  and  attended  a  course  of  lectures  at  the  college 
of  physicians  and  surgeons  at  Kansas  City.  Missouri,  in  the  winter  of 
1874-5.  During  the  winter  of  1877-8  he  attended  a  second  course  at 
the  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons  at  Indianapolis,  Indiana,  and 


700  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

graduated  on  the  22d  day  of  February,  1878.  He  received  from  the 
medical  college  of  Indiana,  on  the  28th  of  February,  1879,  an  ad 
eundem  degree.  In  December,  1863,  he  settled  at  Paola,  Miami  county. 
Kansas;  lived  there  twelve  years  and  removed  to  Vermilion  county, 
Illinois,  and  settled  at  Gilbert,  and  afterward  at  Alvin,  on  the  removal 
of  the  former  place.  He  was  married  on  the  22d  of  March,  1860,  to 
Maggie  M.  Steele.  He  was  a  charter  member  of  the  Miami  County 
Kansas  Medical  Society,  which  was  organized  in  1868,  and  is  a  member 
of  the  North  Vermilion  and  of  the  Vermilion  County  Medical  Societies. 
He  has  contributed  to  the  following  medical  journals:  "Cincinnati 
Repertory,"  "  Lancet "  and  "  Observer,"  of  Cincinnati,  and  the  "Ameri- 
can Practitioner"  of  Louisville  and  Indianapolis.  Mr.  Akers  has  been 
a  reporter  for  country  papers  where  he  has  lived  the  past  twelve  or 
thirteen  years.  His  pen  has  been  employed  in  literary  ventures  through 
the  press  at  different  times.  He  is  at  present  correspondent  of  the 
"  Danville  Commercial."  He  has  been  a  member  of  the  Presbyterian 
church  for  twenty  years.     In  politics  Mr.  Akers  is  a  republican. 

Joseph  S.  Christman,  Rossville,  farmer,  was  born  on  the  30th  of 
January,  1854,  in  Warren  county,  Indiana.  He  is  the  son  of  Isaac  and 
Elizabeth  (Gundy)  Christman.  He  was  reared  a  farmer.  In  Decem- 
ber, 1871,  he  entered  Bryant  &  Stratton's  Commercial  College,  Indi- 
anapolis, and  graduated  in  May,  1872.  In  the  fall  he  began  clerking 
in  a  dry-goods  store  in  Attica,  and  early  in  the  following  year  went  to 
Indianapolis  and  engaged  in  merchandising  until  the  fall  of  1875,  when 
he  came  to  Rossville  and  took  a  position  behind  the  counter  in  the 
establishment  of  W.  J.  Henderson  &  Co.,  retaining  the  same  until  the 
spring  of  1878. 

George  W.  Salmans,  Rossville,  attorney,  was  born  in  Vinton  county, 
Ohio,  on  the  9th  of  January,  1849,  and  is  the  son  of  George  and  Re- 
becca (Hudson)  Salmans.  He  was  a  student  at  Evans'  Union  College, 
State  Line  City,  for  fifteen  months.  He  taught  district  school  half  the 
time  for  ten  years  —  just  sixty  months.  In  the  fall  of  1871  he  entered 
the  law  department  of  the  Michigan  University,  attending  lectures  one 
term.  From  this  time  till  the  fall  of  1875  he  worked  on  a  farm,  taught 
school  and  read  law  privately,  when  he  returned  to  the  university,  fin- 
ished his  course,  and  graduated  on  the  29th  of  March,  1876.  He  estab- 
lished himself  at  once  at  Rossville,  where  he  is  successfully  practicing 
his  profession.  He  was  married  on  the  12th  of  October,  1876,  to  Ra- 
chel Alison,  daughter  of  Mark  M.  Alison.  He  is  the  father  of  one 
child :  Edwin,  born  on  the  7th  of  May,  1878.  He  is  an  independent 
in  politics  and  in  religion. 

James  A.Williams,  Alvin,  hardware  and  lumber  dealer,  was  born 


GRANT   TOWNSHIP.  701 

in  La  Fayette,  Indiana,  on  the  8th  of  November,  1845,  and  is  a  son  of 
Harrison  and  Hannah  (Gisli)  Williams.  He  was  bred  to  fanning,  and 
lived  near  Pond  Grove,  in  Warren  county,  Indiana,  until  1873,  when 
he  began  traveling  for  the  benefit  of  his  health,  meantime  studying 
medicine,  and  graduating  at  the  Hygieo-Therapeutic  College,  at  Flor- 
ence Heights,  New  Jersey,  on  the  10th  day  of  April,  1876,  delivering 
the  valedictory  address  of  his  class  on  that  occasion.  In  the  winter  of 
1873-4  he  took  the  course  in  Drew's  Business  College,  and  graduated 
on  the  2d  of  March,  1874.  In  1864  he  enlisted  in  the  135th  Ind.  Vols., 
a  regiment  of  one-hundred-days  men.  He  was  married  on  the  17th  of 
April,  1879,  to  Sarah  E.  Salmans.  In  March,  1877,  he  located  in 
Alvin,  where  he  has  since  carried  on  the  lumber  and  hardware  trade. 
In  politics  Mr.  Williams  is  a  republican. 


GRANT   TOWNSHIP. 

Grant  township  was,  until  1862,  a  portion  of  Ross,  and  as  now  con- 
stituted, occupies  the  northeastern  corner  of  the  county,  having  Indiana 
for  its  eastern  boundary,  Iroquois  county  for  its  northern,  Butler  town- 
ship for  its  western,  and  Ross  for  its  southern.  It  is  rectangular  in 
shape ;  is  twelve  and  one-half  miles  long  by  seven  and  one-half  wide, 
containing  fifty-eight  thousand  eight  hundred  and  eighty  acres,  being 
the  largest  township  in  the  county.  It  contains  all  of  townships  23, 
range  11  and  23,  range  12,  one  and  one-half  miles  off  the  north  side  of 
townships  22,  range  11  and  22,  range  12,  and  a  narrow  strip  of  the 
west  side  of  22,  range  10  and  23  range  10.  It  was  almost  entirely 
prairie,  having  but  a  few  acres  of  timber  near  the  center  of  its  southern 
line,  known  as  Bicknell's  Point,  and  formed  the  great  treeless  "  divide  " 
between  the  head  waters  of  the  Vermilion  and  of  the  Iroquois.  As 
late  as  1860  but  little  of  its  land  had  been  brought  into  cultivation, 
although  the  great  highway  of  travel  from  the  south  to  Chicago  ran 
directly  across  its  center  twenty-five  years  before  that  time.  When  in 
1872  the  railroad  was  built  through  it  but  few  farms  were  intersected. 
The  great  prairie  from  Bicknell's  Point  stretching  north  was  the  dread 
of  the  early  settler  when  he  became  benighted  on  his  return  from  Chi- 
cago after  a  ten  days'  trip  to  that  their  only  market.  The  dark,  storm v, 
wintry  nights  carried  terror  to  many  a  household  when  it  was  feared 
that  the  father  or  husband  or  son  was  trying  to  find  his  way  home  over 
the  treeless  waste  of  the  great  divide. 

A  single  incident  of  such  tragic  nature  as  to  be  told  over  and  over 


702  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

again  at  even'  fireside  in  the  west  forty  years  ago  (which  the  writer 
well  remembers  to  have  frequently  heard  told  when  the  wintry  winds 
were  whistling  their  threats  at  the  few  obstructions  which  the  early  set- 
tlers had  erected  against  their  unobstructed  sweep),  will  serve  to  show 
the  terrors  which  in  those  days  were  consequent  upon  winter  travel. 
In  December,  1836,  on  a  mild  warm  day  in  which  rain  and  snow 
mingled  until  the  ground  was  covered  with  slush,  and  everything 
which  travelers  wore  was  wet  through,  the  thermometer  ranging:  above 
forty  degrees,  two  travelers,  Frame  and  Hildreth,  were  making  their 
way  back  toward  the  settlements  on  the  Vermilion,  and,  just  after 
night  overtook  them,  when  not  far  from  where  Hoopeston  now  stands, 
the  '"sudden  change"  so  often  alluded  to  by  old  settlers  struck  them. 
The  weather,  from  ranging  above  freezing,  suddenly  dropped  to  twenty 
degrees  below  zero,  accompanied  by  a  wind  which  was  severe  enough 
to  freeze  every  article  of  wet  clothing  in  an  instant.  The  ground,  full 
of  water,  became  frozen  in  a  very  few  minutes,  and  no  man  could 
stand  it  for  even  a  short  time  on  horseback.  The  men  walked  for  a 
while,  until  they  became  numb  and  lost.  To  be  lost  on  this  great 
prairie  at  any  time,  and  under  any  circumstances  of  weather,  is  one  of 
the  most  painful  conditions,  mentally,  one  can  be  placed  in ;  but  lost  in 
a  storm,  conscious  that  one  is  gradually  and  surely  becoming  less  and 
less  able  every  moment  to  care  for  himself,  is  as  near  like  enduring  the 
torments  of  the  damned  as  one  can  well  imagine.  On,  on  they  went, 
vainly  hoping  to  reach  some  place  where  they  might  at  least  be  pro- 
tected from  the  fearful  blasts.  They  had  given  up  the  hope  of  getting 
what  King  James  asked  in  somewhat  similar  circumstances — ''rest  and 
a  guide,  and  food  and  fire";  but  they  still  hoped  to  find  the  friendly 
shelter  of  Bicknell's  Point.  But  finally  that  hope  also  abandoned 
them,  and,  with  almost  the  certainty  of  death,  they  decided  to  kill 
their  horses  and  disembowel  them,  hoping  that  the  friendly  shelter  of 
the  stiffening  carcass  and  the  warmth  of  the  animal  heat  might  save 
them  from  certain  death.  Unreasonable  as  their  hope  seems,  they 
actually  carried  their  plan  into  partial  execution,  by  killing  one  of  the 
horses,  and  pushing  him  over  as  he  fell  so  that  the  back  would  lie 
toward  the  west,  and  protect  them  in  a  measure  from  the  terrible 
blast.  The  other  horse  for  some  reason  was  not  killed,  and  the  two 
half-frozen  men  made  themselves  as  comfortable  as  possible  in  the 
shelter  which  they  had  thus  prepared.  In  the  morning  Frame  was 
dead,  and  Mr.  Hildreth  was  so  badly  frozen  that  he  suffered  partial 
amputation.  He  died  in  Carroll  township  some  three  years  since,  liv- 
ing to  see  almost  fortv  anniversaries  of  that  dreadful  night. 

When  the  old  township  of  Ross  was  divided  the  name  of  Lyon  was 


GRANT   TOWNSHIP.  703 

given  to  this.  When  the  name  was  sent  to  Spring-Held,  the  auditor 
notified  the  supervisors  that  there  was  already  a  township  named 
Lyons  in  Cook  county,  and  it  would  be  necessanr  to  tind  another  name. 
A  western  captain  who  had  been  for  some  years  carrying  on  a  lim- 
ited tanning  business,  of  Galena,  smoking  his  pipe  very  regularly,  and 
talking  very  little  about  politics  or  anything  else,  had,  a  year  before 
this,  offered  his  services  to  the  governor  of  the  state  in  any  position 
that  he  should  deem  him  worthy  to  fill,  in  aid  of  organizing  regiments 
for  sending  forth  to  put  down  armed  treason  in  the  south.  He  was 
sent  to  the  adjutant-general's  office  with  a  request  to  put  him  to  work. 
In  less  than  twenty-four  hours  the  adjutant-general  found  out  that  this 
quiet,  almost  speechless  man  knew  more  than  the  whole  office.  A 
regiment  was  then  quartered  at  Camp  Butler  almost  in  a  state  of 
mutiny,  and  Governor  Yates  found  that  it  would  be  necessary  to  dis- 
place the  colonel  and  give  the  command  to  some  one  who  could  man- 
age it.  He  appealed  to  Capt.  Grant,  who  at  once  replied  that  he 
thought  he  would  have  no  trouble  with  as  good  a  regiment  as  that. 
He  took  command,  marched  the  men  across  the  country  to  Quincy, 
and  went  to  the  front.  He  had,  at  the  time  a  new  name  was  to  be 
selected  for  this  township,  just  electrified  the  country  by  his  reply  to 
the  rebel  commandant  at  Fort  Donelson,  that  no  terms  but  "  uncon- 
ditional surrender"  would  be  accepted.  It  was  the  first  great  victory 
of  the  war,  and  it  was  believed  that  a  great  future  awaited  the  new 
general.  About  the  first  great  honor  paid  him  was  the  naming  of  this 
magnificent  township  after  him. 

The  earliest  settlements  were  made  along  the  Chicago  road  extend- 
ing from  the  present  Rossville  north.  As  early  as  1835,  George  and 
"William  Bicknell  took  up  the  land  at  Bicknell's  Point,  which  was  the 
last  piece  of  timber  on  the  route  to  Chicago  until  the  valley  of  the  Iro- 
quois was  reached.  Asel  Gilbert  entered  a  quarter-section  south  of 
Bicknell's  Point,  about  1838.  Oliver  Prickett,  who  had  come  from 
Brown  county,  Ohio,  in  1832,  after  farming  awhile  near  Danville, 
came  to  live  in  the  vicinity  of  Rossville.  Albert  Comstock  had  come 
to  where  B.  C.  Green  now  lives  in  1837.  A  few  years  later  he  sold 
to  Green  and  purchased  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Point,  and  lived  there 
for  several  years.  B.  C.  Green  purchased  the  land  where  Thomas 
Armstrong  lived  before  he  bought  where  he  now  lives,  which  was 
probably  about  1840,  but  he  did  nothing  to  improve  it,  as  at  that  time 
he  was  a  "  bachelor  of  moderate  means  and  no  family."  James  R. 
Stewart,  a  brother-in-law  of  the  Bicknells,  came  in  and  settled  on  the 
Chicago  road,  south  of  the  Point,  where  the  house  known  as  the 
"  Townsend  House,"  which  was  built  in   1847,  now  stands.     Stewart 


104  HI -TORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

was  at  one  time  postmaster  of  North   Fork  post  office  before  the  name 
was  changed  to  Rossville. 

<  ■■].  Abel  Woolverton,  one  of  the  best  known  of  the  early  settlers  in 
this  township,  settled  in  1S49  on  section  Is.  two  miles  northeast  of  the 
Point.  His  was  probably  the  first  settlement  out  on  the  prairie,  and 
as  others  came  in  his  name  was  given  to  the  neighborhood,  and  is  so 
called  yet.  He  came  from  Perrvsville,  Indiana,  and  had  been  in  the 
Blackhawk  war.  He  received  the  title  of  Colonel  from  his  foster-brother, 
Grov.  Whitcomb,  of  Indiana.  He  was  only  able  to  enter  a  quarter- 
section  at  first,  but  afterward  took  land  in  sections  17  and  8.  He 
engaged  in  farming,  enduring  the  hardships  consequent  on  early  settle- 
ment on  the  prairie,  raising  cattle,  fighting  rattlesnake.-  and  wolves 
with  the  same  bravery  he  had  the  Indians.  There  was  no  market  for 
anything  but  at  Chicago,  and  there  he  had  to  go,  over  bleak  prairies, 
through  rain  and  mud,  which  latter  was  often  one  of  the  worst  hard- 
ships  the  early  settler  had  to  endure.  Points  of  trading  at  this  time 
were  Danville  and  Attica.  Col.  Woolverton  was  a  competent  sur- 
veyor and  did  considerable  work  in  that  line.  Col.  Woolverton  died 
in  1865.  Of  his  children,  George,  a  young  man  of  bright  prospect-, 
was  killed  near  Richmond,  in  the  rebellion  :  Charles  still  lives  on  the 
farm  which  his  father  brought  into  cultivation,  and  Thomas  lives  near 
on  part  of  the  same  land,  down  the  branch  from  Col.  Woolverton'-. 
about  a  mile  and  a  half  toward  the  Fork. 

Churchill  Boardman  settled  in  lv4.">.  and  made  a  farm.  His  son 
lives  near  Rossville  yet.  (.'apt.  McKibben,  so  well  known  to  the  early 
settlers  of  this  county,  lived  a  portion  of  the  time  in  the  same  neighbor- 
hood. He  had  done  valiant  service  fighting  the  Indians,  had  served 
as  deputy  sheriff  and  sheriff,  and  was  probably  as  well  known  as  any 
man  in  the  county.  Charles  Leighton  settled  in  the  neighborhood 
about  the  same  time.  Fie  still  resides  there  at  the  age  of  nearly  ninety 
years. 

Charles  Wier  was  early,  and  Mr.  Smart,  who  soon  went  back  east,  and 
settled  just  north  of  Bicknell's  Point,  on  the  Chicago  road.  Robert 
Crane  (whom  m  the  early  settler-        sist  in  calling  Cream)  made 

an  earlv  settlement.  Robert  Davison  entered  what  is  now  known  as  the 
Webb  farm,  but  returned  to  Myersville.  John  Chenoweth,  from  Per- 
rvsville. came  in  and  remained  one  year.  He  died  at  Perrvsville.  and 
Charles  Wier  purchased  his  land.  Mr.  Glover  lived  three  or  four  yean 
on  the  land  now  owned  by  L.  F.  Goodman.  Robert  Anderson  took 
land  just  west  of  the  Davison  place. 

James  Holmes  came  from  Kentucky,  and  ?ettled  on  section  16  (21- 
11  i.  in  the  south  part  of  Ross,  where  hi-  -       John  was  born  forty-three 


GRANT   TOWNSHIP.  705 

years  ago,  so  that  he  is  one  of  the  oldest  natives  of  the  northern  part 
of  the  county.     Mr.  Holmes  was  elected  a  justice  of  the  peace  in  I  Mi',, 
six  years  before  township  organization  was  effected  in  the  county.    He 
was  reelected  when  Ross  was  organized,  and  for  a  number  of  years  in 
succession  was  elected  assessor  and  collector  of  that   township.     He 
was  a  man  of  few  early  advantages  of  school  education,  but  of  strong 
good  sense,  and  was  a  very  acceptable  official   in  all  the  positions  he 
tilled.     He  settled  among  the  very  first  on  the  Jordan,  and  sold   to 
Thomas  Gundy,  and  entered  the  land  known  as  the  Tomlinson  farm, 
and  at  one  time  owned  forty  acres  where  Alvin  now  is.     He  brought 
up  a  family  of  eleven  children,  who  nearly  all   survived   him.      He  en- 
gaged in  farming,  raising  cattle  and   hogs.     He  was  an  honored   mem- 
ber of  the  Christian   church,  and   of   the  Masonic  and   Odd-Fellows 
fraternities.     He  died   in   January,  1864,  at  the  time  of  the  terrible 
cold   which   prevailed   all  over  the  country,  and   it   was  several  days 
before  arrangements  could  be  perfected  for  his  funeral.     II is  wife  died 
in  1848,  during  the  time  of  the  high    water,   which   is  said  to  have 
marked  the  highest  ever  known  on  the  Wabash.     She  was  buried  in 
the  Kight  burying  ground,  and  the  neighbors  were  obliged  to  make  a 
raft  to  convey  the  remains  to  their  final  resting  place.     Of  his  six  chil- 
dren now  living  three  are  daughters:  Mrs.  Mark  Wilson,  Mrs.  Jesse 
Prather,  Mrs.  John  Turl,  and  three  sons:  John,  Phillip  and  William. 
All  the  northeast  part  of  the  township  was  open  prairie  and  uncul- 
tivated  until  the  railroad   was  built.     William    Allen,  Esq.,  was  the 
pioneer  in  the  northern  part  of  the  township.     He  came  from  Ohio  in 
1841,  and  taught  school  three  miles  south  of  Danville,  in   the  Jones 
neighborhood.     He  afterward  taught  in  the  Duncan  neighborhood,  in 
Newell,  and  married  there  in  1848.     He  then  lived  in  Danville  awhile 
and  practiced   law,  and  served  as  assistant  to  W.  D.  Palmer,  county 
superintendent.     In  May,  185<>,  he  took  up  a  farm  on  the  high  land 
northwest  of  Hoopeston,  where  a  beautiful  spring  had  attracted  atten- 
tion, and  afterward  bought  more.     This  was  believed  to  be  one  of  the 
finest  farms,  or  at  least  would  become  one  of  the  finest  farms,  in  the 
county  ;  and  so  old  Thomas  Hoopes  considered  it  for  three  years  after 
he  bought  this  land  for  ten  dollars  an  acre.    The  old  hedge,  which  runs 
along  near  the  Hibbard  House,  was  the  south  line  of  this  farm,  and 
the  county  line  the  north  one.     Allen  was  county  assessor  while  liv- 
ing out  here,  and  after  selling  out  went  back  to  Danville,  thence  to 
Perrysville,  and,  in    1858,  back  to  East  Lynne,  where  he  again    pio- 
neered, being  the  first  settler  in  the  northern  part  of  Butler  township. 
One  son  is  engaged   in   law  at  Rossville  and   one  daughter  at   East 
Lynne:  the  others  are  with  their  parents  at  Hoopeston.     Mr.  Allen  has 
45 


706  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

seen  this  part  of  the  county  blossom  into  fruitful  farms.  When  he  first 
struck  plow  on  his  farm  here,  for  miles  in  all  directions,  nothing  met 
the  eye  but  prairie-grass;  even  the  great  herds  of  cattle,  which  after- 
ward were  seen  in  these  parts,  were  absent  then. 

Amos  Thompson  entered  four  hundred  acres  of  land  here  in  1853, 
but  never  resided  on  it  after  the  railroad  was  built.  His  sons  came 
here  and  turned  the  raw  prairie  into  city  lots. 

Thomas  Hoopes,  for  whom  Hoopeston  was  named,  is  a  good  sam- 
ple of  the  better  class  of  those  fortunate  people  who  have  greatness 
thrust  on  them  without  ever  praying  for  it  or  entertaining  any  strong 
faith  in  its  coming.  He  grew  up  to  stalwart  manhood  in  Chester 
county,  Pennsylvania,  and  emigrated  to  Harrison  county,  Ohio.  Lived 
in  Marion  awhile,  and  in  1S53  bought  the  farm  of  Win.  Allen.  He 
came  on  here  in  1855  and  commenced  work  as  best  he  could.  He 
bought  some  land  of  D.  C.  Andrews  and  C.  J.  Hungerford,  and  under- 
took  to  get  it  into  shape  to  get  a  living  from  it.  He  brought  eight 
hundred  sheep  with  him,  and  by  taking  in  a  herd  of  cattle  to  tend  each 
year,  he  managed  to  keep  inside  of  his  expenses.  There  was  no  place 
for  stopping  on  the  Chicago  road  from  Bicknell's  Point  to  the  "  red 
pump,"  near  Milford,  when  he  made  his  home  on  the  big  prairie.  The 
first  year  he  had  to  go  over  to  the  Jordan  to  buy  corn,  and  pay  seventy- 
five  cents  a  bushel  for  it ;  since  that  time  he  has  managed,  by  careful 
economizing,  such  as  he  is  master  of,  to  raise  enough  for  his  own  use. 
He  did  not  go  into  wheat  verv  extensivelv,  as  manv  others  did  about 

CD  */  *i    '  •/ 

that  time,  but  raised  corn  and  oats.  Within  three  years  he  got  about 
three  hundred  acres  into  good  cultivation,  having  over  one  thousand 
acres  in  prairie  grass  to  keep  a  herd  on.  Wool  was  his  principal  crop, 
which  was  more  reliable  than  now.  The  vast  range  was  suitable  for 
the  health  of  his  sheep,  the  absence  of  neighborly  dogs  was  favorable, 
and,  by  keeping  up  in  a  close  pen  at  night,  they  were  safe  from  the 
attack  of  wolves.  Wolves,  though  apparently  bold  when  they  have  a 
free  field  for  escape,  are  cowards  when  hemmed  in  by  a  high  fence. 
They  would  not  climb  into  an  inclosure  where  the  sheep  were  in  a 
crowd;  they  seemed  to  fear  being  penned  in.  He  did  not  raise  many 
hogs,  but  kept  his  flock  of  sheep  and  herd  of  cattle  increasing.  He 
never  drove  cattle  to  the  markets,  being  satisfied  that  he  knew  enough 
to  raise  cattle,  but  was  not  sharp  enough  to  try  any  risks  of  a  speculative 
nature.  In  1859  he  sold  a  thousand  sheep,  and  during  the  war  he  sold 
off  the  remainder,  thinking  that  if  the  war  kept  on  there  would  not 
be  young  men  enough  left  in  the  country  to  take  care  of  what  he  had, 
and  if  it  did  not  continue,  his  sheep  would  fall  in  price.  His  nearest 
neighbors,  for  some  years,  were  Col.  Woolverton  and  Churchill  Board- 


GRANT   TOWNSHIP.  707 

man.  He  had  no  more  idea  of  seeing  a  city  grow  up  on  his  farm  here 
than  of  seeing  a  volcano  ;  and  when  the  road  was  built,  and  Snell,  Taylor 
<fe  Co.  wanted  to  buy  him  out,  he  had  no  desire  to  go  into  any  specu- 
lation in  city  lots,  and  sold  them  a  thousand  acres  for  just  what  he 
believed  it  was  worth.  Now,  at  the  age  of  73,  he  has  a  quiet  home  in 
the  little  city  which  the  railroads  forced  on  him,  and  looks  upon  the 
last  years  of  his  life  as  almost  a  dream. 

Alba  Honeywell  was  born  in  Cayuga  county,  New  York,  and  received 
a  good  education,  and  very  early  got  into  the  anti-slavery  and  temper- 
ance work  as  a  disciple  of  Garrison,  Wendell  Phillips  and  Beria  Green. 
He  was  an  agitator  by  his  very  nature,  and  devoted  his  time  to  writing 
and  speaking  for  political  and  moral  reforms.  In  fact,  it  was  impossi- 
ble for  any  one  who  had  once  drank  at  the  spring  of  man's  brother- 
hood which  flowed  from  the  inspiring  brain  of  William  Lloyd  Garrison 
to  cease  preaching  abolition  upon  every  occasion.  The  hero  who  could 
say  "  strike,  but  hear,"  did  not  need  to  use  arguments  to  induce  such 
minds  as  Honeywell's  to  take  up  the  refrain  for  universal  liberty.  He 
had  charge  of  "Box  Brown"  during  his  tour,  in  relating  his  wonder- 
ful escape  from  American  slavery,  packed  in  a  dry  goods  box.  This 
story,  as  he  told  it,  in  his  plain,  simple  language,  how  he  had  permitted 
himself  to  be  nailed  up  in  a  box  and  shipped  north  as  freight,  consigned 
to  the  abolitionists,  carefully  marked  "  this  side  up  with  care,"  was  in- 
tensely interesting ;  and  people  crowded  to  his  meetings  to  hear  from 
his  own  lips  the  story  of  his  "  abolition,"  as  they  do  nowadays  to  an 
"agricultural  boss  trot."  The  carelessness  of  the  boat  hands  in  stow- 
ing the  box  away  upside  down,  leaving  him  for  some  days  without  the 
power  to  help  himself  to  the  little  food  he  had  prepared  for  his  journey, 
was  one  of  the  most  interesting  parts  of  his  story. 

Hon.  Lvford  Marston  was  born  in  Massachusetts  and  emigrated  to 
Kentucky,  where  he  became  a  law  partner  of  Hon.  Garrett  Davis,  the 
last  of  the  old  whig  senators  of  that  dark  and  somewhat  bloody  ground. 
About  1859  he  came  to  this  county  and  settled  on  his  farm  northwest 
of  the  present  city  of  Hoopeston.  He  has  been  a  successful  farmer  and 
stock-raiser.  In  1878  he  was  elected  to  the  state  legislature  by  a  very 
nattering  vote,  and  gave  a  very  close  and  attentive  care  to  the  duties 
of  his  position. 

CHURCHES. 

The  Antioch  church,  which  was  built  on  section  34,  about  two  miles 
from  the  southern  and  two  from  the  eastern  line  of  the  township,  was 
the  outgrowth  of  a  union  effort  for  securing  the  necessary  house  of 
worship  for  that  part  of  the  town.  Elder  Stites  at  an  early  day  had 
preached  there  at  the  house  of  James  Holmes,  who  was  a  member  of 


708  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUXTY. 

that  —  the  Christian  —  denomination,  and  others  of  that  connection 
followed.  Father  Connor  preached  there  in  1870,  and  Elders  Hubbard 
and  Stipp,  since.     Rev.  Mr.  Warren  is  now  serving  the  church. 

The  Methodist  class,  that  worships  in  the  same  place,  has  belonged 
to  the  Rossville  circuit,  and  has  been  served  by  the  same  pastors  who 
have  labored  at  Hoopeston.  The  church  is  a  neat  and  commodious 
building,  and  by  the  terms  of  its  building  is  to  be  free  to  be  occupied 
by  all  christian  denominations.  Noah  Brown  and  Mr.  Brillhart  were 
trustees,  and  were  largely  instrumental  in  collecting  the  means  to  build, 
which  was  subscribed  liberallv  by  all  the  neighborhood. 

The  first  town  meeting  held  in  Grant  township  after  it  was  cut  off 
from  Boss,  was  held  in  the  Owen  school-house,  April,  1862.  The  fol- 
lowing are  the  officers  who  have  been  elected  since  that  time: 

Date.     Vote.  Supervisor.  Clerk.  Assessor.  Collector. 

1862. . .  95. . .  J.  R.  Stewart A.  M.  Davis A.  M.  Davis W.  W.  Smith. 

1863...  89... J.  R.  Stewart A.  M.  Davis A.  M.  Davis W.  W.  Smith. 

1864...  98... J.  R.  Stewart A.  M.  Davis A.  M.  Davis J.  R.Smith. 

1865...  78...  J.  R.  Stewart A.  M.  Davis E.  B.Jenkins J.  R.Smith. 

1866...  100...  Fred.  Tilton   A.  M.  Davis E.  B.  Jenkins  ...  .A.  Warner. 

1867. .  .143. .  .Fred.  Tiltou A.  M.  Davis A.  M.  Davis Wni.Brillhart, 

1868. . .  152. .  .Ira  Green A?  M.  Davis A.  M.  Davis Wm.  Moore. 

1869...  134... Ira  Green A.  M.  Davis A.  M.  Davis Wm.  Moore. 

1870. . .  183. . .  C.  Hartwell A.M.  Davis A.  Warner Wm.  Moore. 

1871...  201...  C.  Hartwell A.  M.  Davis A.  Warner W.  W.  Duly. 

1872... 240...  W.  F.  Youngblood.A.  M.  Davis A.  Warner W.  W.  Duly. 

1873. .  .302. . . W.  F.  Youngblood.A.  M.  Davis L.  Marston T.  W.  Harris. 

1874. .  .373. .  .W.  F.  Youngblood.A.  M.  Davis J.  F.  Marquis. . .  .T.  W.  Harris. 

1875. .  .315. .  .W.  F.  Youngblood.A.  M.  Davis Wm.  Glaze W.  W.  Duly. 

1876 W.  F.  Youngblood.A.  Iff.  Davis J.  F.  Marquis. ..  .J.  F.  Marquis. 

1877 W.  F.  Youngblood.  A.  M.  Davis J.  F.  Marquis. . .  .W.  I.  Hobert. 

1878. .  .528. . .  W.  R.  Clark B.  F.  Stites J.  F.  Marquis. . .  .W.  I.  Hobert. 

1879. .  .576. . .  W.  R.  Clark B.  F.  Stites Thos.  Wolverton  .  W.  I.  Hobert. 

Justices  of  the  peace  have  been  :  James  Holmes,  E.  B.  Jenkins,  W. 
D.  Foulke,  A.  M.  Davis,  Wm.  Moore  and  L.  Armstrong. 

The  record  of  Grant  township  on  the  matter  of  railroad  aid  is  very 
similar  to  that  of  nearly  all  other  railroad  townships.  The  legislature 
of  the  state  in  response  to  an  almost  universal  demand  for  more  liberal 
facilities  for  railroad  building,  passed  in  1869  the  act  known  as  the 
refunding  act,  or,  in  common  parlance,  the  "  Tax  Grab."  There  were 
many  localities  in  the  state  like  the  one  here  in  northern  Vermilion, 
that  were  destitute  of  railroad  facilities.  There  was  not  sufficient  in- 
ducement for  any  company  to  build  roads  to  such  places  in  the  mere 
prospect  of  business  to  be  transacted,  and  the  counties  and  townships 
wanting  the  roads  could  not  well  afford  to  give  the  bonds  necessary  to 
go  on  with  the  enterprise,  so  the  plan  was  adopted  of  making  the  other 


GRANT   TOWNSHIP.  709 

counties  help  pay  for  the  investment.  An  act  was  passed  giving  to 
the  counties,  cities,  towns  or  townships  which  should  vote  aid  for  rail- 
road building  under  the  provisions  of  this  act,  all  the  state  taxes  which 
should  be  raised  on  the  railroad  so  built,  and  on  its  property,  and  all 
state  tax  on  all  increase  of  assessment  over  the  assessment  of  1868,  as 
a  fnnd  to  help  pay  the  bonds  issued  in  aid  of  railroads. 

An  election  was  called,  May  11,  1867,  to  vote  for  or  against  giving 
$14,000  to  the  Chicago,  Danville  &  Yincennes  railroad,  but  the  elec- 
tion was  adjourned  without  action  in  consequence  of  informality.  June 
3d  an  election  was  held,  which  resulted  in  132  for,  to  17  against,  such 
aid.  A  special  town  meeting  held  on  the  25th  of  August,  1868,  to 
vote  for  or  against  $4,500  additional  in  aid  of  the  same  road,  which 
resulted  in  a  vote  of  60  for,  to  19  against.  At  a  later  date, —  but  the 
township  records  fail  to  show  anything  in  regard  to  it, —  a  vote  was 
had  to  take  $25,000  stock  in  the  Lafayette,  Bloomington  &  Mississippi 
railroad.  The  bonds  were  issued,  the  stock  was  taken,  but  by  a  recent 
foreclosure  of  the  mortgage  the  stock  has  all  been  wiped  out,  and  Grant 
is  not  an}r  longer  a  railroad  stock  holder.  On  the  27th  of  June,  1876, 
a  special  town  meeting  was  held  to  decide,  by  a  vote  of  the  township, 
whether  they  would  employ  counsel  to  contest  the  payment  of  the 
bonds,  which  resulted  in  a  vote  of  135  for,  to  17  against,  such  contest; 
and  a  vote  was  also  taken  in  favor  of  raising  $4,000  by  tax,  to  use  in 
contesting  the  bonds.  Hon.  Charles  H.  Wood,  of  Chicago,  was  em- 
ployed, under  the  resolution  of  this  meeting,  to  take  care  of  the  case 
in  behalf  of  the  township. 

HOOPESTON A    CITY    OF    EIGHT   YEARS. 

Hoopeston  is  at  the  crossing  of  the  Chicago  &  Eastern  Illinois  and 
the  Lafayette,  Bloomington  &  Muncie  railroads;  is  situated  on  the 
high  rolling  prairie  which  forms  the  dividing  ridge  between  the  waters 
of  the  Wabash  and  the  Illinois  rivers,  and  in  the  artesian  region,  forty- 
two  miles  from  La  Fayette,  twent}'-seven  from  Danville,  twenty-six 
from  Paxton,  and  twenty -four  from  Watseka.  When  the  railroads 
were  built  through  here,  in  1871,  the  entire  country,  for  miles  around, 
with  the  exception  of  the  Hoopes  farm,  was  an  unbroken  prairie,  and 
with  no  trading  point  or  railroad  nearer  than  the  places  above  men- 
tioned, it  was  known  that  this  must  soon  become  a  place  of  consider- 
able importance.  The  two  construction  companies  which  were  building 
these  roads,  Snell,  Taylor  &  Co.  and  Young  &  Co.,  looked  with  covet- 
ous eyes  upon  this  railroad  crossing,  both  inwardly  vowing  that  they 
would  possess  the  prize.  Both  companies  were  in  the  height  of  their 
prosperity  (this  was  in  1871,  before  the  panic  of  '73  had  knocked  the 


710  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

bottom  out  of  every  railroad  enterprise  and  construction  company  in 
the  country),  both  being  managed  by  shrewd,  determined,  positive 
men,  who  were  not  in  the  habit  of  being  thwarted  in  their  plans. 
Both,  at  that  time,  "  knew  no  such  word  as  fail."  "  When  Greek 
meets  Greek  then  comes  the  tug  of  war,"  and  this  struggle  between 
the  two  contestants  for  this  prize  was  about  the  only  "war  record" 
this  young  city  ever  knew.  Young  &  Co.,  through  their  agent,  Mr. 
Honeywell,  made  acceptable  terms  with  the  land  owners  on  the  east  of 
the  Chicago,  Danville  &  Yincennes  road,  and  supposed  they  had  made 
terms  with  Mr.  Hoopes ;  but  while  they  were  like  the  servant  of  the 
prophet,  "  here  and  there,"  Col.  Snell  closed  a  bargain  with  Mr. 
Hoopes  for  one  thousand  acres  of  his  land  lying  west  of  the  junction, 
and  forestalled  Young  6z  Co. 

Mr.  Hoopes  knew  enough  to  manage  a  good  farm,  but  he  doubted 
his  ability  to  go  into  a  scramble  for  selling  city  lots ;  for  this  reason  he 
would  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  business,  but  was  ready  to  sell  out 
to  either  party. 

When  Young  &  Co.  found  that  they  were  defeated  in  their  plan  of 
getting  control  of  all  the  land  which  would  come  into  the  town  plat, 
thev  bent  their  efforts  to  make  the  most  of  what  thev  had,  while  the 
other  firm,  intent  on  a  like  operation,  hurried  up  the  platting  of  their 
part,  and  making  such  improvements  as  should  offer  strong  induce- 
ments to  business  men.  In  the  rage  for  speculation  three  separate 
towns  were  laid  out  and  recorded.  Davis  and  Satterthwait  laid  out 
eighteen  acres,  on  the  28th  of  July,  where  Main  street  is,  and  called  it 
Hoopeston.  Snell,  Taylor  &  Co.  (consisting  of  Col.  Thomas  Snell,  of 
Clinton ;  Abner  Taylor,  Esq.,  of  Chicago,  and  James  Aiken,  who  re- 
cently died  in  Chicago,  with  Mr.  Mix,  of  Kankakee,  as  a  special  part- 
ner) laid  out  in  November  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  where  the 
Hibbard  House  stands,  and  called  it  Leeds.  Thompson  Brothers  laid 
out  that  east  and  north  of  the  railroads,  and  called  it  North  Hoopeston  ; 
and  Davis  and  Satterthwait  an  addition  to  Hoopeston, — making,  with 
some  other  additions,  about  five  hundred  acres  in  all. 

The  track  of  the  C.  D.  &  Y.  road  was  laid  through  town  on  the 
2-ith  of  July,  1871,  and  not  a  house  nearer  than  a  mile.  The  next  day 
a  few  people  collected  to  see  the  surveyors  drive  the  first  stake  of  the 
future  metropolis  of  the  prairie.  Charles  Wyman  was  the  first  to  com- 
mence laying  off  aud  selling  lots.  Messrs.  Lukens  Brothers,  who  are 
still  in  business  here,  were  the  first  to  purchase.  On  the  28th  of  July. 
Mr.  Wyman's  office,  the  first  building,  was  built  by  J.  C.  Davis,  who 
was  the  pioneer  carpenter  and  did  a  prosperous  business  until  he  was 
repeatedly  burned  out.    J.  Bedell,  who  is  yet  here  in  trade,  started  the 


GKANT   TOWNSHIP.  711 

first  grocery  store.  The  strife  between  the  different  landed  proprietors 
grew  warm.  The  proprietors  of  Leeds  built  a  large  hotel  three  stories 
high  and  had  it  ready  for  occupancy  that  fall,  and  soon  after  that  built 
the  fine  brick  block,  two  stories  high,  and  the  live  frame  one-story 
stores  and  the  large  livery  barn,  all  of  which  buildings  now  stand  there 
practically  unused.  They  put  in  wide  sidewalks,  set  out  shade  trees, 
graded  up  the  streets  and  run  the  grade  out  a  mile  from  their  center. 
They  made  very  liberal  offers  to  such  as  wanted  to  rent  buildings 
of  them,  but  the  lots  lying  between  their  improvements  and  the  lands 
of  the  other  proprietors  they  would  not  sell  at  any  price.  Their  plan 
looks  reckless  now,  in  the  light  of  eight  years,  but  after  the  contest 
they  had  for  the  possession  of  the  town,  there  does  not  seem  to  have 
been  any  other  course  for  them  to  pursue.  Had  they  permitted 
the  lots  joining  the  tracts  of  others  to  be  put  on  the  market  first,  they 
could  hardly  have  expected  to  retain  the  business  on  their  lands.  The 
proprietors  of  the  original  town  were  pushing  their  lots  into  notice, 
and  every  person  who  purchased  there  became  an  attorney  in  fact 
to  work  up  a  sale  of  the  remaining  lots  as  fast  as  possible. 

During  the  first  season  the  lots  along  Market  street,  of  North 
Hoopeston,,  were  the  popular  ones,  and  nearly  every  business  was 
located  on  that  street,  which  became  the  thoroughfare  of  trade  and 
commerce.  "Way  out  north  of  the  railroad,  for  four  blocks,  buildings 
went  up  in  cpick  succession,  nearly  all  the  stores,  the  postoffice,  the 
printing  office,  and  in  fact  nearly  everything  called  business  was  in 
North  Hoopeston.  B.  F.  Stites  wasN  pretty  nearly  in  the  center  of 
trade. 

In  October  the  postoffice  was  established  and  J.  M.  R.  Spinning 
was  appointed  postmaster,  a  position  he  continued  to  hold  until  1878, 
when  Judge  Dale  Wallace  was  appointed,  but  the  first  mail  did  not 
arrive  here,  for  some  unexplained  cause,  until  the  9th  of  December, 
when  it  was  brought. over  from  Rossville  in  an  open  buggy,  which  had 
to  be  provided  for  the  occasion  free  of  expense  to  the  postoffice  depart- 
ment. It  was  not  until  the  1st  of  January,  1872,  that  mail  came  by 
the  trains. 

In  October  of  that  year  religious  services  commenced  to  be  held  in 
the  store  of  Mr.  McCracken  ;  this  was  for  some  months  headquarters 
for  religious  instruction  and  heavenly  intelligence.  The  people  were 
not  so  particular  what  a  man's  denominational  credentials  were  ;  if 
he  could  preach,  and  was  not  above  occupying  "  McCracken's  pulpit," 
they  heard  him  gladly.  Seavy  &  Wallace  commenced  the  publication 
of  the  first  and  only  newspaper  ever  published  in  Hoopeston,  issuing 
the  first  number  on  the  11th  of  January,  1872,  of  "  The  North  Ver- 


712  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

milion  Chronicle."  The  first  number  gave  a  very  full  account  of  the 
"  Early  days  of  Hoopeston  " —  the  town  was  less  than  six  months  old, 
and  was  full  of  interest  to  every  resident.  The  first  number  which 
came  from  the  press  was  put  up  at  auction  and  sold  for  $32.50  ;  the  few 
succeeding  copies  were  also  sold  in  the  same  way,  commanding  sums 
which  made  the  young  proprietors  feel  an  assurance  of  certain  success. 
It  was  a  seven-column  folio  and  contained  about  six  columns  of  adver- 
tisements. The  following  persons  and  firms  made  known  their  desire 
to  do  business  with  the  citizens  of  Hoopeston  and  the  surrounding 
prairie,  in  the  first  number:  Whipple  &  Brown,  S.  K.  White,  G.  C. 
Davis,  Deamude  &  Lefever  (of  Rossville),  Ed.  Stemp,  J.  W.  Elliott, 
G.  H.  White,  MofFett  &  Kirkpatrick,  J.  Bedell,  E.  D.  North,  F.  G. 
Hoffman,  Miller  &  Brother,  A.  B.  Perkins,  R.  Morey,  Given  &  Knox, 
R.  McCracken,  Roof  &  Rae,  Mrs.  Robb,  Dr..  Anderson,  Dr.  McCaughey, 
J.  C.  Askern,  Esq.,  J.  H.  Phillips,  Snell,  Taylor  &  Co.,  C.  L.  Wy- 
rnan  and  B.  Sanders.  The  paper  continued  to  be  published  under  that 
name  for  a  year  and  a  half,  and  then  the  name  was  changed  to  the 
"  Hoopeston  Chronicle."  After  about  four  years  Seavey  &  Wallace 
sold  it,  but  a  year  later  Mr.  Wallace  purchased  it  and  continues  to 
publish  it.  The  "  Chronicle  "  has  always  been  a  first-class  local  paper, 
and  has  received  a  liberal  patronage  from  the  enterprising,  stirring- 
citizens  of  this  lively  young  city.     It  is  republican  in  politics. 

On  the  1st  of  January,  1872,  five  months  after  the  surveyor's  stakes 
had  been  driven  in  the  wild  prairie,  seventy  buildings  had  been  erected 
and  the  population  was  two  hundred  and  forty-five,  and  by  the  1st  of 
January,  1873, —  less  than  one  year  and  a  half, —  one  hundred  and 
eighty  buildings  were  up,  the  population  had  increased  to  eight  hun- 
dred, and  seventeen  miles  of  streets  had  been  graded,  three  hotels  built, 
a  bank  started,  the  principal  streets  provided  with  sidewalks,  an  ele- 
vator built,  and  over  forty  business  houses  in  full  operation.  The  history 
of  Illinois  may  be  searched  in  vain  for  a  parallel  to  the  sudden  growth 
and  development  of  the  wild  prairie.  Only  in  the  wild  speculations  of 
mining  camps  can  the  like  be  found.  Chicago  was  many  years  in  mak- 
ing a  similar  growth.  Neither  has  this  growth  proved  fitful  and  un- 
certain. The  men  who  first  pinned  their  faith  to  Hoopeston  remain  to 
realize,  in  a  great  measure,  the  full  fruition  of  that  hope.  The  failure 
of  the  speculative  enterprise  of  Snell,  Taylor  &  Co.,  after  investing 
about  $25,000  in  buildings  and  improvements,  is  the  only  exception  to 
the  general  success. 

CHURCHES,    SOCIETIES,    SCHOOLS,    ETC. 

The  Methodist  society  was  organized  in  1872  by  Rev.  B.  F.  Hyde, 
of  Rossville,  and  presiding  elder  Rev.  Preston  Wood.     The  preaching 


GRANT  TOWNSHIP.  713 

was  at  first  in  McCracken's  store.  It  took  some  time  to  get  matters 
started  in  this  town,  so  that  the  preachers  conld  have  regular  places 
for  preaching  the  Word.  The  circuit  at  that  time  included  Schwartz, 
East  Lynne  and  Antioch,  Kev.  A.  H.  Alkire  heing  pastor.  In  1873 
Rev.  W.  Lang  was  pastor,  J.  W.  Phillips,  presiding  elder.  Dick 
School-house  and  Bridgman  School-house  were  added  as  regular  ap- 
pointments. In  1874  J.  Muirhead  was  pastor,  his  pastorate  continuing 
three  years.  During  his  time  the  church  was  commenced.  It  is  a  fine 
structure,  very  pleasantly  located,  with  a  beautiful  spire  one  hundred 
and  thirteen  feet  high.  It  is  in  the  Gothic  style  of  architecture, 
34  x  56,  to  which  has  been  added  an  extension  for  a  class-room,  16  x  40. 
The  building  is  yet  incomplete,  and  has  cost  $3,300.  In  1877  Rev.  H. 
M.  Hoff  was  appointed  to  this  circuit,  and  still  remains  in  the  work. 
The  present  membership  of  the  church  is  eighty-six;  J.  Lakin,  Thomas 
Smith  and  M.  G.  Miller,  class  leaders.  The  Sunday-school  under  the 
superintendency  of  E.  B.  Row  is  in  a  nourishing  condition,  numbering 
about  seventy-five,  and  is  maintained  all  the  year. 

The  United  Presbyterian  church  was  organized  in  May,  1872,  by 
Rev.  J.  D.  Whitham,  who  lived  at  that  time  at  Sugar  Creek,  near 
Rankin,  and  when  the  wave  of  migration  carried  many  members  of 
the  church  from  Paxton  to  Hoopeston,  he  collected  them  together  and 
organized  a  church  of  twenty-two  members,  with  T.  C.  McCaughey, 
G.  M.  Kirkpatrick  and  R.  M.  Knox  as  ruling  elders,  who  still  continue 
to  officiate.  Thirteen  of  the  original  members  still  continue  here. 
Rev.  R.  C.  Wyatt  served  the  church  for  two  years  as  stated  supply. 
At  first  the  meetings  were  held  in  the  only  "synagogue"  in  town,  Mc- 
Cracken's store.  Rev.  R.  C.  Hamilton,  from  Ohio,  preached  to  the 
congregation  for  three  months.  Rev.  E.  D.  Campbell,  Rev.  J.  H. 
Gibson  and  Rev.  G.  W.  Torrance  successively  labored,  and  Rev.  T.  A. 
Houston  is  present  supply.  While  Mr.  Gibson  was  in  charge  the 
church  was  built  —  a  neat,  substantial  edifice  36  x  55,  with  session  room 
attached  —  at  a  cost  of  $1,500.  The  church  numbers  forty-eight.  The 
Sunday-school  is  the  continuation  of  the  original  Union  school,  of 
which  Dr.  McCaughey  was  superintendent,  and  who  still  continues 
the  same  relation.  The  school  numbers  about  one  hundred,  has  twelve 
teachers,  and  is  interesting  and  successful. 

The  Baptist  church  was  organized  by  Rev.  G.  T.  Willis,  from  Cham- 
paign, in  1873,  with  twelve  members.  He  continued  to  preach  for  two 
years.  The  church  belongs  to  the  Gilman  Association,  and  has  simply 
kept  up  its  connections,  and  has  no  church  or  pastor. 

The  First  Presbyterian  church  of  Hoopeston  was  organized  on  the 
3d  of  May,  1872,  by  Rev.  A.  L.  Brooks  and  Rev.  Mr.  Steel,  a  commit- 


714  HISTOKY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

tee  of  the  Blooming-ton  Presbyter}^  with  eighteen  members.  E.  R. 
Strauss,  W.  Maxwell  and  L.  W.  Anderson,  elders.  Mr.  Steele  preached 
one  year  one-third  of  the  time.  Rev.  M.  Lynn  supplied  the  church  for 
one  year.  In  the  fall  of  1877,  Rev.  A.  L.  Knox,  formerly  of  Hey  worth, 
was  employed  to  preach,  preaching  each  morning  and  evening,  and  at 
Victor  school-honse  and  Ross  school-honse,  afternoons.  The  present 
elders  are  D.  B.  Crane,  H.  Lukens,  Josiah  Jones,  John  Miller  and  John 
Palmer.  The  Sabbath-school  numbers  about  sixty,  with  H.  Lukens, 
superintendent.  The  church  numbers  thirty-six,  and  has  no  house  of 
worship,  but  meets  in  Clark's  hall. 

The  church  of  Christ  (Christian)  was  organized  June,  1873,  by  Elder 
Rawley  Martin  with  twelve  members.  J.  M.  R.  Spinning  and  J.  S. 
Shirley,  elders;  J.  Hawkins  and  Thomas  Roof,  deacons.  Elders  Roe 
and  A.  R.  Owen  were  successive  pastors  of  the  young  church,  and  Rev. 
C.  Austin  the  present  preacher.  The  church  edifice  was  built  in  1874, 
is  36x50,  a  neat  substantial  building  with  steeple,  and  cost  about 
$1,800.  The  present  membership  is  sixty-five,  and  present  officers  are 
John  Williams,  J.  Hawkins  and  George  Chamberlain,  elders;  Win. 
Bloomfield  and  Joseph  Green,  deacons. " 

There  were  representatives  of  the  Friends  here  at  Hoopeston  from 
the  laying  out  of  the  new  town.  Joseph  M.  Satterthwait  was  one  of 
the  original  proprietors  of  the  town.  In  1872  he  built  a  commodious 
dwelling,  corner  of  Third  and  Penn  streets,  into  which,  during  the 
fall,  himself  and  wife,  Isaac  T.  Lukens  and  wife,  and  Miss  Edith  Mul- 
len, moved.  Here,  in  their  new  home,  the  first  meetings  were  held, 
which  were  continued,  according  to  the  rules  and  discipline  of  the 
Friends,  twice  a  week  —  first  day  and  fifth  day  —  for  a  year.  In  1873 
R.  M.  Lukens,  wife  and  daughter,  joined  the  pioneers  of  that  faith 
here.  Mr.  Lukens  had  a  building  erected  on  the  corner  of  Third  and 
Main,  and  arranged  it  for  a  meeting-house.  His  proposition  to  the 
Friends  to  occupy  this  met  with  very  general  acquiescence.  It  was 
here,  in  the  fall  of  1873,  that  the  first  public  meetings  of  the  "Rich- 
land Meeting  of  Friends"  were  held,  where  they  continue  to  meet. 
Several  of  their  number  have  passed  away,  and  others  have  come  in, 
keeping  a  steady  growth,  not  only  in  numbers  but  in  that  channel  of 
love  and  friendship  becoming  their  christian  profession. 

SCHOOLS. 

In  no  respect  does  the  public  spirit  of  the  people  of  Hoopeston 
show  a  better  development  than  in  the  matter  of  schools.  No  sooner 
had  the  village  got  under  way  than  a  live  board  of  directors  was  elect- 
ed—  G.  C.  Davis,  Mr.  Armstrong,  and  Win.  Moore  —  who  proceeded 


GRANT   TOWNSHIP. 


715 


at  once  to  put  the  school  in  running  order.  The  first  need  was  a  suit- 
able house.  It  became  a  question  whether  the  district  should  build  a 
good,  substantial,  well-proportioned,  large  school-house, —  one  within 
whose  walls  all  could  be  accommodated,  and  whose  spacious  propor- 
tions, beautiful  surroundings  and  pleasant  appointments  would  inspire 
the  pupil,  and  awaken  taste,  love  of  school  and  culture, —  or  whether 
cheap,  scattered  buildings  should  be  erected,  in  which  a  strict  grade 
could  not  be  instituted.  The  former  was  wisely  chosen,  and  it  was 
through  this  decision  that  the  Hoopeston  public  schools  have  become 
known  far  and  wide  as  among  the  best  in  the  country.  This  action 
necessitated  a  heavy  debt,  but  it  is  now  well-nigh  wiped  out.    In  what- 


HOOPESTON    PUBLIC   SCHOOL   BUILDING. 


ever  the  directors  have  done  to  make  the  schools  more  effective,  the 
people  have  cordially  seconded  them,  and  the  result  has  been  that  the 
officers  have  felt  sustained.  The  present  directors  are:  W.  K.  Clark, 
Win.  Glaze  and  Joseph  Green,  under  whose  excellent  administration  the 
school  has  attained  the  highest  standard  of  success.  In  1877  the  pre- 
sent principal  was  employed.  His  work  has  given  such  general  satis- 
faction that  a  large  number  of  pupils  have  come  in  from  the  country 
around  about  to  perfect  their  studies  as  teachers,  or  business  men,  or 
farmers,  and  farmers'  wives.  During  the  past  year  nearly  four  hun- 
dred dollars  has  been  received  from  foreign  pupils  for  tuition.  The 
Hoopeston  Normal  School  is  held  each  summer,  under  the  direction  of 


716  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Prof.  T.  B.  Bird,  where  teachers  and  those  about  to  teach  are  pre- 
pared for  their  work.  The  success  of  their  school  is  not  more  a  matter 
of  pride  to  the  directors  and  teachers  than  of  gratulation  to  the  citi- 
zens. 

SOCIETIES. 

Star  Lodge,  No.  709,  Free  and  Accepted  Masons,  was  chartered  in 
1872.  The  charter  members  are:  George  Steely,  William  Moore,  Will- 
iam Brillhart,  Cyrus  Hartwell,  J.  S.  Crane,  Thomas  Williams,  Jona- 
than Bedell,  E.  D.  North  and  J.  M.  R.  Spinning.  J.  Bedell  was  first 
master.  The  present  officers  are:  Dale  Wallace,  W.M. ;  P.  F.  Levin, 
S.W. ;  R.  Miskimmins,  J.W. ;  J.  S.  Powell,  Sec;  J.  A.  Cunning- 
ham, Treas.;  L.  R.  North,  S.D. ;  T.  C.  Baxter,  J.D. ;  P.  W.  Silver,  T. 
Lodge  numbers  about  seventy.  They  have  a  fine  lodge  room  in  the 
bank  building. 

Hoopeston  Chapter  (under  dispensation)  numbers  fourteen  mem- 
bers. William  Moore,  LLP. ;  P.  F.  Levin,  K. ;  J.  A.  Cunningham, 
Scribe ;  Dale  Wallace,  Sec. ;  Thomas  Williams,  Treas. 

Hoopeston  Lodge,  I.O.O.F.,  was  organized  September,  1872,  with 
the  following  charter  members:  W.  F.  Rader,  N.G. ;  Sydney  Teller, 
Y.G. ;  B.  F.  Stites,  Sec. ;  John  Burns  and  H.  Shaver.  It  numbers 
forty  members.  The  following  are  present  officers:  W.  F.  Rader, N.G. ; 
A.  F.  McKnight,  Y.G. ;  Thomas  Wolverton,  R.S. ;  B.  F.  Stites,  Sec. ; 
J.  Wyford,  Treas.     It  meets  every  Tuesday  evening. 

As  soon  as  Hoopeston  took  shape,  and  the  active,  live  men  who 
had  come  to  stay  set  about  putting  in  motion  every  measure  which 
would  improve  their  condition,  with  this  view  the  Hoopeston  District 
Agricultural  Society  was  formed,  on  the  12th  of  July,  1873.  Cyrus 
Hartwell  was  elected  president;  J.  Ellis,  vice-president;  Thomas  Will- 
iams, treasurer ;  G.  W.  Seavy,  secretary.  The  stock  was  fixed  at  $5,000, 
but  afterward  increased  to  $10,000.  The  society  got  thirty  acres  of 
land  half  a  mile  west  of  the  railroad,  enclosed  it,  erected  stalls,  floral 
hall  and  mechanics'  hall,  laid  out  a  good  track,  and  in  six  weeks  from 
the  date  of  organization,  held  one  of  the  largest  and  most  successful 
fairs  ever  held  in  this  portion  of  the  state.  The  receipts  of  the  first 
fair  were  $2,100.  Since  then,  an  amphitheatre  has  been  built,  music 
stand,  officers'  stand,  dining  hall,  a  building  for  exhibition  of  fine  car- 
riages, and  other  necessary  buildings.  Shade  trees  have  been  set  out, 
and  everything  put  in  first-class  order.  The  society  has  given  more 
attention  to  offering  liberal  inducements  to  fine  stock  than  to  fast 
horses,  and  has  been  a  decided  success  from  the  first.  There  is  a  splen- 
did supply  of  water  on  the  fair  grounds.  The  premiums  have  been 
paid  in  full  in  cash  each  year,  without  deduction.    The  society  is  in  the 


GRANT  TOWNSHIP.  717 

hands  of  men  who  generally  make  a  success  of  what  they  undertake, 
and  the  success  thus  far  shows  that  it  is  being  run  on  business  princi- 
ples. 

The  Hoopeston  Library  and  Lecture  Association  was  organized 
December  30,  1872,  and  Hon.  Lyford  Marston  elected  president;  R. 
Casemut,  vice-president ;  G.  W.  Seavy,  secretary  ;  W.  Gloze,  treasurer ; 
S.  E.  Miller,  librarian.  The  membership  fee  was  fixed  at  one  dollar 
per  year,  and  had  fifty  members.  The  interest  in  it  has  not  been  main- 
tained as  it  should  have  been. 

The  Sunbonnet  Club  is  an  exclusive  society  of  youngerly  ladies, 
which  has  among  its  objects  the  support  of  a  library  association.  Mem- 
bership to  the  library  association  is  subject  to  an  annual  fee  of  one 
dollar.  Membership  to  the  club  is  not  dependent  upon  a  property 
qualification,  but  on  the  expressed  will  of  all  the  members.  All  that 
outsiders  know  of  the  qualifications  of  membership  is  that  a  sunbonnet 
is  indispensable,  and  that  the  Lauras  are  very  apt  to  be  admitted. 
Whether  the  members  are  all  striving  for  a  laural  crown  is  mere  con- 
jecture. The  officers  are :  president,  Addie  Reame ;  vice-president, 
Jennie  Dyer;  corresponding  secretary,  Laura  Fleming;  treasurer, 
Laura  Calkins  ;  secretary,  Laura  Smythe. 

INCORPORATION. 

On  the  12th  of  January,  1874,  a  petition  was  presented  to  the 
county  court  of  Vermilion  county  by  W.  R.  Clark  and  fifty-six  others, 
praying  for  incorporation  as  a  village  under  the  act  of  1872,  with  the 
following  corporate  limits:  the  east  half  of  section  11,  the  west  three- 
fourths  of  section  12  (23-11),  and  the  south  half  of  the  southwest 
quarter  and  the  southwest  quarter  of  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  1, 
and  the  south  half  of  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  2  (23-12).  The 
court  entertained  the  prayer  of  the  petitioners,  and  appointed  an  elec- 
tion to  be  held  at  the  store  of  William  Brillhart,  January  31,  to  vote 
for  or  against  such  organization,  and  appointed  W.  R.  Clark,  T.  J.  Corr 
and  J.  S.  Dellose  judges  of  such  election.  At  such  election  174  votes 
were  cast,  98  being  for  and  76  being  against  such  incorporation.  The 
court  ordered  an  election  to  be  held  Saturday,  February  28,  for  six 
trustees  for  the  government  of  said  village,  and  appointed  the  same 
judges  to  conduct  the  election.  At  that  election  172  votes  were  cast, 
and  the  following  trustees  were  elected :  T.  J.  Corr,  J.  Bedell,  N. 
Dauner,  W.  R.  Clark,  S.  P.  Thompson,  L.  North. 

The  board  of  trustees  proceeded  to  organize  by  electing  T.  J.  Corr 
president  and  J.  M.  R.  Spining,  clerk.  A  vote  of  thanks  was  unani- 
mously returned  to  L.  Armstrong,  Esq.,  for  swearing  the  trustees  into 


718 


HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 


office.  J.  W.  Hawkins  was  appointed  street  commissioner,  G.  W. 
Seavy,  police  constable,  and  J.  S.  McFerren,  treasurer.  At  the  regu- 
lar annual  election,  April  21,  W.  R.  Clark,  S.  P.  Thompson,  N.  L. 
Thompson,  Thomas  Watkins,  W.  A.  Brillhart  and  L.  Armstrong  were 
elected  trustees;  A.  H.  Young,  police  magistrate,  and  J.  S.  Powell, 
clerk.  The  salary  of  the  clerk  was  fixed  at  §100.  Just  how  this 
flourishing  village  got  into  the  order  of  cities  seems  to  be  a  mysterv. 
Certain  it  is  that  there  is  no  record  of  any  action  taken,  by  vote  or 
otherwise,  to  get  into  city  organization.  Indeed  it  is  said  that  at  the 
time  of  this  metamorphosis  there  was  no  law  on  the  statute  books  per- 
mitting the  change  from  village  to  city,  and  that  the  entire  proceeding 
was  illegal.  The  only  reasonable  explanation  is  that  Hoopeston,  like 
the  parliament  of  Great  Britain,  could  do  anything,  and  it  just  naturally 
moved  out  from  its  outgrown  position  of  village,  and  took  orders  in 
the  city  line,  with  a  kind  of  "who's  afraid;  bring  on  your  almanac" 
air.  The  question  of  its  right  to  do  so  is  yet  unsolved.  The  present 
officers  (1879)  are:  A.  Honeywell,  mayor;  W.  M.  Young,  clerk;  Mr. 
Bedell,  treasurer;  H.  H.  Dyer,  attorney;  J.  Miller.  A.  M.  Fleming 
and  Joseph  Crouch,  aldermen. 

At  first  Hoopeston  was  three-headed,  as  has  been  heretofore  ex- 
plained. The  effort  of  those  who  had  her  best  interests  at  heart  was 
to  combine  these  three  and  condense  the  business  as  much  as  possible 
on  Main  street,  so  that  now  her  finest  structures  are  found  on  that 
street.     The  buildings  which  were  put  up  by  Snell,  Taylor  &  Co.  have 

gone  into  disuse.  The  Hibbard 
House,  at  the  time  of  its  building, 
was  the  finest  hotel  in  the  county, 
and  the  stores  are  almost  all  unoc- 
cupied. The  line  of  Market  street 
has  been  pretty  nearly  abandoned  by 
the  mercantile  gentlemen,  although 
some  good  stores  remain  there.  The 
fine  bank  building  built  by  Mr. 
McFerren  in  1S76  is  24x60,  brick, 
two  stories  and  basement.  It  is  a 
very  neat  building,  nicely  trimmed, 
and  is  occupied  by  Mr.  McFerren  as 
a  bank,  and  with  his  partner,  as  a 
real  estate  office,  and  by  H.  H.  Dyer  as  a  law  office,  on  the  main  floor. 
The  entire  basement  is  occupied  by  the  "  Chronicle "  office  editorial 
and  press  rooms.  Above,  the  Masonic  fraternity  have  an  elegant 
lodge-room.     The  building  cost  $5,000,  and  is  the  finest  building  in 


M  FERREN  S   BANK    BUILDING. 


GRANT   TOWNSHIP.  719 

town.  W.  R.  Clark  and  Dr.  T.  J.  Roof  built,  in  1877,  the  two-story 
brick  double  store  across  the  street,  west  from  the  bank.  It  is  50  x  100, 
occupied  by  the  proprietors  below,  and  by  the  Odd-Fellows  over  Dr. 
Roof's,  and  as  a  public  hall  over  Mr.  Clark's.  The  building  cost 
$7,500.  Thomas  Hoopes,  the  same  year,  built  the  double  brick  store 
north  of  the  bank.  It  is  45  x  80,  and  occupied  for  stores  below  and 
offices  above.  It  cost  $7,000.  The  little  city  contains  a  number  of 
other  substantial  business  houses  and  residences  that  would  appear 
respectable  in  any  town  in  the  west. 

WEAVER    CITY. 

A  city  which  came  into  being  and  disappeared  without  a  history, 
was  laid  out  by  George  Weaver  where  the  L.  B.  &  M.  railroad  crosses 
the  Indiana  line.  The  town  plat  as  recorded  and  afterward  vacated, 
consisted  of  four  blocks  on  the  north  half  of  section  6  (23-10). 

BIOGRAPHICAL. 

Watts  Finley,  Hoopeston,  farmer,  was  born  in  Dearborn  county, 
Indiana,  on  the  4th  of  November,  1833.  He  is  the  son  of  David  and 
Nancy  (Miller)  Finley.  His  parents  removed  the  same  year  to  this 
county  and  settled  near  Catlin.  In  the  spring  of  1846  his  older  brother, 
David,  enlisted  in  Capt.  Lewis  Payne's  company  of  an  Indiana  regi- 
ment ;  fought  at  Buena  Vista,  Vera  Cruz  and  Cerro  Gordo ;  died  at 
Puebla  of  scarlet  fever  in  March,  1847.  In  the  spring  of  1855,  he,  in 
company  with  his  brother  Miller  and  his  sister  Nancy  (now  Mrs.  Sam- 
uel Frazier,  of  Danville),  settled  on  a  farm  of  two  hundred  acres,  in 
sections  24  and  25,  town  23,  range  12,  where  he  now  lives.  He  has 
made  stock-raising  his  principal  business,  and  has  been  successful  in 
accumulating  a  handsome  property.  He  is  one  of  the  substantial  and 
sterling  citizens  of  Grant  township,  and  is  held  in  universal  esteem. 
He  was  married  on  the  17th  of  April,  1859,  to  Miss  Margaret  Davis, 
daughter  of  Amaziah  Davis,  deceased.  She  was  born  on  the  16th  of 
April,  1834.  They  have  three  children  :  David,  born  on  the  29th  of 
August,  and  died  on  the  30th  of  September,  1860 ;  Mary,  born  on  the 
25th  of  February,  1863 ;  Charles,  born  on  the  6th  of  September,  1867. 
Mr.  Finley  owns  seven  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land,  worth  $26,000. 
He  is  a  republican.     Mrs.  F.  is  a  member  of  the  M.  E.  church. 

James  W.  Smith,  Rossville,  merchant,  was  born  in  Vermilion  county, 
Illinois,  on  the  18th  of  December,  1833,  and  is  a  son  of  William  and 
Catherine  (Yeazel)  Smith.  He  was  brought  up  to  till  the  soil.  When 
eighteen  years  old  he  moved  to  Edgar  county,  Illinois,  and  in  1869,  to 
Labette  county,  Kansas,  returning  to  Edgar  county  in  1872.     He  re- 


720  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

turned  to  his  native  county  on  the  1st  of  January,  1879,  establishing  his 
home  in  Rossville,  where  he  is  at  present  employed  in  the  store  owned 
by  his  brother,  John  R.  Smith.  He  has  followed  merchandising  six- 
teen or  seventeen  years,  most  of  the  time  in  Grandview,  and  the  rest  of 
the  time  at  Paris,  Edgar  county.  He  has  traveled  through  twenty- 
eisrht  states  of  the  Union  and  some  of  the  territories.  From  1862  to 
1865  he  was  deputy  provost  marshal  for  Edgar  county,  under  Dr.  Wm. 
Fithian.  He  was  educated  principally  at  the  high  school  at  Grand- 
view;  he  was  local  correspondent  of  the  "Cincinnati  Gazette"  during 
the  years  1874-5.  He  married  on  the  10th  of  February,  1852,  Miss 
Frances  L.  Smith.  They  have  two  children  living :  William  W.,  and 
Nellie,  wife  of  John  Tate.     Mr.  Smith  is  a  republican  in  politics. 

Frederick  Tilton,  Rossville,  farmer,  was  born  in  the  Province  of 
Quebec,  Canada,  on  the  5th  of  March,  1821.  He  is  the  son  of  Abiel 
F.  and  Cynthia  (Thompson)  Tilton,  and  was  descended  from  English 
blood.  Three  brothers  named  Tilton  came  from  England  about  two 
hundred  years  ago :  one  of  them  settled  in  New  Hampshire,  one  in 
Virginia,  and  the  other,  it  is  thought,  in  Pennsylvania.  About  1812 
his  parents  went  to  Canada  to  make  themselves  a  home  ;  his  father  was 
a  native  of  New  Hampshire  and  his  mother  of  Massachusetts.  In  the 
spring  of  1835  he  emigrated  with  his  parents  to  Medina  county,  Ohio, 
and  the  next  spring  they  continued  their  removal  to  Illinois,  and  lo- 
cated in  Danville.  In  the  fall  of  1838  his  mother  died  and  the  family 
was  broken  up  and  scattered  ;  his  two  sisters  returned  to  Canada  to 
live  with  their  aunt.  In  the  winter  of  1839-40  he  and  his  brother 
David  carried  the  mails  between  Danville  and  the  "  Buckhorn  "  tavern, 
five  miles  north  of  Bunkum,  in  Iroquois  county.  There  was  unusually 
good  sledding  at  that  time,  and  they  drove  a  sleigh  sixty  miles  a  day 
for  six  weeks  —  his  brother  driving  from  Danville  to  Milford,  and  he 
from  Milford  to  the  "  Buckhorn  "  and  return.  About  1842  his  father 
moved  up  on  the  Middle  Fork,  ten  miles  northwest  of  Danville,  in  the 
present  limits  of  Blount  township.  In  the  spring  of  1853  he  settled 
where  he  now  lives  in  Grant  township,  section  29,  town  23,  range  12, 
He  has  a  fine  farm  of  six  hundred  acres,  valued  at  $18,000.  He  has 
been  principally  engaged  in  stock-raising.  He  has  been  supervisor  of 
Grant  township  two  terms,  and  is  one  of  its  most  highly-respected  and 
substantial  citizens.  He  is  liberal  in  his  political  opinions,  but  inclines 
to  independence  of  all  parties.  He  was  married  on  the  15th  of  April, 
1846,  to  Affa  K.  Horton,  daughter  of  David  Horton,  of  Habersham 
county,  Georgia.  They  have  eight  children :  Mary,  George,  Sarah, 
Jane,  Charles,  Alice,  James,  Jesse. 

John  R.  Smith,  Rossville,  merchant,  was  born  in  Vermilion  county, 


GRANT   TOWNSHIP.  721 

Illinois,  on  the  1st  of  March,  1836,  and  is  the  son  of  William  W.  and 
Catherine  (Yeazel)  Smith.  He  was  reared  amidst  the  surroundings  of 
agricultural  life ;  moved  into  Ross  township  in  1851 ;  attended  school 
at  the  academy  at  Galesburg,  Illinois,  during  the  school  year  of  1856-7. 
Since  that  time  he  has  been  employed  in  merchandising,  farming,  hotel- 
keeping  and  mail-carrying.  At  present  he  keeps  a  general  store  and 
is  doing  a  good  business  in  Rossville;  is  affable,  accommodating  and 
gentlemanly.  He  has  been  constable  in  Grant  and  Ross  townships ;  col- 
lector in  the  latter  two  terms,  and  deputy  sheriff  under  Lyons  Parker. 
He  was  married  on  the  3d  of  March,  1859,  to  Josephine  R.  Stewart. 
They  have  five  living  children:  Ellen  Minerva,  Alfred  F.,  Herbert, 
Jesse,  Harry.  He  is  a  republican.  Mrs.  Smith  is  a  member  of  the 
Presbyterian  church. 

Albert  Comstock,  Rossville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Lennox,  Massa- 
chusetts, on  the  7th  of  September,  1807.  His  parents  were  Stephen 
and  Clarissa  (Sheldon)  Comstock.  When  he  was  ten  years  old  his 
father  moved  to  New  York  and  settled  between  Canandaigua  and 
Geneva.  After  a  residence  of  six  years  in  that  place  he  went  to  Cha- 
tauqua  county,  Pennsylvania.  In  May,  1837,  the  subject  of  this  sketch 
came  to  Illinois,  and  after  stopping  a  while  at  Danville,  settled  on  the 
North  Fork  near  Mann's  Chapel,  and  first  improved  the  farm  which  he 
afterward  sold  to  Clark  Green,  who  now  owns  it.  Six  years  later  he 
began  the  improvement  of  the  farm  on  which  the  Red-top  school-house 
stands,  selling  the  same  in  1854  to  Alvan  Gilbert,  by  whom  it  was 
sold  to  Thomas  R.  Winning,  its  present  owner.  He  next  improved 
where  he  now  lives,  on  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  4,  town  22, 
range  12,  moving  on  the  place  in  the  above-mentioned  year.  He  was 
married  on  the  17th  of  April,  182S,  to  Roxanna  Fish,  who  was  born  on 
the  18th  of  March,  1809,  and  died  on  the  11th  of  December,  1836  ;  mar- 
ried second  time  on  the  7th  of  August,  1837,  to  Rhoda  Ann  Green,  who 
was  born  on  the  10th  of  May,  1819.  They  have  eleven  children  living 
and  dead  :  Samuel,  born  on  the  18th  of  May,  1829,  died  the  30th  of  the 
same  month  ;  Charles,  born  on  the  9th  of  May,  1832  ;  Mary  Jane,  born 
on  the  31st  of  July,  1834;  Ephraim,  born  on  the  28th  of  November, 
1836,  died  on  the  17th  of  May,  1837;  Benjamin  C,  born  on  the  8th 
of  August,  1842,  died  on  the  13th  of  September,  1846;  Ira,  born  on 
the  28th  of  February,  1844,  died  on  the  27th  of  July,  1862;  Guy,  born 
on  the  28th  of  February,  1844,  died  on  the  27th  of  November,  1864; 
Clarissa,  born  on  the  12th  of  December,  1847;  Perlina,  born  on  the 
8th  of  January,  1850;  Albert,  born  on  the  30th  of  May,  1853;  Lewis, 
born  on  the  2d  of  March,  1856.  All  the  living  children  are  settled 
within  one  and  one-fourth  miles  of  the  old  homestead.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
46 


«-_  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Comstock  have  been  faithful  laborers  in  the  vineyard  of  their  Lord 
and  Master  for  fifty  years ;  they  and  five  of  their  children  are  mem- 
bers  of  the  Presbyterian  church.  Mr.  Comstock  owns  two  hundred 
acres  of  land  worth  $8,000.     He  is  a  republican. 

Benjamin  F.  Stites,  Hoopeston,  cabinet-maker  and  furniture  dealer, 
was  born  in  Cincinnati,  on  the  20th  of  July.  1S33,  and  is  a  son  of  Ben- 
jamin and  Susan  (^StewarO  Stites.  In  the  spring  of  18-°>7  his  parents 
emigrated  to  Vermilion  connty,  Illinois,  and  settled  in  Blount  town- 
ship, at  the  Rickart  Corners.  The  next  year  they  moved  and  located 
two  miles  south  of  Myersville;  lived  there  till  1S5T.  and  then  went  to 
Paxton,  Ford  county,  where  his  father  died,  on  the  6th  of  December. 
1860.  His  mother  still  resides  there.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  went 
to  Paxton  to  live  in  the  winter  of  1853-4;  farmed  the  first  year;  in 
1855  set  up  a  store  on  the  prairie  and  sold  goods  eighteen  months.  In 
the  tall  of  1856  he  sold  out,  and  emiarated  to  Benton  connty,  Arkan- 
sas ;  worked  there  at  carpentering,  milling  and  tanning.  He  invested 
in  six  hundred  acres  of  land.  Immediately  after  the  presidential  elec- 
tion of  1860  he  narrowly  escaped  by  stratagem,  with  his  family,  from 
the  toils  of  the  fire-eaters,  and  came  north,  abandoning  and  losing  all 
his  property.  In  1861  he  went  into  the  furniture  business  in  Paxton, 
and  in  the  fall  of  1871  moved  to  Hoopeston.  He  worked  two  years  at 
carpentering,  and  then  opened  a  furniture  store,  which  he  still  keeps, 
in  connection  with  his  manufacturing  and  undertaking.  He  is  serving 
his  second  term  as  town  clerk  of  Grant  township.  He  was  married  on 
the  15th  of  June,  1850,  to  Martha  A.  Dunn.  He  has  nine  living  chil- 
dren :  Frances  E.,  Charles  A..  Benjamin  A.,  Carrie  Louisa,  William  H, 
Samuel.  Susan,  Katie  and  Martha  A.     In  politics  he  is  a  greenbacker. 

-lames  A.  Cunningham,  Hoopeston,  farmer  and  stock-dealer,  was 
born  in  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  22d  of  June.  1843.  He  is 
the  vonngest  son  of  -lames  and  Marv  Ann  (Andrews')  Cunningham. 
He  was  reared  a  farmer,  and  obtained  his  schooling  at  Evans  Union 
College,  State  Line  City,  Indiana.  In  the  winter  of  IS 61— 5  he  pursued 
studies  in  bookkeeping  at  the  Commercial  College  at  La  Fayette.  In 
August,  1862,  he  enlisted  in  the  125th  111.,  but  was  rejected  by  the 
examining  surgeon.  He  was  married  on  the  4th  of  April,  1865.  to 
Miss  Mary  R.  Scott,  adopted  daughter  of  Thomas  Hoopes,  an  old  and 
highly  esteemed  citizen  of  Vermilion  county.  Mrs.  Cunningham  was 
born  on  the  9th  of  April,  1844.  In  the  summer  of  1865  he  settled  in 
State  Line  City,  and  opened  a  grocery  store ;  he  soon  after  added  a 
stock  of  drugs,  and  after  a  year  of  business  sold  out  to  George  Dunn. 
He  then  engaged  in  stock  dealing  a  short  time,  and  early  in  1867 
moved  into  Grant  township  and  settled  where  he  now  resides.    He  has 


GRANT   TOWNSHIP.  723 

been  president  of  the  Hoopeston  District  Agricultural  Society  since 
1874.  This  society  has  held  a  number  of  distinguished  fairs,  and  has 
acquired  a  reputation  unsurpassed  by  any  of  equal  age,  and  by  few- 
older  ones,  in  the  state.  This  success  is  traced  to  the  ability,  energy 
and  enterprise  of  its  thorough-going  and  practical  officers.  Mr.  ( '.  has 
always  been  a  heavy  farmer  and  stock-dealer,  and  is  one  of  the  most 
liberal,  substantial  and  honored  citizens  of  Grant  township.  They  have 
five  children:  Frank  H,  born  on  the  18th  of  January.  180(1:  Anna  S.. 
born  on  the  19th  of  April.  1808;  Bertie  M.,  born  on  the  1st  of  May, 
1870;  Harry,  born  on  the  21st  of  May,  1872;  Walter,  bom  on  the  21st 
of  September,  1873.  died  on  the  9th  of  November,  187^.  He  owns  one 
thousand  acres  of  land,  worth  $30,000.  His  political  views  are  repub- 
lican. 

John  Villars,  the  grandfather  of  James  W.  Villars,  of  Rossvilie, 
came  from  England  in  1740,  with  a  colony  of  Dissenters,  and  settled 
in  Pennsylvania,  where  he  married.  He  and  a  brother  were  soldiers 
of  the  revolution.  The  latter  was  killed  at  Bunker  Hill.  In  1806  the 
grandfather  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch  emigrated  from  Washington 
county,  Pennsylvania,  and  coming  down  the  Ohio  on  a  flat-boat,  reached 
Cincinnati  in  the  spring  of  that  year.  He  settled  in  Clinton  county , 
where  he  lived  and  died.  William,  the  father  of  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  was  born  in  Washington  county,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  31st  of 
August,  1802.  He  married  Ruth  Whittaker,  on  the  14th  of  February, 
1822;  lived  in  Clinton  county,  Ohio,  till  1843,  when  he  removed  with 
all  his  family  to  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  and  settled  four  miles  east 
of  Danville,  on  the  place  now  owned  by  William  Cast,  his  son-in-law. 
James  was  born  on  the  3d  of  July,  1825.  in  Clinton  county,  Ohio,  and 
was  raised  a  farmer.  He  was  married  on  the  25th  of  December.  1844, 
to  Rebecca  Villars.  In  1866  he  sold  his  farm  and  moved  to  State  Line 
City,  and  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business,  —  first  hardware,  and 
afterward  drugs,  —  and  sold  out  in  1872.  In  1870  he  made  a  trip  to 
California,  and  two  years  later  returned  again  to  the  Pacific  coast,  and 
traveled  in  California,  Oregon  and  Washington  Territory.  From  April, 
1874,  to  October,  1875,  he  was  business  manager  of  the  Vermilion 
County  Grange  Company's  store,  in  Danville.  During  his  residence 
in  Newell  township  he  filled  the  offices  of  constable,  town  clerk  and 
school  trustee  of  town  20,  range  11.  In  1878  he  moved  into  Grant 
township,  where  he  owns  two  hundred  and  eighty  acres  of  land,  worth 
87.000.  He  has  two  sons,  Ambrose  and  George.  His  wife  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  M.  E.  church,  and  he  was  formerly.  In  politics  he  is  a 
green  backer. 

Benjamin  Ford,  Rossville.  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in  Ross 


724  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUXTY. 

county,  <  )hio,  on  the  16th  of  December,  1818,  and  is  the  son  of  William 
and  Sarah  (Yokem)  Ford.  When  he  was  eleven  his  parents  removed  to 
La  Fayette,  Indiana;  lived  there  a  number  of  years,  and  went  thence 
to  Fulton  county,  Illinois.  After  a  residence  of  several  years  there 
they  all  moved  back  to  Indiana,  and  located  near  Lebanon.  Here  the 
subject  of  this  sketch  was  married  to  Abigal  Fleming,  on  the  14th  of 
August,  1842.  In  the  spring  of  1844  he  moved  into  the  present  limits 
of  Grant  township,  renting  from  place  to  place  for  six  years,  when  he 
had  accumulated  enough  to  buy  a  land  warrant,  with  which  he  entered 
the  northeast  quarter  of  section  1,  town  22,  range  11.  He  began  very 
poor,  and  his  progress  at  first  was  slow,  but  by  industry  and  frugality 
has  accumulated  a  large  property,  and  is  now  one  of  the  substantial 
farmers  of  Grant  township.  By  successive  purchases  he  has  increased 
his  homestead  to  eight  hundred  and  forty-eight  acres ;  has  always  com- 
bined stock-raising  with  his  farming  operations.  He  has  ten  children: 
Arthur,  Betsy  Jane,  James,  Rebecca,  Leander,  William  H.,  Jeremiah 
(dead),  Benjamin  F.,  Mary  R.  Mr.  Ford  owns  one  thousand  acres  of 
land,  worth  $29,000.     He  is  a  republican  in  politics. 

William  Warren,  Rossville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Bedfordshire,  Eng- 
land, on  the  16th  of  March,  1829  ;  and  is  the  son  of  Thomas  and  Mary 
(King)  Warren.  In  1848  he  emigrated  to  America  and  settled  near  Ross- 
ville, Vermilion  county,  Illinois.  When  he  arrived  here  he  had  but  $5, 
which  he  equally  divided  with  a  less  fortunate  comrade.  He  was  $110 
in  debt,  which  sum  he  paid  in  labor  at  $9.25  per  month,  having  hired 
for  a  year  at  that  rate  before  leaving  England.  At  the  end  of  two  and 
a  half  years  he  bought  ten  acres  of  timber  and  paid  for  it.  He  worked 
hard  at  herding  and  feeding  cattle,  buying  pieces  of  land  as  he  accumu- 
lated money  enough  for  the  purpose.  He  owns  four  hundred  and  twen- 
ty-five acres,  two  hundred  and  sixty-five  lying  on  the  Middle  Fork,  in  the 
township  of  that  name,  and  the  balance  adjoining  Rossville  on  the  east, 
in  Grant  township,  the  whole  worth  $11,000.  He  used  to  be  engaged 
a  great  deal  in  teaming ;  hauled  produce  to  Chicago  and  returned  with 
merchandise  to  Danville,  for  which  he  received  twenty-five  cents  per 
hundredweight.  A  large  part  of  the  material  used  in  the  erection  of 
buildings  in  Rossville  was  transported  by  his  teams  from  Danville, 
Paxton,  Attica  and  State  Line  City.  He  was  married  on  the  4th  of  De- 
cember, 1853,  to  Mary  Ann  Whitesitt,  who  was-  born  on  the  29th  of 
October,  1S37.  They  have  thirteen  children  :  Mary  S.,  born  on  the  25th 
of  January,  1S55;  Florence  V.,  born  on  the  2d  of  September,  1856; 
Edith  T.,  born  on  the  11th  of  January,  1858  ;  Augustus  O.,  born  on  the 
21st  of  March,  1859;  Olive  J.,  born  on  the  6th  of  February,  1861; 
John  T.,  born  on   the  1st  of  February,  1863;  an  infant  born  and  died 


GRANT   TOWNSHIP.  725 

in  October,  1864;  Herbert  D.,  born  on  the  21st  of  June,  1867 ;  William 
W.,  born  on  the  15th  of  March,  1869;  Elzie,  born  on  the  20th  of  May, 
1871 ;  George  Wesley,  born  on  the  5th  of  June,  1873 ;  Clarence  D., 
born  on  the  27th  of  April,  1875;  Bertha  May,  born  on  the  14th  of 
February,  1877.     He  is  an  independent  in  politics. 

Jonathan  Prather,  Rossville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Warren  county, 
Indiana,  on  the  3d  of  May,  1845.  His  parents  were  Nehemiah  and 
Eveline  (Miller)  Prather.  He  settled  with  his  father  in  this  county 
about  1848,  on  land  now  owned  by  Geo.  Miller  in  Ross  township.  He 
has  lived  in  Vermilion  county  all  the  time  since,  except  the  two  years  of 
1S68-9  spent  in  Missouri  and  Kansas.  He  enrolled  in  Co.  A,  3d  Ind. 
Caw,  on  the  16th  of  September,  1863,  and  mustered  out  at  Indianapo- 
lis on  the  7th  of  August,  1865  ;  served  in  the  3d  division  1st  cavalry 
corps,— first  under  Wilson  and  next  under  Custer,  as  division  com- 
manders ;  participated  in  the  bold  raid  of  Gen.  Kilpatrick,  begun  on 
the  28th  of  February,  1864,  for  the  release  of  Union  prisoners  in  Rich- 
mond;  in  Sheridan's  raid  against  the  enemy's  communications  with 
Richmond,  which  was  begun  on  the  9th  of  May,  1864;  and  in  the  raid 
of  Gen.  Wilson  on  the  Weldon,  South-side  and  Danville  railroads,  be- 
gun on  the  22d  of  June,  1864;  fought  at  the  Wilderness  and  Spott- 
sylvania  Court  House,  and  under  Sheridan  in  the  battles  of  Winchester 
and  Cedar  Creek,  and  did  an  immense  amount  of  scouting,  skirmishing 
and  fighting  incident  to  the  cavalry  arm  of  the  service,  closing  his  active 
military  life  with  the  grand  review  of  the  army  of  the  Potomac  at 
Washington,  D.  C,  on  the  23d  of  May,  1865.  He  was  married  on  the 
13th  of  August,  1872,  to  Tabitha  E.  Miller,  who  died  on  the  15th  of 
April,  1877;  married  again  on  the  3d  of  March,  1878,  to  Mary  A. 
Segear.  Mr.  Prather  owns  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  valued 
at  $5,000.     He  is  a  greenbacker  in  politics. 

Thomas  Armstrong,  Rossville,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in 
Madison  county,  Ohio,  on  the  18th  of  April,  1826.  His  parents  were 
Robert  and  Elizabeth  (Earl )  Armstrong.  In  1848  he  removed  to  Illi- 
nois and  lived  two  years  in  the  western  part  of  the  state.  In  1850  he 
settled  on  his  present  farm  one  mile  west  of  Rossville,  Vermilion 
county.  Married  on  the  24th  of  August,  1850,  to  Nancy  Smith,  who 
died  on  the  23d  of  November,  1878.  He  has  been  for  many  years  ex- 
tensively engaged  in  farming  and  the  stock  business;  and  in  addition  to 
these  is  at  present  operating  a  factory  which  he  erected  on  his  farm  two 
years  ago  for  the  manufacture  of  drain  tile.  He  has,  in  that  time, 
turned  out  three  hundred  thousand  tile,  and  laid  down  on  his  own  farm 
twenty-two  miles  of  drain,  besides  ten  miles  for  other  people.  He  has 
demonstrated    the  wisdom  and   economy  of  under-drainage.     He  has 


726  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

f 

ample  facilities  for  a  large  manufacture.  The  first  donations  of  land  to 
encourage  improvements  in  Rossville,  were  made  to  Mr.  Armstrong  by 
Alvan  Gilbert  and  Parker  Satterthwait,  and  he  is  entitled  to  the  credit 
of  founding  that  superior  town.  He  exerted  himself  with  untiring  dil- 
igence in  behalf  of  the  educational  interests  of  the  place,  and  together 
with  one  or  two  others,  was  chiefly  instrumental  in  causing  the  erection 
and  final  extension  and  improvement  of  the  commodious  and  tasteful 
brick  structure  now  devoted  to  the  instruction  of  the  youth  of  Ross- 
ville and  the  surrounding  country.  He  has  been  a  director  of  the 
school  continuously  for  twenty  years  prior  to  April,  1879.  He  was 
associated  with  Henrv  Armstrong  in  the  laving  out  of  Armstrong  sta- 
tion,  on  the  Havana,  Rantoul  &  Eastern  railroad  (narrow  gauge),  where 
lie  has  a  body  of  eight  hundred  acres  of  land.  He  has  four  living  chil- 
dren :  Isabel,  wife  of  Calvin  Lamb  ;  Thomas  J.,  James  L.,  Catherine  M. 
Mr.  Armstrong  owns  2,280  acres  of  land,  worth  $80,000.  His  political 
views  are  republican. 

Addison  M.  Davis,  Rossville,  farmer  and  magistrate,  was  born  in 
Muskingum  county,  Ohio,  near  Zanesville,  on  the  9th  of  January,  1833. 
He  is  the  son  of  Amaziah  and  Emily  (Berry)  Davis.  He  came  to  Ver- 
milion county,  Illinois,  with  his  parents  in  the  fall  of  1851,  and  settled 
on  a  farm  near  Rossville.  He  received  a  fair  education  at  the  graded 
school  in  Adelphi,  Ohio.  At  the  age  of  twenty  he  commenced  teaching 
school,  and  pursued  this  vocation  nine  years.  He  was  married  in  1856  to 
Sarah  J.  Helmick.  He  was  assistant  internal  revenue  assessor  for  the 
northern  part  of  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  from  the  passage  of  the 
law  creating  the  office  until  the  fall  of  1865.  He  has  held  numerous 
township  offices,  and  been  constantly  in  local  public  business  the  past 
twenty  years ;  has  been  town  clerk  and  assessor  both  of  Grant  and 
Ross,  and  has  held  the  office  of  justice  of  the  peace  continuously  for 
thirteen  years.  In  the  meantime  he  has  directed  operations  upon  his 
farm.  He  has  been  a  member  of  the  Masonic  order  twelve  years. 
He  is  independent  in  politics.  He  has  six  living  children  :  Virgil  C, 
Emily  B.,  Robert  B.,  H.  Winter,  Rebecca  and  Lucy  L.  Mr.  Davis 
owns  eighty  acres  of  land  worth  $4,000. 

Charles  Wolverton,  Hoopeston,  farmer  and  carpenter,  was  born 
near  Perrysville,  Vermilion  county,  Indiana,  on  the  17th  of  August, 
1837,  and  is  a  son  of  Abel  and  Anna  (English)  Wolverton,  who  had 
live  sons  and  two  daughters.  His  father  served  fourteen  days  in  the 
war  of  1812 ;  he  volunteered,  and  was  marching  with  a  detachment 
of  six  hundred  men  for  Detroit  when  the  news  of  Hull's  surrender 
was  received.  He  commanded  a  corps  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  men  at 
the  reception  of  Gen.  La  Fayette,  at  Cincinnati,  in  June,  1824.     He 


GRANT   TOWNSHIP.  727 


was  for  a  long  time  colonel  of  militia  in  Indiana,  under  commission 
granted  by  Gov.  Whitcomb.  In  1850  he  entered  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  of  land  in  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  being  the  N.  E.  \ 
section  18,  town  23,  range  11.  He  soon  after  bought  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres  more,  and  finally  augmented  the  area  to  four  hun- 
dred. His  family  came  and  occupied  the  land  in  1851.  The  subject 
of  this  sketch  learned  the  carpenter's  trade  before  and  during  the  war. 
He  enlisted  at  Bloomington  on  the  18th  of  June,  1862,  for  three  months, 
in  Co.  H,  70th  111.  Vols.,  Col.  O.  H.  Reeves.  This  regiment  did  gar- 
rison duty  most  of  the  time  at  Camp  Butler,  Springfield,  and  at  Alton  ; 
also  furnished  numerous  details  for  guarding  prisoners  while  in  transit. 
He  was  mustered  out  at  Alton  on  the  23d  of  October,  1862.  His 
brother  George  was  enrolled  in  Co.  D,  20th  Ind.  Vols,  at  the  beginning 
of  the  war.  He  served  under  Gen.  Kearny  throughout  McClellan's 
memorable  peninsula  campaign,  bearing  an  honorable  part  on  the 
bloody  fields  of  Fair  Oaks  and  the  Seven  Days  battles.  He  was  mor- 
tally wounded  on  the  6th  of  May,  1864,  at  the  Wilderness,  and  died 
on  the  19th  at  Finley  Hospital,  Washington  City.  Altogether  he  was 
in  twenty  actions.  Mr.  Wolverton  was  married  on  the  8th  of  May, 
1864,  to  Mary  Ralph,  who  was  born  on  the  30th  of  July,  1849.  They 
have  had  eight  children  :  George  L.,  born  on  the  1st  of  January,  1866 ; 
Charles  T.,  born  on  the  5th  of  May,  1867;  Thomas  L.,  born  on  the  1st 
of  December,  1868,  died  on  the  23d  of  August,  1869;  Louis  R.,  born 
on  the  5th  of  February,  1871 ;  John  P.,  born  on  the  16th  of  February, 
1874 ;  Anna  S.,  born  on  the  21st  of  February,  1877 ;  Mary,  born  on  the 
13th  of  June,  1878,  died  on  the  2d  of  July,  1878;  Joseph,  born  on  the 
11th  of  July,  1879.  Mr.  Wolverton  owns  sixty  acres  worth  $2,500. 
His  political  views  are  republican. 

Thomas  Williams,  Hoopeston,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in 
Harrison  county,  Ohio,  on  the  29th  of  November,  1828,  and  is  the  son 
of  Nathan  and  Sarah  (Hoopes)  Williams.  His  parents  were  natives 
of  Pennsylvania.  In  1847  he  went  to  Sandusky  Plains,  Marion  county, 
Ohio,  were  he  lived  six  or  seven  years,  working  by  the  month  for  his 
uncle,  Thomas  Hoopes,  tending  sheep.  In  the  fall  of  1853  he  came  to 
this  county;  wintered  four  hundred  sheep;  the  next  spring  added 
four  hundred  more ;  rented  a  farm  of  his  uncle  Hoopes,  giving  him  a 
share  of  all  his  profit.  This  he  continued  two  years;  then  preempted 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  two  miles  west  of  Buckley,  in  Iroquois 
county;  ran  an  ox-breaking  team  three  years;  in  1859,  having  been 
broken  up  by  paying  security  debts,  returned  to  Vermilion  county  to 
live.  He  was  married  on  the  9th  of  June,  1859,  to  Lavina  McFarland, 
who  was  born  on  the  22d  of  April,  1841.     From  1860  to  1868  he  rented 


728  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

land  of  his  uncle.  In  the  former  year,  by  borrowing  money  and  hir- 
ing teams  of  the  same  patron,  and  buying  and  grazing  cattle,  he  cleared 
$600;  the  next  year  $1,000.  From  that  time  on  his  success  and  re- 
covery were  steady  and  rapid.  On  the  25th  of  November,  1870,  he 
was  run  over  by  a  loaded  runaway  team,  breaking  his  leg,  and  crushing 
the  bone  in  a  very  serious  manner.  Since  that  casualty  he  has  been 
incapacitated  for  manual  labor.  He  has  held  the  offices  of  highway 
commissioner  and  trustee  of  schools  in  Grant  township.  He  has  five 
children  :  Sarah,  born  on  the  23d  of  June,  1860,  died  on  the  7th  of 
December,  1874;  Charles,  born  on  the  1st  of  September,  1861  ;  twins, 
born  on  the  23d  of  May,  1868,  one  died  on  the  day  of  birth,  and  the 
other  on  the  16th  of  June  following;  Walter  W.,  born  on  the  17th  of 
January,  1878.  Mr.  Williams  owns  four  hundred  acres  of  land  worth 
$16,000.     His  political  views  are  republican. 

John  Williams,  Hoopeston,  farmer,  was  born  in  Harrison  county, 
Ohio,  on  the  29th  of  September,  1832,  and  is  the  son  of  Nathan  and 
Sarah  (Hoopes)  Williams.  In  the  spring  of  1854  he  came  to  this 
county ;  broke  prairie  and  farmed,  and  the  third  year  entered  three 
hundred  and  twenty  acres  in  section  12,  in  the  present  limits  of  Prairie 
Green  township,  Iroquois  county.  He  lived  there  seventeen  years.  He 
was  married  on  the  13th  of  October,  1858,  to  Elnora  Shankland,  who  was 
born  in  1841,  and  died  on  the  23d  of  February,  1864  ;  married  again  on 
the  12th  of  August,  1867,  to  Jennie  M.  Harwood,  who  was  born  on 
the  7th  of  April,  1844.  He  was  assessor  of  Prairie  Green  four  or  five 
years  in  succession.  On  the  1st  of  January,  1864,  memorable  as  a  cold 
day,  he  froze  his  right  foot  while  feeding  stock,  and  all  the  toes  had  to 
be  amputated.  In  April,  1873,  he  moved  to  his  present  home,  one  and 
a  half  miles  south  of  Hoopeston.  He  has  six  children  :  Sarah  E.,  born 
on  the  3d  of  March,  1860,  died  on  the  16th  of  May,  1866  ;  Anna  C, 
born  on  the  28th  of  September,  1862,  died  on  the  22d  of  September, 
1865;  Mary  E.,  born  on  the  14th  of  February,  1864,  died  on  the  2d  of 
September,  1864;  infant,  born  and  died  on  the  11th  of  November, 
1870;  Nellie  M.,  born  on  the  12th  of  November,  1871;  Charles  H., 
born  on  the  5th  of  October,  1873,  died  on  the  5th  of  August,  1875  ; 
Josephine  B.,  born  on  the  30th  of  August,  1875.  Mr.  Williams  owns 
two  hundred  and  thirty-five  acres  worth  $8,500.  His  political  views 
are  republican.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Christian  church.  His  parents 
belonged  to  the  Society  of  Friends,  and  his  father  wras  a  preacher 
among  them. 

Joseph  M.  Satterthwait,  deceased,  was  born  in  Berks  county,  Penn- 
sylvania, on  the  9th  of  May,  1808,  and  is  the  son  of  Joshua  W.  and 
Ann  Satterthwait.     He  came  to  Illinois  in  the  fall  of  1854,  and  set- 


GRANT   TOWNSHIP.         ■  729 

tied  on  a  farm  near  Rossville,  Vermilion  county.  He  was  the  third 
postmaster  in  that  place.  In  the  spring  of  1862  he  removed  to  Pen- 
dleton, Indiana,  near  Indianapolis,  and  lived  there  ten  years,  when  he 
returned  to  Illinois  and  settled  at  Hoopeston,  and  resided  there  until 
his  death  on  the  21st  of  September,  1877.  He  wras  always  a  strict 
member  of  the  Society  of  Friends.  He  left  four  living  children  :  Mar- 
tha A.,  wife  of  Gideon  C.  Davis,  residing  at  Fairbury,  Nebraska  ;  Esther 
S.,  wife  of  J.  O.  Hardy,  living  in  Pendleton,  Indiana;  Edith  S.,  wife 
of  Isaac  T.  Lukens,  of  Hoopeston  ;  and  Anna,  wife  of  Emory  F.  Birch, 
of  Rossville. 

George  Steely,  Hoopeston,  farmer,  was  born  in  Fountain  county, 
Indiana,  on  the  6th  of  September,  1830.  He  is  the  son  of  George  and 
Elizabeth  (Emerson)  Steely.  He  lived  on  a  farm  in  Fountain  county 
until  twenty-four  years  of  age,  and  was  educated  at  Asbury  University, 
attending  from  September,  1852,  to  June,  1854,  taking  the  scientific 
course,  and  nearly  completing  it.  In  the  fall  of  the  latter  year  he  came 
to  this  county,  bought  out  Thomas  McKibben,  and  settled  where  he 
now  lives,  one  and  a  half  miles  south  of  Hoopeston.  He  was  married 
on  the  22d  of  October,  1854,  to  Hannah  Hizer.  They  had  ten  chil- 
dren, five  of  whom  are  living  and  five  dead.  Following  are  those 
living:  Harlan  M.,  born  November  25,  1856  ;  William  W.,  born  October 
11,  1858;  Clara  L,  born  September  4,  1860;  Zaidee,  born  June  3, 
1864;  Mark,  born  December  6,  1869.  Mr.  Steely  owns  six  hundred 
and  seventy  acres  of  land,  wrorth  $20,000.  His  father  was  a  soldier 
under  Gen.  Harrison  throughout  the  war  of  1812. 

Thomas  W.  Harris,  Rossville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Woodford  county, 
Kentucky,  on  the  1st  of  November,  1827,  and  is  the  son  of  John  and 
Sarah  M.  (Davis)  Harris.  In  1828  his  parents  removed  to  Jefferson 
county,  Indiana.  While  living  there  he  went  to  Clark  county,  and 
learned  the  tanners'  trade,  which  he  followed  five  or  six  years.  In 
1 852  he  went  to  Louisiana,  and  worked  a  year  and  a  half  as  a  laborer. 
In  the  fall  of  1854  he  returned  there,  and  remained  nine  months.  In 
1856  he  settled  in  Vermilion  county,  and  has  since  lived  in  the  vicinity 
of  Rossville,  and  farmed.  He  wras  married  on  the  12th  of  December, 
1861,  to  Miss  Jane  F.  Owen,  daughter  of  Thomas  and  Mary  Owen. 
She  was  born  in  Warren  county,  Indiana,  on  the  21st  of  July,  1842. 
They  have  had  three  children  :  Mary  Luella,  born  October  27,  1862, 
died  December  1, 1871 ;  Charles  Henry,  born  March  31,  1869 ;  Francis 
M.,  born  July  19,  1874.  Mr.  Harris  is  a  republican,  and  his  wife  has 
been  a  member  of  the  M.  E.  church  eight  years. 

Thomas  Keplinger,  Hoopeston,  farmer,  was  born  in  Fountain 
county,  Indiana,  on  the  7th  of  April,  1829.    He  is  the  son  of  Jacob  and 


730  HISTORY   OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Nancy  (Dedimore)  Keplinger.  In  1858  he  removed  to  Illinois,  and 
settled  at  Sugar  Grove,  Champaign  county,  where  he  lived  till  1870. 
In  that  year  he  came  to  Vermilion  county,  and  bought  the  S.  %  N.W. 
-£  and  the  N.W.  \  N.W.  \  section  29,  town  23,  range  12,  six  miles  S.W. 
of  Hoopeston,  which  farm  is  now  valued  at  $3,600.  He  was  married 
on  the  10th  of  May,  1857,  to  Eliza  Shaffer,  daughter  of  Daniel  Shaffer, 
of  Fountain  county,  Indiana.  She  was  born  on  the  4th  of  January, 
1835.  They  have  had  six  children  :  James,  born  June  13, 1858  ;  Nancy, 
born  February  5,  I860;  died  August  2,  1862;  George  R.,  born  Sept. 

1,  1861;  Olive,  born  July  26,  1863;  Eliza  Ann,  born  April  12,  1865; 
Andrew,  born  March  20,  1867.  Mr.  Keplinger  is  an  old-style  demo- 
crat.    Mrs.  Keplinger  is  a  member  of  the  Christian  church. 

Oliver  H.  Crane,  Hoopeston,  farmer,  was  born  in  Fountain  county, 
Indiana,  on  the  4th  of  March,  1841,  and  is  the  son  of  Joel  and  Eliza- 
beth (Jenkins)  Crane.  His  grandfathers,  Jonathan  Crane  and  Absa- 
lom Jenkins,  both  served  as  soldiers  in  Virginia  in  the  war  of  1812. 
He  was  reared  a  farmer.  In  1858  he  moved  to  this  county,  and  lo- 
cated where  he  now  lives,  in  Grant  township,  on  the  S.  ^  S.W.  \  sec- 
tion 20,  town  23,  range  12.  He  was  married  on  the  7th  of  February, 
1861,  to  Charlotte  Bowling,  daughter  of  Willis  P.  Bowling,  Esq.,  of 
Fountain  county,  Indiana.  She  was  born  on  the  3d  of  July,  1843. 
They  have  had  nine  children  :  Luella,  born  November  13,  1861 ;  died 
June  24,  1863;  Clara  Belle,  born  July  10,  1863;  died  October  24, 
1864;  Elmer  E.,  born  May  28,  1865;  John  N.,  born  September  3, 
1867;  Lilian,  born  January  6,  1869;  Alfaretta,  born  February  11, 
1871  ;  Winifred,  born  December  4,  1873 ;  Morris  S.,  born  November 

2,  1876;  Mary  Adra,  born  June  24,  1879.  He  owns  eighty  acres  of 
land,  worth  $2,400.     In  politics  he  is  a  greenbacker. 

Abraham  H.  Gernand,  Rossville,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born 
in  Berks  county,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  29th  of  January,  1829,  and  is  a 
son  of  Abraham  and  Catharine  (Hain)  Gernand.  His  early  life  was 
spent  on  a  farm.  In  1852  he  engaged  in  the  dry -goods  trade  in  Read- 
ing, in  partnership  with  his  cousin,  George  W.  Hain,  under  the  firm 
name  of  Hain  &  Gernand.  In  1857  the  firm  sold  out,  and  Mr.  Gernand 
emigrated  with  his  family  to  Illinois,  and  settled  in  Danville.  He  was 
a  year  and  a  half  in  the  lumber  trade  there.  In  the  spring  of  1859  he 
bought  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  where  he  now  resides,  two 
miles  north  of  Rossville,  and  has  added  by  later  purchases,  till  his  farm 
comprises  five  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  the  finest  farming  land, 
valued  at  $22,000.  His  business  is  largely  in  stock.  He  has  enjoyed 
a  high  degree  of  prosperity,  all  his  operations  having  been  marked  by 
signal  success.    He  is  out  of  debt ;  is  a  substantial  and  esteemed  citizen, 


GRANT   TOWNSHIP.  731 

and  christian  gentleman.  He  was  married  on  the  14th  of  April,  1857, 
to  Miss  Emma  Evans,  daughter  of  John  V.  R.  Evans,  a  well-to-do 
farmer  of  Berks  county,  Pennsylvania.  They  have  five  sons  and  three 
daughters  living  and  one  daughter  dead.  He  is  a  republican  in  politics. 
Both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gernand  were  in  communion  with  the  Reformed 
Church  in  Pennsylvania,  but  finding  none  of  that  denomination  here, 
united,  in  1859,  with  the  Presbyterian  church  in  Rossville. 

Charles  M.  Ross,  Rossville,  druggist,  was  born  in  Cambridge  City, 
Wayne  county,  Indiana,  on  the  1st  of  January,  1847,  and  is  the  son  of 
John  M.  and  Ellen  (Hannah)  Ross.  He  removed  with  his  parents  to 
Ross  township,  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  in  1859.  He  attended  school 
two  years  at  Thornton,  Boone  county,  and  two  years  at  Stockwell, 
Tippecanoe  county,  Indiana.  He  engaged  in  the  grocery  trade  at  the 
latter  place  two  years ;  next  was  in  the  employ  of  the  Singer  Sewing 
Machine  Company  at  Indianapolis  a  short  time.  After  this  he  was  in 
the  coal  trade  with  his  uncle,  J.  H.  Ross,  about  three  years.  He  taught 
school  two  winters;  then  came  to  Rossville  and  started  in  the  drug 
business,  which  he  now  continues.  Mr.  Ross  is  a  republican  and  a 
Methodist. 

Robert  D.  Purviance,  Rossville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Giles  county, 
Tennessee,  on  the  21st  of  April,  1817,  and  is  the  son  of  Eleazer  and 
Elizabeth  Purviance.  At  the  age  of  twelve  he  removed  with  his  par- 
ents to  Warren  county,  Indiana,  where  he  lived  thirty  years.  In  1859 
he  settled  about  three  miles  north  of  Rossville,  Vermilion  county, 
Illinois,  in  Grant  township.  He  has  served  two  or  three  terms  as  high- 
way commissioner.  By  perseverance  he  has  acquired  an  honorable 
competence,  and  in  a  truly  catholic  spirit  dispenses  his  bounty  with  an 
open  hand  and  generous  heart.  Mr.  Purviance  is  a  republican.  He 
owns  one  hundred  and  seventy  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $6,500. 

John  M.  Ruth,  Rossville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Reading,  Berks 
count}',  Pennsylvania,  on  the  23d  of  February,  1856,  and  is  a  son  of 
George  and  Catharine  (Maury)  Ruth.  In  1861  his  parents  removed 
to  Illinois  and  settled  on  their  present  homestead,  one  mile  north  of 
Rossville.  He  was  reared  a  farmer.  He  has  a  fine  estate  of  two  hun- 
dred acres,  valued  at  $10,000.  He  used  to  be  extensively  engaged  in 
raising  hogs,  but  since  the  prevalence  of  cholera,  within  the  past  two 
or  three  years,  has  curtailed  the  business.  He  has  gratified  his  desire 
to  travel  by  an  extended  tour  of  the  eastern  and  southern  states. 

William  J.  Henderson,  Rossville,  merchant,  was  born  in  the  city 
and  county  of  Sligo,  Ireland,  on  the  3d  of  April,  1831.  His  parents 
were  James  and  Jane  (Henderson)  Henderson.  He  came  to  America  to 
make  his  home  in  1848,  but  had  previously  made  several  trips  across 


732  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

the  Atlantic.  On  his  arrival  he  set  to  learning  the  cahinet  trade,  in 
Lafayette,  Indiana,  to  be  used  auxiliary  to  the  furniture  business,  in 
which  he  designed  embarking.  This  was  in  the  years  1848-9,  during 
which  the  cholera  raged  with  great  virulence  in  that  and  other  northern 
cities.  The  succeeding  three  years  were  spent  in  work  at  the  carpenter 
trade.  In  1852  he  opened  a  furniture  store  in  Waynetown,  Mont- 
gomery count}',  Indiana,  where  he  continued  in  business  till  1862, 
changing,  however,  to  dry-goods  in  1856.  He  removed  to  Rossville, 
Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  in  1862,  and  has  since  carried  on  the  dry-goods 
and  grocery  trade,  adding  largely  to  his  business  by  buying  and  culti- 
vating an  extensive  tract  of  land,  and  dealing  in  grain  and  stock.  He  has 
had  as  many  as  two  thousand  hogs  in  his  pens  at  a  time,  feeding ; 
owns  a  large  and  complete  elevator,  and  is  doing  a  good  business  in 
running  the  Rossville  Mills,  one  of  the  finest  flouring  establishments 
in  this  section  of  the  country.  Mr.  Henderson  is  a  live,  thorough- 
going business  man,  well  endowed  with  the  three  essentials  of  success: 
courteous  familiarity,  foresight,  and  push.  He  was  married  on  the  2d 
of  November,  1856,  to  Eliza  Dwiggins,  who  died  on  the  16th  of  No- 
vember, 1857.  He  was  married  again  in  October,  1861,  to  Amelia 
Little,  relict  of  John  York.  She  died  on  the  10th  of  September,  1869. 
His  third  marriage,  on  the  17th  of  March,  1870,  was  to  Kate  Scott. 
The}r  have  four  living  children:  Mary,  Jane,  Fannie  and  Nellie.  Mr. 
Henderson  owns  twelve  hundred  acres  of  land,  worth  ^48,000.  He  is  a 
republican  in  politics. 

William  M.  Thomas,  Rossville,  tile  maker,  was  born  in  Delaware 
county,  Indiana,  on  the  3d  of  August,  1836,  and  is  the  son  of  James  and 
Joanna  (Bobo)  Thomas.  He  settled  with  his  parents  in  the  spring  of  1847, 
in  Montgomery  county,  Indiana.  In  1862  he  came  to  Illinois  and  set- 
tled on  a  piece  of  wild  prairie, —  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres, —  five 
miles  west  of  Rossville,  which  he  still  owns,  and  has  brought  under  a 
good  state  of  cultivation.  The  past  two  years  he  has  been  living  in  Ross- 
ville, where  he  owns  and  is  operating  an  extensive  factory  for  the  man- 
ufacture of  drain  tile.  He  was  assessor  of  Butler  township  in  the  year 
1864 ;  married  on  the  10th  of  December,  1861,  to  Mary  S.  Bennett,  who 
was  born  on  the  13th  of  November,  1844.  They  are  the  parents  of  two 
living  children:  Mellie  A.,  born  on  the  6th  of  December,  1862;  Or- 
della,  born  on  the  21st  of  December,  1876.  He  is  a  republican  in  poli- 
tics.    He  owns  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  worth  $4,000. 

Lyford  Marston,  Hoopeston,  farmer,  was  born  in  Plymouth,  New 
Hampshire,  on  the  2d  of  May,  1817,  and  is  the  son  of  Oliver  L.  and 
Lavinia  Magusta  (Ryan)  Marston.  The  Marstons  were  descended  from 
English  stock.      They   were  a  numerous  and  prominent  family,   the 


GRANT   TOWNSHIP.  733 

greater  number  of  whom  led  sea-faring  lives.  The  subject  of  this  sketch 
attended  the  Latin-Grammar  school  at  Cambridge,  Massachusetts,  one 
year;  then  the  Newbury  Seminary  of  Vermont  two  or  three  years, 
studying  the  natural  sciences  and  literature.  In  1835  he  emigrated  to 
Bourbon  county,  Kentucky.  There  he  taught  school  a  year  and  a  half, 
devoting  his  spare  time  to  reading  law  under  Thomas  Elliott,  of  Paris. 
Pie  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  November,  1838,  at  Carlisle,  county  seat 
of  Nicholas  county,  where  he  located  for  practice.  He  was  married  on 
the  22d  of  November,  1838,  to  Miss  Mary  Ann  Amos,  daughter  of  a 
highly  respectable  and  influential  farmer  of  Bourbon  county.  He  was 
prosecuting  attorney  for  Nicholas  county  a  number  of  years.  He  was 
successful  in  his  profession,  but  having  no  ambition  for  legal  or  polit- 
ical distinction,  he  accepted,  in  the  fall  of  1843,  a  position  on  the  edito- 
rial staff  of  the  "Lexington  Enquirer,"  a  Henry  Clay  organ.  He  main- 
tained his  connection  with  this  until  the  spring  of  1845,  when  the 
proprietor  failed  and  the  paper  went  down.  He  at  once  succeeded  to 
the  management  of  his  father-in-law's  farm,  the  latter  having  deceased. 
Here  he  led  a  quiet  and  uneventful  life  for  several  years.  The  begin- 
ning of  the  Kansas  troubles  inspired  his  pen  to  active  use,  and  he  ad- 
vocated the  anti-slavery  cause  in  the  columns  of  the  "  New  York 
Tribune."  In  1856,  while  visiting  his  native  home  in  New  Hamp- 
shire, he  made  numerous  campaign  speeches  for  Fremont.  In  1860  he 
was  a  delegate  to  the  Chicago  convention  which  nominated  Mr.  Lincoln, 
and  an  elector  on  the  republican  ticket  for  Kentucky.  At  the  opening 
of  the  war  he  opposed,  in  the  "Tribune,"  Mr.  Greeley's  crochet  that 
the  "erring  sisters  should  be  permitted  to  depart  in  peace."  In  the 
fall  of  1863  he  moved  to  Grant  township  in  this  county,  and  bought  a 
farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres.  The  next  year  he  increased  it  to 
three  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  which  property  he  still  owns.  In  the 
fall  of  1878  he  was  elected  by  the  republicans  to  the  general  assembly. 
He  served  on  the  committees  on  Municipal  Affairs,  Public  Printing 
and  Public  Charities.  Mr.  M.  has  always  exercised  his  literary  tastes 
by  occasional  contributions  to  the  press  on  religious  and  political  top- 
ics. His  estimable  wife  died  on  the  29th  of  January,  1879.  He  has 
five  living  children  :  Anna,  wife  of  Cyrus  Hartwell ;  Mary  L.,  wife  of 
Almond  F.  Perkins;  Oliver  Nicholas,  Laura  Clay,  wife  of  Jonas 
Decker;  Ella,  wife  of  E.  B.  Row. 

William  Glaze,  Hoopeston,  flax-seed  dealer,  was  born  in  Brown 
county,  Ohio,  on  the  15th  of  November,  1837,  and  is  the  son  of  James 
and  Mary  (Phillips)  Glaze.  In  1845  his  parents  moved  to  Montgom- 
ery county,  Indiana,  and  in  1847  to  Tippecanoe  county.  He  was  raised 
on  a  farm,  but  having  become  crippled  in  his  left  leg  at  the  age  of  ten, 


734  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

he  was  never  able  to  do  much  farm  work.  At  seventeen  he  began 
clerking,  which  he  followed  nine  years.  He  was  married  on  the  17th 
of  February,  1863,  to  Isabel  Young,  daughter  of  Jesse  Young,  a  re- 
spectable tanner  of  Dayton,  Indiana.  In  November,  1864,  he  located 
near  Blue  Grass,  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  and  after  farming  there 
two  or  three  years  became  engaged  in  his  present  business  —  loaning 
and  handling  flax-seed.  He  has  been  employed  in  this  the  past  eleven 
years,  and  enjoys  a  constantly  increasing  trade.  In  Butler  township 
he  held  the  offices  of  assessor  and  collector  from  1866  to  1871  inclusive. 
In  Grant  he  was  assessor  in  1875,  1876  and  1877.  He  is  at  present 
police  magistrate.  He  served  as  village  trustee  before  the  incorpora- 
tion as  a  city.  He  has  been  a  director  of  the  Hoopeston  high  school 
four  years.  The  efficiency  of  this  institution,  and  the  high  reputation 
it  is  rapidly  acquiring,  is  due  to  the  sound  judgment  and  fearless  action 
of  its  officers.  He  is  serving  his  second  term  as  secretary  of  the  Hoopes- 
ton District  Agricultural  Society.  This  is  one  of  the  most  successful 
and  flourishing  societies  in  the  state.  He  is  a  zealous  temperance 
laborer,  and  the  fortunate  driving  out  of  the  rum  demon  from  Hoopes- 
ton is  very  largely  due  to  his  tireless  exertions  in  that  behalf.  In  1873 
he  was  licensed  a  regular  preacher  in  the  United  Brethren  church,  and 
in  his  sacred  calling  has  since  been  engaged  principally  as  a  local  min- 
ister. He  has  four  living  children:  Laura  May,  James  Alvin,  Jesse 
Franklin  and  "William  Orne.     His  political  views  are  republican. 

James  W.  Crouch,  Hoopeston,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in 
"Warren  county,  Indiana,  on  the  10th  of  October,  1842.  His  parents 
were  Joseph  and  Nancy  (Watkins)  Crouch.  Pie  lived  in  his  native 
county  until  1864,  excepting  two  years  (1857-8)  that  he  was  in  Prairie 
Green  township,  Iroquois  county,  Illinois.  In  1864  he  .came  to  his 
present  homestead,  in  Grant  township,  this  count}\  He  herded  cattle 
the  first  }rear  for  a  Mr.  Hunter,  who  subsequently  became  his  father-in- 
law.  For  five  or  six  years  after  this  the  same  gentleman  gave  him  the 
use  of  eighty  acres  of  land  in  the  same  place,  at  the  end  of  which  time 
he  was  able  to  buy  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  for  himself,  for  which 
he  paid  $12.50  per  acre.  He  has  made  successive  purchases,  till  he  now 
owns  four  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  choice  farming- land,  valued  at 
$13,500.  He  buys  young  stock,  and  feeds  and  raises  for  the  market, 
which  business  he  has  closely  pursued  for  several  j^ears  past.  The 
rearing  of  Norman  horses  is  a  branch  of  stock  industry  to  which  he  has 
devoted  much  attention  recently.  His  fine  farm,  which  is  admirably 
adapted  to  the  uses  for  which  he  has  designed  it,  is  advantageously  sit- 
uated, midway  between  Hoopeston  and  Ambia,  on  the  L.  B.  &  M. 
railroad.     Mr.  Crouch  was  originally  a  republican,  but  becoming  con- 


GRANT   TOWNSHIP.  735 

vinced  that  the  class  legislation  of  that  party  was  making  the  poor 
poorer  and  the  rich  richer,  in  1872  he  joined  the  liberal  wing  of  that 
organization.  By  the  course  of  events,  he  has  gravitated  to  the  na- 
tional or  greenback  party,  of  whose  views  he  is  a  fearless  and  irre- 
pressible advocate.  He  was  married  on  the  3d  of  July,  1863,  to  Miss 
Harriet  Hunter,  daughter  of  a  respectable  farmer  and  stock-dealer  of 
Warren  county,  Indiana.  She  was  born  on  the  9th  of  September, 
1845.  They  have  four  living  children  :  Sarah  Annas,  born  on  the  14th 
of  April,  1805  :  Jessie  M.,  born  on  the  18th  of  September,  1868  :  James 
William,  born  on  the  1st  of  January,  1874,  and  Horace  F.,  born  on  the 
23d  of  November,  1873. 

Edmund  Heaton,  Hoopeston,  farmer  and  school-teacher,  was  born 
in  Coshocton  county,  Ohio,  on  the  7th  of  September,  1853.  He  is  a 
son  of  Hugh  and  Levia  (McCoy)  Heaton.  His  mother  died  on  the 
21st  of  April,  1861,  in  Holmes  county,  Ohio.  In  the  spring  of  1863 
he  came  to  St.  Joseph  county,  Indiana,  and  the  next  spring  to  Vermil- 
ion county,  Illinois,  settling  in  Grant  township.  Here  he  has  since 
lived.  In  1877  he  went  to  Marion  county,  Iowa,  and  from  thence,  in 
1878,  traveled  in  Missouri,  Kansas,  Colorado  and  New  Mexico,  spend- 
ing the  season  in  those  places,  sight-seeing,  for  pleasure  and  profit, 
returning  in  the  fall  to  Vermilion  county,  Illinois.  He  has  been  em- 
ployed during  several  winters  past  in  teaching  school.  He  is  a  repub- 
lican in  politics.  His  great-uncle,  Albert  McCoy,  a  prominent  lawyer 
of  Missouri,  was  killed  for  his  Unionism  by  guerrillas  in  1862. 

William  Moore,  Hoopeston,  real  estate  broker,  was  born  in  Cosh- 
octen  county,  Ohio,  on  the  30th  of  November,  1841,  and  is  the  son 
of  Silas  and  Mary  (McCoy)  Moore.  He  was  reared  a  farmer;  educated 
at  Spring  Mountain  Seminary,  Ohio ;  was  taking  a  preparatory  course  at 
the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  with  a  view  to  fitting  himself  for  the  law ; 
volunteered  on  the  23d  of  April,  1861,  for  three  months,  in  Co.  D, 
16th  Ohio  Vols.,  and  promoted  to  orderly  sergeant;  mustered  out  the 
next  August.  He  was  commissioned  1st  lieutenant  by  Governor  Den- 
nison,  on  the  3d  of  October,  1861,  with  authority  to  raise  a  company, 
which  he  enlisted  mostly  among  the  students  of  Spring  Mountain 
Seminary.  This  was  Co.  I,  51st  Ohio,  Col.  Stanley  Matthews.  He 
fought  at  Phillipi,  Perryville,  Chickamauga,  Lookout  Mountain,  Mission 
Ridge  and  Ringgold.  In  January,  1863,  he  was  commissioned  captain 
of  his  company.  In  the  battle  of  Chickamauga  he  lost  nearly  every 
man  in  his  command.  One  half  were  killed  and  wounded,  and  a  large 
number  captured.  All  the  regimental  officers  of  the  51st  having  been 
taken  prisoners,  Capt.  Moore,  as  ranking  line  officer,  assumed  com- 
mand, and,  with  a  handful  of  men,  bearing  the  colors  of  the  regiment, 


736  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

and  a  stand  of  rebel  colors  captured  from  a  South  Carolina  regiment 
in  the  last  charge,  cut  through  the  rebel  lines  and  safely  reached  Chat- 
tanooga the  next  day.  On  two  particular  occasions  he  was  selected  for 
special  service  of  a  difficult  and  hazardous  kind.  He  carried  out  his 
instructions  with  signal  success,  and  was  warmly  complimented  by  his 
fellow  and  superior  officers  and  the  general  commanding  the  army. 
He  was  mustered  out  of  the  military  service  in  April,  1864.  In  March, 
1365,  he  settled  in  Grant  township,  this  county,  having  bought  a  farm 
of  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres.  From  1866  to  1874  he  was  jus- 
tice of  the  peace;  from  1867  to  1870  collector  of  Grant  township; 
from  1866  to  1872  school  treasurer  of  town  23,  range  11.  He  bought 
fifty  acres  of  land  at  Hoopeston,  and  had  it  laid  out  in  the  town  plat 
as  Moore  &  Brown's  Addition.  In  April,  1S72,  he  moved  into  the 
village,  and  has  since  been  engaged  in  buying  and  selling  lands  and 
town  property.  In  the  year  from  March,  1874,  to  March,  1875,  the 
sales  of  the  firm  of  Moore,  McFerron  &  Seavey  reached  §330,000 ;  is 
a  member  of  the  firm  of  Moore  &  McFerron  in  the  real  estate  and 
loan  business.  Mr.  Moore  has  been  a  director  of  the  Hoopeston  pub- 
lic school  several  years.  It  was  through  his  energy  and  enterprise 
that  the  imposing  edifice  belonging  to  the  city,  and  used  for  that  pur- 
pose, was  erected  in  the  face  of  much  opposition.  It  cost  $25,000,  and 
is  a  noble  monument  to  his  good  understanding  and  his  able  manage- 
ment of  the  entire  scheme  from  its  inception.  He  has  three  living 
children  :  Winfield  S.,  Claude  H.,  Cora  M.  Mr.  Moore  is  a  greenback 
republican.     He  owns  six  hundred  acres  of  land,  worth  818,000. 

Milton  M.  Bush,  Rossville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Edgar  county,  Il- 
linois, on  the  24th  of  September,  1845,  and  is  a  son  of  John  and  Jane 
('Wallace)  Bush.  In  1865  he  settled  with  his  parents  in  this  county. 
He  was  married  on  the  2d  of  ^November,  1871,  to  Mary  E.  Evans, 
daughter  of  the  late  Rev.  Thomas  A.  Evans.  Thev  have  four  living 
children :  Anna  M.,  born  September,  1872 ;  Franklin,  born  October 
20,  1874;  Jacob  P.,  born  April  20,  1876;  Mertie,  born  November  5, 
1878.  He  owns  one  hundred  and  eighty  acres,  worth  $5,000.  He  is 
a  republican,  and  a  member  of  the  U.  B.  church.  Mrs.  Bush  belongs 
to  the  Christian  church. 

Anderson  McMains,  Rossville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Warren  county, 
Illinois,  on  the  10th  of  January,  1840,  and  is  the  son  of  Robert  and 
Mary  (Groves)  McMains.  In  1S41  his  parents  moved  and  settled  in 
Montgomery  county,  Indiana.  In  1861  he  went  to  Mahaska  county, 
Iowa,  and  on  the  1st  day  of  September  enlisted  in  Co.  H,  8th  Iowa 
Inf.  He  fought  at  Shiloh,  at  which  battle  his  regiment  was  captured, 
and  held  as  prisoners  two  months,  when  they  were  paroled  and  sent  to 


'■ 


' 


GRANT   TOWNSHIP.  7: ,7 

St.  Louis.  On  the  1st  day  of  September,  1862,  he  enlisted  for  three 
years  in  Co.  C,  40th  Ind.  Vols.  He  fought  at  Stone  River  and  Mis- 
sion Ridge,  served  throughout  the  Atlanta  campaign,  being  engaged  in 
battle  at  Buzzard  Roost,  Resaca  and  Adairsville,  and  was  wounded  in 
the  thigh  at  Pine  Mountain,  June  18,  1864.  He  rejoined  his  com- 
mand at  Atlanta  on  the  6th  of  September;  was  on  the  campaign 
against  Hood  in  his  invasion  of  Tennessee;  was  in  the  engagement 
with  Forrest's  cavalry  at  Linden,  on  the  29th  of  November,  and  the 
next  day  fought  at  Franklin,  receiving  a  wound  in  his  left  wrist  at  the 
latter  place.  He  was  discharged  on  the  6th  of  June,  1865,  at  Louis- 
ville, Kentucky.  In  the  same  year  he  settled  in  Grant  township,  this 
county,  where  he  now  lives,  four  miles  west  of  Rossville.  He  was 
married  on  the  30th  of  August,  1866,  to  Clarissa  Comstock,  daughter 
of  Albert  Comstock,  sen.,  an  old  and  highly  respected  citizen  of  Ver- 
milion county.  They  have  five  living  children:  Lewis,  born  May  14, 
1868;  Harrison,  born  January  10,1870;  Nora,  born  November  20, 
1871 ;  Guy,  born  October  7, 1874;  Viola,  born  January  16,  1877.  Mr. 
McMains  owns  eighty  acres,  worth  $2,400.  In  politics  he  is  a  repub- 
lican.    Both  he  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Christian  church. 

James  Grove,  Rossville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Hamilton  county,  In- 
diana, and  is  the  son  of  Samuel  and  Ellen  (Hays)  Grove.  His  grand- 
father, John  C.  Groves,  was  an  old  Indian  warrior,  and  fought  gallantly 
at  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe.  His  father  was  an  ardent  Unionist,  and 
zealous  supporter  of  the  war.  He  sent  his  three  sons  to  the  arnry,  and 
himself  was  a  member  of  Col.  Morehouse's  regiment  of  Indiana  Home 
Guards,  and  joined  in  the  pursuit  of  John  Morgan  on  his  invasion 
north  of  the  Ohio  River.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  enlisted  on  the 
7th  of  August,  1862,  in  Co.  K,  70th  Ind.  Vols.,  Col.  Ben.  Harrison. 
He  served  throughout  the  Atlanta  campaign  ;  was  one  of  the  storm- 
ing force  which  consisted  of  the  1st  Brig.,  3d  Div.,  20th  Army  Corps, 
that  captured  a  four-gun  battery  of  twelve-pounders  at  Resaca,  close  to 
the  enemy's  entrenchments,  and  fought  desperately  from  noon  till  ten 
o'clock  at  night  in  a  successful  effort  to  hold  their  position  and  retain 
their  prize.  He  fought  at  Peach  Tree  Creek,  which  was  an  open  bat- 
tle, and  disastrous  repulse  to  the  rebels.  He  did  duty  as  one  of  Sher- 
man's "bummers"  on  the  march  to  the  sea,  and  the  campaign  of  the 
Carolinas,  and  fittingly  terminated  his  military  service  on  the  grand 
review  of  the  army  at  Washington,  on  the  24th  of  May,  1865.  He 
was  mustered  out  at  that  place  on  the  8th  of  June,  and  disbanded  at 
Indianapolis.  He  was  married  on  the  3d  of  November,  1866,  to  Sarah 
C.  Fred,  who  died  on  the  14th  of  January,  1873.  He  was  married  again 
on  the  2d  of  October,  1875,  to  Sarah  Duke,  of  Montgomery  county, 
47 


738  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Indiana.  He  has  three  living  children  :  Dora,  born  on  the  18th  of 
October,  1867;  Amanda  Ellen,  born  on  the  1st  of  September,  1869; 
Laura,  born  on  the  25th  of  November,  1871.  He  has  an  undivided 
one-half  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  worth  $1,800.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Christian  church.     His  political  views  are  republican. 

Michael  T.  Livingood,  Rossville,  physician  and  surgeon,  was  born 
on  the  9th  of  March,  1825,  in  Womelsdorf,  Berks  county,  Pennsylvania, 
and  is  a  son  of  John  and  Elizabeth  (Treon)  Livingood,  descended  from 
German  ancestors.  His  father  and  grandfather  Treon  were  both  physi- 
cians. He  began  the  study  of  medicine  at  a  very  early  age,  under  the 
direction  of  the  former.  In  the  winters  of  1847-8-9  he  attended  lec- 
tures at  Jefferson  Medical  College,  Philadelphia,  graduating  on  the 
28th  of  March,  1849.  He  located  in  the  practice  of  his  profession  at 
Sinking  Springs,  near  Reading,  Pennsylvania,  and  remained  there  until 
1865;  in  the  meantime  being  for  twelve  years  one  of  the  physicians 
in  charge  of  the  Berks  County  Alms-house  Hospital.  He  removed  to 
Illinois  and  settled  in  Rossville,  where  he  has  since  resided  and  ac- 
quired a  large  practice.  He  has  been  village  trustee  of  Rossville  two. 
terms;  is  president  of  the  North  Vermilion  Medical  Society.  He  was 
married  on  the  23d  of  February,  1852,  to  Hannah  E.  Ruth.  They 
have  five  living  children.  In  politics  Mr.  Livingood  is  a  democrat,  and 
in  religion  a  Methodist. 

John  Bush,  the  grandfather  of  John  Bush  of  Rossville,  lived  on 
Freeman's  Creek,  in  West  Virginia.  Early  on  the  morning  of  the  24th 
of  April,  1791,  he  sent  his  two  eldest  children,  Daniel  and  Ann,  to 
drive  up  the  cows.  Immediately  on  their  departure  his  house  was 
furiously  assailed  by  an  attacking  party  of  Indians.  The  screams  of 
the  children  and  the  shouts  of  the  savages  suddenly  brought  Mr.  Bush 
to  his  feet,  and  grasping  his  rifle,  he  opened  the  door.  The  weapon 
was  instantly  seized  by  a  redskin  standing  at  the  threshold,  and  wrested 
from  him.  His  foe  shot  him  through  the  body  with  it,  and  as  he 
dropped  to  the  floor  his  wife  sprang  out  of  bed  to  his  assistance.  The 
Indian,  while  endeavoring  to  drag  his  body  out,  was  dispatched  by 
Mrs.  Bush  with  an  axe.  Others  also  attempted  to  remove  him,  and 
she  likewise  disposed  of  five  in  succession.  She  wounded  the  sixth, 
and  lost  her  weapon  by  its  becoming  fast  in  his  ribs,  and  not  being  able 
to  disengage  it,  she  then  barred  the  door,  and  the  neighborhood  having 
become  aroused  by  the  firing  and  yelling,  the  discomfited  assailants  fled 
precipitately,  leaving  the  resolute  woman  "  holding  the  fort,"  with  her 
five  or  six  children.  The  two  children  were  carried  into  captivity,  but 
after  about  two  years  were  recovered.  The  boy  died  soon  after  his 
release,  from  the  effects  of  the  severities  he  had  undergone.    Mr.  Bush 


GRANT   TOWNSHIP.  739 

was  in  a  fair  way  of  recovery,  when,  in  a  paroxysm  of  laughter,  he 
ruptured  a  blood-vessel  in  his  wound  and  died.  This  incident  is  related, 
though  differing  somewhat  in  its  details,  in  an  old  book  entitled 
"  Chronicles  of  Border  Warfare,"  a  history  of  the  settlement  of  north- 
western Virginia.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  born  in  Harrison 
county,  West  Virginia,  on  the  2d  of  November,  1810.  He  was  the  son 
of  William  and  Mary  (McCauley)  Bush.  In  1811  his  parents  removed 
to  Galia  county,  Ohio,  and  in  1810  to  Warren  county.  He  was  mar- 
ried on  the  21th  of  November,  1830,  to  Jane  Wallace.  In  1838  he 
settled  in  Edgar  county,  Illinois,  where  he  resided  till  1865,  and  tilled 
a  farm  of  four  hundred  and  sixty-six  acres,  which  he  came  into  posses- 
sion of  solely  as  the  fruit  of  his  own  toil.  He  labored  irregularly  for 
many  years  at  cabinet  work  and  carpentering,  but  never  fully  learned 
either  trade.  In  1865  he  came  to  Vermilion  county  ;  lived  three  years 
a  little  north  of  the  present  site  of  East  Lynn,  and  in  1868  moved  into 
Grant  township.  In  Ohio  he  was  first  lieutenant  of  the  Rossburgh 
Independent  Rifle  Company  live  years.  He  has  served  as  constable 
and  justice  of  the  peace  in  different  places  where  he  has  lived.  His 
wife  died  on  the  7th  of  November,  1877,  aged  sixty-eight  years,  five 
months  and  ten  days.  He  had  seven  sons  and  four  daughters.  Three 
of  his  sons  were  in  the  army  in  the  late  war:  Franklin  L.,  in  the  12th 
111.,  Col.  McArthur,  three  months;  John  C,  in  Co.  H,  29th  111., 
wounded  at  Pittsburg  Landing,  on  the  6th  of  April,  1862,  and  died  in 
hospital  at  Keokuk,  Iowa,  on  the  22d  of  April ;  Daniel  M.,  in  an 
Indiana  regiment  about  two  years.  Mr.  Bush  is  a  republican  in  politics, 
and  has  been  a  member  of  the  IT.  B.  church  thirty-five  years.  His  wife 
was  an  old  member. 

Lafayette  Goodwine,  Hoopeston,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born 
in  Warren  county,  Indiana,  on  the  27th  of  February,  1846.  His  par- 
ents were  Harrison  and  Isabel  (Charlton)  Goodwine.  In  1863  he 
enlisted  in  Co.  K,  11th  Ind.  Cav.  He  fought  in  the  decisive  battle  of 
Nashville,  on  the  15th  and  16th  of  December,  1864.  The  previous 
summer  he  had  done  duty  in  guarding  the  railroad  between  Stevenson 
and  Huntsville,  Alabama,  his  regiment  having  been  assigned  the  task 
of  protecting  that  line  against  the  irruptions  of  the  enemy.  His  com- 
mand lay  at  Eastport,  Mississippi,  in  the  spring  of  1865 ;  from  there  it 
was  ordered  to  St.  Louis,  and  thence,  in  the  latter  part  of  June,  to 
Council  Grove,  Kansas,  where  it  lay  till  September,  when  it  marched 
to  Fort  Leavenworth,  where  the  horses  were  turned  over.  The  regi- 
ment was  soon  after  mustered  out  at  Indianapolis.  In  the  fall  of  1866 
he  bought  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  his  father,  who  also  gave  him 
an  equal  tract,  and  he  settled  where  he  at  present  resides,  on  the  east 


740  HISTORY    OF    VERMILIOX    COUNTY. 

half  of  section  17,  town  23,  range  11.  The  value  of  farm  is  $10,000.  He 
was  married  on  the  12th  of  October,  1866,  to  Miss  Sarah  Ann  Wagoner, 
daughter  of  a  respectable  farmer  of  Milford,  Iroquois  county,  Illinois. 
They  have  two  living  children :  Julia  Ann,  born  on  the  3d  of  April, 
1871  ;  Ida  May,  born  on  the  7th  of  May,  1875.  Mr.  Goodwine  is  a 
republican.  He  is  a  prosperous  farmer.  Stock-raising  engages  a  large 
share  of  his  attention. 

John  C.  Grove,  Rossville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Marion  county,  near 
Indianapolis,  Indiana,  on  the  5th  of  September,  1837.  He  is  a  son  of 
Samuel  and  Helen  (Hays)  Grove.  He  was  enrolled  on  the  1st  of  Aug- 
ust, 1862,  in  the  86th  Ind.  Vols.,  Col.  Geo.  F.  Dick.  He  fought  in  the 
battles  of  Perryville,  Stone  River  and  Nashville,  the  latter  occurring 
on  the  15th  and  16th  of  December,  1864;  was  present  at  Chickamauga 
and  Mission  Ridge,  but  not  engaged.  During  the  latter  part  of  his 
service  he  was  in  feeble  health.  At  the  battle  of  Stone  River  a  bullet 
went  through  his  hat  and  cut  out  a  tuft  of  his  hair.  He  was  drum- 
major  of  his  regiment  about  one  year,  when  failing  health  caused  him 
to  relinquish  that  position.  He  was  mustered  out  at  Nashville,  on  the 
6th  of  June,  1865,  and  disbanded  at  Indianapolis.  On  the  28th  of  De- 
cember, 1865,  he  was  married  to  Huldah  Plummer,  daughter  of  Will- 
iam and  Mary  Ann  Plummer,  of  Iroquois  county,  Illinois.  They  have 
had  four  children:  Florence,  born  on  the  3d  of  November,  1867;  Le- 
nora,  born  on  the  5th  of  June,  1870 ;  Lilly,  born  on  the  7th  of  Febru- 
ary, and  died  on  the  17th  of  February,  1872;  Drusilla,  born  on  the 
16th  of  October,  1873.  In  1866,  in  company  with  his  brother,  James, 
he  bought  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land  in  section  31,  town 
23,  range  12,  Grant  township.  The  estimated  value  of  his  interest  is 
$1,800.     His  political  views  are  republican. 

The  parents  of  Henry  S.  Hoover,  of  Hoopeston,  Abraham  and 
Mary  (Speed}-)  Hoover,  removed  in  1831  from  Lancaster  county,  Penn- 
sylvania, to  La  Fayette,  Indiana,  when  there  were  fewer  than  a  half 
dozen  houses  in  the  latter  place,  and  the  Indians  were  "  as  plenty  as 
blackberries."  On  the  19th  of  February,  1833,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch  was  born.  In  1846  the  family  sought  a  new  location  at  Marsh- 
field,  Warren  county,  where  they  resided  eighteen  months,  and  then 
moved  on  a  farm  owned  at  the  time  by  Perrin  Kent,  southeast  of  the 
present  site  of  State  Line  City.  From  there,  in  1S49,  they  went  to 
Oskaloosa,  Iowa.  In  1854  Mr.  Hoover  returned,  and  worked  as  a 
hand  in  the  neighborhood  of  Marshfield  and  of  Rossville  till  1862, 
when,  in  February  of  that  year,  he  went  back  to  Iowa,  and  on  the  13th 
of  August  enlisted  in  Co.  C,  7th  Iowa  Inf.  He  served  on  the  Atlanta 
campaign ;  was  under  tire  at  Resaca,  and  fought  in  front  of  Atlanta  on 


GRANT   TOWNSHIP.  741 

the  22d  of  July,  1864,  and  a  little  later  at  Jonesborough  ;  participated 
in  the  march  to  the  sea,  and  the  still  longer  and  more  difficult  cam- 
paign of  the  Carolinas,  ending  his  active  and  eventful  military  service 
with  the  grand  review  of  Sherman's  army,  at  Washington  city,  on  the 
24th  of  May,  1865.  He  was  mustered  out  at  that  place  on  the  13th  of 
June,  and  disbanded  toward  the  close  of  the  month  at  Clinton,  Iowa. 
In  the  following  September  he  came  to  Vermilion  county,  Illinois.  In 
1867  he  settled  where  he  now  lives,  four  miles  southeast  of  Hoopes- 
ton.  He  was  married  on  the  14th  of  November,  1875,  to  Mrs.  Ellen 
Forshier,  relict  of  Daniel  Forshier.  Her  maiden  name  was  Stone. 
Mr.  Hoover  owns  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land,  worth  $4,800. 
He  is  a  republican  in  politics. 

John  L.  Starr,  Hoopeston,  farmer,  was  born  in  Logan  county,  Illi- 
nois, on  the  5th  of  April,  1853.  His  parents  were  Shelby  and  Nancy 
(Groves)  Starr.  His  father  was  from  Kentucky,  and  his  mother  from 
Pennsylvania.  The  former  died  on  the  8th  of  August,  1855,  and  his 
mother  married  a^ain  to  John  Brandt.  In  1869  the  family  removed 
to  this  county,  and  settled  in  Blount  township.  From  this  time  for- 
ward till  1876  he  lived  alternately  in  Vermilion  and  Logan  counties. 
In  the  latter  year  he  moved  on  the  farm  he  now  owns,  five  miles  east 
of  Hoopeston,  which  he  had  bought  the  fall  before.  It  consists  of 
ninety  acres,  situated  in  section  10,  town  23,  range  11,  and  is  valued 
at  $2,700.  He  was  married  on  the  31st  of  December,  1874,  to  Miss 
Sophia  A.  Fairchilds,  who  was  born  on  the  20th  of  April,  1857,  and 
was  a  daughter  of  the  Rev.  Daniel  Fairchilds,  a  pioneer  Methodist 
preacher  of  Vermilion  county,  now  deceased. 

Philip  C.  McMains,  Rossville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Parke  county, 
Indiana,  on  the  15th  of  February,  1835,  and  is  a  son  of  Robert  and 
Mary  (Groves)  McMains.  His  grandfather,  Frederick  Groves,  was  a 
soldier  in  the  Mexican  war.  He  was  married  on  the  15th  of  February, 
1858,  to  Nancy  Groves,  daughter  of  Samuel  Groves,  of  Lemon  county, 
Kentucky.  She  was  born  on  the  18th  of  February,  1832.  In  1868  he 
moved  to  Waynetown,  Montgomery  county,  Indiana;  lived  there  one 
year,  and  then  removed  to  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  and  settled  in 
Grant  township.  He  has  eight  living  children  :  John  H.,  born  on  the 
21st  of  February,  1859  ;  Zachariah  T.,  born  on  the  22d  of  April,  1861 ; 
Charles,  born  on  the  8th  of  November,  1863 ;  Mary  B.,  born  on  the 
15th  of  October,  1865  ;  Betty,  born  on  the  28th  of  May,  1868 ;  Willie, 
born  on  the  18th  of  September,  1871 ;  Frank,  born  on  the  24th  of  Jan- 
uary, 1874,  and  Almira,  born  on  the  7th  of  August,  1877.  Mr.  Mc- 
Mains is  an  independent  in  politics.  Mrs.  McMains  has  been  a  member 
of  the  Christian  church  about  thirty -five  years. 


742  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Lemuel  W.  Anderson,  Hoopeston,  physician  and  surgeon,  was  born 
in  Franklin,  Venango  county,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  7th  of  May,  1838. 
In  1844  his  parents  settled  in  Huntington  county,  Indiana.  He  spent 
one  year  at  Wabash  College,  Crawfordsville  ;  he  studied  medicine  at 
Zionsville,  Boone  county,  under  Drs.  Duzan  &  Anderson,  who  were 
in  partnership.  In  the  winter  of  1858-9  he  took  a  partial  term  of  lec- 
tures at  the  Medical  College  of  Ohio,  and  in  the  winter  of  1861-2 
attended  a  full  course  of  lectures  at  the  University  of  New  York. 
During  the  same  period  he  took  a  full  course  of  instruction  in  the  Eye 
and  Ear  Infirmary  of  New  York.  After  the  close  of  the  lecture  course 
he  practiced  a  while  in  obstetrics,  under  Dr.  Wilson,  superintendent  of 
the  Lying-in  Asylum.  In  1862  he  began  practice  at  Huntington,  In- 
diana; but  in  eight  months  re-located  at  Mount  ^Etna,  in  the  same 
count}T,  where  he  remained  nine  and  one-half  years.  In  1851-2  he  was 
deputy  postmaster  at  Huntington,  and  from  1858  to  1860  occupied 
the  same  position  at  Zionsville,  except  the  time  he  was  in  college ;  and 
again  at  the  former  place  in  1S61.  During  the  intervals  he  clerked  a 
part  of  the  time  in  a  dry-goods  store.  In  1857  he  worked  in  a  machine 
shop  in  Fort  Wayne,  with  the  intention  of  learning  the  trade,  but  the 
concern  broke  up  and  he  was  thrown  out  and  never  resumed  it.  In 
1871  he  moved  to  this  county  and  settled  on  a  farm  of  eighty  acres  sit- 
uated four  and  one-half  miles  southeast  of  Hoopeston,  which  he  still 
owns.  In  the  spring  of  1873  he  removed  to  Hoopeston.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  North  Vermilion  and  of  the  Vermilion  County  Medical 
Societies.  Dr.  Anderson  not  only  began  poor,  but  sadly  in  debt.  No 
favorable  circumstances  attended  him  from  his  youth  up.  He  has 
struggled  with  a  high  purpose  and  an  invincible  will.  The  result  is 
but  natural :  he  now  owns  two  hundred  and  twenty-seven  acres  of  choice 
farming  land,  valued  at  $7,000;  also  twenty-two  lots  and  six  houses  in 
the  city  of  Hoopeston.  His  superior  skill  and  judgment,  and  extensive 
and  constantly  increasing  practice,  have  placed  him  in  the  front  rank  of 
his  profession.  His  eminent  success  has  made  him  widely  known  and 
deservedly  popular;  but  it  is  not  Dr.  Anderson's  success  as  a  business 
man  and  practitioner  which  is  most  to  be  admired  :  his  word  is  law. 
This  is  not  the  least  of  the  means  which  have  operated  to  give  him 
a  highly  respectable  and  conservative  reputation.  He  was  married  on 
the  24th  of  March,  1864,  to  Elizabeth  J.  Blose,  who  was  born  on  the  2d 
of  July,  1842.  They  have  eight  children  :  William  Orion,  born  on  the 
28th  of  November,  1866  ;  Norval  Otto,  born  on  the  29th  of  March,  1867, 
died  on  the  24th  of  August,  1869;  George  Oscar,  born  on  the  7th  of 
June,  1869,  died  on  the  29th  of  May,  1S72 ;  Edward  Ovid,  born  on 
the  24th  of  March,  1871 ;  Alfred  Oglesby,  born  on  the  11th  of  Septem- 


GKANT   TOWNSHIP.  743 

ber,  1872;  Thomas  Orlando,  born  on  the  24th  of  May,  1874;  Lemuel 
Orth,  born  on  the  7th  of  March,  1876 ;  Mary  Olive,  born  on  the  4th 
of  February,  1878.  Both  he  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Presby- 
terian church.     He  has  been  an  elder  thirteen  years. 

David  Bedell,  Hoopeston,  merchant,  was  born  at  Twin  Rivers, 
Manitowoc  county,  Wisconsin,  on  the  8th  of  April,  1854.  He  is  the 
son  of  Jonathan  and  Jane  (Pollock)  Bedell ;  came  to  Hoopeston  with 
his  father  in  the  summer  of  1871.  He  received  his  education  at  the 
public  schools  of  Loda  and  Hoopeston.  He  is  now  chief  partner  in  the 
firm  of  David  Bedell  &  Co.,  in  the  general  merchandising  business. 

Jonathan  Bedell,  Hoopeston,  merchant,  was  born  in  Cazenovia, 
Madison  county,  New  York,  on  the  29th  of  October,  1827,  and  is  a 
son  of  Milo  and  Hannah  (Cole)  Bedell.  His  grandfather,  Joseph  Y. 
Cole,  was  a  veteran  of  the  revolutionary  war.  At  the  age  of  fifteen 
he  was  apprenticed  to  the  tanner  and  currier's  trade.  In  1851  he  emi- 
grated to  Twin  Rivers,  Manitowoc  county,  Wisconsin  ;  while  there  he 
learned  the  carpenter's  trade.  He  was  employed  by  the  Wisconsin 
Leather  Company  four  years  in  tanning  leather.  In  April,  1855,  he 
moved  to  Illinois  and  entered  the  last  piece  of  land  in  Vermilion  (now 
Ford)  county,  which  was  entered  while  the  register's  office  was  at 
Danville.  This  wras  the  S.E.  J  of  section  35,  town  24,  range  8.  He 
lived  on  his  farm  four  or  five  years ;  moved  into  Loda  and  lived  there 
until  1871,  when  he  settled  in  Hoopeston  and  opened  the  first  store  in 
the  place.  He  was  at  first  assistant  postmaster  in  the  new  town,  and 
opened  the  first  mail  that  was  received,  and  mailed  the  first  matter 
that  was  sent  away.  He  also  made  the  first  payment  of  cash  on  lots 
which  wTere  sold  in  the  place,  it  being  for  lots  68  and  69  which  he  at 
present  occupies  on  'Main  street.  He  was  the  first  master  of  Star 
Lodge,  No.  709,  A.F.  '&  A.M.,  of  Hoopeston.  On  the  1st  of  January, 
1875,  he  sold  his  store,  and  the  business  has  since  been  continued  under 
the  firm  name  of  David  Bedell  &  Co.  He  was  married  on  the  18th  of 
September,  1851,  to  Jane  Pollock.  They  have  seven  children  :  Henry, 
born  on  the  12th  of  June,  1852,  died  on  the  27th  of  September,  1853; 
David,  born  on  the  8th  of  April,  1854  ;  Laura  E.,  born  on  the  8th  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1857,  died  on  the  24th  of  April,  1864 ;  Wilford,  born  on  the  16th 
of  June,  1859,  died  on  the  27th  of  December,  1863;  Jane,  born  on  the 
20th  of  January,  1864,  died  on  the  20th  of  September,  1864;  George, 
born  on  the  18th  of  December,  1866 ;  Maggie,  born  on  the  16th  of 
January,  1870.     He  is  an  independent  in  politics. 

Miles  Odle,  Hoopeston,  farmer,  was  born  in  Warren  county,  In- 
diana, on  the  26th  of  December,  1841.  His  parents  were  Nathan  B. 
and  Frances  (Watkins)  Odle.     He  was  reared  on  a  farm.     He  volun- 


744  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

teered,  on  the  3d  of  June,  1861,  in  Co.  A,  15th  Ind.  Vols.,  Col.  G.  D. 
Wagner,  and  was  mustered  into  the  United  States  service  on  the  14th 
at  Lafayette.  He  was  engaged  at  Cheat  Mountains  on  the  12th  of 
September,  and  at  Greenbriar,  Virginia,  on  the  3d  of  October,  1861, 
both  of  which  were  federal  successes.  He  subsequently  fought  at 
Shiloh,  Perryville,  Stone  River,  Chickamauga  and  Mission  Ridge,  be- 
sides having  a  share  in  a  large  number  of  smaller  actions.  He  was 
mustered  out  on  the  30th  of  June,  1864,  at  Indianapolis.  He  was 
married  on  the  30th  of  August,  1866,  to  Susan  Hunter,  who  was  born 
on  the  25th  of  November,  1847,  and  died  on  the  17th  of  May,  1870. 
He  was  married  again  on  the  12th  of  January,  1872,  to  Sarah  Hunter, 
who  was  born  on  the  22d  of  January,  1850,  and  daughter  of  John 
Hunter,  a  wealthy  farmer  of  Warren  county,  Indiana.  In  1871  he 
removed  to  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  and  settled  where  he  now  lives, 
in  Grant  township,  four  miles  east  of  Hoopeston,  on  a  farm  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty  acres  in  section  3,  which  he  bought  at  that  time. 
He  now  owns  two  hundred  acres,  worth  $6,000.  Mr.  Odle  is  a  staunch 
republican,  and  a  firm  advocate  of  specie  resumption.  He  has  five 
living  children:  Ella  Florence,  born  on  the  17th  of  September,  1867; 
Anna  Rossa,  born  on  the  18th  of  October,  1869 ;  Hattie  Letitia,  born 
on  the  21st  of  February,  1874;  John  Lindsay,  born  on  the  3d  of  Au- 
gust, 1875,  and  Miles  Sherman,  born  on  the  2d  of  November,  1878. 

Thomas  J.  Bowsman,  Hoopeston,  farmer  and  carpenter,  was  born 
in  Preble  county,  Ohio,  on  the  14th  of  November,  1839.  His  parents 
•were  James  and  Rosanna  (Strader)  Bowsman.  His  grandfather  Strader 
served  seven  years  in  the  revolutionary  war  without  a  furlough,  and 
without  being  once  at  home  during  the  time.  His  father  was  a  carpen- 
ter, and  from  him  he  learned  the  same  trade.  Until  he  was  seventeen 
he  had  done  no  other  kind  of  work.  In  1856  the  family  emigrated  to 
Pike  county,  Illinois,  and  settled  near  Pittsfield,  where  he  farmed  two 
years.  In  1858  he  returned  to  Ohio,  and  finally  went  to  Madison 
county,,  Indiana,  where  he  enlisted  on  the  28th  of  August,  1861,  in 
Co.  D,  34th  Ind.  Vols.  This  regiment  became  attached  in  time  to  the 
1st  Brig.,  3d  Div.,  13th  Army  Corps.  He  bore  a  part  in  the  opera- 
tions at  New  Madrid  and  Island  No.  10 ;  fought  at  Fort  Gibson, 
Champion  Hills,  siege  of  Vicksburg  and  Jackson,  Mississippi.  In  the 
winter  of  1863-4  the  regiment  was  ordered  to  Texas,  but  returned  to 
New  Orleans  in  March  and  veteraned.  On  the  13th  of  May,  1865,  a 
portion  of  the  regiment  had  a  sharp  fight  with  the  rebels,  and  sustained 
a  loss  of  two  companies  captured.  This  occurred  on  the  Rio  Grande 
and  on  the  old  Palo  Alto  battle-ground.  In  the  battle  of  Champion 
Hills  the  stock  of  his  gun  was  shattered  by  seven  bullets,  but  he  was 


GRANT   TOWNSHIP. 


745 


unscathed  during  all  his  service.  He  was  mustered  out  on  the  28th 
of  February,  1866,  at  Brownsville,  Texas,  and  disbanded  at  Indian- 
apolis. On  his  return  home  he  engaged  in  running  first  a  saw  and 
afterward  a  planing  mill,  owning  a  one-third  interest  in  each.  Subse- 
quently he  worked  at  his  trade,  but  in  the  spring  of  1869  he  became 
interested  in  a  saw-mill  in  Preble  county,  Ohio,  which  he  ran  to  May, 
1871,  when  he  removed  it  to  Vermilion  county,  Indiana,  and  set  it  up 
seven  miles  southeast  of  Danville.  He  operated  it  till  September,  1875, 
when  he  sold  out  and  bought  one  hundred  and  ten  acres  of  land,  where 
he  now  lives,  in  Grant  township.     He  is  a  stalwart  republican. 

William  R.  Clark,  Hoopeston,  hardware  merchant,  was  born  in 
"Watertown,  New  York,  on  the  25th  of  October,  1832,  and  is  the  son 
of  Raymond  and  Lucy  (Gill)  Clark.  When  quite  young  his  parents 
emigrated  to  Washington,  AVayne  county,  Indiana,  and  in  1810  to 
Adams  county,  Illinois,  settling  on  a  farm  near  Quincy.  He  was  in 
Missouri  a  year,  returning  to  Franklin  county,  Indiana,  in  the  spring 
of  1846.  From  this' time  till  the  spring  of  1853  he  was  steamboating 
on  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Rivers,  most  of  the  time  in  the  capacity 
of  steward.  He  started  on  the  1st 
of  May,  1853,  for  California  by 
the  overland  route,  arriving  there 
on  the  2d  of  October.  He  kept 
hotel  at  Neal's  Ranche,  in  the 
Sacramento  Valley,  forty  miles 
north  of  Myersville,  during  his 
residence  in  that  state.  In  Sep- 
tember, 1857,  he  returned  to  Mar- 
shall county,  Illinois,  living  nine 
years  in  Winona,  engaged  in  the 
grocery  trade.    In  1866  he  moved  clark  s  hall. 

to  Gilman,  Iroquois  county,  and  started  a  hardware  store;  in  1870 
removed  his  business  to  Loda,  and  in  the  spring  of  1872  to  Hoopeston, 
then  an  enterprising  town  just  starting.  He  has  continued  the  same 
business  ever  since,  and  now  owns  and  occupies  the  finest  merchandis- 
ing house  in  the  northern  part  of  Vermilion  county.  He  is  serving  his 
second  term  as  supervisor  of  Grant  tcrwnship.  He  possesses  good  busi- 
ness qualifications,  a  firm  character,  unqualified  integrity,  and  is  highly 
and  universally  respected.  He  was  married  on  the  5th  of  September, 
1857,  to  Henrietta  Filton.  They  have  two  living  children  :  Lilie,  born 
on  the  8th  of  May,  1864;  Georgie,  born  on  the  5th  of  May,  1866. 
Mr.  Clark  is  a  steadfast  republican,  at  this  time  popularly  termed 
"  stalwart." 


74:6  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Johu  S.  Powell.  Hoopeston,  druggist,  was  born  in  Xew  York  city 
on  the  23d  of  February,  1840,  and  is  the  son  of  Edward  and  Harriet 
(Everett)  Powell.  At  the  age  of  twelve  he  was  indentured  to  Dr. 
William  G.  Wood,  of  Harlem,  in  the  drug  business,  and  placed  under 
the  supervision  of  the  doctors  brother,  James  Wood,  a  thorough 
pharmacist.  He  served  an  apprenticeship  of  five  years,  during  which 
time  he  was  required  daily  to  learn  a  prescribed  task  and  undergo 
examination  by  the  doctor.  He  became  by  this  means  a  good  Latin 
scholar.  When  seventeen  he  went  into  some  of  the  leading  drug 
stores  in -the  city,  where  he  finished  his  professional  education.  In 
1860  he  immigrated  to  Illinois,  and  on  the  14th  of  April,  1861,  volun- 
teered in  Co.  A,  12th  111.  Inf.,  Col.  McArthur,  for  three  months.  He 
was  mustered  out  at  Cairo  on  the  2d  of  August.  In  the  following 
month  he  reenlisted  in  the  30th  111.,  and  was  appointed  hospital  steward 
of  the  regiment,  and  served  in  that  capacity  till  the  expiration  of  his 
three  years'  term,  when,  in  September,  1861,  he  veteraned.  He  bore 
a  part  in  the  battles  of  Belmont,  Forts  Henry  and  Donelson,  Shiloh, 
and  the  Yicksburg  campaign,  including  the  actions  at  Clinton,  Jack- 
son, Champion  Hills,  and  finally  the  siege  and  fall  of  the  Gibralter  of 
the  Mississippi.  At  the  battle  of  Champion  Hills,  on  the  16th  of  May, 
1863,  he  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  but  was  released  on  parole, 
when  he  reported  in  person  to  Gen.  Grant,  and  requested  to  remain 
with  the  army  till  the  fall  of  the  citv.  The  general  acceded  to  his 
request,  and  put  him  on  duty  as  hospital  steward  in  Gen.  Logan's 
division  hospital.  After  the  capture  of  Yicksburg  he  was  ordered  to 
report  to  Jefferson  Barracks,  St.  Louis,  as  a  paroled  prisoner  of  war, 
where  he  remained  until  exchanged  ;  then  returning  to  that  city  he 
was  placed  on  detached  service  in  the  office  of  the  medical  director  of 
the  17th  Army  Corps.  Availing  himself  of  the  department  library  at 
command,  he  resumed  and  diligently  prosecuted  his  studies.  He  ap- 
peared before  the  board  of  medical  examiners,  consisting  of  surgeons 
Patterson,  Wilson  and  Bouschee,  and  passed  a  successful  examination, 
and  in  January,  1865,  was  commissioned  assistant  surgeon  of  the  52d 
U.  S.  Col.  Vols.  He  was  given  charge  of  a  ward  in  U.  S.  hospital  No. 
3,  at  Yicksburg,  and  also  a  small-pox  hospital.  He  remained  there  on 
duty  till  he  was  mustered  out  of  the  service,  in  May,  1866.  He 
returned  to  Illinois  and  engaged  in  traveling  in  the  wholesale  drug 
business.  On  the  2d  of  August,  1871,  he  stopped  in  Hoopeston,  and 
in  the  following  winter  purchased  the  store  and  stock  of  drugs  belong- 
ing to  Frank  Hoffman,  and  has  continued  the  business  to  the  present 
time,  having  secured  a  large  and  increasing  trade.  He  was  married  on 
the  25th  of  January,  1874,  to  Miss  Lizzie  Webb.     They  have  one  child, 


GRANT   TOWNSHIP.  747 

Robert  Lennox,  born  on  the  20th  of  February,  1876.     Mr.  Powell  is  a 
conservative  in  politics  and  a  Universalist  in  religion. 

Joseph  Dallstream,  Hoopeston,  merchant,  was  born  in  Wenersborg, 
Sweden,  on  the  2d  of  April,  1852,  and  is  a  son  of  John  and  Elizabeth 
(Anderson)  Dallstream.  He  received  a  fair  education  in  the  public 
schools  of  the  country,  and  spent  one  term  in  Uppsala  College.  At 
sixteen  he  was  apprenticed  to  the  shoemaker's  trade,  which  he  has 
steadily  followed  since.  In  1871  he  came  to  America,  and  settled  in 
Champaign  city.  He  lived  there  one  year,  and  afterward  a  few  months 
in  Rantoul,  finally  settling  in  Hoopeston  in  the  fall  of  1872.  In  1876 
he  opened  a  general  boot  and  shoe  store  in  connection  with  his  manu- 
facturing. He  was  married  on  the  6th  of  September,  1878,  to  Amy  J. 
Given,  who  was  born  on  the  22d  of  July,  1849,  in  Millersburg,  Holmes 
county,  Ohio.  She  is  a  member  of  the  Christian  church.  He  is  a 
republican  in  politics,  and  a  member  of  the  Lutheran  church.  '  He  is 
also  a  member  of  the  Blue  Lodge  of  Masons,  and  of  the  chapter  in 
Hoopeston. 

Jacob  S.  McFerren,  Hoopeston,  banker  and  real  estate  broker,  was 
born  in  Warren  county,  Ohio,  on  the  1st  of  October,  1845.  His  par- 
ents were  William  and  Eliza  (Snyder)  McFerren.  He  received  a  busi- 
ness education  at  Bartlett's  Commercial  College,  Cincinnati.  His  father 
having  always  followed  the  mercantile  business,  he  was  reared  to  the 
same  pursuit.  At  the  age  of  fifteen  he  quit  school  to  take  a  half 
interest  with  his  uncle  in  a  store  at  Level,  Ohio,  the  latter  furnishing 
the  capital,  and  he  conducting  the  business  and  sharing  one  half  the 
profits,  the  style  of  the  firm  being,  A.  S.  McFerren  &  Co.  Two  years 
later  his  uncle  formed  another  partnership,  and  commenced  operating 
in  grain ;  but  a  heavy  decline  and  other  bad  speculations  caused  the 
firm  to  suspend  with  heavy  liabilities,  which  so  affected  the  firm  of 
A.  S.  McFerren  &  Co.  that  the  quite  extensive  business  which  the 
subject  of  this  sketch  had  built  up  was  discontinued,  and  their  affairs 
were  settled  up,  and  all  their  debts  paid  in  full.  In  his  short,  indepen- 
dent business  career  Mr.  McFerren  had  made  a  clear  profit  of  $3,000; 
but  by  the  unfortunate  speculations  of  his  partner  he  lost  all  but  $800, 
which  so  reduced  his  capital  that  he  was  obliged  to  begin  on  a  salary. 
So,  in  August,  1865,  he  started  west,  and  located  at  Paxton,  Illinois, 
where  he  took  charge  of  the  books  of  J.  W.  Scott,  of  that  place,  for  a 
short  time,  and  afterward  found  a  permanent  situation  with  R.  Clark, 
one  of  the  oldest  merchants  of  Paxton,  as  book-keeper.  At  the  end 
of  a  year  Mr.  Clark's  health  failing,  he  offered  to  turn  over  his  stock 
of  goods  to  his  nephew,  A.  L.  Clark,  and  Mr.  McFerren,  and  loan 
them  all  needed  capital.     The  proposition  was  accepted,  and  the  firm 


748  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

became  Clark  &  McFerren.  This  partnership  and  enterprise  proved 
highly  fortunate.  Their  trade  suddenly  attained  a  basis  of  substantial 
prosperity,  and  their  capital  steadily  and  rapidly  increased.  Mr.  Mc- 
Ferren at  length  determined  to  embark  in  banking  and  real  estate 
brokerage,  and,  accordingly,  associated  with  himself  T.  W.  Chamberlin, 
under  the  style  of  McFerren  &  Chamberlin.  They  opened  a  bank  in 
Hoopeston  on  the  1st  of  August,  1872,  and  did  a  remunerative  busi- 
ness, passing  safely  through  the  panic  of  1873,  keeping  their  doors 
open  throughout  that  trying  period.  Early  in  1874,  owing  to  ill-health, 
Mr.  Chamberlin  retired  from  the  partnership.  Mr.  McFerren's  bank 
is  one  of  the  most  safely  conducted  institutions  of  the  kind  in  the 
country,  and  its  credit  is  deservedly  high.  The  business  transacted  by 
it  has  constantly  augmented  in  volume.  Maintaining  his  working 
capital  at  a  uniform  figure,  he  has  judiciously  invested  the  profits  in 
first-class  farming  lands  in  Vermilion,  Iroquois  and  Ford  counties, 
which  are  now  valued  at  $60,000.  He  attributes  his  success  to  careful 
economy,  to  keeping  his  own  books,  and  maintaining  a  close,  personal 
supervision  over  the  details  of  his  business,  and  to  strictly  living  up  to 
his  contracts,  and  compelling  others  to  a  like  exactness  in  discharging 
their  contracts  with  him.  In  the  spring  of  1877  Mr.  McFerren  was 
elected  the  first  mayor  of  Hoopeston  on  the  temperance  ticket.  The 
town  had  always  been  controlled  by  the  liquor  interest,  but  at  the  end 
of  his  term  of  two  years  it  was  cleared  of  every  saloon  and  groggery. 
It  is  not  the  least  of  his  merits  that  he  has  been  a  consistent  and  ear- 
nest laborer  in  the  temperance  cause,  and  has  thus  assisted  largely  in 
building  up  the  city,  infusing  life  into  it,  rendering  it  respectable,  and 
contributing  to  its  good  name  and  reputation.  He  has  been  treasurer 
and  director  of  the  Hoopeston  District  Agricultural  Society,  and  is  at 
present  school  treasurer  of  town  23,  range  12.  He  was  one  of  the 
original  projectors  of  the  Ford  County  Agricultural  Society,  and  is 
still  a  stockholder  in  it.  Having  a  taste  for  travel,  Mr.  McFerren  has 
gratified  it  by  an  extensive  tour  of  the  United  States,  from  the  Atlan- 
tic to  the  Pacific,  and  from  the  British  provinces  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 
He  was  married  on  the  4th  of  April,  1871,  to  Miss  Susie  P.  Clark, 
daughter  of  K.  Clark,  who  died  on  the  28th  of  July,  1871.  His  parents 
have  been  life-long  members  of  the  Universalist  church.  He  is  a  re- 
publican in  politics. 

Enoch  Ross,  Hoopeston,  farmer,  was  born  in  Stark  county,  Ohio,  on 
the  27th  of  December,  1840,  and  is  a  son  of  Isaac  N.  and  Nancy 
(Hewitt)  Ross.  His  parents  were  native  Pennsylvauians,  and  his  an- 
cestors on  his  mother's  side  were  Irish.  His  father  was  the  owner  of  a 
large  grist-mill  in  Waynesburg,  and  he  raised  his  son  a  miller.     He 


GRANT   TOWNSHIP.  749 

followed  this  trade  until  his  removal  to  Illinois.  On  the  17th  of  July, 
1863,  he  joined  the  "  Ohio  National  Guard  "  for  five  years,  and  remained 
a  member  of  that  body  until  the  1st  of  May,  1866,  when  he  was  hon- 
orably discharged.  He  volunteered  in  the  one-hundred-days  service, 
on  the  2d  of  May,  1864,  in  Co.  I,  162d  Ohio  National  Guard,  as  a 
musician,  and  was  mustered  into  the  U.  S.  service.  He  did  duty  at 
Camp  Chase,  Ohio,  and  at  Covington  and  Carrollton,  Kentucky,  and 
was  mustered  out  at  the  former  place  on  the  4th  of  September,  1864. 
He  was  married  on  the  22d  of  September,  1862,  to  Christina  Kara, 
daughter  of  Adam  Kara,  a  well-to-do  and  respectable  mechanic  of 
Waynesburg.  She  was  born  on  the  27th  of  December,  1841.  In  the 
spring  of  1868  he  removed  with  his  family  to  Illinois,  and  located  in 
Fountain  Creek  township,  Iroquois  county,  on  land  belonging  to  his 
father.  He  lived  there  four  years,  and  then  bought  one  hundred  and 
sixty  acres  in  Grant  township,  Vermilion  county,  of  H.  W.  Beckwith, 
'of  Danville,  the  same  being  the  southeast  -j,  section  6,  town  23,  range 
12,  where  he  at  present  resides.  He  has  a  fine  homestead,  free  from 
debt;  is  an  independent  farmer  and  valued  citizen.  He  has  one  daugh- 
ter: Lorena,  who  was  born  on  the  22d  of  August,  1863.  His  political 
views  are  republican. 

Garret  J.  Pendergrast,  Rossville,  farmer,  was  bora  in  Jefferson 
county,  Kentucky,  on  the  24th  of  February,  1838,  and  is  a  son  of  James 
F.  and  Dorothea  (Miller)  Pendergrast.  His  father  was  a  physician  of 
Jefferson  county.  He  was  reared  a  farmer,  and  also  learned  the  trade 
of  brickmaking  and  bricklaying.  In  1856  he  emigrated  to  Keokuk, 
Iowa,  and  in  1858  returned  to  Kentucky,  and  in  the  fall  went  to  Chip- 
pewa county,  Michigan,  and  entered  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of 
land,  living  eighteen  months  among  the  Indians,  but  growing  weary 
of  his  prolonged  separation  from  white  men  and  civilization,  he  gave 
his  land  to  his  brother,  who  lived  in  that  section  fifteen  years  altogether. 
He  returned  to  "  Old  Kaintuck,"  and  after  a  few  months  went  to  New 
Orleans.  In  1863  he  again  wandered  back  to  his  native  home.  Three 
or  four  years  were  then  spent  in  farming,  after  which  he  went  to  mak- 
ing and  laying  brick  in  Henry  and  Shelby  counties.  He  was  married 
on  the  9th  of  December,  1871,  to  Delia  Hardesty,  daughter  of  a  wealthy 
farmer  of  Henry  county,  living  near  Eminence.  She  was  born  on  the 
23d  of  November,  1853.  In  1872  he  emigrated  to  Illinois  and  settled 
at  Rossville,  where  he  continued  his  usual  employments  of  farming  and 
making  and  laying  brick.  He  and  his  brother  Patrick  built  all  the  brick 
business-houses  in  Rossville,  viz :  Deamude's,  Henderson's  and  Put- 
nam &  Albright's.  He  has  a  pleasant  home  of  sixteen  acres  on  the 
northern   confines  of  the  town,  valued  at  $1,500.     He  was  identified 


750  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

with  the  republican  party  for  a  long  time,  but  for  the  past  few  years 
has  been  independent  in  politics.  The  Pendergrasts  were  Irish,  and 
the  Moores, —  his  ancestors  on  his  mother's  side, —  were  English.  Both 
families  were  among  the  earliest  settlers  of  Kentucky ;  they  emigrated 
from  Pennsylvania.  His  great-grandfather,  Jesse  Pendergrast,  was 
killed  at  Boonesborough  in  attempting  to  enter  the  fort  while  it  was 
invested  by  Indians.  His  grandfather,  Jesse  Pendergrast,  was  born  in 
the  old  fort,  and  a  brother,  Garret  J.  Pendergrast,  for  many  years  a 
noted  practitioner  of  Louisville  and  surgeon  in  the  U.  S.  army,  was  re- 
puted to  have  been  the  first  white  male  child  born  in  Kentucky.  His 
birthplace  was  also  at  Boonesborough.  Garret  J.  Pendergrast,  uncle 
to  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  was  a  commodore  in  the  U.  S.  navy,  and 
at  the  breaking  out  of  the  war  was  one  of  the  oldest  officers  in  the  ser- 
vice. His  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Commodore  Barron  who  killed  De- 
catur in  a  duel.  Austin  Pendergrast,  brother  to  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  was  a  commander  in  the  U.  S.  navy.  He  was  lieutenant-com- 
mander of  the  Congress  when  she  was  sunk  by  the  Merrimac  at  New- 
port News.  He  commanded  the  U.  S.  steamer  Waterwitch  in  Ossa- 
baw  Sound,  Georgia,  when  she  was  captured,  and  received  a  severe 
wound  in  the  engagement.  He  was  confined  in  Libby  prison  eighteen 
months.  He,  among  others,  was  placed  under  the  rebel  guns  at  Charles- 
ton during  the  siege  of  that  city  by  Gen.  Gillmore,  to  check  the  fed- 
eral fire. 

Erastus  D.  Crane,  Rossville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Warren  county, 
Ohio,  on  the  4th  of  January,  1834.  His  parents  were  Silas  and  Jane 
(Romine)  Crane.  Soon  after  his  birth  his  parents  migrated  to  Fountain 
county,  Indiana;  he  lived  in  that  and  Warren  count}^  till  1873,  when 
he  moved  to  Yermilion  county,  Illinois,  and  bought  the  N.E.  4;  of 
section  5,  town  22,  range  12,  three  miles  west  and  three-fourths  of  a  mile 
north  of  Rossville,  where  he  at  present  lives.  He  was  married  on  the 
3d  of  February,  1856,  to  Sarah  M.  Bowling,  who  was  born  on  the  6th  of 
March,  1839.  He  was  assessor  four  years  in  Jordan  township,  Warren 
county,  Indiana.  He  has  eleven  children  living  and  dead,  as  follows: 
Mary  Jane,  born  February  13,  1857;  Hannah  Alice,  born  August  26, 
1858;  Huldah  Elma,  born  November  28,  1860  ;  died  August  16,  1866; 
William  E.,  born  October  21,  1862;  Charles,  born  October  15,  1865; 
Elnora,  born  January  28,  1868;  Ora,  born  April  23,  1870;  Frank, 
born  September  3,  1872;  Clara,  born  February  14,  1874;  Lulu  May, 
born  February  13,  1877;  Nellie  Florence,  born  April  12,  1879.  He 
owns  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land,  worth  $4,800.  Mr.  Crane 
is  a  greenback  republican. 

Joseph  Green,  Hoopeston,  farmer,  was  born  in  Boyle  county,  Ken- 


GRANT   TOWNSHIP.  751 

tucky,  on  the  26th  of  October,  1826,  and  is  the  son  of  Solomon  and 
Mary  E.  (Randolph)  Green.  In  1849  he  removed  to  Crawfordsville, 
Indiana.  He  was  married  on  the  17th  of  October,  1849,  to  Elizabeth  E. 
Rogers.  In  1864  he  settled  in  Prairie  Green  township,  Iroquois  county, 
Illinois,  where  he  purchased  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres. 
In  1867  he  moved  into  Stockland  township,  and  bought  two  hundred 
and  forty-one  acres ;  lived  there  seven  years,  and  then  settled  in 
Hoopeston,  to  avail  himself  of  the  superior  school  there  for  his  chil- 
dren. He  has  served  one  term  as  alderman,  and  been  a  director  of  the 
high  school  since  the  spring  of  1875.  This  school  is  in  the  front  rank 
of  institutions  of  its  kind,  and  its  high  reputation  is  due  primarily  to 
the  wisdom  of  its  officers.  His  judgment  has  proved  no  less  practical 
in  public  than  in  his  own  private  affairs.  He  has  four  living  children  : 
Willis  T.,  Titus  T.,  Henry  Clay,  Lina  Ellen.  He  owns  four  hundred 
and  one  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $12,500.  Mr.  Green  is  a  staunch 
republican  ;  has  been  a  member  of  the  Christian  church  since  1844. 

Alba  Honeywell,  Hoopeston,  farmer,  was  born  in  Cayuga  county, 
New  York,  on  the  15th  of  December,  1821,  and  is  the  son  of  Enoch 
and  Eliza  (Dye)  Honeywell.  When  a  youth  his  parents  settled  in 
Steuben  (now  Schuyler)  county.  He  was  brought  up  to  the  pursuits 
of  the  farm.  At  the  age  of  sixteen  he  began  his  education,  at  first  attend- 
ing the  Groton  Academy  two  years,  and,  after  teaching  a  year,  con- 
tinued his  studies  two  years  more  at  the  Oneida  Institute.  He  next 
taught  the  Pleasant  Valley  Academy,  and  labored  in  this  profession 
eight  or  ten  years.  About  1843  he  went  to  Seneca  Falls,  and,  while 
engaged  in  teaching,  read  law  in  the  office  of  Ansil  Bascom.  The  next 
year  he  went  to  Rochester,  and  studied  in  the  office  of  Gilbert  &  Osborne. 
He  resided  in  that  city  a  year,  and  while  there,  was  a  delegate  to 
the  Buffalo  Convention,  which  nominated  James  G.  Birney,  the  aboli- 
tion candidate,  for  President  in  1844.  From  this  time  till  1847  he  was 
chiefly  engaged  in  the  temperance  and  anti-slavery  lecture  field,  and  in 
the  meantime  wrote  several  plays  in  the  interest  of  the  temperance 
cause.  During  the  same  period  he  contributed  a  number  of  poems  to 
the  Philadelphia  "Dollar  Newspaper,"  and  employed  his  pen  variously 
on  other  papers  in  writing  stories  and  stray  communications  bearing- 
more  or  less  directly  on  the  reform  questions  of  the  day.  In  July, 
1847,  he  went  to  New  York  city,  and  became  editorially  connected 
with  the  "Anglo-Saxon,"  a  phonetic  publication,  Andrews  &  Boyle, 
proprietors.  Afterward,  in  company  with  Josiah  Pillsbury  and  B.  P. 
Worcester,  the  latter  a  nephew  of  the  lexicographer,  he  commenced 
the  publication  of  the  "New  York  Eagle,"  a  reform  paper,  which  was 
soon  discontinued.     In  about  1849  he  became  an  attache  on  the  edi- 


752  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

torial  staff  of  the  "  Standard,"  the  organ  of  tlie  American  Anti-Slavery 
Society.    During  much  of  the  time  he  was  associated  with  the  "Stand- 
ard "  he  issued  a  small  monthly  of  his  own,  called  the  "Chromo  Press." 
He  was  thus  occupied  till  April,  1853,  when  he  emigrated  to  Iroquois 
county,  Illinois,  and  went  on  a  farm  of  eight  hundred  acres,  which  he 
and  his  father  had  entered  the  year  before.    He  lived  there  three  years, 
increasing  the  farm  to  fourteen  hundred  acres.     In  1856,  having  be- 
come dissatisfied,  he  traveled  in  Minnesota  and  Iowa  in  quest  of  a 
better  location,  and  in  the  fall  went  to  Chicago  and  secured  a  position 
on  the  editorial  staff  of  the  Chicago  "  Daily  News,"  a  republican  paper, 
which  ceased  to  exist  when  the  political  campaign  of  that  year  ended. 
In  the  spring  of  1857  he  went  to  Logansport,  Indiana,  and  became 
connected  with  H.  H.  Evarts  in  his  celebrated  patent  shingle  machine, 
in  which  venture  he  lost  four  thousand  dollars.     He  next  formed  a 
partnership  under  the  title  of  Swan  &  Honeywell,  in  lumber  manufac- 
turing, which  lasted  two  years.    In  1860,  in  company  with  Charles  W. 
Simonds  —  firm  name  of  Honeywell  &  Co. —  he  started  a  plow-handle 
and  bending  establishment,  but  at  the  end  of  two  years  sold  out  his 
interest  to  his  partner.    This  same  factory  has  since  grown  to  immense 
proportions.     In  1862  he  returned  to  his  farm  in  Iroquois  county,  and 
in  1864  was  elected  supervisor  of  Stockland  township,  and  reelected  to 
that  office  every  year  until  1869,  when  he  was  elected  county  clerk  on 
the  republican  ticket.     During  the  winters  that  he  was  on  the  farm  he 
was  engaged  in  teaching  school,  and,  during  the  most  of  his  service  on 
the  county  board,  was  chairman  of  the  finance  committee.    In  1872  and 
1873  he  bought  one  thousand  acres  of  land  adjoining  Hoopeston,  a 
part  of  the  city  being  laid  out  on  it.     In  1874  he  removed  there,  and 
has  since  been  engaged  in  improving  his  fiue  estate.     Altogether,  he 
owns  two  thousand  acres  of  land,  valued  at  $80,000.     He  is  at  present 
maj'or  of  the  city  of  Hoopeston ;    has  been  a  stockholder  in,  and  a 
director  of,  the  First  National  Bank  of  Watseka  since  its  organization ; 
has  been  prominent  in  temperance  work  in  Hoopeston.     Mr.  Honey- 
well has  written  the  text  of  a  manuscript  work  entitled,  "Philological 
Encyclopedia  of  the  English  Language,"  embracing,  among  the  many 
subjects  discussed,  phonics,  and  the  institutes  of  grammar,  rhetoric  and 
logic.     He  was  married  on  the  3d  of  April,  1851,  to  Cornelia  R.  An- 
drews, of  Steuben  county,  New  York.    They  have  four  living  children  : 
Stella,  wife  of  John  C.  Cromer,  editor  of  the  Homer  "Enterprise"; 
Florence,  Lilian  and  Sarah  E.     Mr.  Honeywell  is  a  republican  in  poli- 
tics. 

William  S.  Leach,  Hoopeston,  gardener  and  fruit-grower,  was  born 
in  Lyons,  Wayne  county,  New  York,  on  the  2d  of  April,  1825.     He  is 


GRANT   TOWNSHIP.  753 

the  youngest  son  of  Lyman  and  Candice  Stocking,  both  of  whom  were 
born  and  reared  in  Litchfield,  Connecticut.  He  was  left  an  orphan  at 
a  very  early  age,  his  father  dying  when  he  was  two  and  his  mother 
when  he  was  three  years  old.  He  was  adopted  by  Chauncey  W. 
McCall,  a  distant  relation,  by  whom  he  was  reared  and  with  whom  he 
lived  till  he  was  twenty-one.  At  sixteen  he  was  apprenticed  to  the 
printer's  trade,  which  he  learned,  but  it  being  too  confining  for  his 
health  he  abandoned  it  and  went  to  gardening,  which  has  been  his 
life-occupation.  In  1847  he  emigrated  to  Coldwater,  Michigan,  where 
he  was  married  on  the  15th  of  October,  1852,  to  Miss  Harriet  E.  Dunn, 
daughter  of  a  respectable  farmer  of  that  place.  In  the  spring  of  1859, 
accompanied  by  three  men  named  Douglas,  Hunter  and  Sopries,  he 
crossed  the  plains  to  Denver,  Colorado,  on  foot,  they  hauling  their  provi- 
sions in  a  one-horse  cart  from  Omaha.  They  were  treated  very  kindly 
by  the  Indians,  among  whom  they  passed  without  molestation,  and 
with  whom  they  traded  every  day.  This  was  the  first  party  to  reach 
Denver  that  spring ;  perhaps  a  dozen  had  preceded  them  the  fall  before. 
At  this  time  there  was  not  a  house  in  the  place ;  the  few  who  were 
there  burrowed  in  the  ground.  He  helped  to  make  the  first  mining 
laws  and  to  hang  the  first  criminal,  who  was  a  Mexican  that  had  mur- 
dered his  brother-in-law  ;  he  made  the  first  farming  claim,  a  tract  of 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres.  He  went  there  for  the  purpose  of  gar- 
dening, the  Pike's  Peak  emigration  being  at  its  height,  but  a  mid- 
summer frost  destroyed  every  prospect  for  him  in  that  direction  and  he 
returned  home  in  June.  In  1867  he  moved  to  Jacksonville,  Illinois, 
where  he  carried  on  gardening,  farming  and  stock-feeding  till  1874, 
when  he  settled  in  Hoopeston,  where  he  opened  his  Prairie  Garden. 
He  has  been  trustee  of  the  town  of  Hoopeston,  and  later  alderman  of 
the  city.  He  is  a  republican  in  politics,  and  has  been  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  church  since  he  was  sixteen  years  old.  He  has  two  living 
children  :  Ida  E.,  born  on  the  24th  of  September,  1853,  wife  of  W.  W. 
Hobart,  of  Hoopeston  ;  and  Eddie  J.,  born  on  the  24th  of  October, 
1859. 

John  R.  Livingood,  Rossville,  physician  and  surgeon,  was  born  on 
the  27th  of  March,  1853,  at  Sinking  Springs,  Berks  county.  Penn- 
sylvania, and  is  the  son  of  Michael  T.  and  Hannah  E.  (Ruth)  Livin- 
good ;  attended  the  Reading  Classical  Academy  from  1867  to  1869, 
then  studied  medicine  with  his  father  till  1871,  when  he  entered  the 
University  of  Pennsylvania,  graduating  on  the  13th  of  March,  1874. 
He  returned  to  Rossville,  where  he  has  since  lived  and  practiced  his 
profession  with  increasing  success.  He  is  a  member  of  the  North  Ver- 
milion Medical  Society.  He  is  a  democrat  and  a  Methodist. 
48 


754  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Henry  H.  Dyer,  Hoopeston,  attorney,  was  born  in  Rutland  county, 
Vermont,  on  the  9th  of  April,  1831.  He  is  the  son  of  Daniel  and 
Phila  B.  (Beverstock)  Dyer.  When  seven  years  old,  his  parents  removed 
to  Richland  county,  Ohio.  He  was  bred  a  farmer;  was  educated  at 
Mount  Hesper  Seminary,  in  Morrow  county,  and  taught  school  a  number 
of  terms.  In  1853  he  obtained  a  position  in  the  Bank  of  Mansfield,  a 
bank  of  issue,  as  teller  and  bookkeeper.  He  was  married  on  the  22d  of 
November,  1854,  to  Miss  Sarah  J.  Wescott ;  next  year  settled  in  Callo- 
way county,  Missouri,  where,  in  company  with  his  father,  he  bought  a 
farm  of  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  whereon  he  built  a  combined 
steam  saw,  grist  and  woolen  mill.  In  1858  this  was  fired  and  burned  by 
one  Lewis,  at  the  instigation  of  the  slaveholding  community,  to  punish 
Mr.  D.  for  his  anti-slavery  views.  In  1860  he  removed  to  Denver  City 
and  engaged  in  the  commission  business  ;  in  18^1  he  went  to  Nevada 
City,  and  for  two  years  was  mining  and  running  a  quartz  mill ;  in 
1863  moved  to  Canon  City  and  bought  three  ranches ;  followed  farm- 
ing and  trading;  elected  justice  of  the  peace  and  held  the  office  one 
year.  In  the  fall  of  1864  he  went  to  Denver  and  embarked  in  the  auction 
and  commission  business,  taking  a  partner,  under  the  firm  name  of 
Clark  and  Dyer.  In  the  spring  of  1867  he  came  to  Chicago,  engaging 
in  the  hardware  trade  and  the  manufacture  of  tinware ;  in  1870  moved 
to  Greenup,  Cumberland  county,  Illinois,  and  went  into  the  real  estate 
and  contract  business;  in  January,  1875,  settled  in  Hoopeston,  and 
began  the  study  of  the  law  privately,  which  he  prosecuted  with  pro- 
digious zeal  and  assiduity.  He  began  to  practice  in  July  following.  He 
did  not  relax  his  studies,  and  in  January,  1877,  was  admitted  to  the  bar 
at  Springfield.  He  has  secured  a  very  successful  and  lucrative  practice. 
He  is  a  nephew  of  Hon.  Charles  V.  Dyer,  of  Chicago,  a  noted  anti- 
slavery  lecturer,  who  was  formerly  judge  under  treaty  with  Great 
Britain  for  the  suppression  of  the  African  slave-trade,  by  appointment 
of  President  Lincoln.  He  is  the  father  of  four  living  children.  Mr. 
Dyer  in  his  political  views  is  a  greenbacker. 

Dale  Wallace,  Hoopeston,  publisher,  was  born  in  Laporte,  Indiana, 
on  the  5th  of  November,  1849.  His  parents  were  John  Porter  and 
Lydia  Ann  (Winchell)  Wallace.  In  1855  his  parents  moved  to  West 
Union,  Fayette  county,  Iowa,  and  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was  reared 
and  educated  there.  He  began  the  printer's  trade  in  1863  in  the  office 
of  the  "  Fayette  County  Pioneer,"  a  violent  copperhead  sheet  which 
was  published  at  West  Union.  This  was  mobbed  the  same  year  by 
a  lot  of  returned  soldiers,  while  he  was  yet  working  in  the  office.  He 
next  went  to  Marion,  Linn  county,  and  obtained  a  place  in  the  office 
of  the  "  Marion  Register,"  remaining  there  one  year.     In  1865  he  en- 


GRANT   TOWNSHIP.  755 

tered  Baylies'  Commercial  College  and  learned  telegraphy,  graduating 
in  four  mouths.  He  next  went  to  work  on  the  Cedar  Falls  "Gazette," 
and  was  foreman  in  that  office  two  years;  then  went  to  Eldora,  Har- 
din county,  and  was  foreman  of  the  "Ledger"  one  or  two  years;  from 
thence  he  went  to  California  and  Oregon  and  remained  two  years 
working  at  his  trade  in  San  Francisco,  Sacramento,  Portland,  Salt 
Lake  and  Virginia  Cities.  When  a  poor  boy  he  conceived  a  passion 
for  travel,  and  saved  his  money  carefully  during  the  long  years  of  close 
application  to  his  trade  to  gratify  it.  He  has  visited  every  state  in  the 
Union,  except  Maine  and  Texas,  and  traveled  in  Montana,  Idaho,  Utah, 
Washington  and  Wyoming.  In  1871  he  returned  from  the  Pacific 
coast  to  Eldora.  A  large  eight-column  newspaper,  owned  by  stock- 
holders, was  being  published  in  that  place,  and  he  was  engaged  to  man- 
age it,  which  he  did  three  months.  Dictation  not  proving  agreeable 
to  him,  he  gave  up  his  position  and  came  to  Hoopeston,  and  in  com- 
pany with  G.  W.  Seavey,  established  the  "  Chronicle,"  on  the  1st  of 
January,  1872.  They  sold  out  on  the  1st  of  January,  1877,  to  L.  F. 
Watson,  and  on  the  1st  of  July,  of  the  same  year,  Mr.  Wallace  came 
into  control  of  it  again,  this  time  as  sole  owner.  In  February,  1877, 
he  visited  Washington  City,  and  during  that  and  the  following  month 
he  traveled  extensively  in  the  southern  states.  In  November,  1877,  he 
was  appointed  postmaster  at  Hoopeston,  and  on  the  1st  of  January  fol- 
lowing took  charge  of  the  office,  which  he  holds  at  the  present  time. 
He  was  married  on  the  14th  of  November,  1878,  to  Miss  Luc}'  Viola 
Webb.  Mr.  Wallace  possesses  first-class  qualifications  for  his  profes- 
sion. His  ability  to  maintain  a  newsy,  racy  and  pungent  paper  has 
placed  the  "  Chronicle"  in  the  front  rank  of  the  country  press,  and 
secured  for  it  a  generous  patronage.  He  never  does  things  by  halves ; 
he  contributes  no  halting  support,  or  interposes  no  timid  opposition  — 
he  embraces  or  repels  with  energy  and  resolution.  He  founded  the 
"  Chronicle "  before  a  business  house  had  been  finished  in  the  place, 
and  by  his  spirit,  pluck  and  intelligence  has  done  as  much  as  any  other 
to  make  the  name  of  Hoopeston  a  byword  abroad,  and  her  reputation 
for  thoroughness  and  enterprise  a  fixed  fact. 

Alfred  E.  McDonald,  Hoopeston,  attorney,  was  born  in  Chatham 
county,  North  Carolina,  on  the  10th  of  May,  1844.  His  parents  were 
Simeon  and  Anna  R.  (Elliott)  McDonald.  When  very  young  his 
parents  removed  to  Clark  county,  Illinois,  and  settled  on  a  farm  of 
eighty  acres,  which  was  subsequently  increased  to  about  six  hundred. 
He  volunteered  in  the  spring  of  1861  for  three  months,  in  Co.  G,  10th 
111.  Inf.,  Col.  B.  M.  Prentiss.  At  the  expiration  of  his  term  he  reen- 
listed  in  the  same  company  and  regiment;  was  employed  at  New  Ma- 


756  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

drid  and  Island  Xo.  1<>.  His  regiment  and  the  16th  111.,  under  Gen. 
Pope,  bagged  six  thousand  rebels  at  the  latter  place.  He  was  present  at 
the  siege  of  Corinth  and  the  battle  of  Chickamauga ;  fought  at  Mission 
Ridge,  and  marched  to  Knoxville ;  veteraned  on  the  1st  of  January, 
1864,  at  Rossville,  Georgia.  He  was  captured  on  the  27th  of  August  dur- 
ing the  movement  of  Sherman's  army  to  the  rear  of  Atlanta ;  was  con- 
fined  first  at  Andersonville,  then  at  Florence ;  and  was  paroled  on  the 
13th  of  December,  and  delivered  to  federal  authorities  at  Charleston  on 
the  16th.  After  a  respite  of  nearly  three  months  at  home,  he  rejoined 
his  regiment  at  Raleigh  the  day  before  Johnson  surrendered  ;  marched  to 
Washington,  and  went  on  the  grand  review  of  Sherman's  army,  on  the 
24th  of  May,  1865  ;  mustered  out  on  the  4th  of  July,  at  Louisville,  and 
disbanded  at  Chicago  on  the  12th.  He  was  married  on  the  16th  of  No- 
vember, 1867,  to  Miss  Mildred  Conley.  On  the  death  of  his  father,  in 
1867,  the  management  of  the  estate  devolved  upon  him.  In  1870  he  went 
to  Texas,  and  was  employed  on  a  stock  ranche.  Returning  in  the  fall 
of  1871,  he  commenced  reading  law  under  Judge  A.  H.  Stutsman ; 
studied  afterward  with  James  A.  Conley,  of  Charleston,  Illinois,  at 
present  United  States  district  attorney.  In  the  winters  of  1872-3  and 
of  1873-4  he  attended  the  law  school  of  the  Michigan  University  ;  grad- 
uated on  the  25th  of  March,  1874,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  at  Lan- 
sing on  the  7th  of  April.  Soon  afterward  he  located  at  Waxahatchie, 
Texas,  but  in  July,  1875,  came  north  and  settled  at  Hoopeston,  where 
he  enjoys  a  good  reputation  and  a  fine  practice.  He  has' one  son  :  Cory. 
Mr.  McDonald  is  a  republican. 

Rudolphus  R.  Taylor,  Hoopeston,  hardware  merchant  and  imple- 
ment dealer,  was  born  in  Peoria,  Illinois,  on  the  5th  of  April,  1842. 
His  parents  were  James  S.  and  Sarah  (Miller)  Taylor.  At  the  age  of 
fourteen  he  was  apprenticed  to  the  tinner's  trade,  which  he  learned. 
In  1859  he  went  to  California,  by  the  way  of  Panama;  lived  there  two 
years  ;  worked  some  at  mining,  but  most  of  the  time  at  his  trade.  He 
enlisted  on  the  18th  of  September,  1861,  in  Co.  A,  2d  Cal.  Cav.,  Col.  A. 
J.  Smith.  He  passed  his  term  of  service  doing  duty  at  Fort  Churchill, 
Nevada,  and  at  Camp  Douglas,  Salt  Lake  City,  and  in  scouting  after  In- 
dians. He  was  mustered  out  on  the  4th  of  October,  1864,  at  Camp  Doug- 
las, and  disbanded  on  the  16th.  He  at  once  started  for  home  across  the 
plains,  and  arrived  in  Peoria  early  in  December.  He  was  married  on 
the  7th  of  February,  1865,  to  Miss  Carrie  Ash.  In  1867  he  engaged  . 
in  the  hardware  trade  in  Princeville,  Peoria  county,  in  company  with 
I.  Howell,  under  the  firm  name  of  Howell  &  Taylor.  In  the  spring  of 
1872  they  sold  out  and  Mr.  T.  returned  to  Peoria,  and  was  employed 
by  the  T.  P.  S:  W.  Railroad  Company.     Two  years  later  he  formed  a 


GRANT  TOWNSHIP.  757 

co-partnership  with  James  Hnlsizer,  style  of  Hulsizer  &  Taylor,  and 
resumed  the  hardware  business  in  Princeville.  In  February,  1875, 
they  removed  to  Hoopeston,  and  in  March,  1877,  Mr.  H.  sold  his  inter- 
est to  Mr.  Taylor  and  retired  from  the  firm.  Mr.  T.  is  still  at  the  old 
stand,  doing  a  good  business.  He  is  an  honorable,  fair-dealing  man, 
worthy  of  confidence  and  patronage.  He  has  two  living  children : 
James  A.,  and  Minnie  L.  Mr.  Taylor  is  a  staunch  republican  in  poli- 
tics. 

Joseph  South  wick,  Hoopeston,  farmer,  was  born  at  Hoosac  Falls, 
Rensselaer  county,  New  York,  on  the  1st  of  August,  1833.  He  is  a  son  of 
John  Wesley  and  Esther  (Chapman)  Southwick.  He  obtained  his  educa- 
tion at  the  high  school  at  Union  Village,  Washington  county,  New  York, 
ending  his  studies  there  in  1854.  He  spent  the  year  1855  in  Maine,  sur- 
veying and  platting  the  counties  of  Kennebec  and  Androscoggin  for 
county  maps,  published  by  Chase  &  Barker,  of  New  York.  In  1856  he 
was  engaged  in  the  same  work  in  Pennsylvania,  for  Chase  &  Barker,  and 
surveyed  the  counties  of  Lebanon  and  Dauphin.  In  1857  he  emigrated 
to  Woodford  county,  Illinois,  and  bought  a  farm  of  eighty  acres  five 
miles  north  of  El  Paso.  In  the  fall  he  returned  to  New  York,  and  was 
married  on  the  17th  of  October,  to  Elizabeth  Joy,  daughter  of  John 
Joy,  an  influential  farmer  of  Rensselaer  county.  She  was  born  on  the 
29th  of  October,  1839.  In  1875  he  removed  to  Vermilion  county,  hav- 
ing bought  the  W.  ^  of  section  6,  town  23,  range  12.  He  has  a  well 
improved  and  choice  farm  four  and  one-half  miles  west  of  Hoopeston, 
on  the  L.  B.  &  M.  railroad,  valued  at  $9,600.  In  1869  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Southwick  united  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church  in  Woodford 
county,  but  the  appointment  was  dropped  and  the  class  went  down. 
Since  that  they  have  not  been  identified  with  any  religious  society. 
They  have  three  living  children :  Merritt  A.,  born  on  the  23d  of  Octo- 
ber, 1859;  Henry,  born  on  the  2d  of  November,  1863;  Arthur,  born 
on  the  27th  of  December,  1866.     He  is  a  republican  in  politics. 

Lucius  H.  Jones,  Hoopeston,  lumber  dealer,  was  born  in  Cleveland, 
Ohio,  on  the  18th  of  June,  1839,  and  is  a  son  of  Horace  and  Mary 
(Mead)  Jones.  In  1853  his  parents  settled  at  Princeton,  Illinois,  and 
the  next  year  moved  to  Oneida,  Knox  county.  He  lived  there  till 
1868,  during  which  time  his  principal  occupation  was  farming.  He 
then  went  to  Chicago  and  lived  there  seven  years,  contracting  joiner 
work.  In  December,  1875,  he  located  in  Hoopeston  and  engaged  in 
the  lumber  trade.  In  1877  he  formed  a  co-partnership  with  A.  H.  Trego, 
under  the  firm  name  of  Trego  &  Jones,  and  is  doing  an  extensive  and 
profitable  business.  The  gentlemen  composing  this  firm  are  straight- 
forward, obliging  and  reliable  men.     He  was  married  on  the  20th  of 


758  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

December,  1863,  to  Miss  Frances  Bailey,  daughter  of  Benjamin  Bailey, 
then  of  Oneida,  now  of  Hoopeston.  She  was  born  on  the  19th  of  Au- 
gust, 1843.  Thev  have  two  living  children  :  Bertie,  born  on  the  1st  of 
December,  1864;  Maud  E.,  born  on  the  11th  of  August,  1871.  Mr. 
Jones  is  a  republican.  He  had  a  brother,  William  Orlando,  in  the 
army  during  the  late  war,  who  served  in  Co.  1, 102d  111.  Beg.,  through- 
out the  Atlanta  campaign,  the  march  to  the  sea,  and  the  campaign  of 
the  Carol inas.  On  the  march  to  "Washington  City  he  rode  off  from  the 
column  (he  was  a  mounted  orderly  at  the  time)  to  view  the  Wilderness 
battle-ground,  but  he  never  returned,  and  no  tidings  of  his  fate  were 
ever  received.     He  was  probably  slain  by  guerrillas. 

Henry  Frankeberger,  Hoopeston,  druggist,  was  born  in  Hendricks 
county,  Indiana,  on  the  27th  of  October,  1842,  and  is  the  son  of  Samuel 
and  Rhoda  Jane  (Smith)  Frankeberger.  He  enlisted  on  the  3d  of  August, 
1861,  for  three  years,  in  Co.  H,  Harris'  Light  Cavalry.  Gen.  Judson 
Kilpatrick  was  lieutenant-colonel,  and  finally  colonel  of  this  regiment. 
The  subject  of  this  sketch  served  entirely  in  Virginia  and  under  Kil- 
patrick until  the  transfer  of  the  latter  to  Sherman's  army  in  the  spring 
of  1864.  He  did  not  miss  a  day's  service,  and  participated  in  all  of 
Kilpatrick's  scouts  and  engagements,  including  the  notable  raid  begun 
on  the  28th  of  February,  1864,  for  the  purpose  of  releasing  Union 
prisoners  in  Richmond.  He  was  captured  on  the  5th  of  May,  1864,  at 
the  battle  of  the  Wilderness,  and  was  confined  at  Andersonville,  Flor- 
ence and  Charleston,  until  March  1,  1865,  when  he  was  exchanged  at 
the  latter  place.  It  was  two  3Tears  before  he  recovered  sufficiently  from 
the  effects  of  his  inhuman  treatment  to  do  any  labor.  He  has  not 
entirely  regained,  and  never  will,  his  former  robust  constitution.  He 
was  married  on  the  6th  of  September,  1866,  to  Martitia  Swisher.  From 
1870  to  1876  he  traveled  in  the  patent-right  business.  In  the  latter 
year  he  came  to  Hoopeston,  where  he  now  keeps  a  drug  store.  He  has 
one  child,  Judson  Kilpatrick,  born  on  the  12th  of  November,  1869. 
Mr.  Frankeberger  is  a  republican  in  politics. 

Thomas  B.  Bird,  Hoopeston,  teacher,  was  born  in  Holmes  count}T, 
Ohio,  on  the  24th  of  October,  1841,  and  is  the  son  of  Thomas  B.  and 
Mary  (Williams)  Bird.  He  was  reared  a  farmer;  received  his  early  edu- 
cation at  Hiram  Academy,  Portage  county,  Ohio  ;  began  teaching  when 
seventeen,  and  subsequently  attended  Spring  Mountain  Academy,  in 
Coshocton  county;  also  a  select  school  at  Millersburg.  He  enlisted  for 
three  months  under  the  first  call  for  troops,  in  Co.  G,  16th  Ohio  Vols.; 
engaged  in  action  at  Phillipi,  and  mustered  out  at  the  end  of  four 
months'  service.  He  reenlisted  in  1862  in  Co.  G,  102d  Ohio,  for  three 
years;  did  post  duty  most  of  the  time;    was  promoted  from  private  to 


GRANT    TOWNSHIP.  7f>9 

third-sergeant,  and  in  the  spring  of  1863  mustered  second-lieutenant  of 
his  company.  In  the  winter  of  1802-3  he  came  home  to  Millersburg, 
Ohio,  on  recruiting  service ;  mustered  out  on  the  8th  of  July,  1865. 
In  the  fall  of  1865  he  entered  upon  the  classical  course  at  Bethany  Col- 
lege, and  graduated  in  June,  1869.  Since  that  time  he  has  been  an 
instructor ;  was  principal  of  the  Newark  (Ohio)  High-school  four  years : 
in  1875  went  to  California;  visited,  that  summer,  the  Yosemite  Valley, 
in  company  of  a  horse-back  part}'  of  ladies  and  gentlemen,  who  crossed 
the  Sierra  Nevada  Mountains,  consuming  six  weeks  in  the  journey. 
After  visiting  Salt  Lake  City,  and  teaching  school  one  year,  he  returned 
home  via  the  Panama  route,  and  was  present  at  the  opening  ceremonies 
of  the  Centennial.  In  the  fall  of  1876  he  became  superintendent  of 
the  Millersburg  High-school,  and  the  next  year  principal  of  the 
Hoopeston  High-school.  His  reputation  as  a  skillful  and  efficient 
teacher  is  wide  and  well  deserved.  A  more  successful  and  popular 
graded  school  cannot  be  found  in  the  state.  He  was  married  on  the 
22d  of  May,  1879,  to  Miss  Mary  Strauss.  B.e  belongs  to  the  Christian 
church,  and  is  a  republican  in  politics. 

Samuel  Rodman,  Hoopeston,  farmer,  was  born  in  Muskingum  coun- 
ty, Ohio,  on  the  4th  of  November,  1842.  His  parents  were  Scammon 
and  Eliza  (Wolf)  Rodman.  His  father  was  for  many  years  an  active 
and  exemplary  member  of  the  Methodist  church.  His  great-grand- 
father was  a  veteran  of  the  revolutionary  war.  In  1854  the  family 
emigrated  to  McLean  county,  Illinois,  and  located  in  Bloomington 
township.  He  was  bred  to  farming,  but  received  a  fair  education.  He 
was  in  attendance  at  the  Wesleyan  University  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
rebellion.  He  volunteered  on  the  7th  of  August,  1862,  in  Co.  D,  94th 
111.  Inf. ;  was  mustered  into  the  United  States  service  on  the  22d,  and 
started  for  the  seat  of  war  on  the  25th.  The  regiment  was  uniformed, 
armed  and  equipped  at  St.  Louis.  He  fought  at  Prairie  Grove,  Arkan- 
sas, on  the  7th  of  December,  1862,  and  a  few  days  later  at  Van  Buren. 
He  served  throughout  the  siege  of  Vicksburg,  taking  part  in  a  number 
of  sharp  engagements  with  the  enemy.  He  was  at  Port  Hudson,  Fort 
Morgan,  Spanish  Fort,  Morganzia  and  Mobile,  and  participated  in  sev- 
enteen battles,  all  told.  He  was  mustered  out  of  service  on  the  9th  of 
August,  1865,  at  Galveston,  Texas,  and  disbanded  at  Springfield,  Illi- 
nois. The  first  colonel  of  his  regiment  was  W.  W.  Orm,  and  the  sec- 
ond, John  McNulta.  In  1872  he  became  station  agent  on  the  Wabash 
railway  at  Padna;  also  agent  for  the  United  States  Express  Company, 
and  postmaster  at  that  place.  In  addition,  he  sold  goods  the  first  year. 
In  the  spring  of  1877  he  resigned  his  position  at  Padua,  and  moved  to 
Hoopeston.     The  next  year  he  bought  a  farm  of  eighty  acres,  valued 


760  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

at  $2,500,  four  miles  southeast  of  that  city,  the  same  being  the  N.  \ 
N.E.  \  section  30,  town  23,  range  11,  on  which  he  is  living.  He  was 
married  on  the  13th  of  August,  1867,  to  Miss  Josephine  Nelson,  of 
Hardin  county,  Ohio.  They  have  five  living  children.  He  is  a  Uni- 
versalist  in  religion,  and  a  stalwart  republican  in  politics. 

Jesse  McQuade,  deceased,  was  born  in  Green  township,  Wayne 
county,  Ohio,  on  the  2d  of  July,  1S45.  He  was  the  oldest  son  of 
Alexander  and  Nancy  McQuade.  In  1857  he  immigrated,  with  his 
parents,  to  Oneida,  Knox  county,  Illinois.  His  early  life  was  passed 
on  a  farm.  He  volunteered  in  Co.  1, 102d  111.  Inf.,  on  the  9th  of  August, 
1862,  and  was  mustered  into  the  United  States  service  on  the  2d  of 
September,  at  Knoxville,  county  seat  of  Knox  county.  He  served 
throughout  the  Atlanta  campaign,  and  fought  in  the  general  engage- 
ments at  Resaca  and  Peach  Tree  Creek ;  marched  to  the  sea ;  was  one 
of  Sherman's  "  bummers,"  in  which  capacity  he  acquired  a  high  repu- 
tation among  his  comrades.  He  resumed  the  same  exciting  and  peril- 
ous duty  at  the  beginning  of  the  campaign  of  the  Carolinas.  On  the 
28th  of  February,  1865,  while  foraging,  he  and  a  single  companion  dis- 
covered and  surprised  a  party  who  were  guarding  the  Bank  of  Camden, 
South  Carolina,  which  had  been  removed  and  secreted  in  the  woods. 
They  were  fired  upon  and  both  wounded.  McQuade's  left  shoulder, 
arm  and  side  were  rilled  with  small  shot.  Their  command  coming  up 
speedilv,  the  prize  was  secured.  He  was  discharged  at  Grant  United 
States  General  Hospital  on  the  24th  of  May,  1865.  His  left  arm 
became  almost  useless,  and  he  carried  to  his  grave  the  charge  of  shot 
which  had  been  lodged  in  his  body.  After  the  war  he  was  postmaster 
at  Oneida  five  years.  From  1870  to  1877  he  was  in  the  employment 
of  the  C.  B.  &  Q.  Railroad  Company  as  station  agent  and  operator.  In 
the  latter  year  he  settled  in  Hoopeston,  and  was  employed  in  selling 
lumber  and  keeping  books.  In  April,  1879,  he  went  to  Dakota  for  his 
health,  which  had  been  declining  for  several  years,  and  while  home- 
ward bound,  died  on  the  cars  at  St.  Cloud,  Minnesota,  on  the  19th  of 
the  following  month.  His  body  preceded  the  intelligence  of  his  death. 
He  was  married  on  the  24th  of  December,  1866,  to  Miss  Harriet  Bai- 
ley, whom  he  left  with  two  children :  Minnie,  nine  years  old,  and  a 
babe,  burn  after  his  departure  for  the  west. 

Andrew  J.  Bowman,  Hoopeston,  farmer,  was  born  in  Coshocton 
county,  Ohio,  on  the  18th  of  July,  1840,  and  is  a  son  of  John  and 
Susanna  (Nowel)  Bowman.  His  father  came  from  Lancaster  county, 
Pennsylvania,  in  1813,  and  settled  in  Coshocton  county.  At  the  age 
of  nineteen  he  was  apprenticed  to  the  blacksmith's  trade.  He  was 
enrolled  on  the  18th  of  November.  1861,  in  Co.  C.  67th  Ohio  Vols., 


CARROLL   TOWNSHIP.  761 

Col.  A.  C.  Voris.  He  served  in  the  Shenandoah  in  the  summer  of 
1862,  under  Gen.  Shields,  taking  part  in  numerous  minor  actions,  and 
in  the  battle  of  "Winchester,  April  23.  His  command  having  been 
transferred,  he  fought  at  the  terrific  battle  of  Malvern  Hill.  He  was 
subsequently  in  front  of  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  during  the  siege 
operations  against  Forts  Wagner  and  Sumter  under  Gen.  Q.  A.  Gill- 
more  ;  next  on  the  James  River  in  front  of  Richmond ;  fought  at 
Chah'n's  Farm ;  was  present  throughout  the  siege  of  Petersburg,  and 
participated  in  the  grand  assault  on  that  place  on  the  2d  of  April, 
1865,  which  hastened  Lee's  retreat  from  Richmond.  He  was  in  the 
pursuit  after  Lee,  and  present  at  the  surrender  of  his  army.  He  was 
in  thirty-two  engagements.  In  February,  1863,  he  veteraned.  He 
was  mustered  out  on  the  18th  of  December,  1865.  On  the  organiza- 
tion of  his  company  he  was  appointed  fifth  sergeant,  and  was  regularly 
promoted  to  second  sergeant.  In  March,  1863,  he  was  advanced  to 
quartermaster  sergeant  of  his  regiment,  and  on  the  9th  of  January, 
1864,  was  commissioned  first  lieutenant  of  Co.  E,  in  which  capacity  he 
served  the  remainder  of  his  term.  On  his  return  from  the  war  he 
engaged  in  mercantile  pursuits  at  New  Bedford,  Coshocton  county, 
Ohio,  and  continued  thus  employed  twelve  years.  In  1877  he  emi- 
grated to  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  and  bought  a  farm  of  one  hundred 
and  twenty  acres  in  Grant  township,  worth  $4,500.  He  was  married 
on  the  25th  of  October,  1866,  to  Elizabeth  Dellenbaugh,  who  was  born 
on  the  23d  of  February,  1841.  They  have  four  living  children:  Emma, 
born  October  8,  1868;  Oliva,  born  December  22,  1871;  Susanna  E., 
born  July  25,  1874;  John  H.,  born  January  30,  1877.  He  is  a  repub- 
lican in  politics. 


CARROLL   TOWNSHIP. 

At  the  second  meeting  of  the  county  commissioners'  court  ever  held 
in  the  county,  on  the  18th  of  March,  1826,  the  county  was  divided  into 
two  townships,  all  that  was  south  of  the  center  of  town  18  was  called 
Carroll,  all  north  of  that  line,  Ripley.  This  was  twenty-five  years  be- 
fore township  organization  was  adopted,  and  just  what  this  division 
was  adopted  for,  and  what  end  was  accomplished  by  such  division,  is 
not  apparent,  or  why  those  names  were  changed  is  not  definitely  known, 
but  some  allusion  is  presumed  to  have  existed  in  the  minds  of  the  com- 
missioners to  former  places  of  residence.  It  is  believed  by  some  that 
the  name  was  selected  from  a  feeling  of  respect  and  reverence  for 
Charles  Carroll,  of  Carrollton,  then  ninety  years  old,  and  the  last  to 


762  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

sign  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  as  he  was  also  the  last  of  that 
patriot  band  to  die. 

Carroll,  as  now  constituted,  has  for  its  northern  boundary  the  same 
line  which  was  designated  in  1826.  Georgetown  and  Elwood  have 
been  taken  off  from  the  eastern  side,  and  Sidell  from  the  western,  and 
it  now  embraces  the  western  two-thirds  of  town  IT,  range  12 ;  the  east- 
ern half  of  town  17,  range  13  ;  the  western  two-thirds  of  the  south  half 
of  town  18,  range  12,  and  the  southeastern  quarter  of  town  18,  range 
13,  is  nine  miles  long  by  seven  miles  wide,  and  contains  sixty-three 
sections,  or  nine  less  than  two  congressional  townships.  The  Little 
Vermilion  runs  across  its  southern  end,  which,  with  its  numerous 
branches,  gives  free  watering  to  nearly  all  its  territory,  making  it  one 
of  the  most  desirable  for  stock  farms  in  the  county.  Originally  the 
water  in  this  stream  was  sufficient  for  mills  during  a  considerable  por- 
tion of  the  year,  now,  however,  it  has  materially  lessened.  The  timber 
along  this  stream  was  magnificent,  and  covered  about  sixteen  sections, 
or  about  one-quarter  of  its  territory.  There  is  quite  a  high  ridge  along 
its  southern  boundarv  which  marks  the  southern  line  of  the  vallev  of 
the  Little  Vermilion.  Water  and  timber,  the  two  prime  necessities  for 
early  settlements,  were  here  found  in  such  quantities  and  of  such  good 
quality,  that  it  early  afforded  a  home  for  those  coming  into  the  new 
country. 

EARLY    SETTLERS    SOUTH    OF    THE    RIVER. 

As  in  all  new  places,  a  majority  of  those  who  first  came  were  of  that 
roving,  uncertain  class  of  people,  who  sell  out  and  move  on  the  slight- 
est provocation;  who  never  know  when  they  are  well  off;  or  who,  on 
the  other  hand,  never  know  how  to  make  a  home  anywhere, —  squat- 
ters, who  stay  in  one  "  neck  of  timber  "  one  winter,  and  then  go  on  to 
the  next. 

One  account  makes  John  Myers — "  Injin  John" — the  first  settler 
in  Carroll.  This  is  probably  incorrect,  but  there  is  no  doubt  that  he 
came  among  the  first.  He  v<as  a  character.  Free  with  what  he  had, 
brave,  self-willed,  and  on  the  water  would  have  become  a  buccaneer. 
He  had  little  love  for  property  which  was  his  own,  and  less  for  the 
rights  of  others. 

About  the  year  1820  Mr.  Starr,  an  uncle  of  Barnett  and  Absalom, 
bought,  at  the  land  sales  at  Palestine,  eight  hundred  and  eighty  acres 
of  land  near  where  Mr.  R.  E.  Barnett  now  resides,  and  proposed  to 
make  his  home  there.  He  was  then  living  at  or  near  Palestine,  where 
Henry  Johnson  and  his  nephews  were  living.  If  he  ever  came  here  to 
live  it  was  only  temporarily,  for,  either  that  year  or  the  following,  he 
traded  the  entire  tract  to  John  Myers  for  his  eighty-acre  farm  in  Ohio. 


CAKKOLL   TOWNSHIP.  763 

"  Injin  John  "  came  on  here  to  live,  and  on  the  way  here  came  across  his 
brother-in-law,  Joseph  Frazier,  in  Indiana,  and  offered  to  give  him  a 
quarter-section  if  he  would  accompany  him.  Frazier  agreed  to  this, 
and  the  two  came  on  here  in  1821.  This  particular  tract  which  he 
gave  Frazier  is  now  a  portion  of  the  Sconce  farm.  Frazier  sold  to  Sul- 
livant  in  1853.  It  had  on  it  the  most  beautiful  growth  of  black  walnut 
timber  in  this  section.  The  Sullivants  cut  it  off  and  made  it  into  rails 
to  fence  "  broad  lands."  The  timber,  if  standing  there  now,  would  be 
worth  a  fortune  at  the  rates  now  given.  About  ten  years  before  Myers 
came  here  he  had  an  Indian  hunt  in  Ohio,  which  shows  the  character 
of  the  man.  A  man  and  his  two  sons  were  out  in  a  sugar  bush,  in  the 
spring  of  the  year,  at  work,  and  were  killed  by  three  Indians.  Myers 
at  once  raised  a  company  of  avengers,  and  started  in  pursuit.  They 
struck  the  trail  in  the  new  snow,  and  followed  until  all  but  three  gave 
out  from  sheer  exhaustion.  The  great  physical  endurance,  pluck  and 
determination  of  Myers,  whetted  by  a  keen  desire  for  revenge,  now  as- 
serted itself.  His  two  remaining  comrades  threatened  to  leave  him, 
and  he  told  them  that  he  would  shoot  them  if  they  turned  back.  This 
"  nerved  their  courage,"  and  soon  they  came  in  sight  of  the  smoke  of 
the  Indians'  camp.  All  three  men  shot  at  once  and  killed  two  of  the 
Indians.  The  third  escaped  and  hid  in  a  hollow  tree.  Myers  soon 
"treed  him"  and  shot  him,  and  recovered  the  three  scalps  of  his  white 
neighbors.  Myers  was  one  of  the  first  to  go  to  the  Black  Hawk  war, 
and  there  made  a  great  deal  of  trouble  by  his  insubordination.  By 
this  time  habits  of  intemperance  had  grown  on  him,  and  about  the  first 
thing  he  did  after  arriving  in  the  Indian  country  was  to  get  drunk  and 
go  to  abusing  the  officers  and  everybody  else  for  not  going  into  the 
fight  at  once.  He  knew  no  such  thing  as  discipline;  abhorred  tactics; 
did  not  believe  in  waiting  for  orders  or  for  supplies.  He  came  there  to 
"  fight  Injins,"  and  fight  he  was  going  to.  He  was  ordered  under 
arrest  for  conduct  unbecoming  a  soldier  and  a  gentleman.  He  had 
told  some  of  these  new-fledged  officers  that  they  did  not  know  any- 
thing about  "fighting  Injins"  more'n  a  bear  did  about  a  camp  meetin'. 
His  brother-in-law,  Davis,  was  killed  there  at  the  block-house.  Myers 
was  a  powerful  man.  He  could  crack  a  black  walnut  with  his  teeth, 
and  in  his  fights  had  disfigured  more  than  one  face.  He  once  offered 
Jack  M'Dowell,  then  a  spruce  and  lively  young  chap  who  was  striving 
to  get  along  in  the  world,  a  half-section  of  land  if  he  would  marry  his 
daughter.  Jack  wanted  the  land,  but  was  afraid  of  the  incumbrance. 
He  gave  away  or  fooled  away  all  his  land,  and  went  out  to  the  Illinois 
River  and  died.  While  here  he  had  a  hand  in  all  that  was  going  on. 
He  used  up  a  portion  of  his  means  in  helping  Simon  Cox  to  build  that 


764  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION"    COUXTY. 

mill  that  never  would  run  for  any  of  them.  Frazier  went  to  Iowa. 
Barnett  Starr  settled  here  in  1821,  or  about  the  same  time  his  brother 
Absalom  did. 

Moses  Bradshaw  came  here  from  Virginia  in  1821  and  cleared  a 
place  in  the  timber,  near  by  Mr.  Barnett's  present  residence.  He  had 
several  sons,  two  of  whom,  Daniel  and  William,  were  able  to  help  him 
in  making  a  farm  in  the  timber-land;  but  it  was  sickly  here,  and  he 
took  the  first  opportunity  to  sell  oat,  and  went  back  to  Virginia.  The 
Richmond  family  lived  in  the  timber  here  one  winter  and  summer. 
The  boys  were  William,  David,  James,  John,  and  Lewis,  "  the  squealer," 
and  there  were  four  girls.  They  went  to  Douglas  county  before  there 
was  a  house  in  Charleston.  Simon  Cox  came  in  1822  and  took  up  land. 
He  and  Myers  commenced  to  build  a  mill.  First  they  tried  a  water- 
mill,  and  then  put  in  steam ;  but  neither  were  practical  millwrights, 
and  did  not  succeed  in  their  enterprise.  Peter  Summe  assisted  in 
building  the  mill.  It  was  both  a  grist  and  saw  mill,  and,  like  all  these 
old  ones,  the  stones  were  cut  out  of  boulders  found  here.  It  stood 
•where  the  first  county  road  running  from  where  Abraham  Sandusky's 
house  stands,  south  across  the  stream,  and  about  one  mile  southeast  of 
Indianola. 

Though  not  next  in  chronological  order,  William  McDowell  settled 
next  in  this  neighborhood,  south  of  the  creek.  He  came  from  Ken- 
tucky in  1823,  with  four  sons,  John,  Archie,  James  and  William,  and 
two  daughters,  Mrs.  Starr  and  Mrs.  Ayers.  He  lived  seven  years  in 
Palestine,  in  Crawford  county,  before  coming  here,  wrestling  with 
poverty  before  his  children  had  become  able  to  help  him.  When  he 
had  saved  enough  to  enter  eighty  acres  ($100),  he  entered  land  here  in 
sections  35  and  36,  range  13,  and  came  here  to  live,  with  little  else  than 
his  own  hands  and  his  brave,  though  not  very  strong,  boys.  When  he 
arrived  here  he  built  his  cabin  on  a  piece  adjoining  what  he  had 
bought,  intending,  as  soon  as  he  was  able,  to  enter  that  also.  He 
learned  one  dav  that  Peter  Summe  had  gone  to  Palestine  to  enter  him 
out.  Without  a  dollar  in  his  pocket,  he  started  on  to  try  to  save  his 
land.  Riding  all  night,  he  got  there  before  business  hours  in  the 
morning,  and  went  directly  to  the  house  of  the  register,  with  whom  he 
was  acquainted,  and  told  him  his  trouble.  To  save  him,  the  register 
agreed  to  do  what  would  have  lost  him  his  position  if  it  had  then  been 
known,  which  was  to  let  McDowell  have  the  land,  trusting  him  to  pay 
for  it  in  sixty  days,  although  Summe  was  there  with  the  gold  in  his 
hand.  McDowell  came  back  in  triumph,  but  it  cost  him  dearly.  He 
was  in  such  constant  anxiety  over  it,  working  night  and  day,  scheming 
and  contriving  how  to  get  that  hundred  dollars,  finally  having  to  sell 


CARROLL   TOWNSHIP.  765 

part  of  the  land  to  get  it,  that  it  threw  him  into  a  fever,  from  which  he 
died.  Several  members  of  the  family  died  at  the  same  time.  The 
death  of  his  father  left  John  McDowell  to  care  for  the  family,  and  work 
out  his  fortune  as  best  he  could.  He  had  not  a  dollar,  but  he  was 
plucky.  He  worked  as  he  could  find  employment,  which  in  those  days 
was  not  very  steady  or  lucrative.  He  split  rails  for  Mr.  Barnett  a  few 
years  later,  to  pay  for  the  land  he  is  on,  and  worked  away  —  did  not 
propose  to  sell  out  and  move  away  —  until  he  had  bought  and  paid  for 
eleven  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  land,  most  of  which  he  has  given  to 
his  children,  and  still  lives  on  the  land  which  his  father  made  that 
night  ride  to  Palestine  to  buy  on  trust. 

"  Old  Abel  Williams,"  as  he  is  familiarly  called,  came  to  this  neigh- 
borhood from  Tennessee  in  1824,  and  made  his  home  two  miles  south 
of  Indianola.  He  was  a  man  who  could  not  well  have  had  an  enemy ; 
singularly  pure  in  his  life,  and  free  from  even  the  appearance  of  evil. 
His  house  was  early  the  home  of  the  itinerant  preachers,  and  at  his 
house  their  first  services  were  held,  or  at  least  some  of  the  early  ser- 
vices were  held  there.  He  was  early  interested  in  securing  the  build- 
ing of  the  first  Methodist  church  in  the  county,  the  "  Lebanon,"  which 
stood  across  the  stream  from  his  house.  Mr.  Williams  still  lives  with 
his  son  about  twelve  miles  west  of  his  former  home,  in  Champaign 
county,  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-seven  years,  full  of  years  and  full 
of  the  good  esteem  and  love  of  all  who  know  him.  He  was  so  anxious 
to  go  to  the  Blackhawk  war  that  he  went  without  a  gun,  trusting  that 
one  would  be  supplied  him. 

The  first  person  buried  in  the  Frazier  grave-yard  was  Mr.  Hel- 
venston,  who  was  a  son-in-law  of  Bradshaw.  He  went  over  to 
Hickory  Grove  on  a  hunting  excursion;  he  treed  the  game  and  cut 
down  the  tree,  and  while  the  tree  was  falling,  his  dog,  who  had  a  habit 
of  running  for  the  falling  game,  made  for  the  tree.  In  trying  to  get 
the  dog  away  the  tree  fell  on  him  and  killed  him.  His  widow  married 
Mr.  Clayton. 

Robert  Dickson  came  from  Kentucky  when  his  son  David  was  only 
eighteen  years  old,  in  1824.  Their  journey  here  was  made  by  keel- 
boat  to  Coleman's  Prairie,  thence  across  the  country  with  teams.  They 
made  their  first  home  near  •where  David  now  lives.  Mr.  Dickson  had 
four  sons :  David,  who  still  resides  here  and  is  well  known  over  the 
county ;  John,  Amos  and  James.  He  died  here,  much  respected, 
where  his  children  and  grandchildren  grew  up  around  him.  The 
young  man  David  worked  around  as  he  could  find  employment;  went 
to  the  salt  works  and  worked  a  while ;  walked  to  Galena  at  a  time 
when  nearly  all  the  money  that  came  to  these  parts  came  from  there  in 


766  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

payment  for  produce  and  cattle,  and  when  it  was  popularly  supposed 
to  be  a  place  where  money  grew  on  every  bush.  On  the  3d  of  August, 
1829,  he  was  married  to  a  daughter  of  Mr.  Silas  Waters,  who  had  re- 
cently followed  on  from  Kentucky,  with  some  just  as  fine  girls  as  the 
"  blue  grass1'  region  ever  presented  to  the  world.  A  few  days  since, 
this  pleasantly  married  and  well  preserved  couple  celebrated  their 
golden  wedding  in  a  becoming  and  pleasant  way.  The  little  matter  of 
a  houseful  or  two  of  their  friends  got  together  under  the  grateful  shade 
of  their  grounds,  and  there  told  over  old  facts  and  pleasantries,  incidents 
of  early  life  here,  which  might  fill  a  book.  Neither  were  the  substan- 
tial of  life  forgotten  ;  if  the  tables  did  not  groan  it  was  because  they 
are  better  material  than  are  used  in  most  of  our  dining-rooms.  The 
historian  will  only  find  room  here  for  one  among  the  many  remi- 
niscences which  came  out  on  that  occasion,  and  selects  as  the  best  one : 

JOHN    STARK'S    DREAM. 

It  was  late  in  the  forties  (so  runs  Jack}'  McDowell's  version)  that 
Johny  Stark,  Moses  Scott  and  some  others  of  our  good  neighbors  who 
have  since  got  away,  were  the  active  makers  of  history  on  this  side  of 
the  Vermilion.  They  were  neighborly  people,  and  would  turn  out  to 
a  logging-bee  or  a  horse-race,  kindly,  without  a  second  invite,  as  readily 
as  they  would  go  to  a  meal's  victuals  or  any  other  ordinary  duty.  Of 
course  there  were  the  usual  little  banters  among  them,  as  to  who  could 
rake  and  bind  the  most  wheat  or  shuck  the  most  corn.  Their  women 
folks  would  lend  a  drawing  of  tea,  or  the  best  brass  kettle,  without 
snarling  about  it;  and  the  young  misses  never  thought  of  turning  up 
their  noses  at  each  other  because  they  happened  to  wear  a  better  frock. 
Politics  was  about  the  only  disturbing  influence,  when  some  good  dem- 
ocrat would  shout  "  fifty-four-forty-or-fight,"  and  his  whig  neighbor 
over  the  way  entered  a  protest  a  little  too  vigorous  in  reference  to  the 
last  syllable,  we  soon  managed  to  smooth  it  over.  One  day  a  matter 
occurred  that  came  near  dragging  the  whole  posse  of  us  off  to  Danville 
to  court,  but  for  the  timely  and  wise  counsel  of  good  old  Father  Will- 
iams and  Parson  Ashmore,  who  had  more  sense  than  any  of  us.  We 
were  all  out  to  a  "Fourth  of  July  "  on  a  liberal  scale,  before  that  pesky 
word  "picnic"  was  invented,  when  Johny  Stark,  who  had  never  been 
accused  of  knowing  more  than  the  law  allowed,  said  he  had  the  curi- 
ousest  dream  the  other  night  he  ever  heard  tell  of.  He  said  he  dreamed 
he  was  wandering  around  one  dark  night,  and  came  upon  a  great  lot  of 
men  who  were  molding  men  and  all  kinds  of  animals,  out  of  material 
that  was  especially  prepared  for  each.  The  work  was  progressing  finely 
when,  through  a  mistake  of  the  molding-boss,  he  got  some  of  the  hog 


CARROLL   TOWNSHIP.  761 

metal  and  run  it  into  a  man  mold,  when  out  jumped  Mose  Scott,  as 
large  as  life  and  twice  as  natural.  He  was  making  for  the  timber  as 
fast  as  his  new-made  legs  would  let  him.  "  Catch  it,  catch  it,"  shouted 
half  a  dozen  of  the  molders  at  a  breath.  "  No,"  said  the  molding-boss,  "let 
the  d — d  thing  go,  and  let's  see  what  it  ivill  amount  to."  After  telling 
this  "  curiousest  dream,"  Scott  threatened  to  sue  him  for  slander,  but 
old  Abel  Williams  told  him  he  never  heard  that  you  could  sue  a  man 
for  what  he  dreamed ;  and  Mr.  Ashmore  told  him  that  if  he  was  called 
on  as  a  witness  he  would  be  obliged  to  swear  that  Johny  Stark  never 
had  wit  enough  to  make  up  such  a  yarn,  and  the  probability  was  that 
the  fellow  actually  dreamed  it, —  probably  had  more  sense  asleep  than 
awake.  Scott  took  the  advice  of  the  two  sensible  men,  and  saved  us 
all  a  trip  or  two  to  Danville. 

LATER    SETTLERS. 

Silas  Waters  came  from  Kentucky  in  1828,  and  took  up  a  farm  just 
east  of  where  Mr.  Dickson  lives.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Waters  died  here,  but 
the  nine  children  they  brought  with  them  are  still  living.  The  mother 
of  this  family  of  old  folks  was  for  many  years  a  member  of  the  Meth- 
odist church,  and  inspired  their  young  steps  in  the  paths  she  delighted 
in.  The  eldest  of  this  remarkable  family  is  eighty-one,  and  the 
youngest  is  sixty-live.  The  united  ages  of  the  nine  is  six  hundred 
and  fifty-seven  years.  The  remarkable  instance  is  so  much  more  re- 
markable in  view  of  the  liability  to  sickness  which  those  who  came 
here  fifty  years  ago  were  under.  There  were  few  families  who  re- 
mained here  during  the  pioneer  times  without  having  their  circle  shat- 
tered by  the  hand  of  death.  The  children  of  old  Silas  Waters,  Silas, 
Mrs.  Kiel,  Mrs.  Smith  and  Mrs.  Crumbaugh,  live  at  LeRoy,  in  McLean 
county,  where  the  former  has,  for  almost  fifty  years,  been  the  stay  and 
strength  of  the  Methodist  church  at  that  place.  John  is  in  Shelby 
county,  James  in  Georgetown,  Mrs.  Wright  in  Middlefork,  Mrs.  Dick- 
son and  Mrs.  Sconce  here. 

John  Reed,  familiarly  called  "  Dasher,"  came  from  Kentucky  in 
1829,  and  after  living  a  few  years  at  Hickory  Grove  came  here  and 
lived  on  the  McDowell  farm.  He  afterward  wandered  off  to  Nauvoo, 
and  joined  the  Mormons,  among  whom  he  found  more  congenial  so- 
ciety than  here.  Aaron  Mendenhall  came  here  in  1827,  and  took  up 
land  in  section  34,  near  the  eastern  line  of  the  township.  He  had 
eight  children.  He  died  in  1840.  Two  sons  live  in  the  vicinity  yet, 
and  three  daughters,  Mrs.  Baird,  Mrs.  Mills  and  Mrs.  Lawrence,  live 
near  by. 

George   Barnett   came   here  from  Bourbon   county,  Kentucky,   in 


768  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

1828.  He  was  a  man  of  considerable  experience  in  the  affairs  of  the 
world,  and  had  some  means  —  enough  to  get  a  fair  start  in  a  new 
country.  lie  had  got  tired  of  the  influences  of  the  institution  of 
slavery,  and,  while  not  an  abolitionist  in  sentiment,  like  many  of  the 
Quakers  who  came  here  at  that  time,  was  not  so  in  love  with  the  insti- 
tution as  to  remain  with  it  any  longer.  He  had  purchased  a  part  of 
the  farm  of  Mr.  Bradshaw  before  removing  here,  and  entered  more 
after  coming.  He  had  a  family  of  eight  children.  He  came  in  those 
old-fashioned  four-horse  wagons  of  that  day,  bringing  such  goods  and 
other  things  with  him  as  he  needed.  He  commenced  farming  opera- 
tions, and  soon  engaged  in  raising  stock,  having  bought  the  farm  with 
especial  reference  to  that  business.  He  bought  some  "prairie  rooters" 
of  Mr.  Bradshaw,  who  was  to  deliver  the  sow  and  pigs  to  him  in  the 
pen,  and,  as  they  were  as  wild  as  young  deer,  Robert  felt  a  little 
anxious  to  know  how  Bradshaw  was  going  to  deliver  the  "goods."  He 
went  along  with  him  into  the  timber  to  see  him  capture  them.  It  was 
a  new  business  to  the  lad  just  from  the  blue-grass  pastures.  Brad- 
shaw provided  himself  with  the  "implements"  of  chase  —  a  pony  and 
a  bob-tailed  dog  —  and  took  for  the  timber.  As  fast  as  "bob"  would 
catch  the  pigs,  Bill  would  tie  them  on  to  the  pony,  and  then  the  "nurs- 
ing mother"  of  the  litter  was  made  fast  to  the  same  patient  horse, 
two  of  the  pigs  were  tied  together  and  slung  over  his  own  shoulder, 
and,  thus  loaded  with  the  trophy  of  the  chase,  he  made  his  way  back 
to  the  pen.  As  fast  as  he  could  he  got  his  land  into  blue-grass  pasture. 
He  was  early  elected  a  member  of  the  legislature.  Of  his  children, 
Albert  and  George  are  in  Oregon ;  Robert  E.  lives  on  the  place  his 
father  first  purchased ;  James  lived  near  Indianola,  and  died  there ; 
William  died  in  Douglas  county ;  the  girls  are  dead,  except  Mrs.  Mor- 
ris, who  lives  in  Edgar  county.  Indian  wigwams  were  plenty  in  the 
timber  when  he  came  here ;  they  were  made  of  poles  slanting  up  to  a 
peak,  and  covered  with  bark  and  bushes. 

John  Stark  came  from  Bourbon  county  in  1831,  and  lived  at  Brooks' 
Point  a  while,  and  then  came  to  Mr.  Barnett's  place  and  worked  his 
farm  several  years.  He  had  fourteen  children.  The  old  folks  died 
where  William  lives  now.  They  were  industrious  people,  and  did 
their  fair  share,  for  the  opportunities  they  had,  toward  settling  this 
part  of  the  country.  Five  of  their  children  are  in  this  county,  two  in 
Indiana,  three  in  Colorado. 

Eobert  E.  Barnett  taught  the  first  school  here,  in  1829,  in  a  little 
log  house  on  his  father's  place.  He  had  received  a  good  education  in 
Kentucky,  and  was  competent  for  the  work.  He  used  Webster's  Spell- 
ing Book,  the  English  Reader,  Murray's  Grammar,  Pike's  Arithmetic 


CARROLL   TOWNSHIP.  769 

He  got  along-  so  well  the  first  term  that  he  commenced  a  second.  Just 
after  he  got  started  he  went  with  his  father  to  Eugene  to  butcher  their 
hogs.  In  those  days  they  drove  their  hogs  to  Eugene  and  butchered 
them  tuere,  and  sold  them  to  Mr.  Collett  in  that  shape.  While  weigh- 
ing and  figuring  he  attracted  Mr.  C.'s  attention,  and  he  engaged  him 
to  clerk  for  him.  He  remained  there  thirty  years,  giving  strict  atten- 
tion to  business,  and  investing  his  means,  as  he  could  spare  them,  in 
land  here.  The  first  $100  he  ever  earned  he  used  to  enter  eighty  acres 
of  land.  He  has  here,  running  along  south  of  the  stream,  fifteen  hun- 
dred acres  of  as  good  land  as  one  need  wish.  For  forty  years  those 
portions  which  are  intended  for  pasture  have  been  in  blue-grass.  The 
theory  in  regard  to  pastures  is,  that  they  grow  better  with  age.  More 
particularly  is  this  true  of  blue-grass.  Its  roots  penetrate  farther  into 
the  ground,  thicken  up  the  growth,  and  make  two  blades  of  grass 
grow  where  only  one  grew  before.  When  white  folks  came  to  live 
in  those  points  of  timber  where  the  Indians  had  made  their  little  vil- 
lages, and  had,  by  killing  out  the  prairie  grass,  caused  nature  to  supply 
its  place  with  the  more  nutritious  and  valuable  blue-grass,  they  found 
a  rich  and  luxuriant  growth,  which  spread  all  through  the  edge  of  the 
scattering  timber.  In  their  ignorance,  they  did  not  know  that  these 
patches  of  pasture  were  the  richest  legacy  left  us  by  the  aborigines,  but 
went  to  work  and  plowed  it  up,  thereby  destroying  at  least  half  its 
value. 

EARLY    SETTLERS    NORTH    OF    THE    RIVER. 

Some  of  the  earliest  settlements  in  the  county  were  made  on  the 
northwestern  edge  of  the  timber  which  skirts  the  Little  Vermilion  in 
this  and  the  adjoining  township.  John  Hoag  and  Samuel  Munnel  are 
the  first  who  are  now  remembered.  They  came  the  same  year  that 
Henry  Johnson  did  (1820),  who  made  his  home  just  across  the  line  in 
what  is  now  Georgetown.  If  there  were  any  others  along  that  line 
they  were  in  all  probability  only  temporary,  and  have  now  even  disap- 
peared from  the  memory  of  those  who  are  now  residing  here.  Harvey 
Luddington,  as  quoted  by  Coffeen  in  his  "  Hand-Book  of  Vermilion 
County,"  p.  27,  says  that  only  eight  families  resided  in  the  county  in 
the  spring  of  1822,  and  does  not  name  any  of  these  in  Carroll.  He 
was  probably  in  error,  for  while  it  is  not  so  certain  as  to  the  date  of  the 
arrival  of  Hoag  and  Munnel,  there  cannot  be  any  doubt  as  to  the  date 
at  which  Win.  Swank,  the  "  father  of  Dallas,"  came.  His  recent  death 
deprived  the  writer  of  an  opportunity  to  collect  many  interesting  facts, 
but  his  neighbors  all  know  that  he  was  here  as  early  as  1820.  Mr. 
Hoag  owned  the  place  now  owned  and  occupied  by  Dr.  Ralston,  just 

southwest  of  the  village  of  Indianola.     He  died  there.     Mr.  Munnel 
49 


770  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

took  up  land  near  him  and  remained  here  until  1831.  Win.  Swank 
made  his  home  where  Michael  Fisher  lives,  and  his  farm  covered  a  part 
of  the  town  of  Indianola.  He  afterward  owned  a  farm  in  section  5, 
two  miles  north  of  the  village.  He  died  in  1876,  being  at  the  time  of 
his  death  the  oldest  resident  of  the  county. 

Alexander  McDonald  came  to  this  town  in  1822.  He,  in  company 
with  his  father-in-law,  J.  B.  Alexander,  entered  considerable  land  in 
and  around  what  for  a  long  time  was  known  as  the  McDonald  neigh- 
borhood.  Mr.  Alexander  did  not  come  here  to  live  until  about  four 
years  later.  His  son,  Col.  Alexander,  was  in  the  mercantile  business 
at  Paris,  in  Edgar  county,  and  the  old  gentleman  remained  there  until 
this  county  was  organized,  in  1826,  and  then  came  here.  He  was 
elected  one  of  the  first  county  commissioners.  He  was  a  man  of  con- 
siderable acquaintance  with  public  affairs,  and  made  his  influence  felt 
in  putting  the  machinery  of  the  new  county  into  running  order.  When 
he  came  here  to  live,  his  sons-in-law,  McDonald  and  I.  R.  Moore,  had 
preceded  him.  Two  daughters  came  with  him,  who  afterward  married 
Cunningham  and  Murphy,  who  were  long  among  the  leading  business 
men  of  Danville.  Alexander  and  Moore  sold  to  Abraham  Sodowsky 
when  he  came  here  in  1831,  and  Moore  went  to  Oregon,  where  he  died. 
Mr.  McDonald  made  the  farm  where  Abraham  Sandusky  now  lives. 
He  was  a  man  of  strong  mind  and  good  judgment.  It  was  at  his 
house  that  the  first  Cumberland  Presbyterian  church  was  organized,  he 
being  elected  the  first  elder,  an  office  in  the  church  he  continued  to 
hold  till  his  death.  He  was  also  very  early  a  justice  of  the  peace,  and 
at  his  house  was  the  first  post-office  (Carroll),  next  to  Georgetown,  in  this 
part  of  the  county.  His  daughter  Elizabeth  —  Mrs.  Harmon  —  was  one 
of  the  first-born  in  the  county.  It  is  possible  that  some  of  those  good 
families  who  were  in  here  in  1820  and  1821  may  have  produced  an  heir  to 
the  title  and  inheritance  of  first-born  in  the  county,  but  if  such  is  the  case 
an  absence  of  any  record  of  it  must  be  Mrs.  Harmon's  justification  for 
appropriating  the  "  lapsed  title."  Mr.  McDonald,  later  in  life,  removed 
to  Georgetown,  where  he  died.  His  sons  became  merchants  at  Dan- 
ville, where  they  have  long  maintained  the  honor  and  good  name  of 
the  ancient  name  of  the  McDonald  clan.  His  widow  lives  with  her 
children,  and  is,  next  to  her  old  neighbor  out  on  the  road  leading  from 
the  McDonald  neighborhood  to  Georgetown,  Mr.  Jones,  probably  the 
oldest  resident  in  the  countv. 

Dr.  Thomas  Madden  was  the  first  physician  in  this  township.  He 
was  born  and  educated  in  South  Carolina,  and  while  pursuing  his  stud- 
ies there,  was  teaching  school.  Zimri  Lewis,  who  afterward  was  one 
of  the  leading  citizens  of  Elwood,  was  among  his  pupils.     He  owned 


CARROLL   TOWNSHIP.  771 

about  two  hundred  acres  of  land  near  Josiah  Sandusky's,  and  died 
there.     He  was  for  some  years  the  only  physician  in  this  vicinity. 

Dr.  Thomas  Heywood,  though  long  known  as  the  leading  physician 
here,  did  not  live  in  this  township  until  some  years  later.  He  came 
from  Ohio  in  1828,  and  after  a  few  years  spent  at  Georgetown,  he 
bought  a  farm  south  of  Indianola,  and  made  his  home  there,  continu- 
ing the  practice  of  his  profession.  To  a  thorough  knowledge  of  his 
profession  he  added,  by  reading  and  study,  a  fund  of  information,  not 
only  in  the  line  of  his  profession,  but  in  general  intelligence,  which 
made  him  one  of  the  best  educated  men  in  the  township.  He  married 
a  sister  of  Mr.  R.  E.  Barnett.  He  always  took  a  lively  interest  in  pol- 
itics. In  early  days  a  whig,  a  follower  of  the  political  fortunes  of  the 
"Mill  boy  of  the  Slashes,"  his  firm  anti-slavery  convictions  made  him 
one  of  the  earlier  members  of  the  republican  party,  and  his  large  ac- 
quaintance with  public  affairs,  his  earnest  devotion  to  the  doctrines  of 
that  party,  as  well  as  his  strong  adherence  to  the  personal  political  for- 
tunes of  the  "  rail-splitter,"  made  him  one  of  the  first  members  of  the 
legislature  after  the  great  anti-slavery,  or  "  anti-Nebraska,"  as  it  was 
then  called,  revival  in  the  state.  Dr.  Heywood  and  his  wife  both  died 
in  1878,  at  nearly  the  same  time.  His  family  still  reside  in  Vermilion 
and  Edgar  counties,  where  his  long  medical  career  had  made  him  so 
well  known  and  greatly  respected. 

LATER    EARLY    SETTLEMENTS. 

Among  the  men  who  have  made  Carroll  noted  as  one  of  the  finest 
farming  towns  in  the  county  are  the  Sandusky  family,  or,  as  more  prop- 
erly spelled,  Sodowsky.  The  name  has  become  anglicized,  though  one 
branch  of  the  family  retain  the  former  spelling.  The  family  is  of  Polish 
origin,  and  the  head  of  the  family  was  banished  from  Poland  in  1756, 
and  was  sent  to  Richmond,  Virginia,  where  he  married  the  sister  of 
Governor  Inslip.  He  was  killed  by  Indians  while  on  his  return  from 
a  trip  to  the  vicinity  of  Lake  Erie,  where  he  had  been  sent  in  an  official 
capacity.  The  stream  and  the  city  there  received  its  name  from  that 
occurrence.  His  three  boys  grew  up,  and  two  of  them  followed  the 
lead  of  Simon  Kenton  into  the  wilds  of  Kentucky.  They  were  driven 
out,  but  returned  to  the  "dark  ground"  with  Daniel  Boone  and  about 
one  hundred  others.  They  made  Fort  Jefferson,  where  Louisville  now 
stands,  and  went  back  into  the  interior,  where  they  helped  to  make  the 
dark  ground  bloody  by  continual  contests  with  the  Indians  all  during 
the  revolutionary  war.  Here  James  Sodowsky  was  the  companion  of 
Daniel  Boone  in  all  his  adventures.  He  settled  in  what  is  now  Bour- 
bon county,  married  Miss  Brown,  and  raised  a  family  of  six  children : 


772  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Thomas,  Andrew,  Sarah,  Isaac,  Jacob  and  Abraham.  With  two  of  the 
last  three  we  have  to  do  in  this  sketch.  Isaac  was  engaged  in  the  war 
of  1812,  and,  being  taken  prisoner  in  Hull's  treasonable  surrender,  he 
escaped  and  made  his  way  back  to  Kentucky,  passing  across  this  county 
in  his  return.  As  soon  as  he  could,  after  the  admission  of  Illinois  into 
the  union,  he  came  here  to  live.  His  younger  brother,  Abraham,  had 
in  the  meantime  acquired  a  fair  property,  and  become  interested  in 
thoroughbred  cattle,  or  English  cattle,  as  they  were  then  called.  Al- 
most the  first  importations  from  England  came  into  the  famous  blue- 
grass  region  of  Kentucky.  In  1831  he  sold  out  there  and  moved  to 
Indiana.  He  brought  with  him  ten  head  of  the  Patton  stock,  which 
were,  as  far  as  known,  the  first  importation  of  shorthorns  into  that 
state.  It  is  not  easy  to  calculate  the  value  to  the  stock-raisers  of  this 
region  from  this  timely  movement.  It  not  only  brought  here  the  only 
strain  of  blood  which  could  improve  the  existing  herds,  but  it  put  into 
the  minds  of  everyone  who  had  aught  to  do  with  the  cattle  business  the 
idea  of  improving  what  they  had.-  In  1834  he  came  to  live  where  his 
youngest  son,  Josiah,  now  lives.  By  this  time  his  herd  had  increased 
to  twenty-seven.  He  purchased  the  farms  of  Alexander  McDonald, 
Col.  I.  R.  Moore,  and  their  father-in-law,  Mr.  Alexander,  besides  en- 
tering a  large  amount  of  land.  He  is  spoken  of  by  the  old  residents  as 
a  man  of  strong  convictions,  of  untiring  energy,  good  judgment,  and 
an  excellent  manager,  strictly  honest  in  all  his  dealings.  One  of  the 
best  things  that  can  be  said  of  him  is  that  he  brought  up  his  boys  to 
work.  He  was  a  Presbyterian  in  his  religious  views.  He  gave  his 
children  as  good  education  as  the  opportunities  of  the  times  permitted, 
and  as  soon  as  they  were  old  enough  to  know  a  short-horned  calf  from 
a  sheep,  he  put  them  to  the  work  of  taking  care  of  the  young  stock. 
In  that  way  they  grew  into  a  knowledge,  as  by  intuition,  of  the  line  of 
business  which  they  were  to  make  their  life's  work.  He  became  well 
off  financially,  —  rich,  perhaps,  for  the  times;  was  kind,  hospitable  and 
careful  of  what  he  had.  He  left  four  sons,  who  all  still  live  on  the 
lands  their  father  divided  among  them.  Harvey,  the  oldest,  lives  on 
"  Wood  Lawn  Farm,"  near  by  Indianola.  He  married  Miss  Susan 
Baum,  by  whom  two  children  were  born  to  him,  one  of  whom  is  liv- 
ing,—  the  wife  of  James  S.  Sconce,  Esq.  A  son  died  after  having 
grown  to  manhood,  in  1873,  and  is  buried  in  the  cemetery  at  "  Wood 
Lawn."  With  his  death  went  out  the  fondest  hopes  of  parents,  whose 
hearts  were  bound  up  in  a  worthy  only  son. 

Mr.  Sodowsky  is  largely  engaged  in  the  raising  of  thorough-bred 
cattle,  and  in  his  herd  are  some  of  the  most  perfect  specimens  of  well- 
developed    short-horns    that    can    be   found   in   the   country, —  perfect 


CARROLL   TOWNSHIP.  773 

beauties,  which  one  never  tires  of  looking  at  or  living  among.  "Wood 
Lawn  Farm,"  with  its  hospitable  roof,  is  one  of  the  beauties  of  rural  life 
in  Vermilion.  Splendidly  located,  its  adaptability  to  the  line  of  farm- 
ing which  he  follows  is  perfect.  During  the  long  course  of  breeding 
lie  has  aimed  to  reach  perfection  in  cattle. 

Mrs.  Sodowsky  is  a  daughter  of  Mr.  Charles  Baum,  who  came  here 
in  1839,  and  who  left  a  large  family  at  his  death,  who  have  been  more 
than  usually  prospered,  both  in  worldly  affairs  and  in  the  esteem  and 
love  of  those  among  whom  they  dwell.  He  lived  to  the  advanced  age 
of  ninety-seven,  and  died  in  1871.  He  was  for  many  years  a  firm  and 
consistent  member  of  the  Methodist  church,  and  his  faith  and  good 
works  were  known  and  read  of  all  men.  Of  his  children,  Samuel,  who 
lived  here,  is  dead,  but  his  children  are  still  here,  his  daughters  being 
married  to  William  Sandusky,  Mr.  Pugh  and  Mr.  Rice.  Dr.  John 
Baum,  another  son,  was  the  physician  here  for  a  long  time,  and  died  here. 
Charles,  another  son,  lives  south  of  Indianola,  in  this  township,  and 
has  five  sons.  Gideon,  another  son,  lives  in  Missouri  with  all  his 
family  except  one  son,  Charles,  who  is  a  partner  with  Mr.  Green  in  the 
extensive  mercantile  business  here.  Of  Mr.  Baum's  six  daughters, 
three  are  living:  Mrs.  Sodowsky,  Mrs.  Carter,  who  has  two  sons  who 
are  at  work  at  "  Wood  Lawn,"  and  Mrs.  Weaver,  who  lives  in  Kansas, 
having  twelve  children,  all  grown  up,  for  her  heritage. 

Abraham  Sandusky  lives  about  three  miles  northeast  of  Indianola, 
on  the  farm  which  formerly  was  McDonald's.  The  old  McDonald 
house  still  stands  on  the  place,  and  is  in  use.  He  has  a  fine  farm  of 
seven  hundred  and  seventy  acres,  and  an  elegant  house,  which  stands 
just  outside  of  a  fine  grove  of  second-growth  native  timber.  The  house 
is  one  of  the  finest  country  residences  in  the  county,  and,  like  all  the 
farmers  hereabouts,  he  has  made  cattle-raising  and  feeding  the  principal 
business,  but  also  engages  largely  in  grain-raising.  Josiah,  the  youngest 
son  of  the  family,  lives  on  the  old  homestead,  where  his  father  first 
settled  when  he  came  to  the  county.  He  has  about  one  thousand  acres, 
and  has  gone  extensively  into  cattle-raising  and  feeding. 

"  Old  Michael  Weaver,"  as  everyone  seemed  to  call  him,  who  died 
here  in  1875  at  the  age  of  one  hundred,  came  here  from  Brown 
county,  Ohio,  in  1828.  Past  the  meridian  of  life  when  he  came  here, 
he  had  in  mind  only  the  welfare  of  a  large  family  at  heart,  and  desired 
to  provide  for  them  farms  such  as  he  had  heard,  but  did  not  more  than 
half  believe,  lay  along  the  Little  Vermilion  in  this  new  country.  He 
entered  all  the  timber  land  that  was  left  subject  to  entry,  along  this 
stream,  and  bought  out  McClure,  who  went  west,  and  Sam.  Mundel, 
who  went  over  on    the  Embarras,   and    Hoag  and  Enoch  Pugh,  who 


774  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

went  to  Yankee  Point.  Here  were  four  of  the  early  settlers  that 
seem  to  have  left  the  very  finest  farming  country  in  the  world,  and 
have  gone  to  some  other  places,  apparently  in  the  expectation  of  bet- 
tering their  condition.  And  thus  it  has  ever  been  in  the  history  of 
this  and  other  counties.  "Where  you  find  one  family  like  the  Sandus- 
kvs,  who  are  willing,  and  to  all  outward  appearance  satisfied,  to  re- 
main here,  grow  rich,  raise  children  to  add  to  the  census  as  well  as  to 
the  wealth  and  enterprise  of  the  community,  you  will  find  a  hundred 
like  those  just  above  named  who  will  stay  just  long  enough  to  get 
what  is  needed  to  pa}7  the  expense  of  moving.  This  is  not  the  view 
Mr.  Weaver  took  of  the  matter.  He  put  his  children  on  the  land 
which  he  had  bought,  and  made  both  the  land  and  the  children  useful. 
Of  his  nine  children,  seven  were  daughters;  three  became  Baums  by 
marriage,  two  Fishers,  and  one  was  the  wife  of  James  Gains,  and  one 
the  wife  of  John  Cole.  John  Weaver  went  to  Kansas,  where  he  has 
had  the  good  luck  to  place  twelve  grown-up  children  on  farms  or  in 
business.  With  the  exception  of  deafness,  Mr.  Weaver's  faculties  were 
retained  till  near  his  end.  He  is  everywhere  spoken  of  as  a  man  of 
great  force  and  management,  but  singularly  unassuming;  and  though 
he  became,  both  in  his  lands  and  in  his  children,  one  of  the  wealthy 
men  of  the  town,  it  did  not  seem  to  put  any  pride  in  him ;  and  it  is 
told  to  his  credit  by  his  neighbors  that  he  never  would  take  more  than 
six  per  centum  for  money  loaned.  A  rare  old  man  !  the  reader  says. 
His  death  occurred  after  he  had  completed  his  one  hundredth  year. 
What  is  that  which  an  old  author  says  about  "  that  thy  days  may  be 
long  in  the  land"? 

David  Fisher  came  here  from  Indiana  in  1834.  He  had  been  at 
work  a  season  or  two  at  what  is  now  Chicago,  a  city  of  some  note  near 
the  head  of  Lake  Michigan.  The  river  there,  or  creek,  as  they  usually 
called  it,  appeared  to  be  a  very  good  place  for  a  harbor,  but  no  boat 
drawing  more  than  three  or  four  feet  of  water  could  get  into  it,  on 
account  of  the  sandbar  running  across  the  mouth.  The  government 
had  made  an  appropriation  to  open  a  channel  through  this  bar,  and 
build  a  breakwater  of  stone  to  keep  the  passage  open.  He  had  a  job 
on  this  work,  his  business  being  to  load  seven  cords  of  stone  six  miles 
up  the  south  branch,  and  bring  it  to  the  harbor  each  day.  This  was 
done  seven  days  in  the  week.  It  is  well  to  call  the  attention  of  those 
who  mourn  over  the  degeneracy  of  the  age  to  the  fact  that  no  Sunday 
was  recognized  on  public  works  in  those  days.  Contractors  seemed  to 
believe  that  they  had  the  right  to  use  the  Lord's  day,  and  did  use  it. 
When  Mr.  Fisher  came  here  he  bought  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of 
school  land,  at  $3.31   per  acre.     He  built  there,  and  married  Jane 


CARROLL   TOWNSHIP.  775 

Weaver.  With  the  habits  of  industry  which  he  possessed  he  soon 
became  one  of  the  leading  farmers  of  the  town.  Pie  acquired  one 
thousand  acres  of  land,  and  engaged  in  feeding  cattle  and  hogs.  He 
usually  sold  his  cattle  at  home  to  drovers,  and,  following  the  custom 
of  the  day,  he  drove  his  hogs  to  Eugene,  where  the}'  were  slaughtered 
and  packed.  Eugene  was  a  busy  town  in  those  days.  For  a  few  years 
people  general]}7  went  there  to  trade.  The  business  prostration  of 
1837  came  at  a  time  in  his  affairs  when  Mr.  Fisher  could  ill  afford  it. 
Prices  depreciated  fearfully;  good  three-year-old  steers  being  only 
worth  about  eight  dollars  per  head,  wheat,  twenty-five  cents  per  bushel. 
A  silver  dollar  looked  as  big  as  a  cart-wheel,  and  ten  or  fifteen  of  them 
paid  for  a  pretty  large  store  bill.  There  was  any  amount  of  hard  work 
to  do,  and  the  conveniences  were  of  a  decidedly  primitive  nature.  The 
plowing  was  done  with  the  "bare-shear"  plow,  or  the  Carey  plow, 
which  was  considered  a  great  improvement,  having  an  iron  point  and 
wooden  mouldboard.  Afterward  the  shovel  plow  came  into  use  for 
'tending  corn.  It  did  good  work,  but  we  had  to  go  three  times  in  a 
row.  Wheat  was  all  cut  with  a  sickle,  and  the  man  who  could  cut  and 
bind  an  acre  a  day  had  to  be  up  with  the  sun.  The  women  folks  did 
not  can  fruit,  but  they  did  dry  a  great  deal.  Withal,  they  seemed  to 
enjoy  life  better  than  they  do  now.  Anyone  who  had  health,  and  per- 
severance enough,  could  get  rich  in  time  in  this  country.  Four  of 
his  five  children  are  nowT  living.  Michael  lives  near  him  in  a  neat 
brick  house,  and  has  long  been  recognized  as  one  of  the  most  enter- 
prising business  men.  He  was  educated  at  Georgetown  Seminary  in 
its  palmy  days,  married  a  daughter  of  Dr.  Baum,  and  has  been  fairly 
successful  in  his  business  enterprises.  John  Fisher  lives  here,  and 
George,  the  other  son,  in  Edgar  county.  His  only  daughter  is  the 
wife  of  L.  C.  Green. 

Gabriel  Neal  is  one  of  the  old  settlers,  and  was  probably  the  first 
colored  child  born  in  the  county.  His  mother,  "Aunt  Polly,"  had 
been  the  property  of  Abraham  Sodowsky,  in  Kentucky,  and  preferred 
to  take  her  chances  with  the  family  here  than  to  remain  on  the  "  dark 
and  bloody  ground,"  which,  incredible  as  it  may  seem,  appears  to  have 
grown  darker  and  bloodier  during  the  entire  century  of  its  history. 
We  had  in  this  state  certain  laws  which  later  came  to  be  known  as 
"black  laws,"  which,  in  the  mild  form  then,  required  that  any  one 
bringing  a  colored  person  into  the  state  should  give  a  bond  against 
the  said  colored  person  becoming  a  public  charge.  We  had  besides 
this  a  law  taxing  "  slaves  and  servants  of  color."  It  is  generally  sup- 
posed that  the  right  of  property  in  human  beings  was  never  recognized 
in  this  state.     This  is  a  mistake,  for  the  revenue  law  of  fifty  years  ago 


/  76  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

provided  that  county  commissioners  should  levy  and  raise  a  tax  on  a 
schedule  of  personal  property,  and  among  the  items  of  this  schedule 
were  "slaves  and  servants  of  color."  Mr.  Neal,  with  very  poor  oppor- 
tunities for  schooling,  for  it  was  against  the  law  of  this  state  to  send  a 
colored  child  to  school,  became  a  careful,  shrewd  business  man.  He  is 
a  dealer  in  stock,  and  a  man  of  good  judgment  and  business  habits. 

Samuel  Porter  came  from  Woodford  county,  Kentucky,  in  1834, 
and  staid  the  first  night  where  his  son  William  lives,  on  section  19, 
one  mile  southwest  of  Indianola.  Joseph  Purkins  was  then  living  on 
the  place.  He  had  eight  children,  four  of  whom  are  still  living.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Porter  were  members  of  the  Baptist  church,  and  were 
earnest,  devoted  christian  people.  The  good  mother,  whose  greatest 
care  was  the  welfare  of  her  children,  died  in  1838,  and  did  not  live  to 
see  what  would  have  been  the  fulfillment  of  her  heart's  desire,  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  church  of  her  choice,  which  occurred  only  a  year  after  her 
death.  All  her  children  followed  her  footsteps,  and  became  members 
of  christian  churches.  Mr.  Porter  died  in  1847,  aged  eighty-five,  strong 
in  the  faith  in  which  he  had  so  long  lived,  and  in  the  love  of  his  chil- 
dren and  of  the  community  in  which  he  had  lived.  He  was  buried  by 
his  wife  at  the  Weaver  grave-yard,  and  was  the  first  adult  person  buried 
there.  William,  who  yet  lives  on  the  old  homestead,  raised  a  family 
of  seven  children. 

There  is  no  railroad  in  Carroll,  but  the  Danville,  Charleston  & 
Tuscola  railroad  has  been  graded  through  the  township.  No  township 
aid  was  voted,  but  local  subscriptions  of  right  of  way  and  notes  were 
given,  on  condition  that  the  road  should  be  completed  and  the  cars 
running  by  a  given  time.  The  grading  was  done  by  Mr.  Brown,  who, 
with  his  brother,  had  the  contract  for  building  it;  but  his  death  put  a 
stop  to  the  work.     Plans  are  now  being  matured  for  its  completion. 

CHURCHES. 

Some  of  the  earliest  preaching  services  of  the  Methodists  in  this 
county  were  held  in  Carroll  township.  By  reference  to  the  history  of 
Blount  township  the  reader  will  see  that  credit  is  there  partially  given 
to  the  published  statement  that  Rev.  Mr.  McKain  was  the  first  regular 
preacher  of  that  denomination  laboring  in  the  county  in  1829.  Since 
that  was  written  facts  have  come  to  light  which  render  the  doubt  there 
expressed  well  founded.  Certainly  three  years  before  that  date,  pos- 
sibly as  early  as  1824, — the  date  cannot  be  certainly  fixed, — Rev.  Geo. 
Fox  preached  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Cassady,  who  was  a  local  preacher  of 
that  church,  and  the  house  of  Abel  Williams  was  an  "appointment"  at 
about  the  same  date.    "  Brinks'  Historical  Atlas  of  Vermilion  County" 


CARROLL   TOWNSHIP.  777 

gives  the  date  of  the  first  organization  as  1826,  and  the  building  of  the 
first  meeting-house  as  1827.  Notwithstanding  the  glaring  inaccuracies 
of  that  work,  there  is  other  evidence  which  fixes  these  dates  as  very 
nearly  correct.  Mr.  David  Dickson  says  that  the  meetings  were  held 
at  Cassady's  in  1826,  and  that  is  undoubtedly  the  time  the  class  was 
formed,  which  is  the  earliest  organization  of  that  church,  and  was  only 
antedated  in  the  matter  of  organization  by  the  Friends  at  Vermilion 
Grove  and  the  Newlights  in  Henry  Johnson's  neighborhood.  Mr. 
Dickson,  whose  recollection  of  earl j  matters  has  been  freely  drawn 
upon,  and  whose  accuracy  is  admitted,  says  that  Mr.  Fox  was  the  first 
preacher  that  he  knew  here.  Two  preachers  from  Kentucky  held 
meetings  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Williams.  Meetings  were  held  at  the 
camp-meeting  grounds  near  Mr.  Cassady's,  and  the  old  log  meeting- 
house, which  was  the  first  building  erected  for  a  house  of  worship 
(except  the  one  built  bj7  the  Friends  at  Vermilion)  in  the  county,  was 
erected  through  the  exertions  of  Mr.  Williams  and  Mr.  Cassady,  as 
early  as  1830,  and  possibly  a  year  or  two  sooner.  Every  effort  has 
been  made  to  learn  the  real  facts,  so  as  to  state  them  with  historical 
accuracy,  and  the  above  is  as  near  the  truth  as  it  is  possible  at  this  time 
to  reach.  This  old  log  meeting-house  stood  on  the  north  side  of  the 
creek,  southwest  of  Dallas,  near  the  present  residence  of  Andrew 
Martin.  Rev.  John  E.  French,  the  father  of  Mrs.  Reed,  of  George- 
town, had  an  appointment  here  in  1829,  and  Collin  James  in  1830,  at 
which  time  these  appointments  in  this  county  belonged  to  the  Eugene 
circuit;  but  all  endeavors  fail  to  get  any  information  as  to  what  circuit 
it  belonged  previous  to  that  date.  The  meetings  continued  to  be 
held  at  the  old  log  meeting-house  until  about  1850,  when  the  two 
churches  were  built  in  this  appointment,  one  at  Dalias,  which  is  still 
occupied,  and  one  on  Mi'.  Williams'  land,  which  has  disappeared.  This 
was  from  the  first  known  as  Lebanon.  Among  the  early  preachers 
here  were  Mr.  Harshey,  Mr.  Fairbanks  and  Mr.  Bradshaw.  During 
the  latter  period  Mr.  Charles  Baum  was  one  of  the  most  earnest  friends 
of  the  church.  His  house  was  the  home  of  the  itinerants,  and  himself 
and  the  members  of  his  family  were  free  in  support  of  the  institutions 
of  religion.  Since  the  above  was  written  a  letter  has  been  received 
from  Mr.  Elvin  Haworth,  to  whom,  more  than  to  any  other  one  man, 
the  writer  is  under  obligations  for  many  interesting  facts.  Not  only  is 
his  memory  accurate,  but  his  judgment  so  unbiased  and  his  mind  so 
methodical,  that  the  writer  is  certain  that  full  dependence  can  be  placed 
on  his  statements.  The  portion  of  his  letter  which  refers  to  this  par- 
ticular appointment  is  given :  "  In  the  year  1824-5  John  Cassady  set- 
tled five  miles  west  and  Abel  Williams  six  miles  west,  near  Indianola. 


778  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

They  were  two  substantial  Methodists.  In  the  winter  of  1825—6  Rev. 
Elijah  Yager,  my  school-teacher,  held  meetings  near  here.  Mr.  Cassady 
used  to  come  down  to  his  meetings.  Pretty  soon  Messrs.  Cassady  and 
Williams  built  a  church  near  their  places,  say  in  1827  or  1828,  so  that 
the  Methodist  church,  with  all  its  vicissitudes,  has  been  a  church  from 
the  first."  In  regard  to  Mr.  Yager,  he  adds:  "The  second  school  was 
taught  by  Elijah  Yager,  a  Methodist  preacher  from  East  Tennessee,  in 
the  winter  of  1825-6,  in  a  cabin,  one  mile  northeast.  He  introduced 
more  studies  and  taught  declamation."  This,  of  course,  was  over  in 
Elwood  township,  but  is  introduced  here  to  show  that  these  men,  who 
were  building  up  religious  institutions,  had  a  healthy  belief  in  the 
efficiency  of  common-school  education.  Some  of  the  preachers  whose 
names  are  now  recalled  were  Mr.  McReynolds,  Mr.  Buck,  Mr.  Crews, 
Dr.  Butler,  Grenbury  Garner,  Dr.  Davies,  Mr.  Davidson,  Mr.  Minier, 
Mr.  Johnson  and  Mr.  Hopkins.  Most  of  the  old  members  have  gone; 
Mr.  Abel  Williams  only,  of  the  old  band  who  helped  to  establish  re- 
ligious institutions  here,  is  alive,  but  has  left  the  county.  This  appoint- 
ment is  now  known  as  Indianola  circuit,  with  four  appointments:  the 
Dallas  church,  Dickson's  school-house,  and  Gilead  and  Barnett  school- 
houses.  Flourishing  Sabbath-schools  are  maintained  at  each  of  the 
appointments.  The  new  church  at  Indianola  is  one  of  those  beauties 
in  proportions  and  architectural  beauty  that  one  meets  seldom  in  the 
country.  Situated  on  the  beautiful  hill  just  west  of  the  village,  its 
elegant  spire  pointing  heavenward,  a  constant  reminder  of  the  hopes 
and  aims  of  l'eligion,  over-looking  one  of  the  plainest  and  unsightly 
villages,  its  beauty,  and  especially  its  perfect  proportions,  its  substantial 
workmanship  and  its  tasty  appearance  are  a  constant  surprise  and  de- 
light. If  it  is  not  the  handsomest  church  edifice  in  Vermilion  county, 
it  may  well  be  taken  for  a  model  for  those  which  are  yet  to  be  built. 
It  is  37x65,  brick,  and  finished  off  in  the  neatest  style,  and  has  cost 
$5,000. 

The  Baptist  church  was  organized  in  1839  by  the  Bloomfield  Asso- 
ciation, and  was  called  the  Little  Vermilion  church.  Those  members 
of  the  Bloomfield  church  who  lived  on  the  Little  Vermilion,  met  on 
the  Saturday  before  the  fourth  Sabbath  in  August,  1839,  and  agreed  to 
be  constituted  a  church.  On  Saturday  before  the  fourth  Sabbath  in 
September,  Elder  G.  W.  Riley  and  Stephen  Kennedy  constituted  a 
presbytery  for  the  purpose  of  organizing  the  church.  Then  several 
members  of  the  Bloomfield,  Middlefork  and  Brueletts  Creek  churches, 
who  were  present,  were  invited  to  sit  in  council.  Mr.  Kennedy  acted 
as  moderator  and  Elder  Riley  as  secretary.  The  following  members 
were  then  constituted  a  church,  council  agreeing  thereto:   John  Rich- 


CARROLL   TOWNSHIP.  779 

ards,  Samuel  Porter,  Win.  Porter,  Elisabeth  Waters,  Mrs.  M.  Richards, 
Jane  Yarnell  and  Sarah  Barnett.  Mr.  Malichi  Mendenhall,  who  would 
have  been  of  the  number,  and  who  was  in  many  respects  one  of  the 
fathers  of  this  pioneer  organization,  was  absent  in  Ohio.  Mr.  Porter, 
Mr.  Mendenhall  and  Mr.  J.  Parker  were  elected  trustees,  and  Mr. 
Mendenhall,  deacon.  Elders  G.  "W.  Riley  and  John  W.  Riley  and 
Freeman  Smalley  preached  for  the  infant  church,  and  the  former  was 
chosen  the  first  pastor  in  1844.  This  organization  took  place  at  a  log 
school-house  known  as  the  Yarnell  school-house,  which  stood  on  the 
land  now  owned  by  Mr.  Barnett.  The  church,  which  is  still  occupied, 
was  built  in  1843,  is  30x35,  and  cost  $600,  and  is  supplied  with  a  bell. 
J.  W.  Coffman,  is  the  present  pastor.  A  Sabbath-school  has  been  main- 
tained nearly  all  the  while.  It  numbers  eighty,  and  W.  T.  Butler  has 
acted  as  superintendent  for  twenty  years.  The  church  numbers  eighty- 
one  members.  E.  B.  Willison,  W.  H.  Adams  and  Wm.  Porter  are 
deacons.     The  church  is  at  Indianola. 

The  "Prairie  church''  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterians,  usually 
called  the  Miller  church,  was  organized  in  1866,  by  Rev.  James  Ash- 
more,  with  fourteen  members,  at  the  Miller  school-house.  Silas  Clark, 
Albert  Voores  and  John  Carter  wrere  the  first  elders.  Mr.  Ashmore 
continued  to  preach  for  this  congregation  ten  years.  Rev.  H.  Van  Dyne 
followed  him  and  served  the  church  two  years.  Rev.  J.  H.  Hess,  of 
Fairmount,  is  present  supply.  The  church  edifice  was  erected  in  1870, 
on  land  donated  by  John  Carter- — a  frame  building,  40x50.  Sabbath 
school  is  maintained  summers.  The  present  church  membership  is 
about  fifty. 

The  old  "Newlights"  or  Christians,  were  the  first  to  hold  religious 
services  of  a  general  or  protracted  nature  in  this  county.  In  1824  Rev. 
Samuel  Magee  held  a  camp-meeting  in  the  neighborhood  where  Henry 
Johnson  and  Absalom  Starr  settled,  which  was  on  the  line  between 
this  township  and  Georgetown.  He  could  command  but  few  hearers,  as 
all  that  is  known  as  Vermilion  county  was  a  howling  wilderness,  with 
here  and  there  a  little  log-cabin.  He  showred,  however,  a  large  amount 
of  religious  zeal  and  enthusiasm,  and  collected  into  his  fold  nearly  all 
who  were  not  of  the  Friends  persuasion,  and  under  his  ministration 
this  branch  of  Zion  grew  and  multiplied.  The  old  gentleman  was  a 
master  in  organization,  and  did  not  fail  to  make  friends  wherever  he 
went.  He  was  succeeded  by  his  son,  who  had  lacked  the  ability  or  dis- 
cretion of  the  father,  and  in  a  few  years  succeeded  only  in  scattering 
the  fold  his  good  father  had  collected,  and  this  first  church  organiza- 
tion was  blotted  out  and  forgotten,  except  by  a  few  of  the  old  residents. 

Below  will  be  found  a  list  of  officials  for  the  township  since  1851  : 


780 


HISTOKY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 


Date.      Vote.  Supervisor.  Clerk.  Assessor  aud  Collector.  Com.  of  Highways.* 

1851...  67...  Wm.  Spicer J.  B.  McHaffie Samuel  Sconce. .  .A.  H.  O'Bryant. 

1852.  . .  100. . .  Wm.  Spicer J.  B.  McHaffie Samuel  Sconce. . .  A.  Mendenhall. 

1853  James  Parker  . .  .J.  D.  Purkins    Samuel  Sconce. .  .Wm.  Spicer. 

1854 James  Parker  . . .  J.  B.  McHaffie Samuel  Sconce. .  .James  Niccum. 

1855  G.  M.  Tapp J.  D.  Purkins J.  D.  Purkins A.  Sandusky. 

1856 G.  M.  Tapp 0.  E.  D.  Culbertson .  Samuel  Sconce. .  .G.  M.  Yapp 

1857 D.  B.  Stockton  .  .L.  E.  Parker James  Parker- . .  .E.  B.  Willison. 

1858 D.  B.  Stockton  .  .L.  E.  Parker James  Parker John  Weaver. 

1859. . .  156. . . L.  Patterson T.  G.  Wibley James  Parker. . .  J.  A.  Gilkey. 

1860...  234...  J.  S.  Sconce 0.  S.  Calvert James  Parker D.  Dickson. 

1861. .  .208. . .  John  Gilgis 0.  S.  Calvert James  Parker. . .  .S.  H.  Black. 

1862. .  .313. . .  John  Gilgis 0.  S.  Calvert James  Parker. . .  .H.  Hedges. 

1863.  .  .226. . .  John  Gilgis 0.  S.  Calvert James  Parker Wm.  Holliday. 

1864 John  Gilgis 0.  S.  Calvert James  Parker T.  R.  Moreland. 

1865 A.  H.  O'Bryant.  .0.  S.  Calvert James  Parker. . .  .Adam  Jackson. 

1866 A.  H.  O'Bryant.  .J.  H.  Wells Michael  Fisher. .  .C.  B.  Baum. 

1867 A.  H.  O'Bryant.  .J.  H.  Wells Michael  Fisher. .  .James  Parker. 

1868  R.  E.  Barnett . .  .Michael  Fisher Michael  Fisher. . .  J.  S.  Sconce. 

1869 A.  H.  O'Bryant.  .Michael  Fisher Michael  Fisher. .  .John  Mann. 

1870 F.  Gains. S.  F.  Butler J.  R.  Newkirk. .  .G.  N.  Baum. 

1871...  182...  A.  H.  O'Bryant.. S.  F.  Butler J.  R.  Newkirk. ..J.  M.  Smith. 

1872... 176...  A.  H.  O'Bryant..  S.  F.  Butler J.  R.  Newkirk... F.  Gains. 

1873...  183...  A.  H.  O'Bryant.. S.  F.  Butler J.  R.  Newkirk...  J.  B.  McHaffie. 

1874. .  .274. . . A.  H.  O'Bryant.  .J.  B.  McHaffie J.  H.  Wellsf  . . .  -H.  L.  Miller. 

1875. .  .287. . . A.  H.  O'Bryant.  .J.  B.  McHaffie J.  R.  Newkirk. .  .D.  A.  Baird. 

1876... 315...  A.  H.  O'Bryant.  J.  B.  McHaffie W.  F.  ManityJ..J.  M.  McKee. 

1877. .  .261. .  .E.  Snyder J.  B.  McHaffie J.  R,  Newkirk. .  .E.  Snyder. 

1878. .  .305. .  .L.  C.  Green] Geo.  Heileman J.  R.  Newkirk. .  .R,  E.  Barnett. 

1879. .  .316. . . A.  H.  O'Bryant.  .Geo.  Heileman J.  R,  Newkirk. .  .J.  M.  Boman. 

*  This  column  gives  the  name  of  those  elected  without  reference  to  date, 
t  J.  R.  Newkirk.  Collector. 
t  A.  B.  Coggshell.  Collector. 

Justices  of  the  peace:  Abel  Williams,  J.  D.  Purkins,  J.  Fisher, 
James  Parker,  E.  James,  Wm.  Spicer,  Wm.  McMillen,  D.  B.  Stock- 
ton, M.  Fisher,  R.  E.  Barnett. 


INDIANOLA. 

The  town  of  many  names  and  few  historical  incidents  which  now  is 
known  as  Indianola,  is  situated  on  section  17  (17-12),  and  is  about  one 
mile  from  the  Little  Vermilion,  about  seven  from  Georgetown,  and 
sixteen  from  Danville.  It  was  laid  out  and  recorded  on  the  6th  of 
September,  1836,  as  Chillicothe.  David  Baird  platted  a  part  of  the 
east  half  of  the  southwest  quarter  of  17,  and  William  Swank  a  part  of 
the  west  half  of  the  southeast  quarter,  making  one  hundred  and  four 
lots.  The  public  square  in  the  center  had  on  its  north  side,  i^orth 
street,  on  its  south  side,  Main  street,  on  its  east  side,  Vermilion  street, 
and  on  its  west,  Walnut  street.  These  four  streets  extended  through 
the  plat,  were  four  rods  wide,  and  were  the  only  streets  in  the  original 


CARROLL   TOWNSHIP.  781 

town ;  all  others  were  alleys.  In  1865  John  Gilgis,  who  had  become 
proprietor  of  the  town,  caused  a  re-survey,  which  did  not  change  its 
geography.  John  Weaver,  John  Gilgis  and  W.  B.  Foster  have  laid 
out  additions.  It  was  named  Chillicothe,  probably  from  Mr.  Swank's 
old  home  in  Ohio,  until  it  came  to  demand  a  post-office  in  1844,  when, 
owing  to  there  being  a  town  of  that  name  on  the  Illinois  River,  a  change 
was  necessary,  and  the  citizens  then  selected  the  name  of  the  popular 
candidate  for  vice-president.  After  it  had  been  so  named,  another  post- 
office  in  the  state  was  named  Dallas  City,  which  had  the  effect  of  an- 
noying the  postmaster,  Mr.  Culbertson,  who,  without  the  knowledge  or 
consent  of  the  citizens,  requested  the  department  to  change  the  name  to 
Indianola.  This  was  very  unpopular,  and  it  has  never  been  accepted, 
thus  giving  rise  to  the  confusion  of  names  which  still  attaches  to  the 
village.  Indianola  has  never  had  railroad  facilities,  and  has  never  out- 
grown its  primitive  backwoods  appearance.  There  are  more  old  shabby  , 
little  houses,  with  huge  out-door  chimneys  and  old-fashioned  slab-sided 
shanties,  than  in  all  the  other  villages  in  Vermilion  county.  Sur- 
rounded on  all  sides  by  the  wealthiest  farming  community  in  the 
county,  it  stands,  with  here  and  there  a  notable  exception,  a  memento 
of  days  gone  by,  an  architectural  phenomenon,  which  time  and  taste 
have  had  no  impression  to  remove.  Its  early  growth  was  retarded  by 
the  circumstances  which,  in  1837,  overthrew  the  hopes  of  all  men,  and 
deranged  all  plans.  Mr.  Atkinson  built,  in  1837,  a  small  log  house 
with  a  frame  addition,  and  kept  a  few  goods  there.  After  his  business 
days  ceased,  Guy  Merrill  became  the  center  of  business  activity.  Mr. 
A.  H.  O'Bryant  came  here  in  1839,  after  having  lived  a  year  in 
Georgetown,  and  commenced  the  business  of  shoemaking,  which  he 
has  carried  on  here  nearly  forty  years.  He  is  now  the  pioneer  resident, 
business  man  and  statesman  of  the  village.  Besides  this  Merrill  build- 
ing, there  were  three  log  cabins  here.  Dr.  J.  W.  Baum,  the  pioneer 
physician,  lived  in  the  one  now  occupied  by  Rockhill,  where  he  dis- 
pensed calomel  and  ague  medicine  to  all  applicants.  David  Whittaker 
lived  in  a  cabin  which  stood  where  the  hotel  now  stands,  and  another 
stood  on  the  hill  east  of  where  the  Baptist  church  now  stands.  Mr. 
McMillen  lived  in  a  little  frame  building  opposite  Dr.  Baum.  Mr. 
O'Bryant  bought  the  Guy  Merrill  building  in  1841,  and  for  a  number 
of  years  carried  on  the  most  extensive  business  in  this  part  of  the 
county.  Sale  shoes  had  not  yet  come  into  fashion,  and  people  must 
have  shoes.  He  used  to  keep  three  or  four  hands  most  of  the  time. 
He  usually  bought  his  stock  in  Chicago.  The  custom  then  was, 
among  those  of  the  farmers  and  pioneers  who  had  sufficient  skill  and 
mechanical  ingenuity,  to  make  their  own  shoes  and  even  lasts.     Some 


782  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

tanned  their  own  leather;  but,  as  tanneries  grew  up  the  customs 
changed.  For  many  years  it  was  common  to  do  custom  work  at  the 
tan-yards,  and  every  frugal  family  had  their  roll  of  leather  laid  by, 
made  from  the  skins  of  their  slaughtered  animals,  from  which  the 
shoes  for  the  family  were  made  by  the  nearest  shoemaker.  The  farmer 
no  more  expected  to  buy  shoes  for  his  family  than  to  buy  pork  or  lard. 
Mr.  Folger  had  a  tan-yard  over  at  El  wood,  and  there  the  "slaughter" 
hides  went,  and  the  honest  leather  returned.  Nearly  everything  went 
to  Chicago  in  those  days,  and  the  wide-awake  shoemaker  soon  learned 
that  he  could  turn  an  honest  penny  by  taking  horses  or  produce  to 
that  new  mart,  and  buy  his  leather.  He  says  that  he  has  camped  at 
the  Kankakee  when  there  were  a  hundred  teams  there.  Teams  were 
constantly  going  there  with  grain,  bacon,  apples  and  produce  of  every 
kind.  The  hogs  were  usually  driven  to  Eugene  or  Perrysville,  in 
Indiana,  where  large  packing  establishments  cut  up  nearly  the  entire 
hog  crop  of  this  country.  The  hogs  from  all  the  country  west  to  the 
Sangamon  went  through  here  to  the  Wabash  on  foot,  and  troops  of  the 
pioneers,  with  coon-skin  caps  with  tails  hanging  down  the  back,  from 
over  on  the  Embarras,  used  to  come  through  here  going  to  mill.  They 
were  a  rough-looking  set,  and  did  not  belie  their  looks. 

Mr.  Atkinson  was,  in  all  probability,  the  first  to  go  into  trade  here, 
but  he  was  not  heavy  enough  to  carry  on  trade  as  was  then  the  custom. 
Twelve  months'  time  was  the  rule  with  merchants,  and  nobody  expected 
to  give  any  less.  There  was  no  crop  which  would  bring  money  till 
about  Christmas.  Some  would  carry  off  their  wheat  to  Chicago,  but 
whatever  small  proceeds  came  from  that  was  seldom  brought  back  in 
money,  but  usually  in  some  commodity  which  was  needed  in  the  fam- 
ily. No  one  bought  hogs  or  cattle  till  fall,  and  usually  it  was  mid-win- 
ter before  any  one  had  any  money  to  pay  a  debt  at  the  store  or  shops. 
Mr.  O'B.  once,  before  he  had  become  acquainted  with  prices,  agreed  to 
take  his  pay  for  shoeing  a  family,  in  pork.  When  winter  came,  the 
farmer  brought  in  a  wagon-load  of  dressed  pork  to  pay  the  bill. 

Mr.  Wm.  Swank  put  up  a  house  to  live  in,  and  had  a  still-house 
down  in  the  bottom  where  he  used  to  make  an  occasional  barrel  of 
primitive  cure-all  and  health-preservative,  for  the  neighborhood.  He 
had  attached  a  little  corn-cracker  which  was  run  by  tread-mill  power, 
which  served  to  do  the  neighborhood  grinding.  The  post-office  was 
established  in  1844,  with  Dr.  Baum,  postmaster.  That  this  little  neigh- 
borhood was  soundly  democratic,  in  a  political  sense,  is  sufficiently  at- 
tested by  their  choice  of  a  name —  Dallas.  They  held  strongly  to  all  the 
doctrines  held  dear  by  the  party  of  Jacksor*  and  Douglas ;  were  for 
"  Polk  and  Dallas  and  the  tariff  of  '42  "  ;  were  for  "  fifty-four-forty-or- 


CARROLL   TOWNSHIP.  783 

fight,"  and  "extending  the  area  of  freedom"  by  marching  on  Mexico. 
The  township  retains  its  democratic  majority  to  this  day.  Dr.  Banm 
kept  the  office  at  his  house.  The  office  was  served  from  Georgetown 
twice  a  week  on  foot  or  horseback,  cross-lots,  or  wherever  Hall  —  who 
carried  the  mail  for  a  given  amount  a  trip  —  could  find  his  way.  Hall 
was  a  very  successful  mail-carrier.  He  used  to  go  by  Dave  Fisher's 
house,  and  David  wanted  him  to  leave  his  mail  there  as  he  went  by. 
Willing  to  accommodate  the  neighbors,  he  asked  the  Doctor  to  let  him 
carry  the  key  with  him  so  that  he  could  distribute  the  mail  as  he  came 
along  the  road.  The  worthy  postmaster  could  not  do  it,  as  at  that  time 
congress  had  not  provided  a  distributing  railroad  postal  service.  At 
that  time  every  letter  had  to  be  way-billed,  and  entered  upon  the  list 
kept  in  the  post-office,  as  express  packages  are  way-billed  now ;  and  every 
letter  cost  twenty-five  cents  postage,  usually  payable  by  the  person  who 
received  it,  for  it  was  thought  to  be  the  writer's  part  to  write  the  let- 
ter, and  the  receiver's  to  pay  for  it. 

John  Williams  kept  a  general  store  for  a  while,  and  Mr.  O'Bryant 
added  a  stock  of  harness,  saddlery  and  clothing  to  his  business.  John 
Gilgis  came  here  about  1842,  and  commenced  selling  goods  where  Dr. 
Ralston  lives.  About  1844  he  changed  his  location  to  where  Frank 
Foos  lives,  north  of  the  square.  Samuel  Sconce  came  here  soon  after. 
He  had  lived  on  the  farm  west  of  town  where  his  son  James  lives,  since 
1831.  His  wife  was  one  of  the  famous  Waters  family  before  alluded 
to,  and  is  still  living.  He  was  a  wide-awake  business  man,  and  was 
really  the  first  to  work  up  a  large  mercantile  trade.  The  country  was 
filling  up  by  this  time,  and  Mr.  Sconce  found  plenty  to  do  in  the  busi- 
ness he  had  undertaken.  His  son  commenced  business  life  in  this  store, 
and  the  characteristics  which  made  the  father  a  leader  in  business  cir- 
cles, and  would  have  brought  success  in  any  business  enterprise  any- 
where, have  had  a  controlling  influence  on  the  son.  For  a  time  Mr. 
Sconce  had  as  partners  in  the  mercantile  business  here,  Mr.  Joseph  Bailey, 
long  a  prominent  business  man  of  this  county,  and  Mr.  Gilgis.  Mr. 
Bailey  retired  in  1857.  During  the  business  operation  of  Bailey,  Sconce 
&  Co.,  it  was  not  an  uncommon  thing  to  sell  five  hundred  dollars'  worth 
of  goods  a  day.  It  was  before  railroads  were  built,  and  this  was  as  good 
a  point  to  trade  as  in  Danville.  This  was  the  golden  era  of  mercan- 
tile business  in  Indianola.  Sconce  and  Gilgis  are  both  dead.  Dr.  Baum 
continued  to  live  and  practice  here  until  his  death.  William  James 
was  in  business  here  a  few  years.  John  U.  Grace  has  had  the  longest 
experience  of  any  now  here.  Mr.  O'Bryant  is  still  "pegging  away,"  as 
the  shoemakers  would  say.  The  first  school-house  was  built-in  1843. 
This  was  a  log  house,  and  answered  every  purpose  until  about  1850, 


784  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

when  the  seminary  was  built.  This  was  built  by  donations,  and  for  a 
number  of  years  a  successful  school  was  carried  on.  Some  of  the  best 
educators  in  the  country  were  employed  here,  and  the  institution  was 
a  success.  Among  those  whose  work  here  was  strikingly  successful, 
were  Prof.  Brownell  and  wife,  and  Prof.  Marshall  and  wife.  After  the 
state  adopted  the  plan  of  levying  a  school-tax,  it  became  evident  that 
this  school  could  not  be  carried  on  as  it  had  been,  and  the  building  was 
sold  to  the  district,  with  the  understanding  that  the  upper  story  might 
still  be  at  the  disposal  of  the  seminary.  The  present  high  school  sys- 
tem has  taken  the  place  of  all  these  seminaries. 

Vermilion  Lodge,  No.  265,  A.F.  &  A.M.,  was  instituted  on  the  6th 
of  October,  1858.  The  charter  members  were  O.  P.  Wilson,  W.M. ; 
Joshua  Van  Fleet,  S.W. ;  W.  T.  Dickson,  J.  W. ;  J.  S.  Sconce,  M.  M. 
Bedford,  John  Gilgis  and  Hiram  Brown.  The  Masters  in  succession 
have  been  :  J.  S.  Sconce,  four  years;  J.  Van  Fleet,  two  years;  H.  B. 
Whittington,  four  years ;  J.  H.Williams,  A.  H.  O'Bryant,  four  years; 
W.  T.  Butler,  three  years;  J.  P.  Newkirk,  J.  K.  Grace,  two  years. 
The  present  officers  are :  J.  E.  Grace,  W.M. ;  E.  J.  Newkirk,  S.W. ; 
F.  B.  Barnett,  J.W. ;  George  Heileman,  Secretary  ;  S.  Dickson,  Treas- 
urer; M.  F.  Cummings,  S.D. ;  Oliver  Julian,  J.D. ;  L.  C.  Rockhill,  T. 
The  Lodge  owns  its  hall,  and  meets  first  and  third  Saturdays  in  each 
month.  It  has  a  large  membership,  and  is  otherwise  in  a  prosperous 
condition. 

The  Iola  Lodge,  No.  584,  I.O.O.F.,  was  chartered  in  October,  1875, 
with  the  following  charter  members :  H.  E.  P.  Talbott,  N.G. ;  J.  H. 
Whartly,  V.G. ;  R.  R.  Worthington,  Secretary ;  Bernard  Lamcool, 
Treasurer;  George  Heileman  and  J.  L.  Rowan.  The  Lodge  has  built 
and  owns  its  hall.  It  numbers  sixteen  members,  and  meets  Friday 
nights.  The  present  officers  are:  William  Mavity,  N.G. ;  George 
Heileman,  V.G. ;  S.  Stevens,  Secretary ;  L.  C.  Green,  Treasurer ;  R. 
R.  Worthington,  Deputy. 

BIOGRAPHICAL. 

J.  B.  McDowell,  Indianola,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in 
Christian  county,  Kentucky,  on  the  26th  of  January,  1802,  and  lived 
there  about  fourteen  years.  He  then,  with  his  parents,  settled  in  what 
is  now  Crawford  county,  Illinois,  and  lived  there  seven  years.  They 
then,  in  1823,  came  to  his  present  place,  and  he  has  lived  here  since. 
On  the  20th  of  March,  1834,  he  married  Miss  Eleanor  Yarnell.  She 
was  born  in  Harrison  county,  Kentucky,  and  died  here.  They  had  five 
children,  four  living  :  Jane,  Wm.  R.,  John  A.  and  Sarah.  On  the  20th 
of  April,  1850,  he  married  Miss  Nancy  Ellis.  She  also  died  here.  His 
present  wife  was  Miss  Sarah  Purley.     Mr.  McDowell  was  in  Capt. 


V(AJld*&A,C<AAcrTi2 


CARROLL   TOWNSHIP.  785 

Hult's  company,  Col.  Rossmore,  during  the  Winnebago  Mar.  They 
marched  to  Joliet  and  built  a  fort,  and  scouted  along  the  Fox  River. 
He  has  hauled  produce  to  Chicago  by  team  as  early  as  1836.  When 
he  first  came  to  this  county  they  had  to  camp  out,  and  they  did  con- 
siderable hunting.  He  has  owned  over  eleven  hundred  acres  of  land, 
but  has  given  all  to  his  children  except  one  hundred  and  ninety-five 
acres  in  this  county  and  one  hundred  and  sixty  in  Douglas,  which  he 
reserves  as  a  competency  for  his  old  age.  His  father  died  in  Crawford 
county,  Illinois,  on  his  return  from  a  visit  in  Kentucky,  in  1824.  His 
mother  died  here  on  the  present  place  about  1849. 

David  Dickson,  Indianola,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  whose  portrait 
appears  in  this  work,  was  born  in  Lewis  county,  Kentucky,  on  the  13th 
of  December,  1806,  and  lived  there  until  March,  1824,  when  he  came 
to  Illinois  with  his  parents,  and  settled  on  his  present  place,  locating 
in  Carroll  township,  Vermilion  county.  At  the  age  of  twenty  he  began 
working  for  himself,  going  to  the  salt  works,  where  he  worked  until 
the  15th  of  February,  1827.  He  then  went  to  Galena  and  worked  in 
the  lead  mines  until  the  fall.  While  there  he  saw  the  vessel  on  which 
the  Winnebacmes  fired  and  caused  the  war  that  followed.  On  the  3d  of 
August,  1829,  he  married  Miss  Margaret  Walters.  She  was  born  in 
Stafford  county,  Virginia,  and  moved  to  Kentucky  with  her  parents  in 
1824,  and  to  Illinois  in  1828,  settling  at  Brooks'  Point,  this  county. 
They  had  four  children,  three  living:  Silas,  Parmelia  J.  and  Jamina; 
Robert  died.  Mr.  Dickson  being  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of  this 
part,  knows  well  the  meaning  of  pioneer  life.  He  has  hauled  produce 
to  Chicago  as  early  as  1835.  He  has  driven  stock  to  New  York  and 
Philadelphia,  going  on  foot,  making  the  trip  in  eighty-five  days,  and 
the  fat  cattle  he  fed  in  1839  were  probably  the  first  ever  fed  on  the 
Little  Vermilion.  His  three  living  children  are  married,  and  live  near 
by.  He  has  four  hundred  acres  of  land,  which  he  reserves  as  a  compe- 
tency for  himself  and  wife,  having  given  one  thousand  acres  to  his  chil- 
dren. Among  the  many  pleasant  incidents  of  his  life  was  the  golden 
wedding  celebrated  by  himself  and  wife,  on  the  3d  of  August,  1879. 

J.  P.  Swank,  Indianola,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in  Ver- 
milion county,  Illinois,  on  the  18th  of  December,  1824,  on  a  farm  on 
the  present  site  of  Indianola,  and  lived  there  with  his  parents  until  the 
18th  of  February,  1850,  when  he  married  Miss  Phebe  Dickson.  She  was 
born  in  this  county  on  the  27th  of  May,  1829.  After  his  marriage  he 
engaged  in  farming  on  his  own  account,  and  in  1855  came  to  his  pres- 
ent place.  They  had  five  children :  Albert  D.,  Gilbert,  Robert  P., 
Nancy  S.  and  Edward.  He  owns  three  hundred  and  thirty  acres  in 
this  county,  which  he  has  earned  by  his  own  labor.  His  parents,  Capt. 
50 


HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

William  and  Pollv  Llovd  Swank,  were  natives  of  Putnam  county, 
Ohio.  He  served  in  the  war  of  1812,  enlisting  as  a  private,  and  was 
promoted  to  captain.  In  1>23  he  settled  in  Younts  Grove,  Yermilion 
count}T,  Illinois.     They  had  eight  children. 

John  Mendenhall,  Ridge  Farm,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  is  one  of 
the  early  settlers  of  this  county.  He  was  born  in  Greene  county,  Ohio, 
in  1S09,  and  lived  there  fifteen  years.  He  then  with  his  parents  came 
to  Illinois  and  settled  near  his  present  place.  He  lived  with  his  parents 
twenty-two  years.  On  the  24th  of  November,  1831,  he  married  Miss 
Rebecca  Mills,  who  was  born  in  Tennessee.  After  his  marriage  he 
began  farming  on  his  own  account,  improving  some  wild  land  belonging 
to  his  father.  In  1834  or  1835  he  hauled  his  first  load  of  produce  to  Chi- 
cago. He  is  no  office  seeker.  He  owns  two  hundred  and  twenty  acres 
of  land  in  this  count}",  which  he  has  earned  by  his  own  labor  and  man- 
agement. Bv  his  marriage  there  have  been  eleven  children  born,  seven 
living:  Miliken,  Jane,  Sarah,  Aaron,  John,  Rebecca  E.  and  Louisa. 
His  parents,  Aaron  and  Lydia  Horney  (Anderson)  Mendenhall  were 
natives  of  Xorth  Carolina  and  Xantueket  Island.  Thev  were  married 
in  Greene  county,  Ohio,  and  settled  here  in  1824,  where  both  have 
since  died. 

Wilson  Swank,  Indianola,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  is  a  native  of 
Yermilion  county,  Illinois,  born  on  the  15th  of  July,  1825,  in  Elwood 
township,  where  he  lived  twenty-five  years.  He  then  went  to  Wiscon- 
sin, and  lived  there  five  years.  On  the  25th  of  January,  1825,  he  mar- 
ried Miss  Mary  Jane  Dickson.  She  was  born  in  this  county,  and  died 
in  1856.  In  1858  he  went  to  Minnesota,  thence  to  Texas,  and  in  1859 
he  returned  to  this  county.  On  the  20th  of  March,  1865,  he  married 
Miss  Eliza  Bayless.  She  was  born  in  Mason  county,  Kentucky.  They 
have  four  children,  three  living:  Emerson,  Rosa  A.  and  Annie.  He 
is  no  office  seeker,  and  has  held  no  offices  except  those  connected  with 
the  schools.  He  owns  one  hundred  and  seventy  acres  of  land  in  this 
county,  which  he  has  earned  by  his  own  labor.  He  has  hauled  produce 
to  Chicago  as  early  as  1838,  and  is  well  acquainted  with  the  hardships 
of  early  days  in  the  county. 

Samuel  P.  Donovan,  Indianola,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born 
in  Yermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  27th  of  August,  1829.  His 
father  died  when  he  was  about  sixteen  years  of  age.  He  continued  to 
live  with  his  mother  until  the  17th  of  March,  1860,  when  he  went  to 
Colorado,  and  took  up  a  claim  and  worked  it  three  months,  clearing  $700. 
He  then  went  prospecting.  At  one  time  he  was  one  of  a  party  of 
fiftv-two  commanded  bv  Kit  Carson,  and  for  one  Year  of  the  time  he 
did  not  see  a  white  woman.      They  traveled    in   Colorado,  Arizona, 


CARROLL   TOWNSHIP.  787 

New  Mexico,  Utah,  California,  and  at  the  end  of  two  years  he  returned 
to  Central  City,  and  worked  by  the  day  for  one  year,  receiving  eight 
dollars  per  day,  thus  saving  $2,000.  He  then  went  in  partnership  with 
Mr.  Charles  Jones,  of  Brandon,  Vermont.  They  worked  thirty  hands 
two  years,  then  sold  out  for  $25,000.  Mr.  Donovan  then  came  home 
and  bought  his  present  place.  On  the  28th  of  September,  1865,  he 
married  Miss  Lydia  A.  Stunkard.  She  was  born  in  Indiana,  and  died 
on  the  10th  of  November,  1872.  On  the  8th  of  February,  1S74,  he 
married  Miss  Sarah  Jane  Pollard,  who  was  born  in  England.  They 
have  two  children  :  Martha  L.  and  William  O.  Mr.  Donovan  owns 
two  hundred  and  eighty-eight  acres  of  land  in  this  county. 

Silas  Dickson,  Indianola,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  is  a  native  of  Ver- 
milion county,  Illinois.  He  was  born  on  his  father's  farm  in  Carroll 
township,  on  the  25th  of  May,  1830,  and  lived  here  until  he  was 
thirty-five  years  of  age,  when  he  moved  to  Edgar  county,  and  lived 
there  seven  years.  He  then  came  to  Indianola,  and  has  lived  here 
since.  On  the  13th  of  October,  1864,  he  married  Miss  Frances  Foos, 
who  was  born  in  Ohio,  and  came  to  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  with 
her  parents.  They  have  three  children  :  Evalena,  Robert  and  Alburtus. 
Mr.  Dickson  is  no  office-seeker,  and  has  held  no  offices  except  those 
connected  with  the  schools.  He  owns  six  hundred  acres  of  land  in 
this  and  Edgar  counties,  part  of  which  adjoins  the  village  of  Indianola. 

James  S.  Sconce,  Indianola,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  is  a  native  of 
Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  born  on  the  14th  of  November,  1831,  and 
has  always  made  his  home  in  this  county.  He  lived  with  his  parents 
until  he  was  twenty-four  years  of  age,  during  which  time  he  received 
a  libera]  education,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty-three  he  took  a  drove  of 
cattle  to  Wisconsin,  and  sold  out  the  same  during  the  summer.  In 
1855  he  took  a  position  as  clerk  in  the  store  of  Bailey  &  Sconce,  at 
Indianola,  Illinois,  and  remained  in  this  until  1859,  when  he  went  to 
Kansas,  and  preempted  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  in  Lyon 
county.  At  the  end  of  three  months  he  returned  to  Illinois,  and 
traded  his  Kansas  farm  for  land  here  in  Illinois.  He  then  en^ag-ed  in 
stock  business  —  buying,  selling  and  shipping  —  which  he  continued 
until  fall  of  1860,  when  he  married  Miss  Emma,  daughter  of  Harvey 
Sodowsky.  She  was  born  in  this  county.  After  his  marriage  he  lived 
one  j'ear  with  his  father-in-law,  and  then  came  to  his  present  place, 
and  has  lived  here  since.  They  had  three  children,  two  of  whom  are 
living:  Anna  and  Harvey  J.  The  farm  contains  twenty-one  hundred 
acres,  well  located,  and  upon  which  is  a  very  elegant  brick  residence. 
His  parents,  Samuel  and  Nancy  (Waters)  Sconce,  were  natives  of 
Bourbon  county,  Kentucky,  and  were  born  on  the  29th  of  October, 


788  BISTORT    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

1802,  and  on  the  2d  of  September,  1808,  respectively.  He  came  to 
Illinois  in  1828,  and  settled  in  this  county  in  1829.  Mrs.  Sconce  came 
here  in  1829  with  her  parents.  The  marriage  took  place  at  Brooks' 
Point  in  this  county,  in  1830,  at  the  residence  of  Mr.  Waters.  They 
engaged  in  farming,  and  continued  this  until  1852,  during  which  time 
he  was  very  successful,  and  was  one  of  the  prominent  and  well-known 
farmers  of  this  section  of  the  county.  In  1852  he  engaged  in  the 
general  merchandise  business  in  Indianola,  the  firm  being  Bailey  & 
Sconce,  which  continued  until  1858.  Mr.  Sconce  continued  until  the 
big  fire  in  the  village,  since  which  time  he  lived  a  retired  life  until  his 
death,  on  the  9th  of  January,  1874.  Mr.  Sconce  was  one  of  the  early 
settlers  of  this  township,  in  which  he  served,  a  number  of  years  as 
assessor  and  collector.  In  1849  he  drove  about  two  hundred  fat  cattle 
to  Philadelphia,  where  he  sold  about  half  the  lot,  and  drove  the  balance 
to  New  York,  going  afoot  the  entire  trip.  He  also  hauled  produce  to 
Chicago  in  early  days.     Mrs.  Sconce  is  living  here  with  her  son. 

Abraham  Sandusky,  Indianola,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  is  a  native 
of  Bourbon  county,  Kentucky,  born  on  the  24th  of  March,  1833.  In 
the  fall  of  the  same  year  he  with  his  parents  came  to  Vermilion  county, 
Illinois,  where  he  lived  with  them  until  he  was  thirty-five  }Tears  of 
age.  On  the  16th  of  December,  1869,  he  married  Miss  Ella  Baird, 
who  was  born  in  this  county.  After  his  marriage  he  began  improving 
his  present  place,  and  in  1871  he  settled  on  the  same,  and  has  lived 
here  since.  He  owns  seven  hundred  and  seventy  acres  here  in  one 
body,  located  fourteen  miles  southwest  of  Danville,  and  three  and  one 
half  miles  from  Georgetown  or  Indianola.  It  is  well  adapted  to  stock- 
raising,  in  which  he  is  largely  interested. 

David  P.  Fisher,  Indianola,  retired,  was  born  in  Brown  county, 
Ohio,  in  1809,  and  lived  there  until  he  was  eighteen  years  of  age.  He 
then  moved  to  Indiana.  He  lived  there  seven  years,  and  in  1834  he 
came  to  Yermilion  county,  Illinois,  and  settled  on  his  present  place. 
In  1833  he  worked  in  Chicago.  On  the  22d  of  April,  1834,  he  mar- 
ried Miss  Jane  Weaver.  She  was  born  in  Clermont  county,  Ohio, 
and  was  raised  in  Brown  county,  of  the  same  state.  In  182S  she  came 
west  with  her  parents,  who  settled  in  Yermilion  county.  Mr.  Fisher 
owns  thirteen  hundred  and  twenty-five  acres  of  land  in  this  county. 
They  had  five  children,  four  living:  Michael,  John,  George  and  Lu- 
cinda.  Mr.  Fisher  knows  Chicago  from  the  very  earliest  periods,  for, 
in  addition  to  having  worked  there  in  1833,  he  has  hauled  produce 
there,  having  made  his  first  trip  as  early  as  1835. 

The  parents  of  Mr.  J.  M.  Ross,  of  Fairmount,  came  to  Yermilion 
county  in  1830.     Here  he  was  born  on  the  19th  of  June,  1834,  and 


CARROLL   TOWNSHIP.  789 

this  lias  been  his  home  since.  On  the  22d  of  March,  1861,  he  was 
married  to  Rebecca  Carter,  daughter  of  Harvey  and  Charlotte  (Clark) 
Carter.  She  was  born  in  Washington  county,  Pennsylvania,  in  1839. 
They  have  a  family  of  four  sons  and  five  daughters :  James  T.,  Will- 
iam C,  Victor  L.,  Frank,  Yea  A.,  Dolie  M.,  Minervia,  Lottie  C,  Lydia. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ross  are  members  of  the  C.  P.  church,  and  own  a  fine 
stock  farm  of  four  hundred  acres,  with  good  improvements. 

James  A.  Dickson,  Fairniount,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in 
Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  5th  of  December,  1834.  His  father 
died  in  1837,  and  he  lived  with  his  mother  until  he  was  twenty  years 
of  age.  He  then  moved  near  his  present  place  and  improved  a  farm. 
Afterward  he  moved  about  three  miles  south,  thence  to  his  present 
place.  In  November,  1860,  he  married  Miss, Amanda  J.  Sheppard. 
She  was  born  in  this  county.  They  had  four  children,  three  living: 
John  W.,  Simon  A.  and  Charles  E.  Mr.  Dickson  owns  four  hundred 
and  forty  acres  in  this  county,  which  he  has  principally  earned  by  his 
own  labor.  He  hauled  apples  to  Chicago  as  early  as  1857.  He  is  no 
office  seeker,  his  only  office  being  connected  with  the  school  and  road. 
His  parents,  John  and  Elizabeth  Doyle  Dickson,  were  natives  of  Ken- 
tucky. They  were  married  in  Kentucky,  and  came  to  Illinois  in  the 
spring  of  1824,  and  settled  in  Vermilion  county,  where  they  lived 
until  their  death. 

Josiah  Sandusky,  Indianola,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in 
Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  his  present  place  in  Carroll  township,  on 
the  11th  of  September,  1837,  and  has  always  lived  on  this  place.  At 
the  age  of  twenty-two  he  began  doing  business  on  his  own  account, 
farming  and  raising  stock,  and  has  followed  the  same  since.  By  the 
death  of  his  parents  his  present,  the  old  homestead,  farm  became  his 
property.  On  the  18th  of  December,  1873,  he  married  Miss  Margaret 
Moreland.  She  was  born  in  Bourbon  county,  Kentucky.  They  had 
two  children,  one  living:  Pearl.  He  owns  one  thousand  acres  in  this 
county.  He  is  largely  interested  in  stock-raising,  and  confines  his 
business  to  the  finest  breeds.  At  the  present  time  he  has  eight  trotting 
horses,  among  which  is  Denmark,  with  a  record  of  2.40,  and  promises 
2.20  at  no  distant  day.  The  group  also  includes  Black  Cloud,  who  has 
made  2.40. 

E.  B.  Willison,  Sr.,  Indianola,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in 
Alleghany  county,  Maryland,  on  the  15th  of  December,  1804,  and 
lived  there  until  1831,  living  on  the  farm  twenty-one  years.  He  then 
learned  the  carpenter's  trade.  In  1831  lie  moved  to  Ohio  and  engaged 
at  his  trade.  In  1835  he  married  Miss  Deborah  Bryan.  She  was  born 
in  Ohio,  and  died  on  the  17th  of  April,  1849.     In  1839  they  came  to 


790  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  and  settled  near  Indianola.  On  the  4th  of 
November,  1849,  he  married  Mrs.  Briggs,  formerly  Miss  Ruth  Davis. 
She  was  born  in  Ohio.  By  his  first  marriage  there  were  six  children, 
three  living :  James  B.,  John  C.  and  Mary  E. ;  and  by  the  second  mar- 
riage six  children,  five  living:  E.  B.,  jr.,  Joseph  A.,  Elmar  A.,  Nancy 
M.  and  Deborah  R.  He  owns  two  hundred  and  ninety-eight  acres  of 
land  in  this  county,  which  he  has  earned  by  his  own  labor.  He  has 
held  the  offices  of  justice  of  the  peace,  road  commissioner  and  school 
trustee  and  director.    He  is  a  well  known  and  highly  respected  citizen. 

W.  H.  Adams,  Indianola,  tile  manufacturer  and  farmer,  was  born  in 
Carroll  township,  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  17th  of  January, 
1840,  and  lived  with  his  parents  twenty  years.  He  then  learned  the 
wagon  manufacturing  trade,  and  in  1862  enlisted  in  the  25th  111.  Reg., 
Co.  D,  and  remained  in  service  over  three  years.  He  was  in  the  bat- 
tles of  Chickamauga,  Nashville,  Atlanta  campaign,  etc.  etc.  He  was 
wounded  at  Murfreesborough ;  again  at  Chickamauga  and  Mission 
Ridge.  After  his  discharge  he  returned  to  Vermilion  county,  and  fol- 
lowed his  trade  for  four  years.  On  the  1st  of  February,  1866,  he  mar- 
ried Miss  Lydia  Mendenhall.  She  was  born  in  this  county.  In  1869 
he  engaged  in  farming,  and  has  continued  the  same  since.  In  1878  he 
erected  a  kiln  and  a  200  x  20  shed  and  40-foot  drain  mill,  and  engaged 
in  the  manufacture  of  tile,  and  has  now  facilities  for  making  five  thou- 
sand 4-inch  per  day. 

J.  A.  McDowell,  Indianola,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  is  a  native  of  Ver- 
milion county,  Illinois.  He  was  born  in  Carroll  township,  on  the  16th  of 
November,  1841,  and  has  here  always  made  his  home.  He  lived  with  his 
parents  until  1863,  when  he  took  charge  of  his  sister  s  farm,  and  in  1864 
he  moved  to  a  place  of  his  own.  On  the  25th  of  April,  1865,  he  mar 
ried  Miss  Mary  Ramsey.  She  was  born  in  this  county,  and  died  on  the 
26th  of  November,  1866.  On  the  18th  of  November,  1869,  he  married 
Miss  Emma  C.  Porter.  She  was  born  in  this  countv,  on  the  3d  of 
April,  1849.  They  had  six  children,  five  living:  Grade  P.,  Jennie  E., 
Carrie,  Freddie  W.,  and  Ray  W.  In  November,  1869,  he  came  to  his 
present  farm,  and  in  1875  he  occupied  his  present  elegant  brick  resi- 
dence. He  owns  six  hundred  acres  of  land  in  this  countv,  located  in 
the  southwest  part  of  Carroll  township  and  the  southeast  part  of  Sidell 
township. 

John  B.  Hildreth,  Indianola,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in 
Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  19th  of  March,  1842,  and  has  always 
lived  in  this  county.  At  the  age  of  twenty-one  he  began  working  for 
himself,  farming  part  of  his  fathers  farm  until  1870,  when  he  got  con- 
trol of  two  hundred  acres.     On  the  10th  of  October,  1869,  he  married 


CARROLL   TOWNSHIP.  791 

Miss  Philette  Ross,  who  was  born  in  Indiana,  and  died  here  on  the 
20th  of  March,  1875.  They  had  four  children,  three  living :  Carrie  A., 
Alice  and  Philette.  On  the  26th  of  August,  1875,  he  married  Miss 
Eliza  Barnett,  who  was  born  in  this  county  near  their  present  place. 
They  had  two  children,  one  living,  Daisy.  Mr.  Hildreth  owns  five 
hundred  and  thirty-three  acres  of  land  in  this  and  Edgar  counties.  His 
parents,  Alvin  K.  and  Sarah  E.  (Ritter)  Hildreth,  were  natives  of  Bour- 
bon county,  Kentucky.  They  came  to  this  county  about  1832,  and 
lived  here  until  their  deaths,  on  the  19th  of  July,  1874,  and  on  the 
4th  of  July,  1877,  respectively. 

M.  L.  Hill,  Catlin,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in  Wayne 
county,  Kentucky,  on  the  15th  of  October,  1828,  and  lived  there  two 
years.  He  then,  with  his  parents,  moved  to  Crawford  county,  Illi- 
nois, where  he  lived  until  he  was  twelve  years  of  age.  They  then 
moved  to  Clark  county,  where  his  mother  died.  He  next  moved  to 
Owen  county,  Indiana,  thence  to  York,  Illinois,  where  he  learned  the 
carpenter's  trade,  and  in  1848  he  went  to  Danville,  Illinois,  and  lived 
there  until  1853.  He  then  moved  to  Georgetown,  where,  in  the  spring 
of  1854,  he  married  Miss  Nancy  E.  Hewitt,  who  was  born  in  this 
county.  They  have  seven  children:  James  W.,  M.  L.,  jr.,  Charles  W., 
Eli  E.,  George,  Oscar  W.  and  Archie  H.  In  1859  Mr.  Hill  en- 
gaged in  farming  on  his  present  place.  In  1862  he  enlisted  in  the  125th 
111.  Reer.,  Co.  D,  and  remained  in  the  service  till  the  close  of  the  war. 
He  was  in  the  battles  of  Perryville,  Chickamauga,  the  Atlanta  cam- 
paign and  the  march  to  the  sea.  He  owns  two  hundred  and  thirty-four 
acres  of  land  in  this  county.  He  returned  to  his  farm  after  the  war, 
and  has  lived  here  since. 

Dr.  J.  W.  Ralston,  Indianola,  physician,  was  born  in  Williamson 
county,  Tennessee,  on  the  12th  of  February,  1834,  and  lived  there 
twelve  years,  when,  with  his  parents,  he  moved  to  Indiana,  and  settled 
in  Rockville,  where  he  lived  until  1855.  In  1852  he  began  reading 
medicine  under  Drs.  Rice  and  Allen  and  Dr.  Strieker.  He  next  at- 
tended the  Ohio  Medical  College,  of  Cincinnati,  for  about  six  months. 
He  then  attended  the  Rush  Medical  College,  of  Chicago,  and  then 
came  to  Indianola.  He  began  practice  on  the  1st  of  June,  1855,  and 
has  practiced  here  since.  In  the  winter  of  1867-8  he  graduated  at  the 
Rush  Medical  College.  On  the  15th  of  October,  1856,  he  married 
Miss  Permelia,  daughter  of  Mr.  David  Dickson,  one  of  the  early  pio- 
neers of  this  county.     She  was  born  in  Vermilion  county,  Illinois. 

Johnathan  Gaines,  Indianola,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in 
Greene  county,  Ohio,  on  the  23d  of  May,  1827,  and  lived  there  nine- 
teen years.     He  then  came  to  Illinois,  and  settled  in  Edgar  county, 


792  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

where  he  lived  until  1856,  when  he  came  to  Vermilion  county,  and 
settled  on  his  present  place.  In  September,  1854,  he  married  Miss 
Lucinda  Gilkev.  She  was  born  in  this  county.  They  had  twelve  chil- 
dren, ten  living ;  Laura  A.,  William,  James  S.,  Ralph,  Eva,  Charles, 
"Walter,  Ernest,  Fred,  and  Gracie  G.  In  1848  Mr.  Gaines  drove  cattle 
to  Philadelphia,  going  on  horseback,  and  made  the  trip  each  of  the 
following  eight  years,  and  has  shipped  cattle  every  year  since.  He 
took  cattle  to  Chicago  in  1852,  and  has  been  in  that  city  every  year 
since.  He  owns  eight  hundred  acres  of  land,  which  he  has  earned  by 
his  own  labor  and  management. 


MIDDLE  FORK  TOWNSHIP. 

The  town  of  Middle  Fork,  as  its  name  indicates,  lies  in  that  part  of 
the  county  where  the  three  main  branches  unite  and  form  the  stream 
of  that  name.  It  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Butler,  east  by  Ross, 
south  by  Blount  and  Pilot,  and  west  by  the  county  line;  is  parallelo- 
gram in  form,  and  geographically  embraces  the  north  half  of  town  21, 
range  13;  the  southern  four  tiers  of  sections  of  town  22,  range  13; 
the  northeast  quarter  of  town  21,  range  14,  and  the  southern  four  tiers 
of  the  east  half  of  town  22,  range  14. 

At  the  time  of  township  organization  it  included  not  only  all  of 
Butler  township,  but  all  of  what  is  now  Ford  county,  running  up  to 
the  Kankakee  River,  and  was  more  than  sixty  miles  long.  At  that  time 
(1851)  there  was  not  an  inhabitant  north  of  what  is  known  as  Blue 
Grass  Grove,  until  von  reached  the  vicinity  of  the  Kankakee  River, 
where  a  few  families  had  collected  around  Horse  Creek,  who,  in  their 
pioneer  independence,  were  unwilling  to  recognize  the  authority  which 
held  its  seat  of  justice  at  Danville,  seventy-five  miles  to  the  south.. 
Uncle  Richard  Courtney,  who,  by  the  untrammeled  and  virtuous  suf- 
frages of  the  honest  yeomen  of  Middle  Fork,  in  the  year  1852,  was 
elected  to  the  lucrative  office  of  assessor,  relates  a  little  incident  which 
occurred  to  him  in  the  official  discharge  of  his  duties,  with  these 
"Horse  Creek"  denizens,  which  is  laughable  enough,  but  which  did 
not  strike  Richard  as  at  all  funny  when  it  happened.  "With  a  due 
regard  for  the  sanctity  of  his  oath,  and  determined  to  leave  no  property 
unassessed,  after  he  had  carefully  noted  down  all  the  wealth  which  lay 
scattered  between  Blue  Grass  and  Higginsville,  he  bestrode  the  best 
horse  he  had,  and,  taking  three  days'  rations  of  dried  venison  and  cold 
corn-cake,  he  took  his  lonely  way  across  the  grand  prairie  to  search  out 


MIDDLE    FOEK   TOWNSHIP.  793 

the  tangible  property,  moneys  and  credits  of  these  few  families  whose 
vast  accumulations  of  filthy  lucre  and  hidden  treasure  were  proble- 
matical, to  say  the  very  least.  Courtney  was  no  novice  at  this  business 
of  hunting  out 

"  Things  that  were  palpable  to  sight  and  touch, 
That  he  could  measure  by  the  test,  'how  much,' 
And  grasp  securely  in  his  mental  clutch." 

Indeed  he  was  a  man  of  large  experience  in  financial  affairs,  having 
early,  when  even  yet  a  boy,  engaged  in  trade,  and  had  bought  and  sold 
a  great  deal  of  land.  A  hard  day's  drive  brought  him  to  the  cabins  on 
Horse  Creek,  and,  taking  a  night's  rest,  at  the  first  he  proceeded  to 
unfold  to  the  inhabitants,  in  "a  few  well-chosen  remarks,"  the  objects  of 
his  mission.  They  theoretically  placed  their  thumbs  on  their  noses 
and  wagged  the  extended  fingers  of  their  hands,  which  was  pioneer 
parlance  for  "  you  can't  come  it."  He  expostulated,  reasoned  of  the 
righteousness  of  his  cause,  the  temperance  of  his  manner,  and  the 
judgment  which  was  sure  to  come  upon  them  if  they  resisted  his  meek 
measures :  but,  unlike  Felix,  they  did  not  tremble  worth  a  cent.  They 
told  him  they  never  heard  of  Middle  Fork ;  had  never  attended  her 
town  meetings,  and  utterly  repudiated  her  authority ;  tha't  the  year 
before  a  Kankakee  assessor  had  come  prowling  around  nosing  into  their 
affairs,  wanting  to  assess  them,  and  that  they  would  bring  to  grief  any 
Vermilion  assessor  who  undertook  to  do  what  the  Kankakee  chap 
found  he  could  not  do.  To  make  matters  worse,  a  Protestant  Methodist 
preacher,  whose  name  is  forgotten,  or  he  certainly  should  have  the 
benefit  of  a  first-class  notice,  fell  on  poor  Richard,  who  was  only  a 
Methodist  Episcopal  christian,  and  brother  of  a  preacher  of  that  per- 
suasion, and  told  him  he  did  not  expect  anything  better  from  such  as  he  ; 
that  his  entire  church  was  a  priest-ridden,  bishop-ruled,  elder-dictated, 
poor,  despised,  crushed  community,  and  poured  a  flood  of  light  into 
the  benighted  mental  vision  of  the  publican,  which  an  entire  course  in 
a  Methodist  theological  seminary  could  hardly  have  equaled.  He 
pointed  to  Courtney  in  fiery  language,  highly  touched  off  with  a  flavor 
of  sulphurous  smoke,  what  a  religion  which  pinned  its  faith  to  the 
surplices  of  a  bench  of  bishops  must  inevitably  lead  to,  and  plainly 
intimated  to  the  crowd  that  this  assessor  was  a  minion  of  the  Episcopacy 
thinly  hid  behind  the  gauzy  veil  of  township  organization.  Assert- 
ing that  it  was  what  he  had  long  expected,  and  slapping  his  hands  to- 
gether, said  that  this  expectation  was  the  very  thing  which  had  in- 
duced him  to  break  with  the  priest-ridden  M.  E.  church.  To  make 
the  matter  short,  they  set  the  women  on  him  with  brooms  and  mop- 
sticks  to  drive  him  from  their  midst.      He  was  not  in  the  habit  of 


794  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

giving  up  at  trifles,  but  the  array  of  armed  women  was  no  trifle  in 
Courtney's  estimation,  and  he  betook  himself  to  contemplative  study. 
There  stood  his  oath,  recorded  in  heaven,  that  he  would  assess  the 
value  of  these  people's  property.  What  was  he  to  do  ?  A  bright 
thought  struck  him.  There  resided  in  their  midst  a  sort  of  backwoods 
lawyer,  whom  they  called  'squire,  whose  words  and  opinions  had 
come  to  be  considered  law  in  the  settlement.  As  he  had  no  property 
of  his  own,  he  could  well  afford  to  offer  his  services  to  help  Courtney 
out.  His  kind  offer  was  thankfully  accepted,  and  "  Richard  was  him- 
self again.''  So  it  was  arranged  that  the  heads  of  the  dozen  families 
living  there  should  come  to  the  '"squire's"  cabin  that  night,  and  he 
would  make  known  their  duty  under  the  law.  "Law  is  law!"  sen- 
tentionsly  said  the  accommodating  '"squire,"  "and  I  cannot  let  these 
neighbors  of  mine  be  dragged  away  from  their  families  a  hundred 
miles  by  your  sheriff  in  Danville,  if  I  can  be  the  happy  means  under 
Divine  Providence  of  preventing  it."  The  convocation  was  held,  and, 
in  an  orderly  manner,  Courtney  explained  the  situation.  He  had  a 
fair  share  of  eloquence  for  a  young  man  of  limited  word  power,  and 
presented  his  side  of  the  case  in  a  masterly  manner.  After  long  dis- 
cussion the  'squire  decided  that  their  little  property  was  liable  to  assess- 
ment, and  the  faithful  assessor  felt  as  a  great  general  does  when  a  great 
victory  is  won.  He  felt  different,  however,  a  few  moments  later,  when 
the  kind  'squire  charged  him  $2.50  for  his  friendl3r  counsel.  It  was 
not  safe  to  leave  that  county  without  paying  the  bill,  and  it  took  all  the 
money  he  had.  He  got  back  to  Blue  Grass,  however,  without  losing 
his  horse  or  throwing  up  his  commission.  The  board  of  town  auditors 
allowed  and  paid  him  £3  for  that  part  of  his  services.  It  was  several 
long  years  before  he  was  induced,  by  "the  urgent  request  of  his  friends," 
to  accept  the  office  of  assessor  again,  and  for  many  years  he  has  held 
to  the  opinion,  pretty  strongly,  that  until  the  unwelcomed  advent  of 
that  horde  of  Chinese  barbarians  upon  our  Pacific  slope  there  was  not 
in  America  a  class  of  people  who  had  darker  ways  or  vainer  tricks  than 
the  lawyers.  "When  the  collector  went  there  the  following  winter  to 
make  collections,  he  found  a  few  parties  who  would  not  pay  their  tax, 
and  he  levied  upon  the  only  articles  he  could  transport;  and,  thinking 
he  could  not  find  anv  bidders  in  that  neighborhood,  he  carried  a  shot- 
gun  and  a  log-chain  all  the  way  to  Danville,  out  of  which  to  make  the 
tax. 

The  township  contained,  originally,  about  twelve  sections  of  timber 
land,  which  was  more  in  the  form  of  pretty  well  defined  groves,  with 
little  of  undergrowth,  and  hazel-brush  patches  which  have  since  grown 
into  timber  land,  than  of  what  is  generally  called  timber.     The  main 


MIDDLE    FORK    TOWNSHIP.  795 

branch  of  the  Middle  Fork,  which  comes  into  the  township  from  the 
direction  of  Oliver's  Grove,  passes  nearly  through  the  town  till  its 
junction  with  Bean  Creek,  when  it  turns  southwest  and  passes  out. 
Along  this,  after  leaving  the  main  body  of  timber  on  the  south,  were 
Collison's  Point,  Colwell  Timber,  Partlow's  Timber,  Douglass  Moore 
Timber  and  Buck  Grove.  The  Blue  Grass  branch,  which  comes  from 
the  north,  joining  the  main  branch  near  Marysville,  had  on  it  Bob 
Courtney's  Grove  and  Blue  Grass  Grove.  Bean  Creek,  which,  so  far 
as  its  name  is  concerned,  has  a  history.  It  had  Merritt's  Point,  and 
numerous  clumps,  which  were  early  the  homes  of  those  who,  like  Al- 
bright, wanted  the  advantages  which  shade  and  shelter  gave  to  grow- 
ing herds  and  fatting  cattle.  Of  all  the  localities  in  northern  Vermilion 
none  offered  a  finer  opportunity  than  the  town  of  Middle  Fork  for 
early  settlement  and  comfortable  homes.  In  truth  of  this,  the  fine 
farms,  the  nice  residences,  the  general  prosperity,  and  the  uncommon 
prosperity  of  a  few,  all  show  the  town  in  the  best  possible  light.  There 
were  drawbacks,  however,  that  some  other  localities  did  not  have. 
Main7  of  the  first  settlers  made  their  homes  along  the  creek  bottoms, 
seeking  protection  from  the  real  or  imaginary  prairie  blasts,  and  trying 
to  use  the  water  of  the  streams.  Without  one  known  exception,  such 
families  were  the  subjects  of  frequent,  severe  and  fatal  sickness.  In  the 
light  of  the  present  it  seems  strange  that  they  should  have  selected  such 
places  for  their  homes.  The  families  which  made  their  homes  on  the 
edge  of  the  prairies  were  not  more  troubled  by  sickness  than  others  in 
new  countries.  An  early  settler,  when  asked  why  the  rich  prairies 
were  so  long  left  vacant,  replied  :  "  Why  !  if  we  had  known  that  any- 
body could  live  out  there,  we  would  have  saved  ourselves  a  great  deal 
of  trouble."  It  was  really  believed  that  they  would  only  be  of  use  as 
pastures  for  the  great  herds  of  cattle  that  would  roam  over  them,  as  the 
herds  do  over  the  vast  pampas  of  South  America. 

The  streams  through  the  pieces  of  timber  were  peculiar  in  one  re- 
spect. When  first  found  they  seemed  to  have  worn  no  channels  for 
the  water-courses.  Every  little  rain  spread  them  out  into  great  ponds. 
Whether  it  was  owing  to  the  peculiar  nature  of  the  soil,  or  whatever 
may  have  been  the  cause  or  causes,  they  did  not  wear  channels  deep  in 
the  soil.  Wherever  there  was  an  obstruction,  as  a  fallen  tree,  the  water 
poured  over  and  made  a  deep  pond-hole,  which  remained  deep  the  year 
around.  In  these  deep  places  large  fish  were  caught.  A  gentleman, 
whose  word  is  entitled  to  the  utmost  credit,  says  that  he  has  known  of 
the  catching  of  a  pike  in  the  township  fully  four  feet  long.  This  might 
be  set  down  by  some  as  a  ufish  story,"'  but  the  writer  believes  it  to  be 
true. 


796  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

The  Blue  Grass  tract,  which  lay  around  and  through  the  Blue  Grass 
Grove,  covered  several  thousand  acres,  and  has  been  the  subject  of 
much  speculation.  It  was  originally  supposed  by  some  to  have  been 
the  growth  of  seeds  brought  here  in  some  way  by  the  Indians.  This 
view,  however,  has  been  pretty  generally  abandoned,  as  the  history  and 
phenomena  of  grasses  have  become  better  known.  One  of  the  most 
singular  things  about  these  great  prairies  is,  that  the  native  grass  which 
was  found  growing  everywhere  when  man  came  here,  and  which  for 
ages  has  maintained  itself  against  all  the  natural  elements  of  extinction, 
has  neither  seed  nor  any  other  organs  of  propagation.  When  once 
killed  or  circumscribed  in  any  way,  it  could  not  by  any  process  again 
spread.  It  was  not  merely  comparatively,  but  positively  impossible  to 
spread  it.  So  far  as  the  writer's  knowledge  goes,  it  was  in  this  respect 
anomalous.  Nature  does  not  seem  to  have  furnished  another  case  of 
actual  absence  of  the  quality  of  propagation.  Wherever  this  was  de- 
stroyed nature  supplied  its  place  with  another  grass,  and  in  this  part  of 
the  state  that  natural  growth  was  blue-grass,  which  was,  and  is,  just  as 
much  a  natural  growth  as  was  the  prairie  grass.  The  Pottawatomie 
and  Kickapoo  Indians  had  long  had  a  home  in  this  grove.  They  had 
cultivated  in  their  own  rude  way  a  small  patch  of  corn,  which  had  de- 
stroyed the  prairie  grass  not  only  where  they  had  actually  planted,  but 
all  around  where  they  lived  and  where  their  horses  stayed.  Blue-grass 
"run  in,"  as  the  saying  is,  or  more  correctly,  was  furnished  by  nature 
according  to  a  not  well  understood  natural  law.  And  this  is  all  the 
mystery  there  is  in  regard  to  the  great  blue-grass  pasture  that  was  found 
here. 

The  first  settlers  found  corn  growing  here.  Their  method  of  plant- 
ing and  cultivating  differed  somewhat  from  that  in  vogue  since  Brown 
invented  his  corn-planter,  and  can  be  easily  described.  No  plow  was 
known  to  Indian  farming.  The  corn  was  planted  in  hills,  little  less 
distant  than  now,  and  was  hoed  by  the  women,  and  hilled  up  about  as 
we  do  potatoes.  The  next  year  the  hills  were  planted  between  the 
rows  of  last  year's  stalks,  and  the  earth  which  had  been  hilled  up 
around  the  former  was  removed,  as  needed,  to  the  growing  hills,  to 
"hill  them  up."  The  only  variety  of  corn  they  were  known  to  use 
here  was  the  peculiarly  spotted  ears,  red  and  white.  When  the  corn 
was  harvested  it  was  not  cribbed  in  pine  lumber  brought  from  Green 
Bay,  but  caves  were  dug  in  the  dry  knolls,  in  which  it  was  buried  until 
it  was  wanted. 

The  earliest  settlements  were  made  in  what  is  now  Middle  Fork,  in 
1828.  Mr.  Partlow  and  wife  came  from  Kentucky  in  1829  with  their 
four  sons,  Samuel,  James,  Reuben  and  John,  and  their  son-in-law,  Asa 


MIDDLE    FORK   TOWNSHIP.  797 

Brown.  They  were  all  married  and  had  families,  and  were  all  earnest 
members  of  the  Methodist  church.  They  made  a  cabin  at  Merrill's 
Point,  and  the  sons  took  claims  in  sections  5,  6,  7  and  8  (21-13),  south 
of  where  Armstrong  now  is.  John  and  James  were  licensed  preachers, 
and  were  probably  the  first  ones  to  make  a  residence  here.  The  par- 
ents died  the  first  year,  and  the  family  had  to  bury  them  themselves. 
They  brought  a  number  of  cattle  with  them  from  Kentucky,  and  the 
migration  bid  fair  to  prove  a  prosperous  one;  but  the  first  year. was 
followed  by  the  memorable  winter  of  the  deep  snow,  the  like  of  which 
has  never  been  seen  here  since.  It  was  to  the  new-comers  a  most  un- 
expected and  disastrous  winter.  The  depth  of  the  snow  prevented 
getting  around  to  do  anything.  They  had  to  live  on  what  they  could 
pound  up  in  their  mortars.  Deer,  the  principal  meat-producing  game, 
were  easily  captured,  but  they  soon  became  so  poor  that  their  meat  was 
not  fit  to  eat.  There  was  no  such  thing  as  going  to  market,  and  their 
cattle  died  from  lack  of  food  and  care.  The  winter  filled  up  the 
measure  of  their  disappointment,  and  the  next  year  they  took  the  back 
track  and  went  to  Kentucky,  all  but  Asa  Brown,  who  said  he  had 
nothing  to  go  to  there,  and  he  "  could  but  perish  if  he  staid."  They 
afterward  returned  and  settled  on  the  land  they  had  taken  up,  which 
has  been  known  from  that  day  to  this — now  fifty  years — as  the  Partlow 
neighborhood.  They  all  lived  to  bring  up  families,  some  members  of 
whom  still  reside  there.  Samuel  and  Reuben  died  in  Danville,  where 
their  children  live,  and  are  among  the  most  respected  and  worthy 
citizens.  John  and  James  died  here  in  Middle  Fork.  "When  they 
came  here  they  brought  the  institutions  of  religion  with  them,  and 
never  allowed  the  altar  to  grow  cold.  About  1840  they  built  the  first 
meeting-house  in  this  part  of  the  county — a  rude  cabin  on  the  bank  of 
the  stream  on  Reuben's  land.  There  is  no  family  which  has  exercised 
a  greater  or  better  influence  on  the  town — an  influence  for  good  which 
will  be  felt  till  the  last. 

Michael  Cook  was  one  of  the  first  to  settle  here.  He  died  soon, 
and  was  buried  in  a  little  graveyard  a  half  mile  from  Meneely's  mill  on 
the  hill.  William  Bridges  came  here  in  1830,  and  settled  one  and  a 
half  miles  south  of  Marysville.  He  resided  there  seven  years.  He 
was  a  man  of  strong  good  sense.  He  sold  and  went  to  Wisconsin,  when 
the  rush  was  in  that  direction.  Mr.  Gray  bought  the  place.  He  was 
not  much  of  a  farmer,  and  gave  his  time  largely  to  the  chase.  His 
family  had  much  sickness,  and  his  place  deteriorated,  and  part  of  the 
clearing  again  grew  up  to  trees.  Passing  by  it  to-day  it  is  not  difficult 
to  see  in  the  timber  the  place  where,  forty-five  years  ago,  wheat  was 
waving  in   the  June  breezes.     This  man  Gray  was  a  character.     He 


798  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

used  to  come  in  out  of  the  timber  every  election  day  as  regular  as  a 
tea-party,  following  the  blazed  trees  out  to  civilization  —  he  seldom 
came  out  at  any  other  time  —  voted  the  democratic  ticket  as  regularly 
and  unanimously  as  if  he  had  been  brought  up  to  it;  defended  the 
good  name  and  statesmanship  of  Jackson ;  shouted  for  fifty -four-forty- 
or-fight;  for  "extending  the  area  of  freedom,"  by  the  Mexican  war, 
whooped  for  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  compromise,  and  peddled 
tickets  until  the  boxes  were  closed,  as  energetically  as  any  man  in  the 
business;  then  stayed  to  see  the  ballots  counted  out  by  candle-light. 
For  ten  years,  Gray  and  John  Smith  (plain)  were  the  only  democratic 
voters  in  town.  After  ten  years  of  energetic  electioneering,  this  pa- 
triarch of  democracy  saw  with  jo}'  the  advent  into  town  of  George 
Copeland,  and  felt  better.  He  lived  to  see  as  many  as  half-a-dozen 
democratic  votes  cast  in  Middle  Fork.  The  town  is  still  republican, 
though  it  is  through  no  dereliction  on  the  part  of  Gray. 

There  was  a  very  considerable  emigration  at  one  time  from  here  to 
Wisconsin.  After  Gurdon  Hubbard  had  left  Danville,  where  he  had 
in  vain  endeavored  to  get  his  former  partners  to  invest  with  him  in 
"water  lots"  in  Chicago,  he  became  rich  by  his  speculations  there,  and, 
following  the  same  direction,  some  of  the  leading  men  of  the  county 
fancied  they  could  see  as  rich  speculations  in  Milwaukee  and  Galena, 
and  other  places  in  those  vicinities.  The  prevailing  sickness  here  gave 
a  strong  impetus  to  the  movement,  and  quite  a  number  went  out  from 
this  town.  Few  bettered  themselves,  however.  Asa  Brown,  A.  Kel- 
ley  and  William  Bridges  went  to  the  northern  home. 

Charles  Bennett  settled  at  Collison's  Point  in  1828,  and  was  one  of 
the  first  settlers  in  here.  He  came  from  Ohio.  He  entered  land  on 
Sullivan's  Branch  (called  so  till  1851),  eighty  acres  at  first,  and  after- 
ward forty  more,  and  was  really  the  first  settler  on  the  now  famous 
Bean  Creek.  Mr.  Bennett  died  in  1840  on  the  farm  half  a  mile  east 
of  the  iron  bridge  in  Marysville.  He  left  six  children,  who  have  all 
moved  away  except  Caleb  and  a  daughter,  now  dead.  His  son  Caleb, 
now  residing  in  Marysville,  is  believed  to  be  the  "oldest  inhabitant" 
now  residing  in  the  town,  having  lived  here  continuously  for  fifty-one 
years ; —  at  least,  if  any  person  disputes  his  right  to  the  belt  with  the 
cabalistic  letters,  "  O.  I."  marked  on  it,  he  wants  such  an  one  to  come 
and  take  it,  if  he  can.  Caleb  says,  in  speaking  of  those  "good  old 
times,"  (?)  "We  did  not  fail,  under  any  circumstances  or  provocation, 
to  have  the  ague  eveiw  summer  as  regularly  as  that  solar  season  came 
around.  People  had  not  got  to  living  out  on  the  prairies  then,  and 
those  who  lived  on  the  creek  bottoms  nearly  all  died.  We  thought  it 
a  'severe  dispensation  of  Divine  Providence,'   but  now  the  general 


MIDDLE    FORK   TOWNSHIP.  799 

opinion,  after  a  half  century  of  additional  light  on  the  subject,  is, 
that  it  was  the  'milk-sick,'  whatever  that  may  be."  They  raised 
their  own  flax,  corn,  wheat  and  hogs,  the  real  "hazel  splitters," 
called  so  from  a  very  general  belief  that  they  were  so  thin,  and  had 
such  sharp  noses,  that  they  could  go  through  a  hazel  bush  or  any  like 
substance  which  stood  in  their  way.  A  great  man}7  ludicrous  stories 
have  been  told  about  this  much-abused  breed  of  "prairie-rooters," 
which  were  in  many  respects  a  very  valuable,  probably  the  most  profit- 
able, "farming  implement"  the  early  settlers  had.  The  impression  is 
common  now  that  they  were  a  worthless  thing.  This  is  very  far  from 
being  true.  The  writer,  who  has  the  greatest  respect  for  the  "  im- 
proved breeds  of  hogs,"  now  so  famous  here,  wishes  to  record  a  plea  in 
favor  of  the  old  stock.  In  the  then  condition  of  the  fields  and  farms, 
they  were  the  only  kind  that  could  be  kept ;  they  did  not  require  any 
grain  or  grass  pasture ;  they  lived  in  the  woods  till  corn  was  ripe,  and 
when  fatted  to  the  extent  that  they  were  good  bacon  hogs,  would 
travel  as  fast  as  a  man  could  walk.  In  any  ordinary  weather  they 
could  make  twenty  miles  a  day,  and  could  stand  the  long  drives  of  one 
or  two  hundred  miles  to  market  without  giving  out;  were  not  subject 
to  any  disease.  Nothing  could  kill  them  short  of  the  knife  of  the 
butcher  or  the  ball  of  the  rirle,  and  they  were  about  the  only  crop  the 
farmer  raised  which  would  always  bring  cash.  Caleb  Bennett  went 
out  on  the  prairie  and  took  up  the  fine  farm  now  owned  by  Zack  Put- 
nam, and  improved  it.  He  sunk  three  artesian  wells,  one  of  which  is 
the  finest  in  the  county.  By  boring  thirty  feet  he  got  a  permanent 
three-inch  stream,  which  is  carried  up  high  enough  to  furnish  a  good 
water-power  to  drive  a  churn.  Several  other  farms  in  that  vicinity 
have  artesian  water.  He  carried  on  stock-raising  and  feeding  exten- 
sively, with  fair  success,  for  several  years.  Disaster  overtook  his  opera- 
tions, however,  and  he  lost  his  property.  He  has  been  a  hard-working 
man,  and  is  respected  by  all  that  knew  him.  The  farm  which  he 
brought  into  cultivation  is  owned  by  Mr.  Putnam,  who  carries  on  a 
butter  dairy  of  twenty-five  cows,  the  only  one  of  the  kind  in  the  town. 
He  uses  the  water-power  to  run  a  small  turbine  wheel,  which  drives 
the  churn  and  runs  the  water  through  the  milk-house,  to  keep  it  cool. 
With  this  care  in  keeping  cool,  and  with  absolute  cleanliness  in  the 
management  of  the  dairy,  he  has  no  trouble  in  getting  the  highest 
market  price  for  his  product,  and  has  solved  the  problem  of  profitable 
butter-making  on  these  prairies. 

Richard  Courtney  was  born  and  grew  up  to  early  manhood  in 
Franklin  county,  Ohio.  The  family  came  on  here  in  1835,  and  it  was 
so  rainy,  and  the  streams  so  swollen,  that  they  could  not  get  farther, 


SOU  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

so  they  concluded  to  enter  land  here  on  the  famous  bine-grass  tract, 
which  the  Indians  had  just  abandoned.  There  were  then  standing, 
where  his  pasture  now  is,  the  stalks  of  a  former  j^ear's  crop  of  corn. 
The  untouched  grass  of  thousands  of  acres  grew  rank  around  and 
through  the  grove.  The  underbrush  of  young  trees  had  been  kept 
down  by  prairie  fires,  and  where  now  forest  trees  stand,  as  fine  winter 
pasture  as  ever  was  known  furnished  feed  enough  for  thousands  of  cat- 
tle. The  few  cows  that  the  settlers  kept  came  in  at  night  loaded  down 
with  milk,  and  almost  every  hollow  tree  in  the  grove  was  the  home  of 
bees.  There  never  was  a  land  which,  to  the  immigrant  seeking  new 
homes,  flowed  more  literally  with  milk  and  honej^  than  this.  The 
Courtney  family  at  once  went  to  breaking  prairie,  and  hired  a  hundred 
acres  turned  and  planted  to  sod  corn.  They  got  a  good  crop,  but  did 
not  know  what  to  do  with  it.  It  was  only  worth  six  cents  a  bushel, 
and  no  market  for  it  at  that  price.  They  did  not  raise  much  wheat. 
They  went  to  Perrysville  for  their  grinding.  Deer,  geese,  turkeys  and 
prairie  chickens  were  numerous.  They  kept  a  few  sheep,  but  the 
wolves  were  so  troublesome  that  it  was  almost  impossible  to  protect 
them.  They  have  sold  pigs  for  one  dollar  per  dozen,  and  once  sold 
Mr.  Gilbert  twenty  good  fat  hogs  for  fifty  dollars.  Mr.  Courtney  was 
once  on  a  trip  to  Chicago,  and  having  in  his  wagon  some  corn  of  the 
large  white  variety,  such  as  he  was  in  the  habit  of  raising,  to  feed  on 
the  road,  a  couple  of  Yankees,  who  were  looking  for  the  first  time  at 
the  prairie  wonders  of  Illinois,  after  intently  examining  the  ears  of 
corn,  and  comparing  them  mentally  with  their  own  little  hard-shell 
nubbins  down  east,  commenced  asking  questions,  Yankee-like.  They 
asked  Courtney  what  it  cost  to  raise  such  corn.  He  told  them  that  he 
did  not  calculate  that  it  cost  him  anything  to  raise  it,  and  explained 
that  the  land  had  to  be  broken  before  it  was  fit  for  any  crop.  Then, 
while  the  prairie  sod  was  rotting  for  the  next  year's  crop,  one  of  the 
boys  who  had  nothing  else  to  do  dropped  the  corn  in  the  crevices 
between  the  sods,  and  they  went  on  about  their  business,  allowing  the 
corn  to  have  its  own  way  until  it  was  ripe ;  then  they  picked  what  corn 
they  wanted,  say  twenty  to  forty  bushels  to  the  acre,  and  left  the  rest 
for  the  cattle  to  live  on  durino-  the  winter.  "But  don't  vou  hoe  it  and 
manure  it  in  the  hill,  and  hill  it  up,  and  stick  up  scare-crows  made  out 
of  your  wife's  last  year's  petticoat  or  your  cast-off  drawers,  and  put  hats 
on  'era?"  inquired  the  suspicious  Yankees.  He  assured  them  that 
nothing  of  the  kind  was  done  in  raising  the  particular  corn  they  then 
held  in  their  hands.  They  questioned  his  veracity.  ''Well,''  said 
Courtney,  "  if  }Tou  don't  take  my  word,  if  you  will  just  come  back  to 
the  next  wagon,  I  have  got  a  minister  and  a  class-leader  there  who  will 


MIDDLE    FORK    TOWNSHIP.  801 

swear  to  it.  This  satisfied  the  incredulous  gentlemen,  for  they  knew 
what  religion  was,  and  down  in  Massachusetts  a  class-leader's  word  is 
taken  everywhere.  Mr.  C.  says  that  he  has  gone  a  whole  year  without 
handling  thirty  dollars  in  money.  Their  wants  were  few.  They  made 
their  own  cloth,  sugar  and  shoes  ;  rarely  bought  store-tea ;  did  not  take 
music  lessons,  or  buy  spring  bonnets.  Taxes  were  nominal,  and  no 
school  bills  to  pay,  and  no  mortgages  to  eat  up  the  substance  of  the 
people.  He  used  to  keep  a  plat  of  the  township,  so  that  people  who 
came  to  look  for  land  could  find  it,  and  would  stop  his  plow  am^  time 
to  go  to  show  them  the  corners.  There  were  no  settlements  on  the 
prairies  until  1849,  when  the  rush  of  immigration  came  in  in  anticipa- 
tion of  the  passage  through  congress  of  Douglas'  Illinois  Central  Rail- 
road bill,  by  the  discussion  of  which  attention  was  directed  to  the  £reat 
fertility  of  the  prairies,  which  only  needed  the  aid  of  railroads  to  bring 
their  products  into  market.  The  people  here  had  supposed  that  the 
prairies  back  of  them  were  their  heritage  for  "  range  "  as  long  as  they 
should  want  them,  but  waked  up  suddenly  to  the  fact  that  all  this  land 
was  being  taken  up,  and  had  to  buy  at  increased  rates  to  secure  them- 
selves against  being  hemmed  in.  Richard  Courtney  sold  his  farm  to 
John  Bodley,  who  recently  died  at  Paxton,  and  purchased  another. 
Mr.  Bodley  remained  here  some  time,  carrying  on  a  farm  of  four  hun- 
dred acres,  trading,  feeding  cattle,  and  driving  to  market.  He  kept  a 
store  at  Blue  Grass  for  awhile,  which  he  lost  by  lightning.  He  after- 
ward went  west,  and  then  settled  at  Paxton,  where  he  became  one  of 
the  leading  business  men  of  that  place.  He  took  a  lively  interest  in 
public  affairs,  and  was  long  on  the  board  of  supervisors.  He  closed  a 
long  and  busy  life  a  few  weeks  since,  leaving  a  name  for  integrity  and 
business  activity  which  will  long  be  kept  green  in  the  memory  of  his 
many  acquaintances.  Mr.  Courtney  still  resides  on  the  farm  which  he 
bought  at  that  time.  He  has  brought  up  a  family  of  five  children,  who 
live  with  or  near  him,  and  who  enjoy  the  aid  and  assistance  of  his  wise 
counsel  and  the  pleasure  of  his  society.  He  has  saved  a  comfortable 
property,  though  by  no  means  rich,  and  quietly  receives  the  benefit  of 
his  early  thrift  and  energy.  There  is  no  more  pleasant  sight  connected 
with  the  history  of  these  townships  than  the  one  of  these  good  old 
parents,  who,  having  passed  through  the  trials,  the  hardships,  the  fears, 
the  dangers  of  pioneering,  the  fatigue  and  labors  of  a  well-rounded  life, 
throw  care  and  work  on  willing  children,  whose  early  feet  they  have  led 
in  paths  of  peace,  truth  and  veneration  for  God  and  man.  Mr.  Court- 
ney's mother  died  here,  at  the  age  of  eighty-three. 

James,  an   elder  brother  of  Richard,  had   very  early  joined    the 
church,  and   was  licensed   to  preach    at  the  age  of  eighteen.      Ten 
51 


802  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

years  later  he  came  into  this  county  to  live,  having  received  a  good 
education  and  studied  medicine.  He  used  to  preach  while  here,  but 
finding  his  health  failing,  he  resumed  the  study  of  medicine  to  learn 
his  own  case.  He  removed  to  Danville,  where  he  remained  several 
years,  spending  his  winters  in  Cincinnati,  attending  lectures  and  ac- 
quainting himself  with  the  science  of  medicine  and  surgery  in  all  its 
details.  He  was  elected  to  the  legislature  in  1854,  and  in  the  single 
winter  he  served  saw  many  things  to  convince  him  that  everything  was 
not  pure  and  honest  in  the  politics  of  that  "good  old  time."  He  re- 
moved to  Indianapolis,  and  was  appointed  to  a  professorship  in  the 
medical  college  at  Cincinnati.  He  was  a  man  of  great  energy  and  in- 
dustry, with  small  physical  strength  to  back  it.  The  successive  steps 
of  advancement  from  the  cabin  of  the  backwoodsman  to  the  important 
position  of  lecturer  in  an  important  medical  college,  shows  the  stuff  of 
which  he  was  made. 

None  of  the  other  members  of  the  Courtney  family  reside  in  Middle 
Fork.  Robert  Courtney,  who  was  not  a  relative  of  the  family  heretofore 
spoken  of,  came  here  before  they  did  some  four  years.  He  was  an 
arbitraiy  man,  and  cared  little  for  the  rights  of  others  or  the  peace  of 
his  family.  He  claimed  all  the  land  that  joined  him,  and  when  Mr. 
Cross  came  up  from  Danville  and  staked  out  a  piece  of  blue-grass  pas- 
ture to  put  his  cattle  on  to  feed,  Robert  undertook  to  drive  him  off. 
He  was  even  crosser  than  Cross,  and  went  for  this  intruder  in  a  very 
unamiable  manner.  He  never  gave  much  attention  to  farming,  but 
hunted  and  watched  a  few  cattle.  He  lived  here  about  twentv-five 
years,  until  1856,  and  then  went  to  Champaign.  John,  Dixon  and 
Hamilton  Bailey,  three  brothers,  settled  in  1832  on  land  where  Marys- 
ville  now  stands.  They  were  industrious  men  and  good  citizens;  re- 
mained here  until  1839,  and  sold  to  Robert  Marshall,  and  went,  in 
company  with  Miller,  Stillwell,  Brown,  Lay  ton,  and  others,  to  Wis- 
consin. Mr.  Marshall  was  not  in  sufficient  health  to  work  on  a  farm, 
and  undertook  to  keep  store  in  one  part  of  his  dwelling,  two  or  three 
years.  He  died,  and  thus  ended  what  is  supposed  to  have  been  the 
first  mercantile  venture  in  town,  about  1850.  Robert  Young  bought 
the  farm  Stillwell  had  entered,  and  lives  on  it  still. 

James  Colwell  bought  the  claim  of  a  Mr.  Long,  just  west  of  where 
Marysville  now  is.     He  remained  on  the  place  until  he  died. 

Douglas  Moore  came  from  Ohio  in  1834,  and  took  up  land  still 
farther  west,  south  of  where  Armstrong  now  is.  He  was  a  man  of 
very  positive  views  and  strong  character.  He  has  a  reputation  among 
the  neighbors  for  truthfulness,  honorable  christian  character,  and  was 


MIDDLE    FORK   TOWNSHIP.  803 

a  good  farmer.     He  is  dead,  and  his  family  is  scattered.     His  wife  re- 
mains in  the  vicinity. 

Mr.  Meneley,  who  was  himself  a  millwright,  built  a  saw-mill  a  little 
way  down  stream  from  Marysville  in  1837.  He  afterward  sold  to 
Smith,  and  it  burned  ;  Smith  rebuilt  it  and  sold  it.  In  1872  a  run  of 
stone  was  put  in.     This  is  the  only  water-mill  ever  built  in  town. 

Bean  Creek,  the  eastern  branch  of  the  Middle  Fork,  was  first  known 
as  "  Sullivan's  branch,"  but  it  afterward  came  to  be  known  by  its 
present  name,  from  certain  yarns  that  Albright  spun  in  regard  to  the 
peculiarities  of  the  people  who  lived  along  its  banks  and  the  qualities 
of  the  stream  itself.  The  land  along  its  border  was  well  adapted  to 
cattle  farming,  and  the  men  engaged  in  that  line  got  possession  of  the 
land.  Albright,  as  one  of  them,  used  to  tell  his  friends  back  east  of 
the  excellent  country  that  we  had  here.  He  said  that  the  stream  run 
bean-soup,  and  the  banks  were  supplied  with  a  natural  growth  of  this 
nutritious  vegetable,  ready  baked  to  a  beautiful  brown  for  the  table; 
that  the  settlers  just  naturally  collected  it  daily  (except  Sundays),  as 
the  wandering  tribes  of  Israel  gathered  manna  in  the  wilderness;  that, 
he  was  at  first  surprised  at  finding  such  delicious  baked  beans  on  every 
table,  when  he  traveled  through  there  buying  up  the  fat  steers  that  he 
found  in  endless  numbers  in  that  vicinity,  and  that  he  was  more  sur- 
prised when  he  found  the  generous  supply  with  which  nature  had  pro- 
vided them.  The  yarn  was  enough  to  give  the  name  to  this  stream. 
In  regard  to  some  other  locality  he  used  to  tell  that  when  he  was  stay- 
ing one  night  with  his  hands,  he  lodged  in  the  house  and  they  in  the 
barn.  During  the  night  the  bedbugs  rolled  him  over  and  over  until 
he  thought  to  escape  them  by  going  to  the  barn,  but  before  he  got 
there  he  heard  a  terrible  racket,  which  sounded  more  like  a  thrashing- 
machine  than  anything  he  could  think  of,  but  it  proved  to  be  the  boys 
fighting  fleas.  The  first  settlers  along  this  creek  were  Mr.  Bennett, 
Mr.  Allen,  W.  H.  Copeland  and  Mr.  Albright.  Farther  up  the  creek 
were  George  Copeland,  John  Mills,  who  now  lives  in  Fairmount, 
David  Copeland  and  John  Smith  (English),  who  settled  there  about 
1845.  All  the  John  Smiths  in  America,  so  we  are  assured,  did  not 
live  in  Middle  Fork ;  but  there  were  three,  which,  Iry  way  of  designa- 
tion, were  called  John  Smith  (English),  John  Smith  (Ticky)  and  plain 
John  Smith.  The  former  of  these,  who  is  one  of  the  most  successful 
farmers  and  capable  managers  of  large  business  affairs  in  town,  was  by 
birth  an  Englishman.  With  no  advantages  of  early  education  he  came 
to  this  country,  and  for  a  time  was  in  the  employ  of  Abram  Mann. 
When  he  married,  in  1814,  it  is  said  that  he  had  nothing  but  a  strong 
constitution,  good  natural  abilities,  and  a  willing  disposition.    He  soon 


804  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

commenced  operations  on  his  own  account  on  Bean  Creek,  and  his  his- 
tory from  that  time  lias  been  a  continued  business  success.  He  owns 
three  thousand  acres  of  land,  which  lies  for  three  miles  up  and  down  the 
stream  west  of  Marysville,  and  has  been,  and  still  is,  largely  engaged 
in  cattle  feeding,  turning  off  two  hundred  head  a  year. 

John  Smith  (plain)  came  here  from  Pennsylvania  about  1845,  with 
a  four-horse  team,  which  he  traded  for  a  piece  of  land,  and  soon  got 
hold  of  a  prairie  team  —  a  lot  of  steers  and  a  plow  —  and  went  to  work. 
He  accumulated  a  considerable  property  around  and  in  Marysville  ; 
was  the  first  to  build  a  store  there ;  was  postmaster  for  awhile,  and 
had  a  large  influence  on  its  early  prosperity. 

The  first  school  taught  in  the  town  was  by  Rev.  Mr.  Ryman,  in  a 
house  built  near  Douglas  Moore's,  four  miles  west  of  Marysville,  about 
the  year  1842.  Here  the  men  and  women,  who  afterward  made  their 
impression  on  the  affairs  of  the  pioneer  neighborhood,  received  from  a 
careful  instructor  the  rudiments  of  school  education,  which  have  never 
been  effaced  from  their  minds.  He  is  spoken  of  with  great  respect  by 
those  who  knew  him,  and  although  the  conveniences  were  not  such  as 
the  children  of  the  present  day  enjoy,  they  made  the  most  of  such  ad- 
vantages as  they  had. 

In  1832,  a  countv  road  was  established  through  Rossvillc  and  Blue 
Grass,  from  the  state  line  west.  A  few  years  after  this  was  known  as 
the  Attica  road.  Thomas  Owens,  now  of  Streator,  bought  a  farm  and 
moved  a  house  on  section  16,  and  commenced  "keeping  tavern." 
From  this  fact  it  became  a  center  for  the  people  around,  and  a  store 
and  post-office  soon  followed,  and  that  universal  convenience, —  a  black- 
smith shop, —  was  "started."  Out  of  this  grew,  in  course  of  time,  the 
famous  "  city  "  which  did  all  the  mercantile  and  commercial  business 
for  ten  miles  around.  It  was  a  busy  little  burg  until  that  leveler  of 
great  anticipations,  the  railroads,  came.  "With  railroad  to  right  of  it, 
railroad  to  left  of  it,  railroad  to  front  and  rear  of  it,  what  could  Blue 
Grass  do  but  surrender  '. 

CHURCHES. 

A  complete  record  of  the  religious  doings  of  the  self-denying  labors 
of  the  early  evangelists,  the  interest  in  religious  matters,  and  the  church 
enterprises  of  Middle  Fork,  would  be  a  chapter  of  great  interest,  and 
show  a  unanimity  of  christian  purpose,  almost  without  a  parallel.  A 
gentleman,  whose  long  acquaintance  with  the  town,  running  back  almost 
to  the  first  settlement,  says,  that  fully  three-fourths  of  the  adult  popula- 
tion were,  during  most  of  the  fifty  years  of  its  history,  professors  of 
religion  and  ardent  supporters  of  its  institutions.  Indeed,  there  have 
been  times  when  the  proportion  was  even  greater.     During  the  early 


MIDDLE   FOKK   TOWNSHIP.  805 

times  nearly  all  its  inhabitants  were  members  of  those  pioneers  in  reli- 
gious effort  and  instruction,  the  Baptists  and  Methodists.  Even  at  that 
day  a  chord  of  christian  sympathy  ran  through  the  members  of  these 
churches  which  has  never  been  effaced.  The  good  brothers,  Demorest, 
Helmic  and  Fairchild,  who  sounded  the  sweet  notes  of  free  salvation  in 
the  humble  cabins  of  the  poor  pioneers,  were  seconded,  not  antago- 
nized, by  Elder  Freeman  Smalley,  whose  Calvinism  took  on  the  lovelier 
shade  that  toned  its  stern  doctrines  and  decrees  in  sympathy  with  the 
christian  unity  of  the  day.  No  record  which  the  human  hand  can  make 
can  hope  to  give  full  justice  to  these  faithful  laborers.  They  have 
gone  to  their  reward  where  the  record  is  full,  kept  by  the  hand  which 
notes  the  sparrows  fall,  watched  by  the  eye  which  seeth  in  secret. 
These  men  had  no  anticipation  of  earthly  reward.  An  earnest  chris- 
tian, who  was  himself  a  member  of  the  Baptist  church,  but  whose  reli- 
gion took  on  the  broader  glow  of  unity,  says :  "  It  was  one  of  the  pleas- 
antest  sights  to  see  these  good  Methodist  brethren,  the  local  preachers, 
going  out  two  by  two  to  hold  their  two  days'  meetings  in  the  cabins, 
the  barns  or  the  groves;  working  together  like  Paul  and  Silas,  one 
preaching  while  the  other  prayed  for  the  blessing  of  God  upon  their 
labors.  It  was  one  of  the  strongest  forces  in  the  work  of  Methodism, 
and  I  wonder  that  they  have  let  it  fall  into  disuse." 

There  are  now  eight  churches  in  town,  four  of  which  are  Methodist. 
The  first  religious  exercises  in  the  town  were  probably  held  at  the 
houses  of  the  Partlow  family,  who  were  religious  people  and  came  here 
determined  to  maintain  the  cause  of  the  church.  In  1829  we  find  that 
Reuben  Partlow  accompanied  John  Johns,  who  lived  ten  miles  south- 
east of  the  Partlow  neighborhood,  to  Danville  to  attend  meeting,  and 
to  ask  that  the  preacher,  Mr.  McKain,  send  an  appointment  to  their 
neighborhood.  This  was  gladly  complied  with  by  the  good  man,  who 
continued  to  preach  for  the  class  formed  at  John's  house  in  Blount 
during  his  year.  Coffeen's  Hand-book  of  Vermillion  County,  pages 
25  and  26,  says:  "  A  man  by  the  name  of  McKain  was  the  first  Meth- 
odist circuit  rider  of  this  county.  Harsh ey  was  the  next,  and  by  his 
preaching  a  great  influence  was  exerted  in  favor  of  Methodism  in  this 
vicinity."  It  is  believed  that  the  circuit  which  was  extended  to  John 
Johns  in  1829  was  also  the  same  year  made  to  reach  out  into  Part- 
low's  neighborhood,  but  if  such  was  the  fact,  verification  of  it  is  not 
now  at  hand.  This,  then,  was  in  the  Eugene  circuit,  and  extended  to 
Big  Grove  (Champaign).  Under  the  preaching  of  Mr.  Harshey,  who 
was  the  second  circuit  preacher  in  the  county,  regular  appointments 
were  made  at  Mr.  Partlow's,  which  in  time  grew  into  the  Partlow 
church  ten  years  later.    This  became,  then,  the  Danville  circuit  during 


806  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Mr.  Harsh ey's  preaching.  For  at  least  ten  years  preaching  was  had  in 
the  houses,  and  if  there  were  two  rooms  in  the  building  it  was  so 
arranged  that  the  preacher  could  talk  to  those  in  both  rooms.  Blue 
Grass,  Partlow's  and  Morehead's  were  the  three  earliest  preaching 
points.  After  Harshey  came  Iiisley,  Bradshaw,  William  Moore,  Buck, 
Crane,  Littler  and  others.  Mr.  Risley  was  an  able  preacher  and  a 
good  man,  but  fell  into  trouble ;  he  was  thought  to  have  been  carried 
away  by  a  too  great  anxiety  to  see  one  party  in  a  very  bitter  political 
contest  elected,  and  lost  his  influence.  Mr.  Littler  was  a  talented  man 
and  a  very  acceptable  pastor,  but  got  into  debt  and  had  not  the  bravery 
to  face  his  creditors.  Few  of  them  had  received  any  special  education 
in  schools  for  the  work  they  had,  but  were  men  led  by  the  spirit  of  all 
wisdom.  Rev.  Mr.  Harshey  lived  and  died  in  Danville,  and  is  every- 
where spoken  of  as  a  man  of  superior  abilities  and  great  power ;  his  in- 
fluence in  favor  of  Methodism  was  very  considerable.  Rev.  James 
McKain,  the  pioneer,  is  more  fully  spoken  of  in  the  record  of  Blount. 

In  1840  the  brethren  put  up  the  first  building  specially  intended 
for  religious  worship  in  this  part  of  the  county,  on  the  land  of  Reuben 
Partlow,  who  begged  the  privilege  of  donating,  which,  taken  in  con- 
nection with  his  visit  to  Danville  to  ask  Mr.  McKain  to  come  up  here 
to  preach  for  the  new  settlers,  gives  him  the  right  to  be  called  the 
pioneer  of  that  which  we  now  call  Methodism  in  this  town :  really  the 
pioneer  in  religious  preaching.  This  little  church  down  on  the  bot- 
tom has  long  since  been  replaced  by  a  more  convenient  one,  and  one 
which  the  people  naturally  feel  proud  of.  It  was  a  very  plain  affair: 
the  studding,  beams  and  rafters  were  poles;  the  laths  were  rived  out 
and  the  shingles  home-made ;  in  fact,  it  was  all  home-made  material 
except  the  door,  windows  and  siding.  The  seats  were  slabs  with  legs 
stuck  in  them.  This  building  was  used  for  the  first  school  which  was 
held  in  this  part  of  town,  and  the  second  one  in  town.  The  people 
here  did  not  have  the  school  fever  very  much  ;  it  was  not  until  about 
1848  that  they  seem  to  have  been  awakened  by  the  advent  of  a  new 
wave  of  immigration  to  an  interest  in  schools.  There  seem  to  have 
been  none  but  the  two  already  spoken  of  until  the  Ingersolls  objected  to 
sending  their  children  three  miles  to  school.  The  present  Partlow 
chapel  was  built  in  1865. 

For  a  long  time  this  was  attached  to,  or  was  a  part  of  Vermilion 
circuit.  In  1865  the  four  appointments  were  set  off  and  became  Blue 
Grass  circuit.  In  1877  the  parsonage  at  Marysville  was  built,  and  since 
that  time  it  has  been  known  by  that  name.  The  present  membership 
in  the  circuit  is:  Marysville,  80;  Partlow's,  50;  Wallace  Chapel,  52; 
No.  1,  45:  total,  227.     The  trustees  of  the  Partlow  church,  at  the  time 


MIDDLE    FORK   TOWNSHIP.  807 

of  its  being  built,  were  John  Smith,  John  Wright,  Ersom  French,  Benj. 
Cross,  fin.  Hornbeck,  J.  B.  Courtney  and  Wm.  Crable.  A  Sabbath- 
school  was  established  as  early  as  1840.  The  Partlows,  Reuben,  James 
and  John,  were  leaders,  as  in  every  good  work.  J.  B.  Courtney,  now 
of  Marysville,  was  .superintendent  for  many  years,  during  which  time 
it  often  numbered  a  hundred. 

The  church  at  what  was  called  Blue  Grass  charge  was  built  in  1854, 
during  the  ministration  of  Rev.  Mr.  Wallace,  and  was  named  from  him 
Wallace  Chapel.  It  stands  on  section  28,  one  half  mile  south  of  Blue 
Grass  post-office.  The  trustees  were  Eli  Starr,  J.  H.  Duncan,  Joseph 
Moss,  and  the  pastor.     It  is  34x46,  and  cost  $2,100. 

The  chapel  called  "No.  1,"  built  in  1867,  is  the  same  size,  plain, 
and  cost  $2,200.  The  trustees  under  whose  care  the  church  was  built 
were  Jesse  Piles,  William  Lefever,  J.  A.  Beals,  J.  M.  Rice  and  J. 
Collison. 

The  church  at  Marysville  was  built  in  1S70.  It  is  a  fine  building, 
36  x  50,  with  a  steeple,  well  seated  and  finished  oft'.  It  cost  $3,000. 
Messrs.  Jameson,  Tuttle  and  Bennett  were  active  in  the  work  of  getting 
up  this  building.  Sabbath-schools  are  maintained  in  all  the  appoint- 
ments. Some  of  the  most  efficient  and  active  members  in  the  Sabbath- 
school  work  are  J.  B.  Courtney,  W.  Hornbeck,  L.  A.  Bnrd,  Joseph 
Moss,  J.  H.  Duncan,  Eli  Starr,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Chester  Potts,  and  Oliver 
Postal.  The  parsonage  at  Marysville  is  a  good  two-story  house,  and  is 
as  comfortable  as  any  minister  could  wish.     It  cost  $1,500. 

The  old  Middle  Fork  Baptist  Church  was  organized  in  1834,  by 
Elder  Freeman  Smalley,  with  about  twenty  members.  Freeman, 
Benjamin  and  James  Smalley  and  their  wives,  Mr.  Herron  and  wife, 
Polly  Stearnes,  Levi  Asher  and  wife,  Mr.  Pursell  and  wife,  Mr. 
Stephens  (a  licensed  preacher  of  English  birth)  and  wife,  Mr.  Sowders 
and  wife,  Mr.  Pentecost  and  wife,  Samuel  Copeland  and  wife,  and 
Mrs.  White,  were  all  either  original  or  early  members  of  this  church. 
This  old  church  maintained  its  position  and  its  unity  until  1864,  when 
questions  and  causes  growing  out  of  the  war  caused  a  division  which 
proved  disastrous. 

As  early  as  1852  a  church  organization  was  effected,  including  those 
of  the  parent  church  who  lived  about  Blue  Grass  Grove,  and  others 
who  had  recently  come  in,  which  was  called  Hopewell,  but  by  common 
acceptation  was  known  as  Bine  Grass  Church.  The  pastors  of  the  old 
church  succeeding  Elder  Smalley  were  Revs.  Mr.  Dodson,  A.  C.  Blankin- 
ship  and  Benjamin  Harris.  Mr.  David  S.  Halbert,  whose  life  has  been 
intimately  connected  with  the  Baptist  church,  and  through  whose  safe 
memory  and  kindness  the  writer  has  been  enabled  to  rescue  what  would 


808  HISTOKY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

soon  have  been  among  the  things  forgotten,  in  regard  to  this  important 
branch  of  the  church,  came  to  this  county  in  1836,  and  in  1840  united 
with  the  church.  He  removed  to  this  neighborhood  in  1848,  and 
has  since  lived  here,  except  the  four  years  which  he  spent  in  "  Dixie  " 
in  the  service  of  his  country,  in  the  time  of  her  sorest  trials.  He 
returned,  broken  in  health  but  strong  in  the  spirit,  to  his  home,  and 
now  lives  near  Marysville.  The  new  church  commenced  holding 
meetings  at  the  residence  of  Mr.  Halbert.  Rev.  Mr.  Harris  organized 
this  church,  with  about  seventeen  members,  including  on  its  roll  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Halbert,  Miss  Cossart,  John  Lawler,  wife  and  daughter,  Will- 
iam Lawler  and  wife,  and  Mrs.  Glascock.  Mr.  Harris'  pastorate  was 
followed  by  that  of  the  brothers  Martin  and  Alexander  Blankinship 
and  David  French.  Under  their  ministration  the  church  prospered, 
and  at  one  time  numbered  over  a  hundred  members.  Their  meetings 
were  held  in  the  school-house  at  Blue  Grass. 

The  Point  Pleasant  Church  was  organized  in  1866  by  Elder  C.  B. 
Seals,  who  was  then  a  licensed  preacher.  At  the  time  of  its  organiza- 
tion it  numbered  fifteen,  and  has  had  seventy  at  one  time.  Under 
Elder  Seals'  labors  the  church  was  built  in  1867,  on  section  14  (22-14), 
near  the  Methodist,  "  No.  1,"  Church.  It  is  a  plain  building,  34  x  46, 
and  cost  about  $2,000.  Since  the  close  of  Seals'  pastoral  labors,  Elder 
Clark  Fleming  has  preached,  supplying  the  church  half  the  time.  A 
Sabbath-school  is  maintained  in  summer,  but  the  congregation  is  so 
scattered  that  they  have  not  tried  to  maintain  it  in  winter.  The  church 
numbers  about  forty-five  members. 

The  United  Brethren  Church  was  organized,  as  is  recorded  in  the 
history  of  Ross  township,  which  it  is  unnecessary  to  repeat  here. 
Rev.  John  Hoobler  was  the  pioneer  preacher  of  this  denomination 
in  the  county.  The  Marysville  circuit  has  five  appointments  :  Mr. 
Knight's,  at  Knight's  Branch,  five  miles  southwest ;  Bean  Creek,  three 
and  a  half  miles  northeast ;  Murphy's  School-house,  seven  miles  north ; 
Sperry's,  five  miles  southeast,  and  Marysville.  Rev.  J.  R.  Scott  is  the 
present  preacher  in  charge,  and  preaches  at  each  of  these  appointments 
once  in  two  weeks.  Rev.  J.  S.  Cooper  was  his  immediate  predecessor, 
and  is  now  a  presiding  elder.  Rev.  T.  M.  Hamilton  is  presiding  elder 
of  this  district  of  the  upper  Wabash  conference.  The  church  edifice 
at  Marysville  is  30  x45,  with  belfry  and  bell.  It  was  built  in  1873  at 
a  cost  of  $1,800,  under  the  ministration  of  W.  F.  Coffman.  This 
charge  numbers  fifty  members. 

The  Church  at  Bean  Creek  (in  Ross)  is  a  neat  building,  35x45, 
with  cupola  and  belfry,  and  cost  $2,000.  The  Albrights,  Putnam  Cook, 
and  others,  were  interested  in  putting  up  the  building.    The  plain  church 


MIDDLE    FOEK   TOWNSHIP.  809 

edifice  at  Knight's  was  built  in  1865  under  the  management  of  Elon 
Sperry,  John  Selsor  and  Rev.  P.  A.  Canady,  a  local  preacher. 

The  appointment  at  Murphy's  School-house  (in  Butler)  expect  to 
build  this  summer.  Interesting  and  thriving  Sabbath-schools  are  main- 
tained at  these  general  appointments.  A  pleasant  parsonage  with  two 
acres  of  ground  is  furnished  the  pastor  at  Marysville. 

The  Christian  church  was  organized  here  by  Elder  Rawley  Martin, 
preaching  in  the  school-house  about  1860.  Preaching  was  maintained 
irregularly  until  1874,  when  Elder  A.  R.  Owen  preached  here  once  a 
month  and  perfected  the  organization.  Elder  Smith  and  Elder  Stipp 
have  preached  here  since.  In  1874  a  very  neat  and  tasty  brick  church 
was  erected  at  a  cost  of  $2,500.  It  is  35  x  56,  with  a  well-proportioned 
steeple  rising  from  the  front  center. 

The  early  preachers  through  this  country  did  not  see  much  money 
for  a  yearly  salary.  They  expected  little  and  got  less,  but  it  seldom 
happened  that  these  devoted  preachers  returned  home  without  some- 
thing to  show  for  their  circuit  ride.  The  good  sisters  generally  had  a 
brace  of  chickens,  a  roll  of  butter,  can  of  honey,  pail  of  eggs,  strip  of 
bacon  or  dried  meat,  a  little  roll  of  cloth,  which  the  pastor  gladly  re- 
ceived in  lieu  of  bank  notes,  which  he  feared  would  not  be  a  legal  ten- 
der by  the  time  of  his  return  home.  Thus  did  they  "  return  again 
in  joy,  bringing  their  sheaves  with  them." 

BLUE    GRASS. 

The  hamlet  which  has  been  so  long  known  by  the  name  of  Blue 
Grass,  or  "  Blue  Grass  City,"  as  some  ambitious  ones  chose  to  call  it, 
received  its  name  naturally  enough  from  its  surroundings,  as  has  been 
already  explained.  After  the  county  road  —  or  state  road,  as  it  wTas 
called  —  came  into  general  travel,  and  Owens  had  got  his  tavern  into 
running  order,  the  people  began  to  want  a  post-office  and  store.  The 
post-office  was  established  in  1843,  and  John  Carter  appointed  post- 
master, a  position  which  he  retained  until  Archi  McCormick  com- 
menced keeping  store,  about  1845,  when  he  was  appointed.  Five  years 
later  he  sold  to  John  Bodly.  Bodly  continued  in  business  some  years 
and  was  quite  prosperous,  and  sold  to  Wilson,  and  he  to  Thomas  Owens, 
the  post-office  following  these  changes.  Edmund  Hartwell,  who  did 
not  believe  in  doing  anything  by  halves,  built  the  mammoth  store  now 
standing  there,  dark,  "gloomy  and  worthless,"  30  x65,  two  stories  high, 
which  he  occupied  for  store,  carrying  a  large  stock  of  general  merchan- 
dise, the  upper  story  being  rented  to  the  Masonic  order,  which  had  a 
thriving  lodge  there  in  those  days.  This  was  the  only  post-office  in 
the  northwestern  part  of  the  county,  and  it  was  no  uncommon  thing  to 


810  HISTOKY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

see  a  hundred  persons  there  for  their  mail  at  times.  In  1859  John 
Carter  and  George  Small  laid  out  and  platted  a  "  town."  It  consisted 
of  two  blocks,  one  on  either  side  of  the  county  road.  Hartwell,  Scott 
&  McDaniels,  Groves  &  Brother,  Henderson  &  Lee  and  Davis  &  Hall, 
successively  sold  goods  there.  During  and  after  the  close  of  the  war 
these  parties  who  were  engaged  in  trade  sold  $25,01  >0  worth  a  year.  Now 
the  shutters  are  up  on  the  big  store,  and  no  one  would  take  it  rent  free. 
Berry  Ellis  started  a  blacksmith  shop  about  1845.  The  La  Fayette  Oil 
Mill  Company  built  a  flax  warehouse  there,  and  for  some  years  Hart- 
well  run  that  and  did  a  thriving  business.  After  the  railroad  was  built 
it  was  moved  to  Rankin.  The  only  business  carried  on  there  now  is 
the  two  blacksmith  shops  by  Wilson  and  Artrun,  a  little  grocery  and 
notion  store,  and  the  post-office  now  kept  by  Mr.  Butler.  "Killed  by 
the  railroads,"  is  the  epitaph  that  might  be  written  over  Blue  Grass 
City. 

The  Havana,  Rantoul  &  Eastern  railroad  (narrow-gauge)  runs 
through  the  township  from  east  to  west,  a  mile  south  of  its  center. 
Mr.  Gilford,  the  president  of  the  company,  lived  at  Rantoul.  He  came 
and  called  a  meeting  in  1874,  and  explained  what  he  proposed  to  do. 
He  wanted  a  stock  subscription  of  $2,000  per  mile.  The  citizens  had 
heard  a  good  deal  of  railroad  talk  before,  and  had  not  much  confidence 
in  this,  but  subscribed  some  $16,000.  He  built  it,  and  got  it  through 
from  Rantoul  to  Alvin,  Christmas,  1876,  and  from  Alviu  to  Lebanon 
in  1878,  and  from  Rantoul  west  to  Le  Roy  in  1879.  It  has  proved  a 
great  success  —  has  all  the  business  it  can  do. 

Below  is  a  list  in  tabular  form  of  those  who  have  been  elected  to 
township  offices  since  township  organization  in  1851 : 

Date.    Votes.  Supervisor.  Clerk.  Assessor.  Collector. 

1851 M.  Oakwood M.  G.  Courtney. . . .  W.  C.  Merrill ...  .J.  Partlow. 

1852 M.  Oakwood R.  Marshall R.  Courtney P.  Copeland. 

1853 M.  Oakwood R.  Marshall M.  G.  Courtney  .  .M.G.Courtney. 

1854 W.  C.  Merrill W.  C.  Merrill J.  S.  Webber  ...  .J.  S.  Webber. 

1855 M.  Oakwood  S.  P.  Starr S.  P.  Starr S.  P.  Starr. 

1856 J.  S.  Webber S.  P.  Starr P.  Copeland P.  Copeland. 

1857 J.  S.  Webber S.  Clapp N.  L.  Griffin W.  Chambers. 

1858 J.  S.  Webber S.  Clapp R.  Marshall S.  Hornbeck. 

1859 John  Bodly  S.  Clapp T.  S.  Maxey S.  Hornbeck. 

I860 John  Bodly S.  Clapp W.  J.  Leonard  . .  .S.  Hornbeck. 

1861 Win.  Chambers. .  .D.  Thomas Geo.  Morehead. . .  W.  J.  Leonard. 

1862 Wm.  Chambers. .  .S.  P.  Starr D.  Thomas W.  J.  Leonard. 

1863. .  .177. . .  W.  M.  Tennery . .  .S.  P.  Starr D.  Thomas J.  B.  Courtney. 

1864. .  .175. . .  W.  M.  Tennery  . .  .S.  P.  Starr D.  Thomas D.  Thomas. 

1865. . .   76. . .  W.  M.  Tennery  . .  .S.  P.  Starr R.  Courtney D.  Thomas. 

1866. . .  137. . .  W.  M.  Tennery . .  .S.  P.  Starr S.  Clapp.    D.  Thomas. 

1867. .  .126. .  .D.  Copeland S.  P.  Starr J.  B.  Courtney  . . .  J.  D.  Brown. 


MIDDLE    FORK   TOWNSHIP. 


811 


Date.    Votes.  Supervisor. 

1868...  139... D.  Copeland 

1869...  108...  S.Clapp 

1870. .  .158. .  .W.  H.  Copeland  . 

1871...  179... E.  H.  Grant 

1872...  151.  !.M.  V.  Robins.... 
1873...  139... M.V.  Robins.... 

1874... 249... C.  Albert 

1875. .  .200. .  .M.  V.  Robins 

1876. .  .239. .  .W.  H.  Copeland  . 
1877. .  .330. . .  W.  H.  Copeland  . 
1878. .  .277. . .  W.  H.  Copeland  . 
1879. .  .260. . .  W.  H.  Copeland  . 


Clerk. 

.S.  P.  Starr 

.S.  P.  Starr 

.L.  C.  Messner. . . 
.C.B.Sargent... 
.C.  B.  Sargent. . . 
.W.  L.  Sargent. . 
.W.  L.  Sargent  . 
.L.  D.  Hornbeck. 
.L.  D.  Hornbeck. 
.C.  La  Grange. . . 
.P.  B.  Moreland. 
.P.  B.  Moreland. 


Assessor. 
.J.  B.  Courtney 
.J.  B.  Courtney 
.D.  Thomas  . . . 
.E.  H.  Beals... 
.E.  H.  Beals... 
.E.  H.  Beals. . . 
.E.  H.  Beals... 
.E.  H.  Beals... 
.H.  C.  Wright. 
.  Wm.  Cossairt. 
.  Wm.  Cossairt. 
.Wm.  Cossairt. 


Collector. 
. .  J.  D.  Brown. 
.  .E.  H.  Grant. 
..E.  H.  Grant. 
.  .C.  E.  Pressey. 
.  .C.  E.  Pressey. 
. .  .C.  E.  Pressey. 
.  .C.  E.  Pressey. 
.  .C.  E.  Pressey. 
.  .C.  E.  Pressey. 
.  .C.  E.  Pressey. 
.  .C.  E.  Pressey. 
.  .C.  E.  Pressey. 


The  justices  of  the  peace  have  been  Kobert  Marshall,  James  Casse- 
dy,  Septimus  Smith,  J.  P.  Button,  Ferry  Copeland,  N.  L.  Griffing, 
James  Courtney,  M.  Oakwood,  S.  Hornbeck,  H.  H.  Gunn,  L.  A.  Bnrd, 
D.  Thomas,  S.  M.  Johnson,  W.  W.  Smith,  D.  Jameson,  D.  A.  Cox,  C. 
B.  Sargent,  T.  Ellis,  M.  W.  Salmons,  W.  M.  Tennery,  S.  T.  Wright. 


RAILROADS. 


At  a  special  town  meeting  held  in  June,  1870,  pursuant  to  notice, 
to  vote  for  or  against  granting  $50,000  township  aid  to  the  Monticello 
Kailroad  Company,  the  vote  resulted :  for  such  subscription,  122 ; 
against  said  subscription,  125.  On  the  26th  of  July  a  meeting  was 
held  for  the  purpose  of  voting  for  or  against  subscribing  $40,000  to  the 
same  company,  which  resulted  :  for  such  subscription,  169  ;  against  sub- 
scription, 55  ;  but  the  road  has  never  been  even  commenced,  and  there 
is  no  probability  that  it  ever  will  be.  The  Danville  &  Paxton  rail- 
road, one  of  the  roads  which  was  projected  by  John  C.  Short  at  the 
time  he  was  attempting  to  make  Danville  the  great  railroad  center  ot 
this  part  of  the  state,  was  more  than  half  graded  through  the  township. 
It  was  to  run  almost  directly  through  the  township,  from  the  southeast 
to  northwest  corner.  Since  Mr.  Short's  failure  no  work  has  ever  been 
done  on  it. 

MARTSVILLE   (POTOMAC  P.  O.) 

Marysville  is  a  pleasant  little  village  of  four  or  five  hundred  inhab- 
itants, built  on  the  prairie,  but  pretty  nearly  surrounded  by  the  timber, 
on  section  3  (21-13),  on  the  Havana,  Kantoul  and  Eastern  railroad. 
The  land  is  pleasantly  rolling,  and  capable  of  easy  drainage  to  the 
creek.  In  general  appearance  its  buildings  are  neat  and  tasty,  though 
not  expensive,  with  the  exception  of  two  or  three  old  "barracks"  not 
now  in  use.  John  Smith  (plain)  was  the  first  man  here.  Isaac  Meneley 
and  Morehead  and  Kobert  Marshall  were  at  first  living  across  the  creek, 
but  soon  came  in  here  to  help  Smith  make  a  town.    Isaac  Meneley  built 


812  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

a  shop  on  the  corner,  and  opposite  where  Robins'  store  now  stands,  and 
a  house  north  of  it.  John  Smith  then  lived  south  of  the  creek.  James 
Col  well  was  on  the  hill  west  of  the  town.  He  had  come  there  to  live 
about  1842.  The  road  from  his  house  to  where  the  town  is  was  trav- 
eled, and  became  a  street  or  public  road  by  limitation,  and  remains  so 
yet.  Where  main  street  now  is  was  timber,  but  north  of  there  was 
open  prairie.  When  they  came  to  decide  on  a  name  for  the  place,  it 
seems  that  both  Smith  and  Meneley  had  in  early  life  attached  their 
lives  with  Marys.  They  were  both  most  excellent  women  (so  they 
thought),  and  either  one  abundantly  worthy  of  having  a  town  named 
after  her ;  and  both  together  they  could  not  exactly  be  satisfied  with 
Smithtown  or  Meneleyville,  and  hit  on  the  plan  of  calling  it  Marys- 
ville,  after  the  two  best  Marys  then  living  in  town. 

Douglass  Moore  bought  three  acres  of  Marshall  and  built  on  it. 
Meneley's  blacksmith  shop  was  built  about  1850,  and  Smith  built  a 
frame  store  across  the  street  from  the  blacksmith  shop,  and  went  to 
keeping  store.  A  post-office  was  established  here,  and  Dr.  Ingalls  was 
appointed  postmaster.  Dr.  Ingalls  was  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his 
profession  here  for  five  or  six  years,  and  built  the  south  part  of  the 
present  hotel  for  his  residence. 

Henry  Bass  had  a  store  here  in  1852,  and  continued  in  business  for 
some  years.  George  and  Mason  Wright  established  themselves  in  trade 
in  1860,  and  remained  here  four  years,  when  they  went  to  Danville, 
thence  to  Paxton.  They  had  been  in  trade  at  Higginsville  before 
coming  here.  They  occupied  the  old  flat-store  on  the  north  side  of 
State  street. 

Lloyd  and  M.  W.  Groves,  who  had  carried  on  a  large  and  prosper- 
ous business  at  Blue  Glass,  came  here  in  1864,  and  occupied  the  store 
Wright  Brothers  had  left.  They  were  successful  merchants  here,  and 
continued  in  business  until  the  death  of  one  of  the  partners,  in  1874, 
which  dissolved  the  firm.  They  had  a  farm  lying  just  north,  and 
Short  was  then  grading  his  Danville  and  Paxton  railroad,  making 
matters  look  bright  for  the  young  village ;  and  George  A.  May  came 
here  from  Indiana  and  bought  the  farm,  and  laid  out  the  large  addition 
to  the  town.  Short  failed  and  his  road  stopped.  Then  for  a  while 
matters  looked  pretty  dull  here,  until  the  Rantoul  road  was  built,  since 
which  a  number  of  additions  have  been  made  to  the  village. 

The  successive  postmasters  at  Marysville  have  been  Dr.  Ingalls, 
Joseph  Jameson,  John  Smith  ;  then  for  awhile  the  office  was  suspended. 
When  it  was  reinstated  the  department  changed  the  name  to  Potomac, 
because  of  the  near  proximity  of  Myersville,  which  name  was  so  read- 
ily confounded  with  that  of  the  name  which  this  office  bore.     Charles 


MIDDLE    FORK   TOWNSHIP.  813 

Sargent  was  appointed  postmaster,  after  him  Kigden  Potter,  and  then 
C.  E.  Pressey,  the  present  official. 

I.  Dillon  built  the  steam  grist-mill  in  1869,  with  two  run  of  stone. 
He  run  it  awhile,  when  Robbins  &  Copeland  bought  it,  and  afterward 
sold  to  Harris  &  Campbell.  It  is  a  first-class  mill  in  every  particular, 
and  is  doing  a  verv  good  custom  business. 

The  school-house  is  a  very  sightly  and  well-built  two-story  brick 
building,  40x56,  with  two  rooms  above  and  two  below.  The  school 
is  graded  to  three  departments,  and  is  maintained  for  eight  months  in 
the  year. 

VILLAGE    ORGANIZATION. 

At  the  February  term  of  the  county  court  in  1876  a  petition  was 
presented  to  the  court  by  Rigden  Potter  and  thirty-seven  others,  asking 
for  the  organization  of  Marysville  under  the  act  for  the  incorporation 
of  villages,  with  the  following  bounds:  commencing  at  the  southeast 
corner  of  section  3,  town  21,  range  13 :  thence  north  to  the  northeast 
corner  of  said  section  ;  thence  west  to  the  northwest  corner  of  the  E.  -£ 
of  the  N.E.  -J-  of  said  section  ;  thence  south  to  the  north  line  of  the 
right  of  way  of  the  railroad  ;  thence  west  along  said  right  of  way  40 
rods ;  thence  south  40  rods  to  the  center  of  Main  street ;  thence  east 
along  the  center  of  Main  street  27  rods ;  thence  south  to  south  line  of 
said  section  ;  thence  east  to  place  of  beginning.  The  petition  set  forth 
that  there  were  within  said  proposed  bounds  three  hundred  and  twenty- 
three  inhabitants.  An  election  was  ordered  to  be  held  on  the  11th  of 
April,  to  vote  for  or  against  said  proposition  to  incorporate.  At  that 
election  57  votes  were  cast,  of  which  46  were  for  incorporation,  and  11 
were  against.  And  the  court  ordered  an  election  to  be  held  on  the' 
11th  of  May  for  six  trustees  of  said  village,  to  serve  until  the  next  time 
for  regular  election.  At  that  election  74  votes  were  cast.  Geo.  A. 
May,  Caleb  Albert,  J.  L.  Partlow,  Jesse  Lane,  M.  Y.  Robins  and  S.  P. 
Starr  were  elected.  At  the  organization  of  the  Board,  Geo.  A.  May 
was  chosen  president ;  L.  D.  Hornbeck  was  appointed  clerk,  and  T.  D. 
Austin,  street  commissioner.  The  present  trustees  are  C.  F.  Morse,  S. 
Clapp,  T.  J.  Haney,  Jesse  Lane,  M.  Guthrie  and  Isaac  Brown.  In 
1878,  license  wTas  granted  to  sell  liquors  at  a  license  fee  of  $500  per 
year.  At  these  figures,  in  such  a  community,  it  did  not  pay,  and  fell 
into  disuse.  The  publication  of  the  "Marysville  Independent"  was 
commenced  by  Ben.  Biddlecome,  on  the  13th  of  July,  1876.  It  was 
a  six-column  folio,  independent  in  politics  and  religion,  devoted  to  the 
news  of  the  day,  and  well  sustained  by  the  patronage  of  the  business 
men.     It  was  continued  for  one  year  and  four  months,  when  it  was  re- 


814  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

moved  to  Bement,  where  it  is  still  published.     It  was  satisfactorily 
conducted. 

FREEMASONS. 

The  present  Marysville  lodge  of  Freemasons  was  organized  as  Blue 
Grass  Lodge,  No.  407,  in  1864.  The  charter  members  were:  W.  M. 
Tennery,  W.M. ;  W.  Griffing,  S.W. ;  W.  L.  Griffing,  Hugh  Mulhol- 
land,  J/W\;  E.  S.  Pope,  W.  H.  Brant,  J.  S.  Cole,  D.  S.  French,  K. 
Potter,  J.  T.  Blackburn.  It  was  transferred  to  Marysville  and  name 
changed  in  1S75.  The  present  officers  are:  T.  J.  Haney,  W.M. ;  Dr. 
Van  Dorn,  S.W. ;  Robert  Young,  J.W.;  A.  J.  Robins,  Sec;  D.  R. 
Lay  ton,  Treas. ;  C.  Bennett,  Tyler;  C.  Jameson,  S.D. ;  B.  Drise,  J.D. 
The  lodge  numbers  twenty-five,  and  is  in  a  prosperous  condition,  occu- 
pying the  fine  lodge-room  over  Robins'  store. 

ARMSTRONG. 

Armstrong,  on  the  Havana,  Rantoul  &  Eastern  railroad,  four  miles 
west  of  Marysville,  was  laid  out  and  platted,  near  the  center  of  sec- 
tion 1  (21-14),  in  1877,  on  land  belonging  to  Thomas  and  Henry 
Armstrong. 

BIOGRAPHICAL. 

Joseph  Moss,  Potomac,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  section  29,  was  born 
near  Madison,  Ohio,  on  the  20th  of  March,  1820.  When  he  was  but 
four  years  of  age  he  came  with  his  parents  to  this  state.  His  father 
died  when  he  was  but  six  years  old.  His  mother  then  married  the 
second  time,  and  he  remained  at  home  until  he  reached  the  age  of 
nineteen.  He  was  married  to  Delila  Staar  on  the  17th  of  April,  1845. 
She  was  born  in  Ohio  on  the  6th  of  January,  1828.  They  have  had 
three  children :  Sarah  A.,  John  B.  and  an  infant  now  deceased.  Mr. 
Moss  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  best  citizens  of  Vermilion  county.  He 
has  been  school  director  ten  years,  and  commissioner  of  highways  for 
several  years.  From  fifty  to  sixty  head  of  cattle  are  fattened  b}T  him 
yearly.  He  clearly  recollects  seeing  plenty  of  wolves  and  Indians 
when  he  came  to  this  county.  In  his  politics  he  is  a  republican;  in 
religion,  a  Methodist. 

Jesse  L.  Partlow,  Potomac,  farmer,  owns  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  land,  and  also  two  houses  and  lots  in  Marysville,  they  being 
among  the  best  in  the  town.  He  was  born  in  Nelson  county,  Ken- 
tucky, on  the  13th  of  June,  1826,  and  remained  at  home  with  his  father 
until  he  was  twentv-two  Years  of  use,  working  on  the  farm.  When 
he  was  but  three  years  of  age  the  family  removed  to  this  township, 
and  he  is  consequently  one  of  Vermilion  county's  earliest  settlers.  In 
1848  he  was  married  to  Rachel  Davison,  who  was  born  in  this  county 


MIDDLE    FORK    TOWNSHIP.  815 

in  1829,  and  died  on  the  4th  of  September,  1878.  By  this  union  they 
had  nine  children,  of  whom  six  are  still  living.  They  are:  Mary  E., 
wife  of  J.  D.  Anderson;  Anna  M.,  wife  of  John  Kollins;  Nancy  J., 
wife  of  Jesse  Merrel ;  Lilly  B.,  Ida  A.,  Cora  E.,  and  Frankie  D.  John 
J.  and  one  infant  are  deceased.  Mr.  Parti ow  has  held  the  office  of 
school  director  fifteen  years,  and  pathniaster  five  years. 

William  H.  Copeland,  Potomac,  farmer,  section  36,  was  born  in 
Gallia  county,  Ohio,  on  the  15th  of  April,  1821.  His  father  came  to 
this  county,  and  settled  near  Danville,  in  1829,  thus  making  himself 
one  of  its  earliest  settlers.  Mr.  Copeland  was  married  to  Rachel 
Stevens,  who  was  born  in  Clinton  county,  Ohio,  on  the  21st  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1823.  They  are  the  parents  of  ten  children,  six  of  whom  are 
living:  Nancy  E.,  now  wife  of  William  H.  Duncan,  of  this  township; 
Eli  H.,  Andrew,  Elisabeth,  now  wife  of  John  Chambers,  of  Ross  town- 
ship ;  George  W.  and  Herman  S.  The  names  of  the  deceased  are  :  Mary 
M.,  Aimed,  Charles  G.  and  John  M.  Mr.  Copeland  has  held  the  office 
of  school  director  twenty  years,  commissioner  of  highways  three  years, 
and  supervisor  of  township,  which  office  he  still  holds,  five  terms,  by 
election,  and  ten  by  appointment.  He  is  certainly  one  of  Vermilion 
county's  very  best  citizens.  His  parents  are  still  living  near  Danville, 
his  father,  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  being  seventy-eight  years  old. 
When  Mr.  Copeland  married  he  had  but  little  property,  and,  by 
economy,  industry  and  the  help  of  a  faithful  wife  he  now  owns  one 
thousand  acres  of  land,  worth  $25  per  acre. 

John  Wright,  Armstrong,  farmer,  section  13,  was  born  in  Bourbon 
county,  Kentucky,  on  the  10th  of  February,  1808.  His  father  died 
when  he  was  but  six  years  of  age,  leaving  his  mother  with  seven  chil- 
dren. He  remained  at  home  until  twenty-one  years  of  age,  helping  to 
support  his  mother  and  sisters.  In  1829  he  came  west  in  a  wagon. 
He  was  married  to  Elisabeth  Watters  on  the  10th  of  April,  1831.  She 
was  born  in  Virginia,  near  the  Potomac  River,  on  the  14th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1813,  being  the  youngest  of  seven  children,  all  of  whom  are  still 
living.  She  is  now  sixty-six  years  old,  and  the  eldest  of  the  seven,  a 
brother,  is  eighty-nine.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Wright  are  the  parents  of  two 
children :  Silas  T.  and  William  W.  Mr.  Wright  has  held  the  office  of 
school  director  five  years,  school  treasurer  five  years,  and  justice  of 
the  peace.  He  is  the  oldest  living  settler  of  Middle  Fork  township. 
He  distinctly  recollects  seeing  deer,  wolves  and  Indians. 

James  H.  Duncan,  Potomac,  farmer  and  stock-dealer,  section  33, 
was  born  in  Gallatin  county,  Kentucky,  on  the  12th  of  February,  1818. 
He  was  married  to  Elisabeth  Crabbe,  on  the  4th  of  April,  1839.  They 
have  had  by  this  union  ten  children,  seven  of  whom  are  living:  Sarah 


816  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

J.,  now  wife  of  David  Partlow,  of  this  township,  and  Mary  E.,  now 
wife  of  B.  F.  Marple,  of  State  Line  City ;  Margarett  E.,  John  J.,  As- 
bury,  Charles  M.,  William  H.  The  deceased  are  Asa,  Emaline  and 
Frank.  Mr.  Duncan  has  held  the  office  of  school  trustee  six  years, 
school  director  five  years.  He  pastures  and  fattens  from  seventy-five 
to  one  hundred  head  of  cattle  yearly,  and  raises  some  hogs,  horses  and 
cattle.  Corn  is  his  principal  crop.  In  polities  he  is  a  republican,  and 
a  Methodist  in  religion. 

Ersom  French,  Potomac,  farmer,  was  born  in  Knox  county,  Indi- 
ana, on  the  14th  of  April,  1811.  His  father  moved  to  Yigo  county, 
Indiana,  when  he  was  but  two  years  old,  and  remained  there  twenty 
years.  Mr.  French  has  been  twice  married :  first  to  Harriet  Clem,  in 
1838.  She  was  born  in  1813,  and  is  now  deceased.  Mr.  French  was 
then  married  to  Eliza  Carroll,  in  January,  1850.  She  was  born  in 
North  Carolina  about  1823.  By  this  marriage  Mr.  French  was  made 
the  father  of  three  children,  two  of  whom  are  living :  Truman  P.,  now 
a  practicing  physician  in  Ogden,  and  Abgy  D.  The  name  of  the  de- 
ceased is  G.  W.  Mr.  French  has  held  the  office  of  school  director  four- 
teen years,  and  road  commissioner  several  years.  He  owns  two  hun- 
dred and  nine  acres  of  excellent  land.  His  father  was  in  the  war  of 
1812. 

Francis  Elliott,  Armstrong,  farmer,  section  20,  was  born  in  Clinton 
county,  Ohio,  on  the  7th  of  May,  1829.  His  father  moved  to  this  state 
when  he  was  very  small.  He  was  married  to  Cassandia  Darry.  She  was 
born  in  Ohio.  They  had  by  this  marriage  eight  children,  six  of  whom 
are  living :  Hannah  M.,  now  wife  of  A.  Kirkhart;  Elisabeth  E.,  Charles 
T.,  John  N.,  Mary,  and  one  infant  unnamed.  The  deceased  are  two 
infants.     Mr.  Elliott  is  a  republican. 

Isaac  Creighton,  Armstrong,  farmer,  section  17,  was  born  in  Carroll 
county,  Ohio,  on  the  19th  of  January,  1828.  His  parents  moved  to  Indi- 
ana and  staved  four  months,  when  he  moved  to  this  state.  Mr.  Creighton 
has  been  twice  married :  first  to  Catharine  Johnson,  on  the  15th  of 
February,  1849.  She  was  born  in  Ohio  in  1828,  and  died  in  April, 
1852.  They  had  two  children  by  this  marriage :  Mary  E.,  now,  wife  of 
Joseph  Truax,  and  Finley.  He  was  then  married  to  Ellen  Caiw,  in 
November,  1853.  She  was  born  in  Delaware  in  1830.  They  had  by 
this  union  eleven  children,  ten  of  whom  are  living:  Eli,  James  P., 
Sarah  C,  John  W.,  William  T.,  Nancy  J.,  Samuel  H.,  Charles  H., 
Robert  F.,  Elmer  C.  The  deceased  was  an  infant.  Mr.  Creighton  has 
held  the  office  of  school  director  twelve  years,  and  pathmaster  six  years. 
In  politics  he  is  a  republican,  and  in  religion  a  Metlmdist.  Mr.  Creigh- 
ton's  parents  were  natives  of  Ireland. 


9ft    MBSi  i 


^/L&fQ 


DA|\|  vjuLE. 


MIDDLE    FORK   TOWNSHIP.  817 

M.  Y.  Robins,  Potomac,  merchant,  is  one  of  the  prominent  men  of 
Marysville.  He  owns  a  lot,  stock,  and  store-building-  on  the  public 
square,  the  hotel  known  as  the  Murcle  House,  and  now  managed  by  Mr. 
J.  W.  Buckingham  ;  a  fine  residence  in  Marysville,  three  acres  in  south 
part  of  town,  used  as  a  feed-yard,  and  fifteen  or  sixteen  other  lots  in 
the  village.  The  maiden  name  of  his  wife  was  Mary  J.  Baldwin. 
She  was  born  in  New  York,  on  the  11th  of  May,  1831.  They  are  the 
parents  of  two  children  :  John  J.,  born  on  the  10th  of  September,  1850, 
and  Mary  E.,  born  on  the  4th  of  February,  1856.  Mr.  Robins  has 
held  the  office  of  school  director  ten  years,  school  trustee  two  terms, 
supervisor  of  township  four  years,  and  village  trustee  four  years.  The 
parents  of  both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robins  w^ere  natives  of  New  Jersey. 

L.  A.  Burd,  Armstrong,  farmer,  section  2,  was  born  in  Morris 
county,  New  Jersey,  on  the  5th  of  June,  1810.  He  commenced  work- 
ing in  a  clothing  factory  when  fourteen  years  of  age ;  was  married  on 
the  5th  of  November,  1833,  to  Mariah  Hendley,  who  was  born  in 
Morris  county,  New  Jersey.  They  have  had  by  this  union  ten  children, 
eight  of  whom  are  living :  Martha,  William,  Adrianna,  Eli,  Elisabeth, 
Mary,  Ester  and  George.  The  deceased  are  Caroline  and  one  infant. 
Mr.  Burd  has  been  a  minister  of  the  gospel  for  several  years  in  the 
Methodist  church.  He  has  held  the  office  of  school-director  for  twelve 
years,  school-trustee  twelve  years,  and  has  been  notary  public  several 
years.  He  has  been  deacon  in  the  M.  E.  church  for  thirty  years.  He 
owns  one  hundred  and  eighty  acres  of  land,  worth  $30  per  acre. 

Jesse  Lane,  Potomac,  lumber-dealer,  was  born  in  Tippecanoe  county, 
Indiana,  on  the  27th  of  January,  1831 ;  he  remained  at  home  on  the  farm 
until  twenty-one  years  of  age.  His  father  moved  to  this  state,  settling 
in  Blount  township,  Vermilion  county,  when  he  was  but  four  years  of 
age ;  his  chances  for  an  early  education  were  not  very  good.  Mr.  Lane 
has  been  twice  married  :  first  to  Delila  Smith.  She  was  born  in  Ohio,  and 
died  in  1866.  They  have  had  seven  children  by  this  marriage  :  three  are 
living,  four  dead.  The  names  of  the  living  are  Amanda  J.,  Clara  B. 
and  Effie  D. ;  of  the  deceased :  John,  Mary  E.,  Alice  and  one  infant. 
Mr.  Lane  then  married  Amelia  Fouts,  in  1867.  She  was  born  in  Ohio. 
They  have  one  child  by  this  marriage.  Mr.  Lane  has  held  the  office  of 
school  director  twelve  years.  He  went  into  the  lumber  business  with 
Mr.  McMyrtery  in  1877.  He  owns  twelve  lots  and  one  house  in  Ma- 
rysville, and  two  hundred  and  seventy  acres  of  land  valued  at  $30  per 
acre.     His  parents  were  natives  of  North  Carolina. 

E.  Foster,  farmer  and   stock-raiser,  section  13,  was  born  in  War. 
ren  county,  Indiana,  on   the  20th  of  November,  1833,  and  remained 
on  the  farm  until  he  reached  the  age  of  twenty-three.     On  the  24th  of 
52 


818  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

August,  1856,  he  was  married  to  Sarah  A.  Tilldson,  who  was  born  in 
Warren  county,  Indiana,  on  the  15th  of  January,  1834.  They  are  the 
parents  of  twelve  children,  eight  of  whom  are  living:  B.  T.,  Stanton 
M.,  Zebulon,  Mary  A.,  Edward,  Theodore  T.,  Lillie  and  William  ;  the 
names  of  the  deceased  are  Harris  G.,  Caroline,  and  Lieuella ;  the  other 
was  an  infant.  Mr.  Foster  has  held  the  office  of  postmaster  eight  years, 
school  director  several  }'ears  and  township  treasurer  ten  years.  He 
fattens  quite  a  number  of  cattle  and  hogs  yearly,  ships  some  and  sells 
some  at  home.  Mr.  Foster  is  a  republican  and  a  Methodist.  His 
father,  who  was  a  native  of  Ohio,  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  Vermilion 
county,  having  settled  here  in  1833. 

Andrew  G.  Copeland,  Potomac,  section  35,  was  born  in  Vermilion 
county  on  the  20th  of  March,  1836;  he  remained  at  home  until  twenty- 
one  years  of  age,  and  attended  Griffeth's  school  at  Danville.  He  has 
been  twice  married  :  first  on  the  30th  of  July,  1855,  to  Mary  M.  Ander- 
son, who  was  born  in  Lafayette,  Indiana,  on  the  12th  of  October,  1839, 
and  died  on  the  1st  of  May,  1875.  They  had  by  this  marriage  six 
children :  Willie  G.,  Emma  M.  (now  wife  of  C.  P.  Duncan,  of  Marys- 
ville),  James  E.,  Lieuella,  Effie  and  Anna.  He  was  then  married  to 
Maggie  A.  Stewart,  on  the  7th  of  December,  1875;  she  was  born  on 
the  18th  of  December,  1849.  They  have  had  two  children  :  Adda  and 
Ora.  Mr.  Copeland  is  a  minister  of  the  gospel  in  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal, and  has  no  small  degree  of  ability  ;  he  practices  what  he  preaches. 
He  handles  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  head  of  cattle  a  year,  and  sells 
at  home.  He  owns  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land,  worth 
s40  per  acre.  Mr.  Copeland  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  best  citizens  of 
Vermilion  county.  His  father  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  this  county; 
he  is  still  living  in  the  neighborhood  of  Danville. 

John  Smith  (English),  Potomac,  farmer,  section  5,  was  born  in  Eng- 
land, in  February,  1824;  he  remained  at  home  until  he  reached  the 
age  of  twenty-one.  He  came  from  England  to  the  state  of  New  York 
in  1834,  and  remained  there  until  1836,  when  he  removed  to  this'state 
and  settled  in  the  township  in  which  he  now  resides.  He  was  mar- 
ried to  Adaline  Moorhead  on  the  3d  of  December,  1844;  she  was 
born  in  Virginia  on  the  12th  of  December,  1823.  They  are  the  par- 
ents of  four  children :  Martha  J.,  born  on  the  15th  of  October,  1850, 
and  now  wife  of  William  Kuykendara,  of  Danville  ;  Alvin  G.,  born  on 
the  6th  of  June,  1855;  Robert  H.,  born  on  the  22d  of  May,  1858; 
Laura  J.,  born  on  the  4th  of  March,  1S61.  When  Mr.  Smith  was 
married  he  did  not  have  enough  money  to  pay  the  preacher  for  marry- 
ing them.  He  now  owns  three  thousand  acres  of  land,  worth  £30  per 
acre,  his  home  place  containing  one  thousand  four  hundred  acres  of 


MIDDLE    FORK   TOWNSHIP.  819 

well-improved  land,  and  fattens  from  one  hundred  to  two  hundred 
cattle  and  from  two  hundred  to  three  hundred  cattle  each  year.  He 
has  never  mortgaged  a  piece  of  land,  nor  has  he  ever  been  more  than 
three  months  behind  with  any  payment  on  land.  Mr.  Smith  does  not 
attribute  his  success  in  business  altogether  to  his  own  exertions,  but 
accords  a  large  degree  of  his  prosperity  to  the  management  and  labors 
of  his  faithful  wife,  who  has  always  performed  her  part  as  a  helpmeet 
well.  His  parents,  both  natives  of  England,  died  in  Middle  Fork  town- 
ship.    He  is  a  republican  and  a  Methodist. 

William  Copsairt,  Potomac,  farmer,  was  born  in  Vermilion  county, 
Illinois,  on  the  5th  of  July,  1836.  His  father  died  when  he  was  six 
years  of  age.  He  then  lived  with  his  mother  until  she  died,  which 
occurred  when  he  was  eighteen  years  old.  He  was  married  to  Louise 
A.  Smith,  on  the  15th  of  August,  1861.  She  was  born  in  Vermilion 
county,  Illinois,  on  the  24th  of  August,  1843.  They  are  the  parents 
of  six  children,  four  of  whom  are  living:  William  S.,  Ada  S.,  David  S. 
and  Samuel  A.  The  names  of  the  deceased  are  Emma  J.  and  Anna  J. 
Mr.  Copsairt  has  held  the  office  of  school  director  seven  years,  is  at 
present  treasurer  of  the  board  of  commissioners,  and  has  held  the  office 
of  assessor  three  terms;  he  is  still  holding  the  last-named  office. 

William  O.  Payne,  Potomac,  butcher,  proprietor  of  the  butcher-shop 
on  Main  street,  was  born  in  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  2d  of 
April,  1837.  His  mother  died  when  he  was  but  ten  years  of  age,  and, 
his  father  going  to  Texas,  he  was  turned  out  to  shift  for  himself.  His 
father  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  the  county,  being  the  first  to 
settle  on  the  county  farm.  Mr.  Payne  has  been  twice  married :  first 
to  Emma  Green,  in  1857.  She  was  born  in  Jefferson  county,  Indiana, 
and  died  in  1869.  They  had  by  this  marriage  five  children,  four  boys 
and  one  girl ;  two  of  these  are  living  and  three  dead.  He  was  then 
married  to  Elizabeth  Oliver,  in  1871,  a  native  of  New  York.  They 
had  one  adopted  child.  In  February,  1866,  Mr.  Payne  enlisted  in  Co. 
E,  149th  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  and  was  mustered  out  by  general  orders.  He 
owns  one  lot  and  butcher-shop  in  Marysville. 

Caleb  Albert,  Potomac,  farmer,  was  born  in  Butler  county,  Ohio, 
on  the  5th  of  June,  1836.  His  father  moved  to  this  state  when  he  was 
but  five  years  old.  The  subject  of  our  sketch  remained  at  home  until 
twenty-one  years  of  age,  assisting  in  farming.  He  was  married  to  Mary 
J.  Smith,  on  the  19th  of  January,  1860.  She  was;  born  in  Vermilion 
county,  Illinois,  in  1841.  They  are  the  parents  of  seven  children,  six 
of  whom  are  living:  Doranthos,  Emma,  Mary  F.,  John  W.,  Charley 
O.  and  Arnett  O.  The  deceased  was  Harry  W.  Mr.  Albert  has  held 
the  office  of  township  treasurer  five  years,  supervisor  of  township  one 


820  HISTOKY    OF    VERMILION"    COUNTY. 

term,  constable  one  terra,  and  school  director  five  years.  He  owns 
three  hundred  and  eight  acres  of  land,  worth  $25  per  acre.  His  par- 
ents were  natives  of  Pennsylvania. 

Silas  T.  Wright,  Armstrong,  farmer,  was  born  in  Vermilion  county, 
on  the  14th  of  September,  1842.  He  remained  on  his  father's  farm 
until  he  reached  the  age  of  twenty-one,  and  on  the  23d  of  July,  1863, 
was  married  to  Nancy  E.  French.  They  had  by  this  marriage  eight 
children,  six  of  whom  are  living:  Irena  E.,  John  C,  George  W., 
Charles  F.,  Wallace  and  Oliver  M.  The  deceased  are  Laura  J.  and 
Ella.  Mr.  Wright  was  elected  to  the  office  of  justice  of  the  peace  two 
years  ago,  and  still  creditably  holds  that  position.  His  political  views 
are  republican,  and  he  is  a  member  of  the  Christian  church.  He  owns 
one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land,  worth  $30  per  acre.  His  father 
is  a  native  of  Virginia,  and  his  mother  of  Indiana. 

Hugh  Wright,  Armstrong,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in 
Bourbon  county,  Kentucky,  on  the  12th  of  June,  1820.  His  parents 
moved  to  this  state  when  he  was  but  four  years  old,  settling  south  of 
Danville,  where  they  remained  one  year.  They  then  moved  northwest 
of  Danville,  staying  there  ten  years,  at  the  expiration  of  which  time  he 
moved  to  Middle  Fork  township,  where  he  has  since  remained.  He 
was  married  to  Manena  Payne  in  1850.  She  was  born  near  Buler's 
Point,  in  this  county,  on  the  30th  of  March,  1817.  They  are  the  par- 
ents of  six  children,  five  of  whom  are  living:  America  A.,  Mary, 
Pamelia,  Clara  and  Frank ;  Margarett  E.  deceased.  Mr.  Wright  relates 
that  when  his  father  first  moved  near  Danville  he  found  some  stone- 
coal,  and,  not  knowing  that  it  would  burn,  built  out  of  it  a  fire-place, 
but  soon  finding  it  in  a  blaze,  was  of  course  compelled  to  remove  it. 
He  never  raised  but  one  crop  of  corn,  because  he  was  cheated  out  of 
nine  bushels  on  the  first  load.  When  Mr.  Wright  was  married  he 
owned  almost  no  property;  but,  by  his  thrift  and  economy,  now  pos- 
sesses six  hundred  acres  of  fine  farming  land. 

William  Lefever,  Pellsville,  farmer,  section  22,  was  born  in  Ohio 
county,  Virginia,  on  the  6th  of  March,  1821.  He  followed  teaming 
over  the  mountains  to  Baltimore,  Pittsburgh  and  other  places.  He 
moved  to  Ohio  from  Virginia  when  ten  vears  of  age,  and  remained 
until  1836,  when  he  moved  to  this  state  and  settled  in  Tazewell  county. 
He  staid  there  eight  years  and  then  came  to  Vermilion  county,  where 
he  has  resided  ever  since.  He  was  married  to  Eliza  Lefever  on  the 
10th  of  September,  1853.  She  was  born  in  Pennsylvania  in  1830. 
They  are  the  parents  of  seven  children,  two  living :  John  C.  and 
Wells.  The  deceased  are  G.  A.  and  four  infants.  Mr.  Lefever  has 
good  improvements  on  his  farm,  and  is  well  respected  by  the  people  of 


MIDDLE   FORK    TOWNSHIP.  821 

his  neighborhood.  He  has  held  the  offices  of  school  director,  super- 
visor of  township,  and  commissioner  of  highways.  Mr.  Lefever  has 
practiced  the  veterinary  art,  and  has  no  small  amount  of  ability. 

Henry  S.  French,  Armstrong,  section  18,  was  born  in  Vermilion 
county  on  the  29th  of  December,  1845.  He  worked  on  his  father's 
farm  until  twenty-eight  years  of  age,  and  on  the  25th  of  January, 
1872,  was  married  to  Sarah  Endicott,  who  was  born  in  Morgan  county, 
Ohio.  They  are  the  parents  of  three  children,  two  of  whom  are  liv- 
ing: Mary  E.  and  Henry  T.  Edgar  deceased.  Mr.  French  owns  now 
sixty  acres  of  land,  worth  $30  per  acre.  His  grandfather  was  one  ot 
the  very  earliest  settlers  of  Yermilion,  settling  at  a  very  early  date  near 
Danville. 

J.  B.  Courtney,  Potomac,  druggist,  was  born  in  what  was  then 
Monongalia  county,  Virginia,  on  the  2d  of  March,  1824,  and  spent  his 
younger  days  assisting  his  father  on  the  farm,  coming  to  this  state  in 
1845.  He  was  married  in  1848  to  Semantha  Gruey.  She  was  born 
in  Trumbull  county  on  the  9th  of  March,  1828.  They  are  the  parents 
of  three  children  :  Z.  B.,  0.  F.  and  E.  A.  Mr.  Courtne}r  commenced 
the  drug  business  in  Marysville  in  1875.  He  now  has  a  good  stock, 
and  is  doing  quite  a  lively  business.  He  is  in  partnership  with  Dr. 
Messner.  He  has  held  the  office  of  collector  live  years,  assessor  five 
years,  and  justice  of  the  peace  one  term. 

John  W.  Duncan,  Potomac,  farmer,  section  25,  was  born  in  Vermilion 
county,  Illinois,  on  the  16th  of  June,  1846.  His  mother  died  when  he 
was  but  two  years  of  age,  and  he  then  lived  with  his  aunt,  and  part  of  the 
time  with  his  father,  until  he  reached  the  age  of  twenty-one.  He  was 
married  to  Nancy  A.  Price  on  the  5th  of  September,  1865.  She  was 
born  in  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  30th  of  June,  1849.  They 
are  the  parents  of  six  children  :  Robert  W.,  Samuel,  Albert,  Harry, 
Maggie  and  Nellie.  Mr.  Duncan  has  held  the  office  of  school  director 
six  years  and  road  commissioner  two  years.  He  raises  considerable 
corn,  which  he  feeds  at  home.  His  parents  were  natives  of  Kentucky  ; 
his  wife's  parents,  of  Ohio. 

O.  P.  Soper,  Armstrong,  merchant,  was  born  in  Chittenden  county, 
Vermont,  on  the  5th  of  April,  1828.  His  chances  for  an  early  educa- 
tion were  good.  His  father  came  west  in  the  fall  of  1847  and  settled 
in  Lake  county  in  this  state,  remaining  three  years,  when  he  returned 
to  Vermont.  Mr.  S.  has  been  twice  married:  first  to  Jerusha  Avell,  in 
April,  1851.  She  was  born  in  Franklin  county,  Vermont,  and  died 
in  1867.  They  had  by  this  marriage  two  children:  Emma  J.  and 
H.  O.  S.  He  was  then  married  to  Laura  E.  Harrington  in  March,  1869. 
She  was  born  in  Franklin  county,  Vermont.     They  had  by  this  mar- 


4 

822  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

riage  four  children  :  Luella,  Idella,  Ebbert  and  Kate.  He  commenced 
the  grocery  business  in  Armstrong  in  1876,  and  now  has  about  $1,500 
invested.  He  owns  the  lot  and  store,  and  also  a  good  house  and  lot.  He 
is  doing  a  lively*  business  in  his  line  of  trade. 

Marion  Good  wine,  Potomac,  farmer,  section  1,  was  born  in  Warren 
county,  Indiana,  on  the  26th  of  August,  1846.  His  father  moved  to 
this  state  when  he  was  but  one  year  old,  and  settled  in  this  township. 
Mr.  Goodwine  remained  on  the  farm  until  twenty-two  years  of  age, 
and  for  three  years  wes  engaged  in  the  mercantile  business  in  Higgins- 
ville,  and  was  postmaster  for  the  same  length  of  time.  On  the  1st  of 
September,  1870,  he  was  married  to  Harriet  Selsor.  She  was  born  in 
Madison  county,  Ohio,  on  the  1st  of  May,  1850.  They  are  the  parents 
of  three  children,  two  of  whom  are  living:  Hattie  and  Freddie.  The 
deceased  was  an  infant. 

John  Goodwine,  jr.,  Potomac,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in 
"Vermilion  county  on  the  2d  of  December,  1848.  He  has  been  twice 
married :  first,  to  Mary  Alexander,  on  the  22d  of  December,  1870.  She 
was  born  in  Vermilion  county,  and  died  on  the  19th  of  October,  1872. 
They  had  by  this  marriage  one  child :  Anna,  born  on  the  19th  of  July, 
1872.  He  was  then  married  to  Lidora  A.  Lane,  on  the  14th  of  May, 
1874,  born  in  Ohio.  They  have  had  two  children :  John  W.,  living, 
and  one  infant,  deceased.  The  land  of  Mr.  Goodwine,  a  farm  of  six 
hundred  and  forty -five  acres,  worth  835  per  acre,  is  under  excellent 
cultivation.  He  feeds  and  ships  a  large  number  of  cattle  and  hogs 
yearly.     He  has  a  tine  dwelling-house,  it  costing  him  some  $2,000. 

"William  Judy,  Blue  Grass,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  section  18,  was 
born  in  Hardy  county,  Virginia,  on  the  25th  of  December,  1837.  He 
remained  with  his  father  until  twenty-four  years  of  age,  engaged  in 
farming,  and  having  but  a  poor  chance  for  an  education.  With  his 
father  he  came  to  this  state  in  the  fall  of  1850,  and  settled  in  the  town- 
ship in  which  he  still  resides.  He  was  married  to  Nancy  Wood  on  the 
27th  of  March,  1862.  She  was  born  in  Vermilion  county  on  the  3d  of 
October,  1847.  They  have  had  seven  children,  of  whom  are  living 
Elizabeth,  Frank,  Milton,  Charley;  one  infant  deceased.  Mr.  Judy 
owns  three  hundred  and  twenty-five  acres  of  land,  worth  §30  per  acre. 
He  attributes  his  success  in  business  not  alone  to  his  own  toil  and 
industry,  but  also  to  the  faithfulness  and  encouragement  of  his  enter- 
prising wife,  who  is  a  lady  much  respected  by  all  with  whom  she  has 
come  in  contact. 

Isaac  Mantle,  Pellsville,  farmer,  section  22,  was  born  in  Pickaway 
county,  Ohio,  on  the  8th  of  April,  1829.  His  father  died  when  he  was 
but  eight  years  old.     He  was  married  to  Mary  J.  Kader  in  1850.    She 


MIDDLE   FORK   TOWNSHIP.  823 

was  born  in  Perrysville,  Indiana.  They  are  the  parents  of  ten  chil- 
dren, seven  of  whom  are  living:  John,  Solomon,  Charles,  Mary  J. 
(now  married),  Matilda,  Lizzie,  Alice.  The  deceased  are:  George, 
Isaac  and  Ellen.  Mr.  Mantle  has  held  the  office  of  highway  commis- 
sioner several  years.  He  handles  a  large  number  of  cattle  each  year, 
and  raises  a  good  deal  of  corn  which  he  feeds.  His  father  was  a  native 
of  Ohio,  his  mother,  of  Pennsylvania.  Mr.  Mantle  owns  three  hun- 
dred and  forty  acres  of  land,  worth  $40  per  acre. 

R.  G.  Young,  Potomac,  blacksmith,  was  born  in  Franklin  county, 
Ohio,  on  the  11th  of  April,  1836.  He  remained  at  home  engaged  in 
farming  until  he  was  sixteen  years  old,  and  then  went  away  to  learn 
the  blacksmith's  trade.  He  came  to  this  state  in  1850,  and  settled  in 
the  township  where  he  has  since  resided.  He  has  been  twice  married : 
first,  to  Mary  B.  Copsairt,  on  the  1st  of  May,  1866.  She  was  born  in 
this  county  on  the  25th  of  July,  1838,  and  died  in  1873.  There  have 
been  two  children  born  to  them,  one  of  whom  is  living:  William. 
The  name  of  the  deceased  is  Theodosia.  Mr.  Young  was  married  to 
Martha  Moore  in  1871.  Mary  B.,  their  only  child,  died.  Mr.  Young 
has  held  the  office  of  school  director  nine  years.  He  commenced  black- 
smithing  in  Marysville  in  1860,  and  has  been  doing  a  good  business 
here  ever  since.  He  owns  the  blacksmith-shop,  the  lot  on  which  it 
stands,  a  dwelling-house  and  eighty  acres  of  land,  worth  $1,500.  His 
parents  were  natives  of  Ohio. 

A.  B.  Judy,  Potomac,  farmer,  section  21,  was  born  in  Hard}'  county, 
West  Virginia,  on  the  31st  of  July,  1842.  He  came  with  his  father  to 
this  state  in  1851.  Although  he  had  limited  advantages  for  an  early 
education,  by  close  attention  to  his  books  at  home  he  has  acquired  suffi- 
cient knowledge  to  enable  him  to  teach  school,  which  vocation  he  has 
followed  during  the  winters  since  1861,  also  teaching  several  summer 
terms.  He  enlisted  in  the  late  war,  and  in  February,  1864,  with  Co. 
E,  51st  111.  Inf.  Vols.,  went  bravely  to  the  front  to  fight  for  the  preser- 
vation of  the  Union.  He  was  in  the  battles  of  Resaca,  Kenesaw  Moun- 
tain, Peach  Tree  Creek,  Jonesborough,  and  of  Atlanta.  He  was  mar- 
ried on  the  19th  of  January,  1879,  to  Mary  E.  Sterling,  who  was  born 
in  New  Milford,  Connecticut,  on  the  4th  of  March,  1843.  She  has 
studied  medicine  at  the  Hygiene  College  of  New  Jersey,  and  has  prac- 
ticed some.     They  have  quite  an  extensive  library  of  medical  works. 

Henry  Bass,  Armstrong,  farmer,  was  born  in  Buckingham  county, 
England,  on  the  20th  of  May,  1824.  He  clerked  in  his  father's  dry- 
goods  store  for  several  years,  and  in  1850  was  married  to  Harriett  Ben- 
nett. She  was  born  in  Bedfordshire,  England,  in  1822.  In  1851  Mr. 
Bass  came  to  America.     He  owns  two  hundred  and  thirty  acres  of  fine 


824  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

farm  land,  worth  $25  per  acre.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bass  are  the  parents  of 
seven  children,  four  of  whom  are  living:  Mary,  Fanny  (now  wife  of 
Samuel  Gilbert,  of  Ross  township),  Fred  and  Arthur.  The  deceased 
are  Thomas,  Harriett  and  Samuel. 

Walter  Smith,  Potomac,  farmer  and  stock-dealer,  was  born  in  War- 
ren county,  Ohio,  on  the  10th  of  January,  1830.  He  remained  at 
home,  and  his  father  being  a  weaver,  learned  the  weaver's  trade,  until 
he  reached  the  age  of  22.  Mr.  Smith  has  been  married  twice :  first  to 
Irena  Lane,  on  the  25th  of  November,  1852.  She  was  born  in  Ver- 
milion county,  Illinois,  on  the  9th  of  March,  1839,  and  died  on  the  8th 
of  February,  1875.  They  had  eight  children  by  this  union.  He  was 
then  married  to  Nancy  A.  Blerens,  on  the  31st  of  January,  1876.  She 
was  born  in  Vermilion  county,  in  1854.  They  have  two  children  by 
this  marriage:  Hattie  E.,  born  on  the  8th  of  December,  1876,  and 
Winfield  C,  born  on  the  24th  of  March,  1878. 

David  Thomas,  Armstrong,  farmer,  was  born  in  Warren  county,  In- 
diana, on  the  9th  of  May,  1832.  His  father  died  when  he  was  ten  years 
old,  and  he,  thrust  among  strangers,  was  compelled  to  work  during  the 
nights  to  enable  him  to  pay  his  board  and  go  to  school.  Mr.  Thomas 
has  been  twice  married :  first  to  Caroline  Barker,  in  1852.  She  was 
born  in  Indiana  in  1833,  and  died  in  1863.  They  had  by  this  marriage 
four  children,  three  of  whom  are  living:  Elisabeth  E.,  now  wife  of 
George  Bradley,  of  Ross  township ;  Samuel  M.,  and  Sarah  E.,  now 
married.  He  was  then  married  on  the  12th  of  April,  1864,  to  Rebecca 
Jones,  who  was  born  in  Vermilion  county.  They  had  by  this  union 
four  children,  two  living :  George  and  Charles  H.  The  deceased  are 
James  E.  and  Mary.  Mr.  Thomas  has  held  the  office  of  school  director 
six  years,  school  treasurer  five  years,  supervisor  of  township  one  term, 
justice  of  the  peace-rive  years,  assessor  one  term  and  collector  one  term. 
He  owns  eighty-three  acres  of  land,  worth  $30  per  acre. 

M.  C.  Doney,  Potomac,  farmer,  was  born  in  Marshall  county,  Indi- 
ana, on  the  5th  of  May,  1840.  His  mother  died  when  he  was  but  nine 
years  of  age.  He  came  to  this  state  and  settled  in  Vermilion  county 
in  1852.  He  was  married  to  Christiana  Doran,  on  the  11th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1860.  They  have  had  nine  children  :  William  J.,  Frances  G., 
Albert  E.,  Mary  M.,  Charles,  Anna,  Lieuberta  A.,  Caroline  L.  and 
Odesa.  Mr.  Doney  has  held  the  office  of  school  director  two  years  and 
pathmaster  two  years.  He  raises  considerable  corn,  which  he  feeds  to 
his  cattle  and  hogs.  He  owns  two  hundred  and  forty-four  acres  of  land, 
worth  $35  per  acre.  His  parents  are  natives  of  Ohio.  Mrs.  Doney's 
parents  are  natives  of  Virginia. 

John  M.  Davis,  Potomac,  lawyer,  was  born  in  Vermilion  county, 


MIDDLE    FORK    TOWNSHIP.  825 

Illinois,  on  the  17th  of  July,  1853.  His  chances  for  an  early  education 
were  good.  He  attended  school  at  the  university  of  this  state  one 
year,  then  entered  Ann  Arbor  and  staid  one  year.  After  reading  law 
in  Danville  with  Mann  &  Calhoun  he  entered  the  University  of  Michi- 
gan, where  he  graduated,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  of  the  supreme 
court  of  Michigan  on  the  25th  of  March,  1878.  He  commenced  prac- 
tice in  Marysville  on  the  2d  of  April,  1878.  Mr.  Davis  is  a  young 
man  of  more  than  ordinary  ability,  and  he  bids  fair  to  rank  high  in  his 
chosen  profession.  His  father,  a  native  of  Virginia,  was  one  of  the 
pioneers  of  Vermilion  county. 

Frederick  Bennett,  Potomac,  farmer,  was  born  in  Bedfordshire, 
England,  in  1831.  He  farmed  until  seventeen  years  of  age.  He  was 
married  in  February,  1868,  to  Amanda  J.  Jamison.  She  was  born  in 
Ohio  in  1844.  They  have  had  five  children,  two  of  whom  —  Fanny 
B.  and  Thomas  M. —  are  living;  three  died  in  infancy.  Mr.  Bennett 
has  held  the  office  of  pathmaster.  He  came  with  his  parents  to  America 
when  quite  young,  landing  at  New  York.  From  there,  in  1853,  he 
came  to  this  county,  where  he  has  since  resided.  He  owns  two  hun- 
dred and  sixteen  acres  of  land,  worth  $30  an  acre. 

Bruce  H.  Rutledge,  Armstrong,  farmer,  was  born  in  Vermilion 
county,  on  the  27th  of  September,  1853,  and  remained  on  the  farm  until 
seventeen  years  old  assisting  his  father.  He  was  married  to  Malissa 
J.  Haller  on  the  15th  of  October,  1876.  She  was  born  in  Nicholas 
county,  Kentucky,  on  the  13th  of  September,  1858.  They  have  had 
but  one  child,  Mary  A.,  born  on  the  6th  of  September,  1878.  The 
father  of  Mr.  Rutledge,  who  is  still  living  in  this  township,  was  in  the 
Black  Hawk  war.  Bruce  is  an  industrious  young  man,  and  is  farming 
forty  acres  of  land,  worth  $25  per  acre. 

J.  C.  Merrill,  farmer,  was  born  in  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the 
26th  of  September,  1853.  His  father  died  when  he  was  but  one  year 
old,  and  his  mother  married  the  second  time.  He  then  lived  with  his 
stepfather  until  sixteen  years  of  age.  He  was  married  to  Jenny  Part- 
low  on  the  16th  of  February,  1876.  She  was  born  in  Vermilion 
county  on  the  6th  of  November,  1855.  They  have  one  child,  Susan, 
born  on  the  22d  of  November,  1876.  Mr.  Merrill  is  now  residing 
on  the  farm  of  his  father-in-law,  Mr.  Partlow,  of  Marysville.  His 
father  was  a  native  of  Vermont,  his  mother  of  England. 

David  P.  Layton,  Potomac,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  section  19,  was 
born  in  New  York  on  the  16th  of  October,  1829,  and  spent  his  early 
life  assisting  his  father  on  the  farm.  He  lived  in  Ohio  one  year,  and 
then  removed  to  Indiana,  where  he  remained  nine  years.  He  then 
came  to  Illinois,  settling  in  Vermilion   county,  and  here  he  has  re- 


826  HISTORY   OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

mained  since.  He  was  married  in  Indiana,  in  1S59,  to  Martha  Wilson, 
who  was  born  in  Lancaster  count}7,  Pennsylvania,  in  1833.  They  are 
the  parents  of  four  children :  Charley,  Annie  E.,  Coburn  G.  and  Will- 
iam. Mr.  Layton  had  when  married  but  very  little  property,  and  by 
his  economy,  perseverance  and  industry  has  now  acquired  a  good  prop- 
erty, owning  the  best  dwelling-house  in  the  township.  He  obtained  a 
start  by  managing  a  ditching  machine.  His  father  was  a  native  of 
New  York  and  his  mother  of  Pennsylvania.  He  is  a  republican  in 
politics.  He  owns  one  hundred  and  sixty-seven  acres  of  land,  worth 
$35  per  acre. 

A.  G.  Smith,  Potomac,  farmer  and  stock-dealer,  section  8,  was  born 
in  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  5th  of  June,  1855.  His  father, 
John  Smith  (English),  of  this  township,  is  one  of  the  largest  land- 
owners and  most  extensive  stock-dealers  in  this  county.  Mr.  A.  G. 
Smith  ships  from  ten  to  fifteen  car-loads  of  cattle  every  year,  besides 
quite  a  number  of  hogs.  He  is  so  far  following  the  example  of  his 
father  that  he  is  one  of  the  most  thorough  business  young  men  in  the 
county.  He  was  married  on  the  7th  of  October,  1875,  to  Lizzie  Wilkie. 
She  was  born  in  Scotland  on  the  12th  of  April,  1855.  They  are  the 
parents  of  two  children:  John  C,  born  on  the  27th  of  April,  1877, 
and  Laura,  born  on  the  27th  of  April,  1879.  Mr.  Smith  owns  five 
hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land,  worth  $30  per  acre. 

Milton  Watson,  Armstrong,  farmer,  was  born  in  Warren  county, 
Ohio,  on  the  15th  of  May,  1823.  He  remained  on  the  farm  assisting 
his  father  until  he  reached  the  age  of  sixteen.  He  came  to  this  state 
in  1858,  settling  in  this  county,  and  here  he  has  since  remained.  He 
was  married  in  1843.  This  wife,  Mrs.  Mary  Watson,  was  born  in  Vir- 
ginia. They  had  six  children,  three  of  whom  are  now  living.  Mr. 
Watson  was  married  in  1851  to  Sarah  Jones,  a  native  of  Ohio.  By 
this  marriage  eight  children  were  born  to  them,  five  of  whom  are  liv- 
ing. Mr.  Watson  enlisted  in  the  late  war,  in  1862,  with  Co.  I,  125th 
111.  Inf.  Vol.,  as  teamster,  and  was  mustered  out  by  general  order.  He 
was  injured  by  a  wagon  while  in  the  service,  for  which  injury  he  re- 
ceives a  pension  of  eighteen  dollars  per  month.  Mr.  Watson  has  prac- 
ticed the  veterinary  art  for  some  years,  and  seems  to  be  quite  success- 
ful. • 

Charles  B.  Westcott,  Potomac,  farmer,  section  16,  was  born  in 
Wayne  county,  ISTew  York,  on  the  1st  of  June,  1830.  His  chances  for 
an  early  education  were  good,  having  been  educated  for  a  minister  of  the 
gospel,  but  being  of  skeptical  turn  of  mind,  dissented  from  the  church, 
believing,  as  he  still  does,  that  all  religious  worship  is  idolatry.  He 
was  at  one  time  owner  and  captain  of  a  boat  called  the  "  Bella  Clyde," 


MIDDLE    FORK   TOWNSHIP.  S2i 

which  plied  between  Albany  and  New  York.  Mr.  Westcott  came  to 
this  state  in  1858,  settling  in  Shelby  county,  where  he  remained  two 
years.  lie  then  returned  to  New  York,  and,  after  staying  one  year, 
came  back  to  this  state,  where  he  has  since  resided.  Mr.  Westcott  was 
married  toUrie  Palhemus  on  the  9th  of  January,  1852.  She  was  born 
in  New  York  on  the  4th  of  September,  1834.  They  have  had  by  this 
union  two  children  :  Taylor  M.  and  Hattie  M.,  now  wife  of  Henry 
"Weaver,  of  Edgar  county. 

William  Hobbs,  Armstrong,  farmer,  section  31,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  was  born  in  Nelson  county,  Kentucky,  on  the  26th  of  April, 
1820.  He  remained  at  home  until  he  reached  the  age  of  thirty-nine. 
He  has  been  twice  married :  first,  to  Mary  Strong,  on  the  29th  of  No- 
vember, 1849.  She  was  born  in  Illinois,  and  is  now  deceased.  They 
had  five  children  by  this  marriage,  all  now  dead.  He  was  then  mar- 
ried to  Allie  Biggerstaff,  on  the  16th  of  December,  1860.  She  was 
born  near  Covington,  Indiana,  in  1840.  They  have  by  this  union  three 
children :  Joseph  H.,  Katie  L.  and  William  E.  Mr.  Hobbs  has  held 
the  office  of  school  director  fifteen  years,  and  is  one  of  the  oldest  set- 
tlers of  this  county.     He  is  a  republican  and  a  Methodist. 

G.  M.  Crays,  Armstrong,  farmer,  was  born  in  Sangamon  county, 
Illinois,  on  the  25th  of  August,  1833.  His  chances  for  an  early  edu- 
cation were  good,  and  he  has  taught,  six  years  in  succession,  a  district 
school.  Mr.  Crays  has  been  a  traveling  minister  of  the  M.  E.  church 
for  the  past  twenty  years,  and  possesses  no  small  amount  of  ability. 
On  the  14th  of  September,  1849,  he  was  married  to  Courtney  Lafay- 
ette. She  was  born  in  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  28th  of  Janu- 
ary, 1841.  They  have  had  by  this  union  nine  children,  seven  of  whom 
are  living:  Mark  A.,  George  E.,  Anna  M.,  Kichard  C,  Alfred  C, 
Clara  and  Emaline.  The  names  of  the  deceased  are:  Charles  W.  and 
Elizabeth.  Mr.  Crays  has  held  the  office  of  school  director  for  several 
years,  and  is  regarded  as  one  of  Vermilion  county's  best  citizens.  His 
parents  were  natives  of  North  Carolina. 

James  F.  Anderson,  Potomac,  carpenter,  was  born  in  Clarke  county, 
Indiana,  on  the  19th  of  December,  1826.  He  remained  at  home 
working  in  his  father's  wagon  shop  until  he  reached  the  age  of  nine- 
teen. His  chances  for  an  early  education  were  quite  limited.  Mr. 
Anderson  has  been  twice  married:  first,  to  Mary  Owens,  in  1859. 
They  had  by  this  marriage  two  children :  Miller  P.  and  John  J.  He 
was  then  married  to  Eliza  Valandingham  in  1869.  She  was  born  in 
Owen  county,  Kentucky.  Mr.  Anderson,  in  the  late  war,  enlisted  in 
Co.  E,  30th  111.  Inf.  Vol.,  and  in  1861  went  forward  to  battle  bravely 
for  his  country.     He  was  in  the  battle  of  Mount  Sterling,  and  was 


828  HISTOKY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

mustered  out  by  general  orders.     He  owns  a  house  and  lot  in  Marys- 
ville. 

Charles  E.  Pressey,  Potomac,  merchant,  owns  a  hardware  and  tin 
store,  keeping  on  hand  a  stock  of  agricultural  implements,  on  Main 
street,  in  Marysville;  also  the  store  building  and  the  lot  on  which  it 
stands,  and  besides  this,  one  lot  and  home  residence,  and  thirty-six 
other  lots  in  Marysville.  He  was  born  in  Tompkins  county,  New 
York,  on  the  25th  of  November,  1837,  and  remained  at  home  with 
his  parents  until  eighteen  years  of  age,  attending  school  most  of  the 
time.  He  left  home  and  went  into  a  store  in  New  York,  where  he 
staid  three  years,  and  in  1859  came  to  this  state  and  farmed  seven 
years.  Here  he  married  Emily  Stewart,  who  was  born  in  Decatur 
county,  Indiana.  They  are  the  parents  of  two  children:  Ralph  and 
Lillie.  Mr.  Pressy  has  held  the  office  of  village  trustee  three  years. 
He  was  appointed  postmaster  at  Potomac  in  1876,  which  office  he  still 
holds. 

W.  A.  McMurtrey,  Potomac,  agent  for  American  Express  Com- 
pany, was  born  in  Boone  county,  Kentucky,  on  the  1st  of  December, 
1836  ;  remained  at  home  with  his  parents  until  he  was  nineteen  years 
of  age,  learning  the  blacksmith  trade ;  he  then  went  to  Indiana,  re- 
maining there  from  1856  to  1860,  working  on  a  farm.  Mr.  McMur- 
trey enlisted  on  the  1st  of  April,  1863,  in  Co.  K,  135th  111.  Vol.  Inf., 
and  served  one  hundred  days  as  private ;  he  reenlisted  on  the  3d  of 
February,  1864,  in  Co.  E,  149th  111.  Vol.  Inf.  as  second-lieutenant,  but 
was  soon  promoted  to  first-lieutenant  and  served  twelvemonths.  Com- 
ing home,  he  married  Mary  Allbright  on  the  10th  of  September,  1866. 
She  was  born  in  Pickaway  county,  Ohio,  in  1848.  They  have  three 
children :  Edwin  S.,  Leo  H.  and  Maggie.  Mr.  McMurtrey  has  held 
the  office  of  school  director  six  months.  He  owns  a  half  interest  in  a 
good  lumber  yard,  and  possesses  a  neat  residence.  His  parents  were 
natives  of  Kentucky. 

L.  B.  Marshall,  Potomac,  farmer,  section  26,  was  born  in  Warren 
county,  Indiana,  on  the  21st  of  September,  1842.  His  parents  died 
when  he  was  quite  young,  and  he,  thrown  thus  upon  his  own  resources, 
had  but  a  poor  chance  for  an  early  education.  In  1864  he  enlisted  in 
Co.  B,  135th  Ind.,  for  one  hundred  days.  Mr.  Marshall  has  held  the 
office  of  constable  two  years  in  this  township  ;  was  employed  in  Marys- 
ville as  clerk  in  the  dry-goods  and  grocery  store  of  W.  J.  Henderson 
for  some  time.  He  now  resides  on  the  Copeland  farm  near  Marys- 
ville. 

Scott  Elliott,  Armstrong,  farmer,  section  13,  was  born  in  Winne- 
bago county,  Illinois,  on  the  13th  of  January,  1842.    At  the  age  of  six- 


MIDDLE   FORK   TOWNSHIP.  829 

teen  he  left  the  farm,  and  with  an  ox-team  started  for  Pike's  Peak, 
where  he  remained  three  years.  He  enlisted  in  the  late  war  in  August, 
1861,  in  Co.  B,  1st  Col.  Cav.,  as  quarter-master  sergeant.  He  was 
ordered  out  among  the  Indians,  where  he  remained  two  years,  engag- 
ing in  several  skirmishes  with  the  redskins.  He  was  mustered  out  in 
1866,  and  returned  to  this  state  and  married  Mary  E.  Rigles,  on  the 
2d  of  September,  1867.  She  was  born  in  Pennsylvania  on  the  13th  of 
February,  1843.  They  are  the  parents  of  three  children :  Merrit, 
Clayton  and  Lafariest.  Mr.  Elliott's  parents  are  natives  of  Ohio;  Mrs. 
Elliott's  of  Pennsylvania.  Mr.  Elliott  now  owns  one  hundred  and 
forty-two  acres  of  land,  worth  $40  per  acre. 

L.  C.  Messner,  Potomac,  druggist  and  physician,  was  born  in  Darke 
county,  Ohio,  on  the  15th  of  December,  1844.  He  left  home  when  fif- 
teen years  of  age,  and  his  chances  for  an  early  education  were  limited. 
At  the  age  of  sixteen  by  daily  labor  he  paid  off  a  mortgage  of  one  hun- 
dred dollars  on  his  father's  farm,  thus  preventing  foreclosure.  In  1865- 
66  he  attended  two  courses  of  lectures  in  Rush  Medical  College,  at 
Chicago,  and  receiving  a  diploma  for  the  practice  of  medicine  in  1866,  he 
settled  in  Marysville  as  a  medical  practitioner,  in  which  profession  he  has 
been  quite  successful.  The  Doctor  has  been  twice  married :  first  to 
Mary  Drummond  in  September,  1866.  They  had  three  children  by 
this  marriage :  Nellie  M.,  William  C,  living,  and  xilma  U.,  deceased. 
He  was  then  married  to  Maria  J.  Clark  on  the  9th  of  January,  1873. 
By  this  union  one  infant,  deceased.  Dr.  Messner  has  held  the  office  of 
town-clerk  one  term,  and  school-treasurer  four  years.  He  had,  when 
he  commenced  the  practice  of  medicine,  no  property,  but  now  owns  a 
half  interest  in  a  drug-store,  a  house,  lot  and  about  ten  thousand  dol- 
lars' worth  of  other  property  which  he  has  earned  by  his  energy,  in- 
dustry and  economy. 

Charles  A.  Jameson,  Potomac,  cabinetmaker,  was  born  in  Cham- 
paign county,  Ohio,  on  the  3d  of  March,  1847.  He  learned  his  trade 
when  quite  young.  He  was  married  to  Emelia  Richart  on  the  15th  of 
September,  1869.  She  was  born  in  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  in  1852. 
They  are  the  parents  of  three  children  :  Maggie  M.,  Lulu  E.  and  Rob- 
ert. Mr.  Jameson  is  a  very  enterprising  and  industrious  man.  He 
owns  one  lot  and  cabinetshop,  and  three-fourths  of  an  acre  with  good 
dwelling.     His  father  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  this  county. 

James  D.  Anderson,  Potomac,  farmer,  section  8,  remained  on  his 
father's  farm  until  1861,  with  his  mother,  his  father  having  died  when 
he  was  fifteen  years  old.  At  this  time  he  enlisted  in  Co.  F,  35th  111. 
Inf.  Vol.,  as  private.  He  was  in  the  battles  of  Chickamauga,  Mission 
Ridge,   Perryville,    Resaca,    Buzzard's   Roost   and    the   battle   before 


*:)n  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION   COUNTY. 

Atlanta.  In  an  engagement  he  received  a  wound  in  the  neck.  He 
was  married  to  Mary  Partlow  on  the  6th  of  October,  1869.  She  was 
born  in  Vermilion  county  in  1852.  They  have  had  by  this  union  five 
children,  three  of  whom  are  living:  Mattie,  Eay  and  Nellie:  the 
deceased  are  Willie  and  Jesse.  Mr.  Anderson  owns  his  farm,  which 
contains  one  hundred  and  sixty-three  acres,  worth  830  per  acre.  In 
politics  he  is  a  republican;  religion,  Methodist. 

William  Kirkhart,  Armstrong,  farmer,  section  18,  was  born  in 
"Wetzel  county,  West  Virginia,  on  the  10th  of  September,  1847.  His 
parents  died  when  he  was  quite  young,  leaving  him,  at  the  tender  age 
of  eight,  to  light  life's  battles  alone;  consequently,  his  chances  for  an 
early  education  were  poor.  He  was  married  to  Mary  S.  Perry,  on  the 
10th  of  January,  1871.  She  was  born  in  Vermilion  county,  on  the  loth 
of  April,  1856.  They  have  had  by  this  marriage  five  children,  three  of 
whom  are  living:  Elmer,  Nellie  and  Mariddie.  The  deceased  were 
infant  twins. 

H.  Biederman,  shoemaker,  Potomac,  was  born  in  Germany,  on  the 
25th  of  April,  1846,  and  came  to  America  on  the  17th  of  July,  1870. 
Mr.  Biederman  has  never  entered  the  married  state.  He  owns  a  lot  in 
Marysville,  on  which  is  the  shoe-shop.  He  is  an  honest,  industrious 
man,  and  well  respected  by  all  who  know  him. 

J.  C.  Williams,  Armstrong,  grain  merchant,  was  born  in  Vanderburg 
county,  Indiana,  on  the  6th  of  November,  1847.  He  came  to  this  state 
in  1867,  settling  in  McLean  county,  and  there  aided  his  uncle  in  im- 
proving a  farm.  He  was  married  to  Mary  T.  Dickinson,  on  the  14th 
of  October,  1870.  She  was  born  in  Pike  county,  Illinois,  on  the  5th 
of  July,  1847.  Mr.  Williams'  farm  of  one  hundred  and  fifteen  acres, 
worth  $40  per  acre,  is  adjacent  to  the  thriving  little  village  of  Arm- 
strong. Upon  the  outskirts  of  the  town  he  has  a  fine  dwelling,  and  he 
has  also  a  grain  office,  scales,  and  extensive  grain-cribs.  He  bought 
and  shipped  over  forty  thousand  bushels  of  corn  and  twenty-five  thou- 
sand bushels  of  oats  the  first  year  of  his  entering  the  business,  which 
was  in  1877.  Mr.  Williams  is  an  energetic  business  man,  and  by  him 
the  grain  trade  has  been  started  in  Armstrong. 

Robert  Miller,  Armstrong,  farmer,  section  25,  was  born  in  Wash- 
ington county,  Pennsylvania.  His  father  being  a  farmer,  he  worked 
on  the  farm  until  twenty-one  years  of  age.  His  father  came  to  this 
state  and  first  settled  in  Champaign  county.  He  remained  there  one 
year,  and  then  moved  to  Indiana,  where  ha  sta}Ted  six  years,  and  then 
returned  to  this  state.  Mr.  Miller  was  married  to  Elizabeth  Small,  on 
the  25th  of  September,  1870.  She  was  born  in  Vermilion  county  in 
1852.     They  are  the  parents  of  five  children :    Joseph  W.,  Anna  B., 


MIDDLE    FORK   TOWNSHIP.  831 

Robert  P.,  Benjamin  F.  and  Thomas  E.  Mr.  Miller  raises  principally 
corn,  which  he  feeds  at  home.  He  owns  one  hundred  and  ninety-nine 
acres  of  land,  worth  $30  per  acre.  His  parents  were  natives  of 
Pennsylvania ;  Mrs.  Miller's  parents  were  natives  of  Indiana. 

T.  W.  Buckingham,  Potomac,  inn-keeper  and  justice  of  the  peace, 
commenced  in  1876  to  manage  the  hotel  on  Main  street  in  Maiysville, 
known  as  the  Murcle  House.  He  was  born  in  Allen  county,  Indiana, 
on  the  23d  of  April,  1833.  His  father  died  when  he  was  but  five  years 
of  age,  and  he  lived  with  his  mother,  going  to  school  in  the-winter  and 
working  on  a  farm  in  the  summer,  until  twenty-one  years  of  age.  He 
left  home,  went  to  Pittsburgh,  and  entered  the  mercantile  business. 
He  came  to  this  state  in  1870,  settling  in  Fairmount,  in  this  county. 
He  went  into  the  grocery  business,  but  afterward  became  a  commercial 
traveler  for  some  time.  He  was  married  in  1856  to  Ellen  A.  Clark. 
She  was  born  in  the  state  of  New  York,  on  the  10th  of  April,  1838. 
They  are  the  parents  of  five  children :  Mary  A.,  now  wife  of  G.  J. 
May,  of  Marysville ;  Mable  F.,  George  T.,  Myrtie  and  Clyde.  The 
parents  of  Mr.  Buckingham  were  natives  of  New  York,  and  the  parents 
of  Mrs.  B.  of  New  Jersey. 

J.  E.  Jameson,  Potomac,  mechanic,  was  born  in  Muskingum  county, 
Ohio,  on  the  15th  of  March,  1847.  He  remained  at  his  native  place 
until  he  reached  the  age  of  twenty-five,  "  working  out "  by  the  month 
part  of  the  time,  and  at  other  times  assisting  his  father  in  farming. 
Soon  after  this  he  learned  the  wagon  and  carriage  making  trade,  which 
trade  he  still  follows.  He  was  married  to  Eliza  Knox,  on  the  8th  of 
October,  1873.  She  was  born  in  Vermilion  county  in  1842,  and  died 
on  the  15th  of  January,  1878.  They  had  by  this  marriage  two  chil- 
dren :  Thomas  R..  and  Minnie  B.  Mr.  Jameson  commenced  business 
in  1872,  and  now  owns  two  houses  and  lots  in  Marysville.  His  father, 
one  of  the  pioneers  of  Vermilion  county,  built  the  first  carriage-shop  in 
the  village. 

James  Wilson,  Marysville,  blacksmith,  was  born  in  West  Virginia, 
on  the  13th  of  April,  1834,  and  was  raised  on  a  farm,  where  he  remained 
until  eighteen  years  of  age,  at  which  time  he  learned  the  blacksmith 
trade,  which  was  his  chosen  trade.  He  came  to  this  state  in  1872,  set- 
tling in  this  county  in  Oakwood  township,  and  removed  to  Blue  Grass 
in  1875,  where  he  still  resides,  and  where  he  still  continues  to  work  at 
the  blacksmith  trade,  doing  a  good  business.  Mr.  Wilson  has  been 
twice  married:  first,  in  1857,  to  Irene  Evie,  who  was  born  in  Virginia 
and  died  in  1875.  They  had  seven  children,  five  living:  Morgan, 
Charley,  Joseph,  Martha  and  Sarah.     The  deceased  were  Mary  and  one 


832  HISTORY   OF   VERMILION"    COUNTY. 

infant.     He  was  then  married  to  Christina  Wright  in  1876.     She  was 
born  in  Indiana  in  1838. 

Charles  T.  Morse,  Potomac,  merchant,  is  a  member  of  the  firm  of 
Ludden  &  Morse,  on  the  corner  of  public  square,  Marysville.  These 
gentlemen  keep  on  hand  a  good  stock  of  dry-goods  and  groceries.  Mr. 
M.  was  born  in  New  Haven,  Connecticut,  on  the  22d  of  February, 
1827.  He  remained  at  home  with  his  parents  until  twenty-one  years 
of  age.  His  chances  for  an  early  education  were  good,  and  he  availed 
himself  of  the  opportunities  thus  offered.  He  was  brought  up  as  clerk 
in  a  store,  thus  becoming  well  acquainted  with  the  business,  which  he 
has  continued  to  follow  to  the  present  time.  For  some  years  Mr.  Morse 
was  connected  with  a  wholesale  dry-goods  house  in  Chicago.  He  came 
to  Marysville  and  commenced  business  in  1872,  and  has,  at  this  time, 
about  $5,000  invested  in  stock  in  Marysville.  He  has  held  the  office 
of  school  trustee  for  six  years.     His  parents  are  natives  of  Connecticut. 

Thomas  Carter,  Potomac,  farmer,  section  8,  was  born  in  Tippecanoe 
county,  Indiana,  on  the  26th  of  July,  1846,  and  during  the  early  part 
of  his  life  remained  on  the  farm.  He  was  married  to  Mary  E.  McQuil- 
len,  on  the  22d  of  December,  1873.  She  was  born  in  Missouri  in  1848- 
They  are  the  parents  of  four  children :  John,  William,  Gracy  J.  and 
Harrison.  Mr.  Carter  owns  a  farm  of  fifty  acres,  worth  850  per  acre, 
and  handles  some  stock  every  year.  The  parents  of  both  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Carter  are  natives  of  Ohio.  He  is  a  republican  in  politics,  and  his 
religious  views  are  Methodist. 

Albert  H.  Dickson,  Armstrong,  farmer,  was  born  in  Barren  county, 
Kentucky,  on  the  7th  of  March,  1853.  Although  his  chances  for  an 
early  education  were  limited,  yet  he  acquired  sufficient  knowledge, — 
mostly  at  home, —  to  enable  him  to  teach  the  branches  taught  in  the 
country  school.  He  has  been  teaching  in  the  winters  for  some  five 
years  past.  He  was  married  to  Mary  E.  French  on  the  29th  of  August, 
1876.  She  was  born  in  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  19th  of  July, 
1858.  They  have  had  but  one  child :  Irena  E.,  born  on  the  27th  of 
December,  1877.  Mr.  Dickson  has  held  the  office  of  postmaster  one 
year.  He  is  an  active  member  of  the  Christian  church,  and  is  preparing 
for  the  ministry,  having  acted  in  that  capacity  for  some  time  past.  He 
bids  fair  to  become  a  useful  man  in  the  community  in  which  he  lives. 

Silas  H.  Vandoren,  Armstrong,  physician,  was  born  in  Fulton 
county,  Illinois,  on  the  9th  of  January,  1851.  At  the  age  of  sixteen 
he  commenced  the  study  of  medicine,  first  reading  with  Dr.  Campbell, 
of  Wilmington,  Illinois,  and  afterward  attending  lectures  in  Chicago 
for  one  year.  At  the  expiration  of  this  course  of  lectures  he  received 
a  diploma,  and  for  three  years  remained  in  Chicago  as  a  practicing  phy- 


MIDDLE    FORK    TOWNSHIP.  833 

sician,  then  he  removed  to  Livingston  county,  remaining  one  year, 
when  he  came  to  Armstrong,  where  he  is  still  following  his  profession. 
The  Doctor  is  of  the  Eclectic  school,  and  his  labors  have  been  attended 
with  much  success.  He  was  married  to  Dora  Fleming  on  the  29th  of 
December,  1874.  She  was  born  in  Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania,  on  the 
19th  of  December,  1852.  They  had  by  this  union  two  children,  of 
which,  Willie,  born  on  the  10th  of  May,  1876,  is  living,  and  an  infant 
deceased. 

Charles  P.  Duncan,  Potomac,  groceries,  was  born  in  Fountain  county, 
Indiana,  on  the  22d  of  July,  1852.  He  remained  with  his  father  until 
he  was  married  to  Mary  A.  Copeland,  on  the  16th  of  August,  1876. 
She  was  born  in  Vermilion  county,  Illinois.  They  are  the  parents  of 
one  child  :  Ernest  C,  born  on  the  1st  of  August,  1878.  Mr.  Duncan 
is  an  energetic  young  man,  and  is  doing  a  lively  business.  He  owns 
two  lots  and  a  dwelling-house  in  Marysville,  and  has  about  one  thou- 
sand dollars  invested  in  groceries.  His  parents  are  natives  of  Penn- 
sylvania. 

John  E.  Butz,  Potomac,  physician,  was  born  in  Wyandot  county, 
Ohio.  His  father  moved  to  this  state  in  1853,  settling  in  Decatur.  His 
mother  died  when  he  was  but  seven  years  of  age.  He  was  taken  care 
of  till  three  years  of  age  by  his  father.  He  then  moved  a  second  time. 
Mr.  Butz  worked  on  a  farm  until  twenty-one  years  of  age.  His  chances 
for  an  early  education  were  not  very  good.  He  entered  Ann  Arbor 
high  school  in  1871,  and  graduated  in  June,  1875.  He  commenced 
the  study  of  medicine  the  same  fall,  and  graduated  at  Rush  Medical 
College  in  February,  1878.  He  commenced  the  practice  of  medicine 
in  Marysville  on  the  1st  of  April,  1878.  He  has  been  getting  a  good 
practice,  which  has  been  attended  with  good  success.  On  the  25th  of 
April,  1879,  the  Doctor  performed,  a  surgical  operation  on  a  child  for 
hare-lip, —  a  child  of  Mr.  Buckingham,  of  Marysville.  He  was  assisted 
in  the  operation  by  Dr.  Messner,  of  that  place.  The  operation  was  a 
success.  He  also  operated  on  Jane  Reese  for  deformity  of  the  mouth, 
caused  by  mercury.  He  was  assisted  also  in  this  operation  by  Dr. 
Messner.  This  operation  was  performed  on  the  11th  of  May,  1879. 
This  also  bids  fair  to  be  attended  with  good  results.  The  Doctor  has  a 
bright  prospect  of  making  a  splendid  physician  and  surgeon. 

George  W.  Young,  Potomac,  blacksmith,  was  born  in  Franklin 
county,  Ohio,  on  the  16th  of  April,  1842.  His  mother  died  when  he 
was  but  twelve  years  old.  He  then  lived  with  his  father  until  he  was 
married  to  Laura  Underbill,  on  the  17th  of  May,  1877.  She  was  born  in 
Clinton  county,  Indiana,  on  the  1st  of  August,  1868.  They  have 
buried  two  infants.  He  learned  blacksmithing  when  quite  young,  and 
53 


834  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION'    COUNTY. 

commenced  his  trade  in  Marvsville  in  1878.  Mr.  Young  is  an  energetic, 
industrious  man,  and  is  receiving  the  good  patronage  that  he  deserves. 
H.  E.  Thomas,  Potomac,  barber,  was  born  in  La  Porte  county,  In- 
diana, on  the  1st  of  May,  1854.  At  the  age  of  seventeen  he  learned 
the  trade  which  he  has  since  followed.  He  was  married  to  Margaret 
Johnson  on  the  16th  of  May,  1875.  She  was  born  in  Indianapolis,  In- 
diana, on  the  19th  of  October,  1855.  They  have  had  two  children  by 
this  marriage :  Charles  C,  living,  and  Delia  M.,  deceased.  Mr.  Thomas 
commenced  business  as  a  barber  in  Marysville  in  1878,  and  has  now  a 
lively  patronage.     His  parents  are  natives  of  Massachusetts. 


OAKWOOD    TOWNSHIP. 

The  history  of  Oakwood  township  is  important,  not  only  on  account 
of  its  early  settlement,  but  because  of  its  natural  advantages  as  well. 
Its  prairies  are  rich  and  extensive,  its  timber  land  fully  sufficient,  while 
the  wealth  of  its  coal  banks  is  incalculable.  Oakwood  lies  on  the 
western  border  of  Vermilion  county.  Its  greatest  length  is,  from  east 
to  west,  twelve  miles.  Its  width,  north  and  south,  is  six  miles. 
Like  all  other  townships  of  Vermilion  county,  it  is  made  up  of  parts 
of  several  congressional  towns.  Its  north  line  is  two  miles  north  of 
the  south  line  of  town  20  N.  Its  south  line  is  two  miles  north  of  the 
south  line  of  town  19  N".  The  west  side  is  the  boundary  line  between 
Vermilion  and  Champaign  counties.  It  is  the  middle  line  of  range  14. 
On  the  east  the  boundary  line  is  broken.  Beginning  at  the  south  line 
of  the  township,  at  the  southeast  corner  of  section  19,  T.  19  N.,  range 
12  W.,  the  boundary  extends  north  one  mile,  thence  east  two  miles  on 
the  south  side  of  sections  17  and  16;  thence  north  one  mile;  thence 
west  one  mile  to  the  southeast  corner  of  section  8;  thence  north  one 
mile;  thence  west  one-fourth  mile;  thence  north  one  mile,  and  thence 
back  east  to  the  section  line,  where  a  north  course  on  the  east  side  of 
sections  32  and  29,  in  town  20,  range  12,  leads  to  the  northern  bound- 
ary. It  will  thus  be  seen  that  Oakwood  includes  a  part  of  six  con- 
gressional towns;  that  the  greater  portion  of  it  is  in  range  13  W. ;  that 
there  is  just  one  half  of  one  congressional  town  in  range  14;  that  but 
a  small  portion  is  in  range  12  W.,  and  that  the  whole  consists  of  sixty- 
five  and  three-fourths  square  miles. 

In  surface  and  soil  the  township  is  diversified.  There  is  little  of 
the  soil,  however,  that  cannot  be  said  to  be  very  deep,  rich  and  pro- 
ductive.    On   the  eastern  end  of  the  township  the  broken  surface  is 


OAKWOOD   TOWNSHIP.  835 

not  quite  so  attractive  to  the  eye,  nor  perhaps  as  remunerative  to  the 
laborer;  but  it  furnishes  timber  for  those  who  dwell  in  the  prairies. 
On  the  east  end  of  the  south  side  the  same  remark  would  apply.  The 
western  border  is  particularly  flat  in  some  places,  so  that  the  music  of 
the  cheerless  frog  may  often  be  heard  as  he  boasts  of  his  broad  do- 
main. Beside  the  fiat  surface,  there  is  little  else  to  complain  of  in 
regard  to  Nature's  gifts  fro  Oakwood.  This  defect  is  largely  overcome 
by  draining.  In  fact,  the  level  land  is  said  to  be  superior  to  any  other, 
when  well  drained.  The  farmers  of  Oakwood  are  draining,  within  the 
last  few  years,  as  rapidly  as  they  can.  All  kinds  of  ditching  is  done, 
but  tile  draining  is  the  most  certain  and  successful,  although  we  were 
told  of  a  mole  ditch  which  had  been  in  successful  operation  for  more 
than  twenty  years.  Oakwood  is  prairie  land,  with  the  exception  of  a 
band  of  timber  on  the  east  and  southeast,  and  a  belt  which  follows 
Stony  Creek  about  half  way  across  the  township,  from  the  south. 
These  furnish  all  the  timber  necessary  for  the  improvement  of  the 
prairie  portions.  There  is  plenty  of  water  in  most  parts.  On  the 
eastern  border  is  the  Middle  Fork  of  the  Vermilion  River;  on  the 
south  side  is  the  Salt  Fork ;  through  the  center  we  find  Stony  Creek, 
which  rises  near  the  northwest  corner  of  the  township,  and  flows 
southeasterly  through  sections  31,  5,  8,  9,  16  and  22,  and  empties  into 
the  Salt  Fork. 

The  township  is  crossed  by  one  railroad, —  the  Indianapolis,  Bloom- 
ington  &  Western.  It  has  lent  its  influence  to  the  development  of  the 
country,  and  although  we  may  conceive  this  to  be  from  selfish  motives, 
the  result  has  been  beneficial  to  the  country.  The  unfortunate  attempt 
to  build  three  villages  on  it  within  one  township  must  not  be  imputed 
to  any  other  than  those  dwelling  there.  Besides  plenty  of  water,  ex- 
cellent soil  and  a  good  climate,  this  country  is  well  supplied  with  wood 
and  coal,  particularly  the  latter.  We  cannot  but  believe  that  the  ele- 
ments of  a  mighty  industry  are  locked  up  in  these  resources,  and  need 
but  the  hand  of  energy  and  genius  to  bring  them  out.  The  occupation 
of  the  people  at  present  is  mostly  farming  and  stock-raising.  The  soil 
seems  equally  adapted  to  the  production  of  grass,  corn  and  wheat.  The 
wheat  crop  of  1879  is  enormous.  The  acreage  is  large,  and  the  average 
yield  is  beyond  the  record  of  the  best  wheat-growing  portions  of  the 
state.  The  cultivation  of  wheat  is  on  the  increase.  Corn  has  been  the 
main  crop.  Large  areas  are  also  sown  to  grass.  Those  who  ought  to 
know  maintain  that  the  best  thing  for  this  country  is  stock-raising. 
Hogs  are  very  extensively  raised,  and  yet  large  quantities  of  corn  are 
annually  shipped  to  Indianapolis  from  each  of  the  stations  on  the  I.  B. 
<fe  W.  railroad.     At  present  the  country  is  suffering  somewhat  from 


836  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

the  financial  crash  of  1873.  Many  farmers  ran  behind  when  times  were 
good,  and  found  themselves  much  straightened  to  meet  obligations  when 
the  crash  came. 

EARLY    SETTLEMENTS. 

The  early  settlements  in  this  township  take  the  lead  of  anything  in 
the  county,  both  in  regard  to  priority  of  settlement,  and  their  impor- 
tance in  the  subsequent  growth  of  the  country ;  and  although  these 
pioneer  efforts  were  of  such  importance  in  the  development  of  the 
wealth  of  this  country,  the  particulars  have  faded  away  until  accuracy 
is  almost  impossible  in  many  cases.  The  early  settlement  at  the  old 
Major  Vance  salt  works,  the  first  in  the  township,  is  fully  discussed  in 
another  place.  It  is  only  necessary  to  refer  to  it  here.  As  an  example 
of  the  general  misconception  which  has  arisen  in  regard  to  this  settle- 
ment, we  would  say  that  in  Oakwood  township  we  found  very  few 
persons  who  had  ever  heard  of  Mr.  Treat  or  Blackman,  and  none  had 
a  just  conception  of  the  affair,  or  a  positive  knowledge  of  any  of  the 
details.  Again  we  were  informed  that  a  settlement  was  made  and  a 
cabin  built  on  the  Middle  Fork  as  early  as  1818,  when  the  evidence 
shows  that  the  settlement  at  the  salt  works  was  not  onty  the  first  here, 
but  the  first  anywhere  within  the  limits  of  Vermilion  county. 

After  the  first  advent  of  Captain  Blackman,  and  the  building  of  a 
residence  by  Mr.  Treat,  in  November,  1819,  we  find  a  Mr.  Bailey  on 
Stony  Creek.  This  was  probably  the  first  man  who  settled  on  that 
creek.  He  came  in  1821  or  1822,  and  opened  a  small  piece  of  ground 
in  the  timber.  This  was  in  section  16,  town  19  north,  range  13  west. 
He  sold  out  his  interests  to  Mr.  Harvey  Ludington,  late  of  Danville, 
Illinois.  Mr.  Ludington  has  been  supposed  by  many  to  be  the  first 
settler  on  Stony  Creek. 

Stony  Creek  was  called  for  a  long  time  Ludington's  Branch.  The 
next  man  in  these  parts  was  a  Mr.  Walker.  He  settled  near  the  same 
place,  but  a  little  farther  up  the  creek,  near  the  present  site  of  Muncie. 
He,  too,  left  his  name  with  us.  That  point  of  timber  where  he  dwelt 
went  by  the  name  of  Walker's  Point.  The  exact  date  of  his  settlement 
we  were  unable  to  learn,  but  it  was  after  the  settlement  by  Mr.  Luding- 
ton. The  settlements  along  the  Salt  Fork,  on  the  south  side  of  the 
township,  were  early  begun,  and  here  we  find  the  principal  population 
for  some  time.  The  exact  date  of  many  of  these  settlements  cannot 
now  be  ascertained,  nor  do  we  conceive  it  to  be  of  very  great  impor- 
tance. It  is  quite  probable  that  the  next  family  that  came  in  here  after 
those  already  mentioned  was  that  of  the  man  who  built  the  old  water- 
mill  on  the  Salt  Fork  where  the  present  steam  and  water  mill  is  located. 
This  mill  was  in  operation  as  early  as  1826;   how  long  it  had  been 


OAKWOOD   TOWNSHIP.  837 

running  previously  we  are  not  quite  sure.  At  this  date  Mr.  Nathaniel 
Mead  traveled  over  the  country,  and  the  only  inhabitants  that  he  re- 
members were  those  at  this  mill,  and  John  Vance,  at  the  salt  works. 
Mr.  Mead  is,  perhaps,  the  oldest  person  living  in  Oakwood  township 
who  saw  this  country  as  early  as  1826;  in  fact,  we  doubt  whether 
another  grown  person  was  here  in  1826  and  is  here  now.  At  that  time 
he  was  twenty-six  years  old,  having  been  born  in  the  gray  dawn  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  He  is  from  the  land  of  "steady  habits,"  having 
first  seen  the  light  of  day  seven  miles  from  Hartford,  Connecticut.  He 
remained  there  till  he  was  eighteen  years  old.  His  youthful  days  were 
spent  in  the  dairy.  On  his  western-bound  trip  he  first  stopped  at  Cin- 
cinnati. After  a  stay  here  we  find  him  next  in  Union  county,  Indiana. 
Although  he  came  here  as  early  as  1826,  "prospecting,"  he  did  not 
permanently  locate  his  family  in  this  county  until  1835.  At  this  time 
he  bought  land  near  the  site  of  Conkeytown.  Excepting  a  short  stay 
in  Covington,  Indiana,  he  has  remained  in  this  township  ever  since. 
He  has  reared  a  family  of  children.  His  sons  are  well-to-do,  important 
elements  in  societ}r,  and  he  still  lingers  on  the  shores  of  time,  two 
miles  southwest  of  Oakwood  station,  enjoying  the  fruits  of  seventy-nine 
years'  toil  among  the  children  of  men.  He  remembers  well  the  war 
of  1812,  and  the  rejoicing  at  its  close.  During  his  recollection  not  only 
Oakwood  township  and  Vermilion  county  have  been  developed  from 
their  native  wildness  to  a  populous,  well-organized  community,  but 
industries  have  sprung  up  all  over  the  nation.  He  was  seven  years  old 
when  Robert  Fulton  made  that  wonderful  experiment  on  the  Hudson ; 
when  Lafayette  made  his  wonderful  passage  through  this  country  he 
had  reached  the  age  of  full  manhood;  when  the  first  car  carried  its 
load  of  stone  from  the  Quincy  quarries,  he  was  verging  on  the  period 
of  middle-life;  as  Queen  Victoria  ascended  the  throne,  he  was  growing 
old.  If  all  the  progress  of  art  and  science,  which  has  been  made  within 
the  memory  of  such  men  as  he,  was  written  in  a  book,  the  world  could 
scarcely  contain  it.  The  progress  in  itself  is  not  so  startling  as  the  fact 
that  one  man's  experience  has  embraced  it  all. 

In  following  up  the  settlement  after  the  arrival  of  the  miller  on 
Salt  Fork,  we  are  at  a  loss  to  trace  its  progress.  ,Williarn  Smith  opened 
the  farm  now  occupied  by  J.  R.  Thompson,  as  early  as  1830.  Smith 
was  an  important  man  in  the  early  settlement  of  that  neighborhood, 
but  no  trace  of  his  descendants  is  to  be  found  here  now.  In  the  same 
neighborhood,  and  probably  earlier  in  point  of  time,  was  a  Mr.  Lander. 
Then,  too,  we  hear  of  Mr.  Shearer  in  this  neighborhood  at  a  very  early 
date.  Among  the  early  settlers  in  this  part,  Mr.  Pogue  was  farther 
west;  he  was  near  the  county  line.     Down  along  the  creek  was  Mr. 


838  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Brewer,  and  close  to  the  present  site  of  old  Conkey  Town  was  Stephen 
Crane.  Thomas  W.  and  John  Q.  Deakin  came  in  1835.  They  lived 
in  this  same  neighborhood,  just  on  the  south  line  of  the  township. 
They  were  important  elements  in  the  early  settlement  of  the  neighbor- 
hood on  Salt  Fork.  On  the  west  side  of  Stony  Creek,  Mr.  Wright 
probably  followed  Mr.  Walker.  In  1832  Mr.  Aaron  Dalbey  followed 
the  opening  made  here,  and  came  over  from  the  south  side  of  the  Salt 
Fork,  and  began  a  farm  one  mile  south  of  the  present  site  of  Muncie. 
Mr.  Dalbey  was  a  millwright,  and  rendered  important  service  to  the 
community  in  building  the  second  mill  on  Salt  Fork.  Mr.  Shepherd 
was  the  proprietor,  but  Mr.  Dalbey  was  the  architect  and  builder. 
Mr.  Dalbey  remained  here  till  his  death.  His  widow  married  John 
McFarland,  and  still  resides  on  the  original  farm.  The  farm  is  a  good 
one,  and  under  the  careful  management  of  Mr.  McFarland  has  reached 
the  highest  state  of  cultivation.  A  little  farther  north,  up  Stony  Creek, 
we  find  John  McCarty,  about  1836.  He  settled  just  above  Muncie. 
Beyond  him,  and  later,  came  Harrison  and  Seneca  Stearns.  They 
came  to  the  country,  young  men,  though  married,  in  1836,  and  have 
remained  in  the  edge  of  the  timber  ever  since.  In  mentioning  the 
early  settlers,  we  would  not  forget  John  Shepherd,  who  came  in  1836, 
and  engaged  in  the  milling  enterprise,  but  who  died  before  he  saw  his 
work  fully  completed.  These  are  the  principal  early  settlers  in  the 
southwestern  part  of  the  township.  No  doubt  there  were  others  that 
came  early,  but  they  soon  moved  away.  Of  those  who  came  later  we 
have  scarcely  time  to  speak,  although  such  men  as  Havard  and  Cast, 
that  came  in  1838,  would  now  be  considered  old  settlers. 

The  first  settlements  within  the  limits  of  what  might  be  called  the 
Oakwood  neighborhood  were  made  by  a  Mr.  Boland,  James  Norris 
and  Henry  Oakwood,  who  built  dwellings  the  same  spring.  This  was 
in  1833.  Mr.  Oakwood,  after  whom  the  township  was  named,  opened 
his  farm  then,  and  remained  there  the  remainder  of  his  life.  His  work 
was  identified  with  the  interests  of  the  community.  Mr.  Hubbard 
came  to  the  same  place  in  the  fall  of  1833,  and  lived  there  till  his 
death.  The  descendants  of  these  men  are  too  well  known  to  demand 
anvthing  more  than  a  mere  mention  of  the  name.  Henrv  Sallee  came 
to  the  country  a  young  man  in  1834.  He  soon  married  a  daughter  of 
Henry  Oakwood,  and  located  on  the  east  side  of  Stony  Creek,  in  the 
edge  of  the  timber,  where  he  has  remained  ever  since.  He  has  raised 
his  family  there.  His  daughters  are  married  and  live  there.  They 
too  have  always  lived  there,  and  we  suppose  that  they  will  die  and  be 
buried  there.  These  things  are  not  uncommon  in  old  settled  and  popu- 
lous countries,  but  they  are  unusual  in  so  recently  settled  countries  as 
this. 


OAKWOOD    TOWNSHIP.  839 

When  the  salt  works  began  to  be  operated  quite  extensively,  settle- 
ments were  made  np  the  Middle  Fork.  In  the  timber  there  were  a 
number  of  settlers  and  "  squatters,"  many  of  whom  went  away  as  the 
country  began  to  be  settled  np.  But  a  number  of  the  earlier  ones 
remained,  and  their  descendants  may  still  be  found,  some  on  the  prairie 
and  some  still  clinging  to  the  woods,  indulging  the  delusion  that  resi- 
dence on  the  prairie  requires  a  hardihood,  either  enforced  by  poverty 
or  prompted  by  a  recklessness  that  abandons  all  ideas  of  home.  About 
the  year  1827  Jesse  Ventres  and  James  Howell  came  to  the  neighbor- 
hood of  where  New  Town  now  is.  They  were  from  Kentucky.  Jesse 
Ventres  bought  a  piece  of  land  one-half  mile  southeast  of  New  Town 
from  a  Mr.  Indicut,  who  must  have  visited  this  country  in  an  early 
day.  We  were  shown  the  residence  said  to  have  been  built  in  1818» 
but  which  we  have  concluded  must  have  been  an  error  in  the  date. 
Certain  it  is,  however,  that  the  building,  still  occupied  by  Mr.  Michael, 
was  built  at  a  time  when  hostilities  with  the  Indians  must  have  been 
anticipated,  for  the  port-holes,  by  which  the  red-cheeks  were  to  be  dis- 
covered and  repelled,  were  manifest  in  the  building.  Mr.  Ventres 
afterward  sold  out  and  went  to  Texas.  Abraham  W.  Kutledge  was 
the  purchaser.  He  came  to  the  neighborhood  in  1832.  He  lived  and 
died  on  this  place,  and  the  farm  has  been  in  the  hands  of  the  heirs 
until  recently.  Howell  lived  in  different  parts  of  the  neighborhood 
and  finally  went  west.  Stephen  Griffith  came  to  his  farm,  one-half 
mile  north  of  New  Town,  about  1826  or  1827.  His  long  residence 
there,  and  his  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  public  good  are  too  well  known 
to  call  for  a  repetition  here.  There  was  also  in  here  at  a  very  early 
date  a  regular  Predestinarian  Baptist  preacher  by  the  name  of  Richard 
Gideon.  He  came  about  1826  or  1827.  He  is  supposed  by  some  to 
be  the  first  man  who  preached  in  this  country.  But  he,  too,  went 
west.  He  left  for  Texas,  and  none  of  the  family  remain.  In  the  fall 
of  1828  the  Makemsons  came.  The  Makemson  company  was  com- 
posed of  Thomas  Makemson,  a  revolutionary  soldier,  and  his  family. 
His  sons  were  Andrew,  David,  Samuel,  John  and  James.  They 
stopped  one  and  one-half  miles  north  of  the  present  village  of  Oak- 
wood.  Here  they  lived  till  the  father  died.  John  remained  on  the 
home  farm  for  forty-one  years.  He  then  went  west  on  account  of  his 
health.  His  son  still  lives  on  the  farm  on  which  he  was  born.  The 
other  descendants  of  Thomas  Makemson  are  scattered  abroad  in  differ- 
ent places.  In  this  connection,  and  in  this  settlement,  we  find  A.  W. 
Brittingham,  who  came  to  this  country  from  Maryland  in  1830.  He 
was  still  single,  though  born  in  1801.  He  came  with  his  father,  who 
moved  to  the  juvenile  settlement  and  died   there.     Arthur  married  a 


840  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

daughter  of  Thomas  G.  Watson  in  1833,  and  settled  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  which  we  have  been  writing.  He  remained  there  till  1872. 
He  had  a  great  deal  of  knowledge  of  pioneer  life  on  account  of  his 
practice  of  medicine.  He  was  not  a  regular  physician,  but  took  up  the 
Thompsonian  water  cure  and  steam  bath  and  applied  it  in  many  cases 
with  some  degree  of  success.  Mr.  Brittingham  still  lives  at  an  ad- 
vanced age,  and  enjoys  a  tolerable  degree  of  health. 

In  the  fall  of  1828  (or  '29,  perhaps)  John  Cox  came  to  the  residence 
of  Jesse  Ventres's  from  Big  Sandy,  in  Kentucky.  He  built  a  house 
within  a  short  time  where  Swift's  mill  now  stands.  Mr.  Cox  lived  in 
the  neighborhood  until  his  death  in  1846 ;  his  sons  William  and  Ste- 
phen reside  in  the  vicinity  of  Oakwood  Station,  having  been  in  the 
county  more  than  fifty  years.  In  1829  William  Craig  entered  the  land 
on  which  he  now  lives,  at  Palestine,  Illinois.  At  this  time  the  land 
office  was  located  there.  In  1830  he  came  to  the  place  to  improve  it ; 
he  was  a  single  man  then,  being  about  twenty-two  years  old.  His 
brother  came  with  him  and  they  worked  together.  After  one  season  of 
toil  and  hardship  William  concluded  that  it  was  too  big  a  job  for  a 
single  team,  so  he  set  out  to  find  some  susceptible  damsel  with  whom 
he  might  link  forces.  According  to  his  own  account  he  found  the 
search  a  tedious  one,  for  it  was  not  until  1836  that  he  led  his  blushing 
bride  to  the  altar  and  beguiled  her  into  a  trip  to  the  far  west.  The 
story  of  Mr.  Craig's  bridal  tour  has  been  so  often  told,  and  the  partic- 
ulars of  his  early  settlement  here  have  been  so  thoroughly  bruited 
abroad,  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  repeat  them  here.  Suffice  it  to  say 
that  after  a  life  of  excessive  toil  and  hardship,  during  which  he  has 
amassed  a  considerable  quantity  of  property,  Mr.  Craig  finds  himself 
surrounded  by  his  nine  children,  none  of  whom,  in  all  probability,  will 
ever  realize  the  conditions  from  which  their  prosperity  sprang,  and 
himself  still  able  to  enjoy  life  and  its  blessings.  These  are  the  princi- 
pal settlers  of  the  township  in  the  timber.  A  few  of  those  already 
mentioned  got  out  short  distances  from  the  timber.  Mr.  William 
Parris  claims  to  be  the  first  man  that  ventured  out  into  the  prairie  in 
Oakwood  township.  He  moved  from  the  state  road,  where  he  had  been 
since  1834,  to  the  edge  of  the  prairie  northwest  of  Muncie,  in  1842. 
He  then  went  farther  out  and  moved  a  house  into  the  prairie  where  J. 
M.  Havard  now  lives.  This  house  was  brought  all  the  way  from  Salt 
Fork  and  put  up  where  it  still  stands,  in  1844  —  thirty-five  years  ago. 
But  this  was  only  a  short  distance  from  the  timber.  At  that  time,  even, 
large  tracts  of  land  lay  unoccupied  and  almost  unfrequented  within  the 
present  limits  of  Oakwood  township  ;  all  the  western  part  of  the  town- 
ship was  open   and  much  of  it  afterward   sold  at  very  low  figures : 


OAK  WOOD   TOWNSHIP.  841 

such  as  was  denominated  swamp  land  was  sold  as  low  as  twelve  and 
a  half  cents  per  acre.  The  first  to  settle  in  the  prairie  northwest 
of  where  the  village  of  Fithian  now  is,  was  James  H.  Black.  His  resi- 
dence was  beyond  the  settlements  entirely ;  he  was  deemed  crazy, 
almost.  The  first  settlers  had  thought  that  if  they  secured  the  prairie 
adjoining  the  timber  no  one  would  ever  go  beyond  them,  and  they 
would  thus  have  perpetual  range  on  the  prairie.  Mr.  Black  made  his 
home  where  he  now  lives  in  1856  ;  here  he  bought  two  hundred  and 
forty  acres  of  land  and  improved  it.  At  about  this  same  time  William 
M.  Rutledge  came  to  the  prairie  where  he  now  lives,  in  the  northwest 
corner  of  Oakwood  township.  He,  too,  has  remained  where  his  home- 
place  is  for  twenty-three  years ;  he  owns  just  one  half  section  here. 
He  is  a  son  of  the  early  settler,  A.  W.  Rutledge,  who  located  south- 
east of  New  Town  in  1832.  These  pioneers  of  the  prairie  have  en- 
joyed a  remarkable  degree  of  good  luck.  They  bought  their  land  for  a 
trifle ;  they  were  not  under  the  necessity  of  clearing  it  before  they 
could  cultivate.  They  were  not  compelled  to  fence  for  some  time,  and 
all  they  required  to  become  independent  was  a  determination  to  stay 
right  there.  Their  land  has  increased  in  value  more  than  tenfold  in 
many  cases,  and  what  could  have  been  bought  for  a  few  hundreds  then 
is  worth  as  many  thousands  now. 

In  following  up  Stony  Creek  the  early  settlers  began  to  get  out  into 
the  prairie  somewhat.  At  the  "Crab  Apple  Grove"  we  find  Joseph 
L.  Shepherd,  in  1849.  He  bought  land  there,  and  has  remained  near 
the  same  place  ever  since.  A  little  farther  up,  and  more  decidedly  in 
the  prairie,  we  find  James  Gorman  as  early  as  1853.  From  about  this 
time  the  active  occupation  of  the  prairie  may  be  dated.  When  we  look 
over  this  broad  area  of  productive  farm-land,  and  see  the  immense 
crops  of  corn,  oats,  wheat  and  potatoes  that  are  annually  produced,  and 
the  herds  of  cattle  and  droves  of  hogs  that  go  to  feed  the  hungry 
multitudes  of  our  large  cities,  and  then  remember  that  twrenty-five  years 
ago  all  of  this  was  unknown  ;  that  croaking  frogs  and  creeping  serpents 
occupied  these  rich  fields,  the  progress  of  a  quarter  century  provokes 
our  wonder  as  well  as  challenges  our  admiration. 

RELIGIOUS    INTELLIGENCE. 

Like  all  other  branches  of  society's  interests,  the  items  of  interest  in 
Oakwood,  of  a  religious  character,  are  diversified  and  peculiar.  Not 
only  do  we  find  the  various  denominations  represented,  but  we  have  a 
complicated  history  of  almost  every  one.  The  various  points  of  settle- 
ment and  their  peculiar  relations  make  it  almost  impossible  to  give  a 
correct  and  intelligent  account  of  the  progress  of  religious  interests  in 


842  .         HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

the  township.  If  we  are  to  judge  of  a  people's  piety  by  the  number 
of  ecclesiastical  organizations  which  they  maintain,  then  Oakwood 
might  be  accounted  righteous.  So  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  learn, 
there  are  nine  regular  places  of  holding  religious  services.  There  is  a 
provoking  indetiniteness  in  facts  and  traditions  handed  down  from  the 
origin  of  things  through  the  lips  of  generations.  Taking  into  account 
the  probabilities,  we  suppose  that  the  first  preaching  in  this  coun- 
try was  among  the  Indians  by  missionaries.  And  here  we  do  not  refer 
to  the  original  efforts  in  this  direction  by  Marquette  and  his  followers, 
but  to  more  recent  work.  Near  the  old  Oakwood  farm  the  Indians 
had  meetings  quite  regularly,  until  some  time  after  the  settlement  of 
the  pale-faces  in  their  immediate  vicinity.  As  a  minister  among  the 
white  inhabitants  the  earliest  was,  probably,  Mr.  Richard  Gideon,  a 
regular  Predestinarian  Baptist  minister,  who  lived  one  and  a  half 
miles  southwest  of  New  Town.  He  came  about  1S26  or  1827,  and  held 
meetings  occasionally  in  various  parts  of  the  country.  But  he  soon 
went  away,  and  whether  he  organized  a  band  of  followers  we  know  not. 
There  is  a  society  of  the  same  faith  near  where  he  lived,  but  its  origin 
does  not  date  back  to  his  day.  The  first  organized  society  of  which  we 
have  any  positive  information,  was  what  was  called,  in  a  later  day, 
"  Old  Bethel."  This  was  a  Methodist  church,  and  stood  one-half  mile 
south  of  New  Town.  The  first  preaching  of  this  denomination  was 
by  Revs.  Risley,  Fox  and  Colston.  Before  the  building  of  the  church 
meeting  was  held  in  private  houses.  "  Old  Bethel "  was  built  about 
1835  or  1836.  It  was  one  of  the  first  houses  of  worship  in  the  county. 
It  was  30  x  40  feet,  and  cost  about  $500.  It  was  erected  by  Ashley 
Southerland.  Prominent  members  of  this  society  at  that  time  included 
Eli  Helmick,  Stephen  Griffith,  Mr.  Haston,  and  many  others.  The 
"Bethel  Circuit "  included  a  vast  scope  of  territory.  People  came  from 
remote  points  in  order  to  get  within  a  church.  Twenty  miles  was  not 
considered  a  great  distance  to  go  in  order  to  attend  quarterly  meeting. 
This  first  building  answered  the  purposes  of  the  society  until  1873, 
when  a  new  house  was  erected  at  New  Town.  This  is  a  large,  com- 
modious and  well-finished  frame  building.  It  was  put  up  by  Mr.  Kirsh, 
at  a  cost  of  $2,100.  The  society  is  a  strong  one,  and  keep  a  flourish- 
ing Sabbath-school  in  operation  throughout  the  year.  New  Town  is 
the  head  of  a  circuit  and  contains  a  parsonage  for  the  pastor.  Eli  Hel- 
mick has  charge  of  the  work,  at  present,  as  a  supply.  The  circuit  in- 
cludes the  societies  at  Pilot  Chapel,  Emberry,  Finley  and  Bethel,  with 
others  where  no  buildings  are  erected.  The  society  at  Bethel,  as  well 
as  the  circuit  of  which  it  is  the  head,  represents  the  most  influential 
elements  in  the  community  in  which  they  exist.     In  following  up  the 


OAKWOOD   TOWNSHIP.  843 

history  of  Methodism  in  this  township  we  shall  find  that  nearly  all  of 
these  societies  are  an  outgrowth  of  the  original  one  at  Bethel.  Pleas- 
ant Grove  class  is  one  of  the  most  recent.  It  was  organized  at  Pleas- 
ant Grove  school-house  in  February,  1879.  It  began  with  forty  mem- 
bers, and  although  only  a  short  distance  from  Bethel,  the  good  people 
there  propose  building  a  house  of  worship.  This  society  originated  in 
a  remarkable  religious  interest  which  manifested  itself  among  a  people 
who  had  hitherto  been  outside  of  church  faith  or  creed.  Forty  new 
members  were  formed  into  a  society,  and  others  withdrew  their  mem- 
bership from  elsewhere  and  put  it  in  here.  John  Cook  was  made  class 
leader,  and  services  are  regularly  held  in  the  school-house.  This  soci- 
ety also  keeps  up  a  flourishing  Sabbath-school.  They  have  a  large 
attendance,  and  a  manifest  interest  in  the  study  of  the  scriptures.  At 
the  Brown  school-house  there  was  a  class  of  Methodists  organized 
in  1873.  Rev.  Mr.  Cline  put  this  society  in  working  order.  A.  J. 
Bennett  is  the  class-leader.  Preaching  is  held  regularly.  There  is  a 
membership  at  present  of  about  thirty.  They,  too,  keep  up  a  Sabbath- 
school. 

Finley  Chapel  was  built  as  a  union  church,  but  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  Christian  (New  Light)  church.  This  was  in  the  summer 
of  1854.  Zephaniah  Wilkins  was  the  principal  man  in  having  the 
building  put  up.  James  C.  Osborne  was  the  mechanic,  and  he  had  a 
mechanic's  lien  on  the  property.  When  he  failed  to  get  his  pay,  he 
sold  the  property  to  Enoch  Kingsbury,  of  Danville.  Mr.  Kingsbury 
sold  to  the  trustees  of  the  Methodist  church.  The  Methodists  came 
into  possession  of  Finley  in  1860.  About  this  time  the  society  was 
first  organized  by  Rev.  John  C.  Long.  Mr.  Long  was  the  first  man 
who  preached  in  the  church.  It  had  not  been  finished  up  until  these 
men  took  hold  of  it.  At  the  beginning  there  were  about  thirty  mem- 
bers. Prominent  among  these  were:  John  Makemson,  John  M.  Doran, 
Martin  R.  Oakwood,  George  Cadle,  Louis  Anderson,  L.  G.  Collett, 
George  A.  Fox,  and  the  wives  of  most  of  these.  William  C.  Harrison 
was  another  whose  influence  and  money  helped  the  good  cause  along. 
He  gave  the  ground  on  which  the  church  stands.  John  M.  Doran  was 
the  first  class-leader.  George  A.  Fox  has  been  class-leader  for  a  num- 
ber of  years.  George  A.  Fox,  W.  H.  Fox,  Charles  Hillman,  E.  C. 
Layton,  Joseph  Truax,  are  the  trustees.  The  church  cost  the  Method- 
ists altogether  about  $1,000.  It  is  getting  a  little  old  now.  The 
intention  is  to  build  another  before  many  years,  and  locate  it  in  Oak- 
wood  Station.  There  are  at  present  about  one  hundred  and  thirty 
members.  In  the  history  of  Finley  there  have  been  three  extraordi- 
nary revivals.     The  first  was  under  the  care  of  Rev. B.  F.Hyde,  in  the 


844  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

winter  of  1868.  This  was  first  in  importance,  though  not  in  time. 
One  hundred  and  thirty-five  persons,  mostly  heads  of  families,  united 
with  the  church  at  this  place  during  a  series  of  meetings.  In  1876, 
under  the  administration  of  G.  Louther,  one  hundred  and  thirty-three 
joined.  These  were  mostly  young  people.  In  1866,  under  the  efforts 
of  John  C.  Long,  there  was  quite  a  manifestation,  and  thirty  united 
with  the  church.  In  the  western  end  of  the  township  this  denomina- 
tion did  not  flourish  so  early  as  in  the  east.  The  first  to  begin  church 
organization  were  the  regular  Predestinarian  Baptists.  The  first 
Methodist  preaching  in  west  of  Stony  Creek  was  probably  by  Eli 
Helmick.  John  C.  Long,  while  on  the  New  Town  circuit,  held  meet- 
ings in  the  school-house  above  Conkey  Town.  Revs.  Bradshaw  and 
Wallace  preached  here  in  the  same  place.  A  society  was  formed,  and 
worship  kept  up  until  the  building  of  the  church  in  Fithian.  In  1859 
there  was  a  society  of  Methodists  formed  at  the  Central  school-house. 
The  first  preaching  here  was  by  Eli  Helmick.  Mr.  Helmick  preached 
in  nearly  even7  neighborhood  in  the  western  part  of  the  county.  As 
early  as  1830  he  traveled  over  this  country.  He  of  course  did  not 
preach  on  the  prairie  at  that  time.  Joshua  Worley  preached  at  Cen- 
tral school-house  quite  early.  John  E.  Yinson  did  the  first  preaching 
after  the  organization  of  the  society.  The  Central  appointment  has 
continued  ever  since  the  first  organization. 

The  Regular  Predestinarian  Baptists,  or,  as  they  have  been  nick- 
named by  some,  the  Hard-Shell  Baptists,  were  early  occupants  of  the 
religious  field  here.  They  held  the  first  meetings  in  the  neighborhood 
of  Conkey  Town.  These  were  in  a  log  school-house  near  the  old  Aaron 
Dalbey  farm.  Rhodes  Smith  was  the  principal  man  of  influence  in  the 
church.  At  that  time  he  was  keeping  a  small  store  on  the  east  side  of 
Stony  Creek,  on  the  State  road.  John  Orr  was  the  first  Baptist  preacher. 
At  a  later  date  Mr.  Smith  moved  farther  up  the  Creek,  near  "  Crab 
Apple  Grove,"  and  a  society  was  formed  and  met  at  his  house  regular- 
ly. This  was  in  1S58.  The  organizer  and  minister  for  some  time  was 
Elder  John  Orr.  The  members  of  this  society,  as  it  was  first  organized 
at  Mr.  Smith's,  were  the  following:  John  Orr  and  wife.  Rhodes  Smith 
and  wife,  Jesse  Berk  and  wife,  Thomas  Cox  and  wife,  James  Smith, 
William  Smith,  Martin  Orr  and  wife,  Nancy  Truax  and  Rebecca  Truax. 
After  some  time  the  meetings  were  held  in  the  Gorman  school-house. 
They  continued  in  the  school-house  till  the  building  of  their  church, 
one  and  one-half  miles  north  of  Oakwood  Station.  This  was  put  up  in 
the  spring  of  1876.  It  is  26x36  feet.  It  cost  8800.  The  ministers 
at  the  time  of  the  building  of  the  church  were  R.  A.  Rabourn  and 
Stephen  Cox.     They  still  officiate  in  that  capacity.     This  society  has  a 


OAKWOOD   TOWNSHIP.  845 

neat  country  church.  It  has  a  membership  of  forty-one.  After  the 
first  organization  it  grew  till  it  had  thirty  members.  Then  it  expe- 
rienced a  season  of  decline.  At  one  time  there  were  but  nine  belong- 
ing. It  then  took  new  life,  began  to  prosper,  and  has  continued  with 
the  result  above  mentioned. 

The  Walker's  Point  Church  of  Missionary  Baptists  was  established 
on  Stony  Creek  about  1854.  The  first  preachers  were  Carter  and 
Blankenship.  The  society  contained  at  first  the  following  members : 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Harrison  Stearns  and  one  daughter,  Seneca  Stearns, 
Joseph  Jones  and  wife  and  two  daughters  and  one  son,  Nancy  Hart 
and  Nancy  Deakin.  Harrison  Stearns  and  Joseph  Jones  were  appoint- 
ed deacons  at  the  first  organization.  The  church  edifice  was  erected  in 
1857.  It  is  36x45  feet,  and  cost  $1,200.  There  is  a  membership  of 
one  hundred  and  five.  F.  P.  Dalbey  is  clerk.  Mr.  Stearns  is  still  dea- 
con. In  addition  to  the  regular  services  of  the  church,  a  Sabbath-school 
is  kept  in  good  running  order.  This  is  the  only  society  of  this  denom- 
ination that  we  have  found  in  the  township.  It  is  in  a  prosperous  con- 
dition, so  far  as  we  learned.  Its  church  building  was  the  first  in  this 
part  of  the  township.  It  was  the  second  in  the  township,  so  far  as  we 
can  ascertain. 

That  branch  of  the  Christian  church  which  has  been  called  New 
Lights  ever  since  the  time  of  Stone,  of  Kentucky,  manifested  quite  an 
enterprising  spirit  in  the  early  settlement  of  the  west.  Isaac  Emly  and 
Zephaniah  Wilkins  were  the  principal  men  in  the  first  efforts  here. 
Religious  services  were  held  in  the  Conkey  Town  school-house,  and  a 
society  organized  that  continued  seven  or  eight  years.  Mr.  Emly  did 
the  preaching  here.  The  Peytons  and  Elizabeth  Cast  were  the  most 
important  members  of  this  society ;  but  for  some  reason,  which  we  did 
not  learn,  the  society  failed  to  keep  up  an  organization  here.  The 
efforts  of  the  same  denomination  in  the  Oakwood  neighborhood  have 
already  been  noticed.  Stephen  Griffith  built  a  brick  church  and  gave 
it  to  these  people  conditionally.  There  was  an  organization  at  this 
place  for  some  time,  but  Mr.  Griffith  finally  took  the  building  back, 
and  the  place  of  meeting  was  changed  to  the  Craig  school-house. 
Services  were  held  here  until  1862,  when  the  organization  was  re- 
moved to  Pilot  township,  where  the  reader  will  look  for  a  contin- 
uation of  its  history.  In  1874  Rev.  H.  H.  Gunn  organized  a  society 
of  Christians  —  New  Lights  —  at  the  Central  school-house.  He  con- 
tinued to  preach  there  for  two  years,  and  then  Rev.  John  Green 
moved  into  the  neighborhood  and  took  charge  of  the  church.  He  is 
the  present  pastor.  His  church  numbers  forty  members  at  this  point. 
Richard  A.  Friedrich  is  the  clerk  of  the  society.     They  seem  in  a  pros- 


846  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

perous  condition,  and  though  they  have  no  church,  they  have  one  of 
the  best  school-houses  in  the  township  in  which  to  hold  their  meetings. 
The  Campbell ite  division  of  the  Christian  church  began  meetings 
in  the  school-house  north  of  Conkey  Town  a  number  of  years  ago. 
William  P.  Shockey  was  the  minister.  He  organized  a  society  here. 
Thomas  Deakin  and  wife,  William  Fellows,  and  Cyrus  Ratcliff  and 
wife,  were  among  the  more  prominent  members.  The  organization 
was  kept  up  for  a  half  dozen  of  years,  and  then  discontinued.  The 
number  of  religious  organizations  that  'sprung  up  in  this  vicinity  is 
remarkable.  The  Christians  (Campbellites)  organized  a  society  at  the 
Gorman  school-house  in  1869.  The  Eev.  R.  M.  Martin  was  the  first 
to  hold  meetings  at  this  point,  but  the  organization  was  perfected  by 
Rev.  W.  F.  Yates,  of  Champaign  county.  Isaac  Davis,  James  Rice 
and  wife,  Marcus  Davis  and  wife,  Thomas  Cox,  William  Dearth  and 
P.  T.  Hedges  were  the  principal  members  at  the  organization.  They 
enrolled  forty-two  names  at  the  beginning  ten  years  ago.  There  are 
about  sixty  at  present.  At  one  time  they  reached  nearly  ninety  mem- 
bers. There  are  at  present  two  elders  and  one  deacon.  P.  T.  Hedges 
and  James  Rice  are  the  former,  while  William  H.  Dearth  fills  the 
position  of  the  latter.  These  have  served  in  their  respective  positions 
from  the  first  organization  of  the  society.  Thomas  Cox  wss  deacon 
from  the  organization  until  the  fall  of  1878.  The  present  pastor  is 
John  C.  Myers.  A  Sabbath-school  of  considerable  interest  is  kept  up 
at  this  point.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  people  are  not  without  oppor- 
tunities of  moral  culture,  and  that  a  variety  of  persuasions  offer  a 
number  of  creeds  sufficient  to  meet  the  religious  predilections  of  a 
much  diversified  population. 

EARLY    INDUSTRIES. 

First  and  foremost  among  things  of  this  kind  must  be  placed  the 
salt-works.  This  enterprise  called  the  first  settlers  to  the  county ;  it 
supplied  them  with  a  necessity  that  was  hard  to  obtain  anywhere  else; 
its  importance  was  recognized  by  Indian  and  white,  and  by  govern- 
ment as  well.  But  as  the  work  and  its  influence  are  discussed  else- 
where, it  is  unnecessary  to  dwell  long  upon  it  here.  The  one  hun- 
dred kettles  in  which  salt  was  made  were  scattered  over  the  country, 
and  occasionally  one  may  still  be  seen. 

In  point  of  time,  the  old  water-mill  on  the  Salt  Fork  came  in  next 
after  the  industry  above  mentioned.  It  was  put  up  at  a  very  early  date ; 
in  1826  it  was  in  active  operation  ;  it  continued  for  a  number  of  years. 
At  that  time  people  would  come  all  the  way  from  McLean  county  in 
order  to  get  their  grinding  done.     The  mill  stood  out  in  the  middle  of 


OAKWOOD   TOWNSHIP.  847 

the  stream  just  north  of  the  present  mill ;  it  was  built  of  logs,  and  ran, 
as  all  other  mills  did  at  that  time,  by  water-power.  It  was  succeeded 
in  about  the  year  1837  by  a  mill  put  up  by  Aaron  Dalbey  for  Mr.  John 
Shepherd,  who  came  to  Illinois  from  Ohio  in  1836.  Mr.  Shepherd  put 
$3,000  in  this  mill,  and  then  died  before  he  could  realize  anything  from 
his  expenditures.  The  mill  then  fell  into  the  hands  of  Aaron  Dalbey, 
and  from  his  possession  to  Mr.  Parris.  Parris  operated  it  awhile  and 
then  sold  out  to  John  Hay.  In  1873  C.  M.  Berkley  bought  the  mill 
and  has  been  running  it  since  that  time ;  the  same  building  that  Shep- 
herd put  up  is  now  used ;  it  shows  very  evidently  the  marks  of  time ; 
it  was  moved  from  the  position  that  it  first  occupied  to  the  bank  of  the 
creek  ;  this  was  only  a  short  distance.  It  is  30  x  42^  feet ;  it  has  both 
water  and  steam  power.  The  supply  of  water  is  so  constant  that  the 
steam  is  seldom  used.  The  mill  is  situated  just  north  of  the  south  line 
of  Oakwood  township. 

The  first  mill  on  Middle  Fork  is  in  dispute.  It  is  frequently 
impossible  to  get  two  stories  alike.  One  old  settler  tells  us  that 
Mr.  Whitsill  built  the  first  mill  on  Middle  Fork  about  1832  or  '33, 
that  he  operated  it  several  years,  and  then  it  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
McGee  family  ;  this  was  a  grist-mill  with  a  saw-mill  added  ;  it  finally 
went  down  on  account  of  age.  Another  man,  who  has  been  in  this 
country  more  than  fifty  years,  tells  us  that  James  Howell  built  the  first 
mill  on  Middle  Fork ;  that  he  operated  it  a  short  time  and  died,  that 
his  son  did  likewise ;  that  a  Mr.  Downing  then  took  it,  and  next  James 
Cunningham  ran  it  till  it  went  down.  This  was  first  a  saw-mill,  but  it 
finally  had  a  corn-cracker  attached  before  it  closed.  About  forty  years 
ago  James  George  built  a  grist-mill  on  the  Middle  Fork  and  operated 
it  eight  or  ten  years  ;  he  then  sold  to  Mr.  Watts.  The  last  named  ran 
the  mill  seven  or  eight  years  and  sold  to  Phillips.  Mr.  Phillips  then 
sold  to  Abisha  Sanders.  Done  &  Byerly  rebuilt  the  mill  and  set  it  to 
going  with  new  energy,  but  it  soon  passed  into  the  hands  of  Swift,  of 
Danville,  who  owns  and  runs  it  at  the  present  time. 

COAL. 

Aside  from  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  the  most  valuable  natural  endow- 
ment of  Oakwood  township  is  her  coal.  It  is  of  good  quality  and  very 
abundant ;  there  have  been  such  quantities  taken  from  the  banks  that 
the  farmers  could  almost  get  it  for  hauling  away.  For  a  number  of 
years  in  the  first  opening  up  of  the  business,  any  who  wished  could  dig 
all  the  coal  wanted  and  take  it  away  free  of  charge.  The  first  use 
made  of  this  coal  -was  probably  by  Mr.  Vance  in  boiling  salt-water ; 
he  began  using  coal  about  1830.     The  first  who  mined  and  hauled  coal 


848  HISTOKY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

away  to  sell  were  Rice  &  Co. ;  they  would  haul  with  teams  to  Champaign 
and  adjoining  counties.  The  first  bank  opened  was  about  three  miles 
southeast  of  Oakwood  Station.  We  find  the  following  in  the  business 
at  present :  John  Thomas,  B.  Coffeen,  William  Moore,  McBroom  & 
Yerkis,  G.  L.  Hiatt,  L.  Teach,  Valentine  Shock,  Francis  and  Charles 
Moore ;  these  nearly  all  ship  coal.  The  number  of  bushels  annually 
taken  out  is  immense ;  the  exact  amount  we  have  no  means  of  ascer- 
taining, but  the  enterprise  seems  destined  to  increase  in  magnitude  and 
importance  until  it  will  be  second  to  no  interest  in  the  township.^ 

EDUCATIONAL. 

In  discussing  the  educational  condition  of  affairs,  we  can  find  noth- 
ing new.  It  is  the  same  old  story  that  we  have  all  heard  our  grand- 
parents tell, —  of  log  school-houses,  of  smoking  fire-place,  where  the 
full  length  of  one  side  of  the  house  was  devoted  to  the  purpose  of 
warming  the  others,  of  stick-chimneys  in  many  cases,  of  greased  paper 
for  glass,  of  an  absent  log  for  a  window,  of  puncheon  benches  for  seats, 
where  little  fellows'  legs  might  hang  over  and  go  to  sleep  all  they  chose, 
so  that  the  eyes  were  on  the  book ;  in  short,  of  all  the  trials,  tempta- 
tions, hardships  and  vexations  of  pioneer  pedagogy.  As  a  remarkable 
instance  of  the  elementary  condition  of  the  early  schools,  we  were  told 
of  a  little  incident  in  the  school  life  of  Michael  Oakwood.  At  times 
they  had  had  a  good  teacher  in  the  Oakwood  settlement,  one  who 
could  go  beyond  the  "  double  rule  of  three."  Young  Mr.  O.  had  pro- 
gressed finely  in  his  studies,  as  things  were  counted  then,  and  as  he 
was  a  young  man,  and  still  desirous  of  attaining  more  knowledge  than 
the  curriculum  of  the  common  school  afforded,  he  was  advised  to  begin 
this  advanced  course  of  culture  by  a  study  of  English  grammar.  Such 
a  course  could  be  pursued  only  by  the  thoroughly  ambitious  and  quali- 
fied pupil.  Mr.  O.  was  fortunate  enough  to  have  a  teacher  who  had 
been  through  the  labyrinth  of  English  syntax,  but  said  pedagogue 
had  not  yet  learned  our  present  habits  of  oral  instruction.  It  was 
therefore  necessary  that  a  text-book  be  purchased.  The  free-hearted 
disciple  of  Pestalozzi  of  to-day  would  have  loaned  so  ambitious  a 
student  anything  in  his  library,  but  the  library  of  the  teacher  in  this 
case  contained  no  treatise  on  this  abstruse  science.  The  young  man 
was  advised  to  apply  to  the  book  venders  of  Danville.  He  did  so,  but 
without  success.  He  was  told  that  English  grammars  were  not  used  in 
the  schools  of  Vermilion  county,  that  they  never  before  had  any  call 
for  such  an  article,  and  that  in  the  city  he  would  find  his  search  vain, 
unless  certain  families  of  culture,  lately  from  the  east,  should  happen 
to  have  the  article,  and  would  be  kind  enough  to  benefit  him  with  a 


OAKWOOD   TOWNSHIP.  849 

loan  of  the  same.  The  search  terminated  as  anticipated.  Mr.  O. 
found  a  Kirkham  with  the  compendium  gone.  He  used  this  until  he 
had  an  opportunity  of  sending  to  Chicago,  by  Mr.  Rankin,  who  took 
up  a  drove  of  cattle,  and  brought  back  the  necessary  books.  We  were 
further  told  of  the  ignorance  of  some  of  the  early  instructors  in  these 
schools  by  a  man  who  attended  one  of  the  first  in  the  country.  It 
was  simply  the  inability  to  work  through  the  fundamental  principles 
of  arithmetic.  Our  informant  said  that  he  "  stalled "  his  teacher  in 
long  division.  "Whether  he  worked  out  himself,  or  whether  the  teacher 
finally  mastered  the  "  sum,"  or  whether  teacher  and  pupil  remained 
on  the  elementary  side  of  long  division,  we  were  not  told,  but  certain 
it  is  that  much  of  the  early  teaching  bore  about  the  same  relation  to 
our  modern  successful  teaching  that  the  old  wooden  mold-board  plow 
bore  to  the  present  riding  plows.  But  why  should  not  we  expect  the 
same  relations  ?  This  is  an  age  of  progress,  and  he  who  thinks  he  sees 
some  great  things  in  "the  good  old  times"  needs  but  go  back  to  his 
wooden  mold-board  plow,  his  reap-hook  and  his  sled  ;  and  in  school 
facilities  to  the  testament  for  a  child's  reader ;  to  a  book  on  geography 
without  any  maps ;  and  to  the  days  when  none  but  men  dare  teach  in 
winter,  and  dare  not  refuse  to  treat  on  holidays  without  the  penalty  of 
a  ducking  and  a  barred  door  against  him. 

The  first  school  building  in  the  township  was  built  about  1829  or 
1830.  It  was  of  the  usual  pioneer  pattern,  and  stood  close  to  the  pres- 
ent site  of  New  Town.  'Squire  Newel  and  a  Mr.  McGuinn  taught  in 
this  house  soon  after  it  was  built.  This  house  continued  in  use  for 
some  time,  but  another  was  built  on  what  has  a  long  time  been  known 
as  the  parsonage  hill,  just  south  of  New  Town.  Another  of  the  early 
school-houses  was  built  on  the  State  Road,  near  Stony  Creek.  At 
present  the  contrast  is  great  between  the  building,  their  conveniences 
and  number  as  compared  with  the  condition  forty  years  ago.  Large, 
commodious  and  well-furnished  school-houses  may  be  seen  in  almost 
every  district.  There  is,  generally,  a  good  class  of  teachers,  and  the 
progress  in  school  work  is  rapid  and  practical. 

WAR    AND    POLITICAL    RECORD. 

In  the  Indian  war  of  1832  Oakwood  had  its  representatives.  Ste- 
phen Griffith,  David  Makemson  and  Samuel  Makemson  were  in  the 
war.  At  least,  they  went  out  as  the  threatenings  of  Indian  invasion 
became  evident.  The  volunteers  from  this  part  of  the  state  did  not 
reach  the  scene  of  action  in  time  to  participate  in  the  illustrious  cam- 
paign at  Stillman,  but  they  were  on  hand  at  a  later  period,  ready  to 
enter  "the  thickest  of  the  fight."  Mr.  Crawford,  from  Indiana,  went 
54 


850  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

out  with  the  company  of  Independents.  He  still  lives,  and  resides  in 
the  western  part  of  the  township.  He  is  the  only  man  living  in  the 
township  now  that  was  in  the  Black  Hawk  war.  There  were  a  num- 
ber in  the  Mexican  war  from  this  township,  it  is  said;  but  they  have 
either  moved  away  or  died,  as  we  met  no  man  who  volunteered  from 
this  part  of  the  county.  In  the  war  of  1861  Oakwood  furnished  her 
full  proportion.  Captain  Levin  Vinson  led  his  company  mostly  from 
the  east  side  of  this  township.  All  over  the  country  we  meet  men 
who  braved  the  cannons  of  a  confederate  foe.  Here  and  there  may  be 
found  a  widow  with  a  number  of  children  whose  father  perished  in 
his  countrv's  service.  Anions  those  who  left  a  wife  and  children  we 
found  the  following:  George  Boord,  of  Co.  C,  125th  Reg.;  William 
Hart,  2d  Lieut.  Co.  G,  125th,  and  Nathan  C.  Howard,  Co.  D,  135th 
Reg.  Of  Mr.  J.  H.  Black's  four  sons  that  were  in  the  army,  two  died, 
one  in  Jefferson  City,  Missouri,  of  typhoid  fever,  and  another  near 
Washington,  of  the  same  disease.  Thomas  W.  Smith,  of  Co.  F,  26th 
Reg.,  was  wounded  in  the  second  day's  fight  before  Atlanta.  He 
was  taken  to  Chattanooga  and  interred  in  section  F,  grave  670,  in  the 
general  hospital  cemetery,  on  the  13th  of  September,  1864.  In  the 
cemetery  on  the  State  Road  several  soldiers  are  buried.  Two  were 
buried  in  one  day  at  one  time.  Although  their  deeds  were  among  the 
bravest  of  warlike  feats  on  record,  others  rest  in  their  unknown  graves 
with  their  praises  sung  only  in  the  general  patriotic  anthems  of  the 
nation.  But  the  results  of  their  labors  are  the  same  as  though  their 
names  were  inscribed  on  every  tombstone  in  the  land,  and  their  deeds 
in  the  mouths  of  all  who  enjoy  the  blessings  of  liberty,  prosperity  and 
happiness  so  dearly  bought  and  bravely  won  by  the  nation's  gallant 
men. 

In  political  matters,  the  township  is  pretty  nearly  evenly  divided 
between  democrats  and  republicans.  This  has  been  the  case  for  a  few 
years  only.  Formerly,  Oakwood  stood  republican  by  large  majorities. 
On  national  and  state  questions  they  still  hold  the  field,  but  in  local 
elections  we  find  a  few  democrats  in  office.  Although,  as  a  general 
rule,  we  find  "stalwart"  republicans  in  this  part  of  the  county,  men 
whose  opposition  to  democracy  is  as  pronounced  and  vigorous  as  the 
most  radical  could  desire,  we  do  not  find  much  bitterness  nor  party 
strife  in  local  affairs. 

RAILROADS    AND    HIGHWAYS. 

As  has  been  remarked  elsewhere  in  these  pages,  the  prairies  of  this 
country  were  not  occupied  until  a  comparatively  recent  date,  but  noth- 
ing has  contributed  more  largely  to  this  result  than  the  railroads.  Oak- 
wood  is  traversed  its  full  length  by  the  Indianapolis,  Bloomington  & 


OAKWOOD   TOWNSHIP.  851 

Western  railroad.  This  road  enters  the  township  from  the  east,  near 
the  southeast  corner  of  section  8,  town  19,  range  12,  and  with  the  ex- 
ception of  a  short  curve  on  the  east  side,  follows  the  section  line  west 
through  to  the  county  line.  This  is  two  miles  north  of  the  south  line 
of  the  township.  The  road  was  built  in  1870  and  1871,  and  though 
many  persons  were  cheated  out  of  the  pay  for  their  work,  it  made  lively 
times  for  awhile.  Previously  there  had  been  a  few  little  places  which 
had  been  striving  to  attain  the  dignity  of  "  town,"  so  that  when  the 
railroad  came  much  strife  was  manifested  in  securing  the  location  of 
stations.  But  the  three,  though  small,  furnish  so  many  shipping  points 
for  the  farmer,  and  tend  to  give  a  lively  competition  in  this  line  of 
business.  Much  grain  and  stock  are  shipped  by  this  road.  It  furnishes 
direct  communication  with  Indianapolis,  and  will  be  the  means  of  in- 
ducing a  thorough  cultivation  of  this  wonderful  farming  land.  To  one 
unacquainted  with  shipping  figures,  the  amount  already  shipped  from 
these  small  stations  seems  wonderful  —  both  of  stock  and  grain. 

The  oldest  wagon-road  in  this  township,  or  anywhere  in  the  western 
part  of  the  county,  is  the  old  State  Road,  which  dates  back  to  pioneer 
days.  It  runs  obliquely  through  the  south  part  of  the  township,  pass- 
ing out  at  the  south  side  about  two  and  one-half  miles  from  the  county 
line.  On  this  road  the  early  settlements  on  the  south  and  west  side 
of  the  township  were  made.  It  is  still  much  traveled.  There  were 
roads  along  the  timber  in  various  places  at  quite  remote  dates,  but  we 
found  it  impossible  to  trace  their  origin.  At  present  nearly  every  sec- 
tion line  in  the  township  is  a  laid-out  road,  while  there  are  many  that 
do  not  follow  lines.  The  level  character  of  the  country  makes  it  neces- 
sary that  these  be  either  graded  or  drained.  In  some  places  we  find 
thoroughfares  that  must  be  well  nigh  impassable  in  rainy  weather,  but 
generally  the  roads  are  in  good  condition.  This  is  more  especially  true 
of  those  that  lead  east  to  Danville,  and  there  are  several. 

ORGANIZATION    OF    OAKWOOD. 

Although  the  system  of  township  organization  was  adopted  in  1850, 
Oakwood,  as  a  distinct  township,  dates  its  birth  from  a  much  more  re- 
cent period.  What  is  now  included  within  the  limits  of  this  township 
lay  formerly  in  Pilot,  Vance  and  Catlin.  On  the  2d  day  of  October, 
1867,  Geo.  A.  Fox,  supervisor  from  Vance  township,  offered  a  resolu- 
tion creating  a  new  township  from  the  territory  of  Vance,  Catlin  and 
Pilot,  in  accordance  with  the  prayer  of  certain  petitioners  from  said  town- 
ships. At  this  time  Mr.  West  was  supervisor  from  Pilot  and  Mr. 
Church  from  Catlin.  These  gentlemen  supported  the  motion,  but  the 
supervisors'  court  concluded  to  delay  action  thereon  until  the  March 


852  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

session  of  the  next  year,  in  order  that  all  persons  affected  by  the  pro- 
posed change,  might  have  opportunity  to  approve  or  disapprove  the 
change.  Accordingly,  on  the  9th  of  March,  1868,  the  petition  pre- 
sented in  the  fall  of  186T  was  again  taken  np,  and  Mr.  Fox  urged  the 
passage  of  a  resolution  creating  the  new  township.  An  effort  was  made 
to  postpone  again  the  consideration  of  this  resolution,  but  without  suc- 
cess. The  prayer  of  the  petitioners  was  then  granted,  whereupon  the 
township  was  declared  created,  and  an  election  ordered  for  the  purpose 
of  selecting  township  officers.  This  first  election  was  held  at  the  Stearns 
school-house  on  the  7th  of  April,  1868 :  Geo.  A.  Fox  was  elected  su- 
pervisor ;  Henry  Sallee,  town  clerk ;  J.  A.  Littler,  assessor ;  J.  A. 
Brothers,  collector ;  Joseph  Truax,  Levin  Vinson,  J.  C.  Jenkins,  com- 
missioners of  highways ;  Samuel  Major  and  Thomas  Makemson,  con- 
stables; Geo.  A.  Fox  and  J.  H.  West,  Justices  of  the  peace.  The 
present  officers  are  (elected  on  the  2d  of  April,  1879)  Henry  J.  Oak- 
wood,  supervisor ;  Henry  Sallee,  town  clerk ;  W.  H.  Noble,  assessor ; 
William  Craigmile,  collector ;  Joseph  Mullins,  commissioner  of  high- 
ways. Elected  in  1878 :  James  Hargan,  commissioner  of  Highwaj-s. 
Elected  in  1877:  J.  A.  Littler  and  William  P.  Van  Allen,  justices  of 
peace ;  J.  K.  Sowards  and  Charles  K.  Trimble. 

There  are  two  precincts  in  Oakwood  township,  called  first  and  sec- 
ond ;  the  line  which  separates  them  extends  north  and  south  between 
sections  21  and  22,  16  and  15,  9  and  10,  4  and  3,  T.  19,  R.  13,  and  be- 
tween sections  33  and  34,  28  and  27,  T.  20,  R.  13.  Oakwood  Station 
is  the  point  of  voting  for  the  first,  and  Fithian  for  the  second. 

VILLAGES. 

Oakwood  can  boast  of  the  number,  if  not  the  size,  of  the  hamlets  with- 
in its  borders.  If,  in  considering  these  places,  we  begin  with  that 
which  dates  farthest  back  in  the  settlement  of  this  country,  the  place 
around  which  early  legends  cling  with  the  dim  uncertainty  that  char- 
acterizes the  histoiw  of  a  Thebes,  a  Cuzco,  a  Nineveh  or  a  Jericho, 
we  must  turn  our  attention  first  to 

NEW    TOWN. 

This  village  was  surveyed  and  laid  out  by  Benjamin  Coddington, 
from  the  east  half  of  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  25,  T.  20,  R.  13. 
The  lots  were  made  three  rods  wide  and  six  rods  long ;  the  alleys  are 
one  rod  wide.  Main  street  extends  north  and  south  four  rods  wide; 
High  street  extends  east  and  west,  of  the  same  width.  The  plat  of  the 
village  was  filed  on  the  15th  of  June,  1838,  and  given  under  the  hand 
of  Owen  West,  county  surveyor,  and  filed  with  the  probate  justice  on 


OAKWOOD   TOWNSHIP.  853 

the  27th  of  June,  1838.  The  first  man  to  locate  in  the  vicinity  of  this 
place  was  Stephen  Griffith,  whom  we  have  referred  to  as  coming  to 
this  neighborhood  in  about  1825  or  1826  ;  but  Mr.  Griffith  was  not 
connected  with  the  town.  Mr.  Coddington  built  the  first  dwelling. 
Within  a  year  or  two  after  the  building  of  the  first  house  in  the  village 
Hezekiah  Miners  built  the  second.  About  the  same  time  Jonathan 
Harris  put  up  the  first  store  ;  he  ran  the  business  for  a  short  time,  and 
then  they  were  a  long  time  without  any  store.  William  Reed,  the 
earl}7  sheriff  of  the  county,  built  a  residence  here  in  1837.  A  black- 
smith shop  was  set  up  about  1838  or  1839 ;  this  finally  failed  and  the 
second  one  was  not  started  until  1857  or  1858.  Thomas  Henderson  put 
up  a  store  in  1849.  In  the  mean  time  a  few  families  had  gathered 
around  the  spot,  until  at  present  there  are  nearly  a  score  of  buildings 
in  that  vicinity.  There  is  one  blacksmith-shop,  one  wagon-shop,  one 
shoe-shop,  one  school-house,  one  church,  one  drug-store  and  postoffice, 
one  general  country  store  of  dry-goods,  clothing,  groceries,  etc.  etc., 
one  M.D.,  and  one  parsonage  where  a  minister  may  generally  be  found. 
New  Town  lies  off  the  railroad,  and  thus  experiences  a  disadvantage  in 
competition  with  its  sister  villages.  The  postoffice  is  kept  by  S.  H. 
Oakwood.  Its  name  is  Pilot,  and  confusion  is  thus  sometimes  made 
from  the  fact  that  Pilot  township  lies  so  close  to  the  north  and  that 
there  is  a  postoffice  there,  near  Pilot  Grove.  At  New  Town  there  is 
quite  a  flourishing  lodge  of 

A.F.   &  A.M. 

This  lodge  was  organized  through  the  efforts,  more  particularly,  of 
Tilton  and  Payne,  merchants  here.  For  a  short  time  they  worked 
under  dispensation  with  the  following  persons :  Lonzo  G.  Payne,  John 
O'Ferrall,  T.  J.  George,  Asbury  Craig,  A.  J.  Bennett,  J.  G.  Kirsh, 
John  Cork,  jr.,  A.  S.  Tevebaugh,  G.  F.  Hilliary,  James  Osborne,  A. 
B.  Tilton.  Added  to  these  were :  D.  Makemson,  A.  McVicker,  Sam- 
uel Durham,  J.  H.  Trimmell,  S.  H.  Oakwood,  C.  W.  Keeslar,  C.  Sum- 
ner, John  P.  Tevebaugh,  Jesse  Wilson,  J.  H.  Van  Allen,  M.  C.  Davis, 
Samuel  Solomon,  F.  A.  Collison,  C.  J.  Martin  and  Jesse  Doney  for 
charter  members.  Catlin  Lodge  is  looked  upon  as  the  mother  of  this. 
The  charter  is  dated  Chicago,  October  7,  1 874.  A.  G.  Payne  was  the 
first  master.  Since  that  time  Dr.  O'Ferrall  and  Thomas  George  have 
acted  in  that  capacity.  In  the  summer  of  1874,  Tilton  and  Payne, 
merchants,  built  a  new  storehouse,  and  above  they  made  a  hall  and 
sold  it  to  the  lodge.  This  hall  is  22x45  feet;  it  is  fixed  up  nicely, 
carpeted,  and  the  rooms  furnished  with  all  the  paraphernalia  of  a  well- 
equipped  lodge  of  A.F.  &  A.M.     The  society  is  out  of  debt   and  in 


854  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

good  condition.  They  have  a  membership  of  about  forty.  The  officers 
at  present  are :  John  O'Ferrall,  W.M. ;  J.  G.  Kirsh,  S.W. ;  M.  C.  Da- 
vis, J.W. ;  John  Swift,  Secretary ;  J.  V.  Ludwig,  S.D. ;  A.  S.  Teve- 
baugh,  Treasurer;  C.  Sumner,  Tyler. 

CONKEY    TOWN. 

Some  years  ago  there  was  quite  a  cluster  of  houses,  and  a  lively 
business  was  done,  at  what  was  called  Conkey  Town.  At  present 
it  is  difficult  to  find  much  of  the  place,  but  we  can  find  where  it  was. 
Here  is  an  instance  of  the  influence  that  a  railroad  has  on  a  small 
country  village  when  it  passes  to  one  side  a  short  distance.  We  have 
no  record  of  any  survey,  or  any  laying  off  into  a  town  ;  but  O.  M. 
Conkey  came  here  about  1851,  and  operated  a  general  country  store. 
He  came  from  Eugene,  Indiana.  A  Mr.  Denman  set  up  a  blacksmith- 
shop,  and  Mr.  Conkey  got  a  post-office.  Conkey  sold  out  to  Rowe  & 
Beatty,  and  they  sold  to  Mattocks  &  Maters  Brothers.  These  men 
finally  closed  out  about  the  time  that  the  I.  B.  &  W.  came  through. 
There  was  also  another  man,  who  kept  a  grocery,  beer,  etc.;  but  he, 
too,  closed  out  and  moved  away.  The  first  ideas  of  trade  in  this  part 
of  the  country  were  entertained  by  Mr.  Rhodes  Smith.  He  began 
business  on  the  State  Road,  just  down  close  to  Stony  Creek,  at  quite 
an  early  day.  "Why  he  quit  we  did  not  learn,  but  suppose  that  this 
suggested  the  idea  of  Conke}7  Town,  as  well  as  the  fact  of  a  successful 
mill  which  had  been  operating  from  the  earliest  days.  During  the 
palmiest  days  of  this  little  village  Dr.  Wilkins  was  their  physician. 
He  has  left  the  reputation  of  being  a  good  practitioner,  and  an  upright 
man.  But  its  days  are  over.  The  place  reminds  one  of  Goldsmith's 
words  as  he  sings  of  the  deserted  village.  "W".  R.  Jones  now  owns  the 
site  of  the  village.  He  has  a  farm  of  two  hundred  acres  here,  and  that 
includes  the  town. 

MUNCIE. 

This  little  village  is  pleasantly  situated  on  the  I.  B.  &  W.  R.  R., 
about  fourteen  miles  west  of  Danville.  It  is  just  west  of  the  timbers  of 
Stony  Creek,  and  has  a  very  desirable  location,  so  far  as  the  natural 
advantages  presented  by  the  surface  of  the  country  are  concerned.  At 
least,  this  is  as  nearly  the  case  as  any  location  that  could  easily  be 
found  in  this  country,  where  every  place  needs  draining.  Muncie  was 
surveyed  by  Alexander  Bowman  for  Edward  Corbley,  from  the  south- 
east corner  of  section  8,  and  southwest  corner  of  section  9,  T.  19,  R. 
13.  Main  street  extends  north  from  the  corner  of  sections  8,  9,  16  and 
17.  This  corner  is  marked  by  a  stone  29-J  links  from  the  railroad 
track.     A  plat  of  the  village  was  filed  with  the  recorder  on  the  7th  of 


OAKWOOD   TOWNSHIP.  855 

September,  1875.  The  streets  extending  north  and  south  are  named 
Main,  Walnut,  Ross  and  Craig;  those  extending  east  and  west  are 
Fowler,  McCarty  and  Corbley.  The  first  dwelling  was  erected  by 
Elisha  Henry.  There  are  now  a  number  of  dwellings,  one  physician, 
one  justice  of  the  peace,  one  blacksmith-shop,  and  one  firm  selling 
goods  and  keeping  a  general  country  store.  As  yet,  Muncie  is  without 
a  school-house  and  church.  The  Baptist  church  is  not  far  away,  but 
the  school-house  is  off  quite  a  distance.  There  is  considerable  shipping 
done  from  this  point. 

The  station  at  Muncie  was  first  opened  in  November,  1876.  Will- 
iam Lynch  was  the  first  agent.  The  present  incumbent  is  W.  L. 
Spicklemire. 

A  post-office  was  first  established  at  Muncie  on  the  21st  of  February, 
1876.  Frank  A.  Hickman  was  the  first  postmaster,  William  Lynch, 
the  second,  and  Sanford  S.  Dickson,  the  third  and  last. 

FITHIAN. 

This  is  the  most  populous  village  within  the  limits  of  Oakwood 
township.  It  is  situated  in  the  prairie,  three  and  one-half  miles  east 
of  the  county  line,  on  the  Indianapolis,  Bloomington  &  Western 
railroad.  Its  origin  was  simultaneous  with  this  road  through  here. 
As  Dr.  Win.  Fithian  owned  vast  acres  of  land  in  this  part  of  the 
county,  it  was  to  his  interest  to  secure  the  location  of  a  station  upon 
it.  This  he  succeeded  in  doing,  and,  accordingly,  Asa  H.  Guy  sur- 
veyed and  laid  out  a  village  from  the  east  half  of  the  southwest  quar- 
ter and  the  west  half  of  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  7,  and  east 
half  of  the  northwest  fourth  and  the  west  half  of  the  northeast  fourth 
of  section  18,  in  T.  19,  R.  13.  The  plat  was  filed  with  the  recorder  on 
the  8th  of  April,  1870.  The  original  plat  was  a  perfect  square,  and 
contained  eight  full  and  eight  fractional  blocks,  lying  partly  on  each 
side  of  the  railroad.  The  streets  extending  north  and  south  are  — 
beginning  on  the  east  side  —  Jefferson,  Main  and  Adams ;  those  run- 
ning east  and  west  are  Clinton,  South  Sherman,  North  Sherman  and 
Washington. 

Besides  the  original  survey  there  was  another  on  the  north  side 
of  this,  surveyed  by  Alexander  Bowman,  county  surveyor,  on  the  12th 
of  October,  1873.  This  is  styled  the  Franklin  Addition,  and  was  laid 
off  for  W.  H.  Smith  and  J.  C.  Black.  It  consisted  of  four  blocks  of 
twelve  lots  each.  On  the  north  of  this  they  opened  a  street  and  named 
it  Franklin. 

Henry  Berkenbusch  was  the  first  to  arrive  at  the  new  station.  He 
had  been  keeping  store  about  one  mile  north,  but  when  the  village  had 


856  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

been  located  he  moved  down  to  the  road.  He  was  the  first  to  buy  a 
lot  here,  and  the  first  to  ship  goods  on  the  railroad.  After  a  year, 
he  took  in,  as  partner,  J.  P.  Nichols.  They  operated  together  until 
1875,  when  Berkenbnsch  sold  out  to  Nichols,  who  has  been  in  the 
mercantile  business  ever  since.  Burkenbusch  opened  his  store  here  in 
March,  1871.  The  next  merchant  was  H.  Penrod,  who  sold  agricul- 
tural implements.  He  was  followed  by  F.  M.  Cannady,  dry  goods 
and  groceries.  S.  Solomon  came  next  with  a  drug  store.  At  more 
recent  date  came  Frisch,  Littler  and  Booker,  and  Graham  Brothers, 
who  still  remain.  The  first  physician  in  the  village  was  Dr.  Rice- 
Dr.  Smith,  of  Muncie,  was  located  here  for  some  time. 

Fithian  does  quite  a  lively  business  for  so  small  a  place  in  the  way 
of  shipping,  both  of  grain  and  stock.  It  has  one  of  the  largest  ware- 
houses, on  the  railroad,  in  this  part  of  the  country.  But  there  are  a 
number  of  grain  and  hog  buyers,  and  as  much  or  more  business  is  done 
outside  of  the  warehouse. 

The  first  postmaster  was  Henry  Berkenbusch.  The  present  incum- 
bent is  George  W.  Graham,  who  has  held  the  office  since  1872.  The 
school-house  was  built  in  1873.  This  building  shows  the  effects  of 
constant  wear,  but  the  Methodist  church  recently  put  up  here  is  an 
ornament  to  the  town.  Although  there  are  few  church  members  here, 
this  edifice  speaks  well  for  the  community. 

OAKWOOD    STATION. 

This  village  was  surve}7ed  by  the  county  surveyor,  Asa  H.  Guy,  on 
the  14th  of  April,  1870,  for  Clark  R.  Griggs,  from  the  S.E.  £  and  S.W. 
•J  of  section  12,  and  the  N.E.  £  of  section  13,  in  township  19,  range  13. 
It  is  composed  of  thirteen  fractional  and  seven  complete  blocks,  and  five 
out-lots  of  various  shapes  and  sizes.  There  are  twelve  blocks  on  the 
north  of  the  railroad  and  eight  and  the  five  out-lots  on  the  south.  The 
first  store  began  here  was  operated  by  Johnson  &  Stewart.  It  burned 
down  in  1871.  Henry  Dulin  put  up  the  next.  He  has  remained  here 
ever  since.  He  is  the  postmaster  at  present.  Lonzo  Campbell  built  a 
warehouse,  and  bought  grain  until  his  death.  The  property  is  now 
owned  by  his  heirs,  but  is  not  operated.  A  storm  took  off  the  roof, 
leaving  it  in  a  dilapidated  condition.  This  little  village  is  like  its 
most  intimate  neighbor,  Muncie,  in  that  it  has  neither  school-house  nor 
church.  But  the  school-house  is  not  far  away,  and  Finley  chapel  is 
near.  There  is  some  shipping  done  here,  particularly  of  corn,  cattle, 
hogs  and  coal.  The  coal  mines  on  the  Salt  Fork,  which  yield  such  an 
abundance  of  fuel,  have  this  station  as  their  principal  point  of  ship- 
ment. 


OAKWOOD   TOWNSHIP.  857 


BIOGRAPHICAL. 


John  Makemson  was  born  in  Harrison  county,  Kentucky,  on  the 
10th  of  February,  1809,  and  died  in  Bates  county,  Missouri,  on  the  15th 
of  March,  1878.  He  was  a  farmer  all  his  life.  He  lived  in  Kentucky 
till  he  was  twenty  years  old,  and  then  came  to  Vermilion  county, 
Illinois.  His  father  was  one  of  the  revolutionary  soldiers.  He 
stopped  first  north  of  Danville,  but  soon  came  to  the  east  side  of 
Oakwood  township,  and  entered  land  here  in  1829.  Mr.  Makemson 
lived  on  the  original  home-place,  now  occupied  by  his  son  David, 
for  forty-one  years.  He  moved  to  Missouri  in  1877,  on  account 
of  his  health,  and  died  there.  He  married  Elizabeth  Partlow,  on  the 
9th  of  March,  1837.  They  had  six  children,  but  onty  two  are  living, — 
a  son  and  daughter.  Mr.  Makemson  was  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
church  for  forty-four  years.  He  was  a  good  man,  much  loved  and  re- 
spected by  all  who  knew  him.    His  widow  still  lives  with  the  children. 

Stephen  Cox,  pastor  of  the  Regular  Predestinarian  Baptist  church, 
in  the  east  end  of  Oakwood  township,  came  to  this  county  in  the  fall 
of  1829,  with  his  father's  family,  from  Kentucky.  Stephen,  with  the 
other  members  of  the  family,  grew  to  years  of  maturity  on  the  Middle 
Fork.  He  has  lived  in  various  parts  of  the  neighborhood  for  fifty 
years.  He  has  lived  on  the  place  that  he  now  occupies,  just  north  of 
Oakwood  Station,  since  the  spring  of  1862. 

Joseph  V.  Davis  son  of  Joseph  Davis,  came  to  this  county  from 
Pickaway  county,  Ohio,  with  his  father,  in  1829.  His  father  was  a 
well-known  early  settler  in  the  neighborhood  of  Catlin.  Joseph  V. 
was  born  in  1825,  and  died  in  November,  1852.  He  lived  and  died  on 
his  father's  home-place.  He  married  Cynthia  McCorkle,  on  the  13th 
of  March,  1851.  They  had  one  child,  Joseph  S.  Davis,  who  now  lives 
with  his  mother,  Mrs.  Doran,  northwest  of  Oakwood  Station.  The 
original  Davis  was  a  man  of  large  property.  The  children  received 
their  clue  portion,  and  the  grandson  is  well  provided  for.  The  same 
year  that  Mr.  Davis  died  a  brother  and  brother-in-law  died.  Each  left 
a  widow  and  one  child,  and  all  had  been  married  but  a  short  time. 

Samuel  Dalbey,  a  son  of  the  early  pioneer,  Aaron  Dalbey,  was  born 
in  Winchester,  Indiana,  on  the  12th  of  October,  1829.  He  lived  with 
his  father  there,  and  came  to  this  county  in  1831.  His  father  had  six 
children  and  one  yoke  of  oxen  and  nine  dollars  in  money  at  that  time, 
but  the  boys  grew  and  prospered  notwithstanding.  Here  Mr.  Dalbey 
remained  on  the  old  farm  till  grown.  On  the  28th  of  December,  1851, 
he  married  Sarah  Watts.  After  his  marriage  Mr.  Dalbey  lived  in  va- 
rious parts  of  Oakwood  township,  in  Indiana  and  Kansas,  till  the  spring 


858  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION"    COUNTY. 

of  1865,  when  he  bought  one  hundred  and  sixt}7  acres  of  land  north  of 
Muncie,  and  has  remained  here  ever  since.  Besides  the  prairie  farm, 
he  has  some  timber  land.     The  former  is  one  mile  north  of  Muncie. 

Aaron  Dalbey,  deceased,  was  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  on  Stony 
Creek.  He  was  born  in  Pennsylvania  on  the  3d  of  July,  1801.  He  was  of 
English  descent.  He  remained  in  Pennsylvania  some  time ;  was  married 
there.  He  came  to  Ohio,  and  then  to  Indiana,  where  his  wife  died,  and 
he  married  Nancy  Wright.  She  died,  and  he  was  married  to  Henrietta 
Catlin.  Miss  Catlin  was  living  in  Indiana  at  this  time,  June  27,  1837. 
Mr.  Dalbey  came  to  Stony  Creek,  and  opened  the  third  farm  on  the 
west  side.  He  first  stopped  on  the  south  side  of  Salt  Fork  in  1831, 
and  staid  one  season.  He  then  built  the  house  on  the  west  of  Stony 
Creek,  and  opened  the  farm.  It  lies  one  and  a  half  miles  south  of 
Muncie,  and  is  still  occupied  by  his  widow  and  her  husband,  John 
McFarland. 

Simon  A.  Dickson,  deceased,  was  born  near  Dallas  in  1833.  His 
father  came  to  this  county  in  1824.  Simon  grew  up  on  a  farm,  and 
was  married  to  Elizabeth  Catlin  on  the  12th  of  September,  1854.  He 
lived  in  the  south  part  of  the  county  at  first,  and  then  moved  to  three 
miles  north  of  Fithian,  and  staid  here  about  six  years.  He  enlisted  in 
the  United  States  army  in  August,  and  left  Danville  with  the  125th 
Peg.,  in  Capt.  Fellows'  company.  He  was  in  the  fight  at  Perryville. 
He  took  pneumonia,  and  died  in  hospital  on  the  2d  of  June,  1863,  at 
Nashville,  Tennessee.  He  was  a  good  soldier.  Resolutions  of  respect 
and  sympathy  for  the  afflicted  widow  were  sent  by  the  company  to 
Mrs.  Dickson.  He  had  four  sons,  who  still  live  in  this  section  of  the 
country. 

Thornton  Hubbard.  Among  the  early  settlers,  no  one  is  better 
known  in  this  community  than  Mr.  Hubbard.  He  was  born  in  Ross 
county,  Ohio,  on  the  20th  of  March,  1821.  His  father  was  Willis 
Hubbard.  Mr.  Hubbard  has  lived  on  a  farm  all  his  life.  He  came  to 
Vermilion  county  with  his  father  in  1833.  They  stopped  on  Henry 
Oakwood's  farm.  Here  the  father  remained  until  his  death,  and  the 
son  until  he  was  twenty-one.  Mr.  Hubbard  worked  for  Major  Vance 
at  eight  dollars  per  month,  and  earned  money  to  enter  the  land  where 
his  new  house  now  stands.  «  He  married,  on  the  6th  of  April,  1854, 
Nancy  Dickson.  She  died  on  the  25th  of  January,  1859.  They  had 
two  children:  Lily  and  Willie.  He  then  married  Elizabeth  Dickson. 
They  had  two  children :  Olive  and  Charles.  Mr.  Hubbard  was  mar- 
ried to  Sarah  Hulick  on  the  25th  of  October,  1864.  They  have  three 
children  :  Lulie,  Mary  and  Willie.  Mr.  Hubbard  owns  three  hundred 
and  seventy-seven  acres  of  land,  and  has  a  large  new  house,  built  in  1877, 


OAKWOOD   TOWNSHIP.  859 

which  cost  about  $3,000.  Mr.  Hulick,  Mr.  Hubbard's  father-in-law, 
was  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  Perrysville,  Indiana.  He  was  an  under- 
taker and  liveryman  in  Perrysville  for  a  long  time.  He  afterward 
moved  to  Illinois,  and  died  in  this  state. 

Henry  J.  Oakwood,  the  present  supervisor  from  Oakwood  town- 
ship, was  born  in  Brown  county,  Ohio,  on  the  7th  of  March,  1819.  He 
came  to  this  county  with  his  father,  Henry  Oakwood,  in  1833.  Ro- 
land, Norris  and  Oakwood  were  the  first  settlers  in  the  neighborhood. 
"When  Mr.  Oakwood  first  came  to  the  county  he  stopped  on  the  south 
side  of  Salt  Fork,  and  then  built  on  the  north  side  in  the  spring  of  the 
next  year.  Henry  J.  grew  to  manhood  on  his  father's  farm,  and  began 
for  himself  by  working  around.  He  bought  his  first  eighty  acres  of 
land  on  the  north  side  of  his  father's  farm.  It  was  low  prairie,  and 
some  of  the  early  settlers  were  sorry  that  he  should  take  hold  of  such  a 
bad  piece  of  property.  But  his  land,  when  drained,  proved  to  be  a 
good  investment.  He  taught  school  three  years  in  his  younger  days, 
but  now  owns  property  enough  to  keep  him  employed  looking  after  its 
interests.  He  has  six  hundred  acres  at  present.  He  married  Priseilla 
Saylor  on  the  9th  of  April,  1850.  They  have  eight  children.  Besides 
supervisor,  which  office  he  has  held  for  some  time,  he  has  held  various 
positions  of  trust,  but  is  chiefly  known  as  a  man  of  business,  whose  en- 
ergy and  good  sense  keep  things  moving. 

Henry  Sallee  is  not  only  one  of  the  oldest  settlers,  but  he  is  one  of 
the  stanchest  men  of  Oakwood  township.  Mr.  Sallee  was  born  in 
Brown  county,  Ohio,  on  the  3d  of  June,  1810.  He  removed  to  Ken- 
tucky at  the  age  of  five  and  one-half  years,  and  stayed  with  his  grand- 
parents till  they  died.  He  came  to  this  part  of  Vermilion  county  with 
his  uncle,  Michael  Hickman,  in  1834.  He  stopped  on  the  south  side 
of  Salt  Fork  until  he  married  Matilda  Oakwood,  on  the  8th  of  January, 
1835.  She  was  a  daughter  of  Henry  Oakwood.  They  had  three 
children,  two  of  whom  are  still  living  near  their  father.  Mr.  Sallee 
bought  the  place  where  he  now  lives  and  moved  on  it  in  the  fall  of 
1837.  He  bought  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  first  and  improved  it, 
and  afterward  added  more  till  his  premises  now  include  three  hundred 
and  fifteen  acres.  He  was  married  a  second  time,  in  1861,  to  Eliza- 
beth Jones,  a  daughter  of  William  Jones,  who  settled  quite  early  on 
the  southeast  of  Danville.  Mr.  Sallee  has  been  a  member  of  the  Cum- 
berland Presbyterian  church  for  thirty-five  years,  and  an  elder  since 
1850.  He  has  been  town  clerk  since  the  organization  of  the  township, 
and  school  treasurer  of  town  19,  range  13,  for  thirty-one  years. 

Francis  M.  Rankin   resides  on   the  old   Young  farm.     His  father, 
Montgomery  S.  Rankin,  was  born  in  Kentucky  on  the  15th  of  Decern- 


860  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

ber,  1807;  his  mother,  Matilda  Blackburn,  was  born  on  the  4th  of 
March,  1808.  Francis  M.  was  born  on  the  29th  of  September,  1833, 
near  Cynthia.  Kentucky.  The  Rankins  reached  their  home  in  this 
county  on  the  14th  of  April,  1834.  They  lived  sixty  miles  up  the 
Licking  River,  and  two  families  joined,  built  a  family  boat,  and  came 
down  the  rivers  and  up  the  Wabash  to  Filson's  Ferry.  The  family 
lived  east  of  Fair  mount ;  then  four  years  at  Homer.  Mr.  Rankin,  sr., 
is  dead,  but  his  wife  is  still  living.  Francis  M.  stayed  on  the  farm 
which  his  father  bought  in  1845,  till  he  was  grown.  He  moved  to 
Iroquois  county  and  stayed  three  years,  but  has  been  in  Vermilion 
county  nearly  all  his  life.  He  bought  the  heirs'  claims  and  now  owns 
six  hundred  and  forty  acres  including  the  Young  farm.  He  deals 
largely  in  stock,  feeding  from  one  hundred  to  two  hundred  head  an- 
nually. He  was  married  to  Elizabeth  Young,  daughter  of  William 
Young,  on  the  15th  of  October,  1865.  She  was  born  on  the  30th  of 
March,  1842.  They  have  six  children  :  Gertie  is  the  oldest,  then  come : 
Montgomery  S.,  Warren  W.,  Francis  M.,  Lyford  M.,  Alta  N. 

Thomas  W.  Deakin,  deceased.  The  early  settlers  pass  away,  and 
their  places  are  filled  by  new  and  strange  men.  Their  early  struggles 
may  be  recorded  in  history,  but  the  facts  of  a  personal  character  are 
remembered  only  by  those  whose  interest  can  never  flag  in  regard  to 
the  dear  ones  gone  before.  Mr.  Deakin  was  one  of  Vermilion's  early 
settlers  —  one  of  her  persevering  pioneers.  He  was  born  in  Warren 
county,  Ohio,  on  the  2d  of  August,  1811.  His  father  died  when  the 
son  was  quite  young.  He  remained  in  Ohio  on  a  farm  until  1835, 
when  he  came  to  this  county  with  his  brother  John  Q.  His  first  stop- 
ping point  was  on  the  road  from  Danville  to  Champaign,  on  Salt  Fork. 
In  1837  he  married  Miss  Sarah  E.  Swearingen,  who  was  then  living  at 
Hickory  Grove,  Champaign  county.  He  remained  on  the  same  farm 
until  his  death.  At  first  he  entered  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of 
land,  but  afterward  he  began  enlarging  this  territory,  until  he  became 
the  owner  of  a  large  property  in  this  section  of  country.  He  was  also 
a  dealer  in  stock,  trading  to  a  considerable  extent.  He  was  a  member 
of  the  Christian  church,  and  remained  a  firm  believer  in  its  doctrines 
until  his  death. 

William  Mead,  a  son  of  Nathaniel  Mead,  one  of  the  oldest  old  set- 
tlers in  the  western  part  of  the  county,  was  born  in  Hamilton  county, 
Ohio,  on  the  24th  of  May,  1822.  He  remained  in  Ohio  until  1835, 
when  he  came  with  his  father's  family  to  Vermilion  county.  The 
family  stopped  at  Conkey  Town  when  they  first  came.  William  after- 
ward went  to  New  Town,  and  from  there  to  Mr.  Foster's  place.  He 
moved   then  to  Crab  Apple  Grove,  and   next  to  one  mile  south  of 


OAKWOOD   TOWNSHIP.  861 

Fithian.  He  then  came  to  the  farm  he  now  holds  on  State  Road, 
southeast  of  Muncie.  He  has  been  here  twenty-one  years.  A  portion 
of  his  place  has  been  cleared  of  timber.  He  married  Margaret  Tanner 
on  the  16th  of  November,  1843.  She  died,  and  he  has  married  a 
second  time.  His  children  live  near  him  with  the  exception  of  one 
son,  who  is  teaching  in  Indiana.  Mr.  Mead  has  been  industrious,  and, 
notwithstanding  the  hard  times,  is  independent  and  out  of  debt. 

John  McCarty  was  born  on  the  22d  of  August,  1809,  in  Virginia. 
His  parents  moved  to  Ohio  when  he  was  small.  His  father  was  a 
cooper.  Mr.  McCarty  was  a  farmer.  He  married  Miriam  Sewell  in 
Clinton  county,  Ohio.  They  lived  there  on  a  farm  about  six  years 
and  then  came  west.  He  came  to  Salt  Fork  in  1836.  He  staid  there 
one  year,  and  then  came  to  where  the  widow  now  lives.  They  were 
about  the  first  family  in  this  part.  Here  Mr.  McCarty  lived  until 
his  death,  on  the  18th  of  September,  1877.  He  was  school  director 
and  a  respected  citizen  in  the  community  for  a  number  of  years.  He 
had  eleven  children,  but  five  only  are  living  ;  these  are  James  S., 
George,  Alvin  N.  and  two  married  daughters.  Mrs.  McCarty  is  one 
of  the  few  remaining  persons  who  settled  in  this  neighborhood  when 
the  prairies  were  yet  undeveloped  wastes,  and  Stony  Creek  had  no 
inhabitants  but  Indians. 

Joseph  L.  Shepherd,  farmer,  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  most  success- 
ful men  on  Stony  Creek.  He  was  born  on  the  21st  of  September, 
1825,  in  Pickaway  county,  Ohio.  His  father  came  to  Ohio  at  a  very 
early  date.  Joseph  L.  was  the  youngest  of  the  family.  They  came  to 
this  county  in  1836.  Mr.  Shepherd  put  $3,000  into  a  mill  on  Salt 
Fork,  but  died  before  the  mill  began  work.  He  owned  four  hundred 
and  eighty  acres  of  land.  Joseph  L.  grew  up  in  the  neighborhood, 
and  married  Louisa  Davis  in  January,  1849.  Mr.  Shepherd  came  to 
the  farm  where  he  now  lives  in  1849,  and  stopped  at  the  grove  at  first. 
He  has  three  children  by  his  first  wife.  He  married  Elizabeth  Mires 
in  1861.  They  have  had  nine  children,  four  of  these  are  dead;  three 
died  at  about  the  same  time  with  diphtheria,  in  January,  1879.  Mr. 
Shepherd  owns  three  hundred  and  twenty-five  acres  of  land  at  home 
place,  eighty  acres  near  Fairmount,  and  fifty-eight  acres  of  timber 
land.     His  frugality  and  economy  have  made  him  independent. 

J.  C.  Stearns,  a  son  of  Seneca  Stearns,  came  to  this  county  with  the 
family  in  1836.  He  was  born  in  Clinton  county,  Ohio,  on  the  5th  of 
August,  1835.  He  grew  to  manhood  on  the  farm  still  occupied  by  his 
father.  He  worked  at  the  carpenter's  trade  for  five  years.  He  was 
married  on  the  4th  of  December,  1861,  to  Susan  Snyder,  of  Mont- 
gomery county,  Indiana.    They  set  up  on  the  farm  of  Wm  McBroom. 


HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

After  short  residences  in  various  places,  he  bought  land  on  the  State 
Road,  southeast  of  Muncie,  where  he  has  continued  to  reside  ever  since. 
He  now  has  one  hundred  and  forty-five  acres  of  good  farming  land. 
He  has  been  here  since  1866.  Although  comparatively  a  young  man, 
Mr.  Stearns  can  well  remember  the  time  when  this  country  was  yet  in 
a  state  of  almost  uncivilized  wildness. 

James  H.  West  was  born  on  the  15th  of  March,  1822.  His  father 
was  Michael  West,  who  was  a  native  of  Maryland,  but  afterward  went 
to  Kentucky,  and  then  to  Clark  county,  Ohio.  From  Clark  county, 
Ohio,  the  family  came  to  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  in  January,  1838. 
The  elder  Mr.  West  rented  a  farm  of  James  Norris,  one  mile  south  of 
Oakwood  station.  James  was  brought  up  on  his  father's  farm  in  Ohio, 
and  lived  in  the  family  in  this  county  till  grown.  He  then  went  to 
Ohio,  and  took  part  in  the  campaign  of  1840.  He  came  back  to  Illi- 
nois, and  went  to  New  Orleans,  and  from  there  across  to  Havana,  Cuba, 
with  a  load  of  produce,  which  he  sold  to  the  inhabitants  at  a  good 
profit.  He  went  to  New  Orleans  a  second  time,  and  in  1844-5  was 
engaged  in  driving  beef  cattle  to  New  York  city.  In  1846  he  went  to 
Wisconsin,  and  from  this  date  till  1850  dealt  in  horse  and  cattle  trade 
to  Wisconsin.  In  1849  Mr.  West  was  married  to  Eliza  V.  McGee,  of 
this  county.  He  then  lived  two  years  in  Champaign  county.  After 
this  he  moved  to  Middle  Fork.  He  came  to  the  place  where  he  now 
lives  in  1867.  Here  he  owns  two  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land.  He 
has  seven  children  living  and  three  dead.  Mr.  West  was  elected  super- 
visor in  Pilot  township  in  1866,  and  served  two  terms;  then  elected 
justice  of  the  peace  in  Oakwood  for  two  years;  he  then  served  as 
supervisor  for  Oakwood  for  four  years.  He  has  always  held  office  of 
some  kind.     He  has  also  been  successful  in  business. 

John  M.  Havard,  farmer,  is  yet  comparatively  young,  but  he  is  an 
old  settler  of  Vermilion  county.  He  was  born  in  New  York  city,  on 
the  31st  of  May,  1833.  His  father  was  from  Wales.  He  was  a  farmer, 
and  came  to  this  country  on  account  of  the  opening  it  presented  for 
any  who  wished  to  make  a  living.  Mr.  Havard,  jr.,  was  brought  up 
on  a  farm.  His  parents  came  to  Ohio  and  stayed  four  years.  They 
then  came  to  this  county,  in  January,  1838.  He  stopped  on  section  25, 
town  19  north,  range  14  west.  He  had  been  out  in  1834  and  bought 
land ;  he  came  on  foot.  He  stayed  on  this  farm  until  his  death,  on  the 
9th  of  August,  1859.  Mr.  Havard,  jr.,  stayed  in  this  neighborhood  till 
he  was  twenty  years  old.  His  father  bought  the  William  Parris  place, 
and  the  son  and  daughter  came  to  it,  where  they  kept  together  until 
a  short  time  before  her  death,  which  occurred  in  May,  1872,  from  con- 
sumption.     Then  Mr.  Havard  kept  tenants,  and  "  bached "  for  five 


OAKWOOD   TOWNSHIP.  863 

years.  He  married  Sarah  E.  Richter  on  the  29th  of  September,  1870. 
He  still  lives  in  the  house  that  William  Parris  moved  from  Salt  Fork — 
eight  miles — thirty-two  years  ago.  Mr.  Havard  has  eighty  acres  on 
his  home  place,  and  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  one  half  mile  north. 
He  has  four  children.  He  is  proud  of  anything  he  may  have  done  for 
the  support  of  our  country,  believing  that  patriotism  is  one  of  the  first 
principles  of  a  true  manhood.  He  received  his  education  m  the  log 
school-house,  and  although  fourteen  months  is  all  the  schooling  he 
received  from  the  age  of  six  to  seventeen  years,  yet  he  is  a  man  who 
delights  in  books  and  reading. 

Capt.  Levin  Vinson  is  well  known  and  much  respected  Iry  the  peo- 
ple of  Oakwood  township,  both  on  account  of  his  honesty  and  integrity 
as  a  man,  and  for  the  services  he  has  rendered  his  country.  He  was 
born  in  Parke  county,  Indiana,  on  the  20th  of  February,  1829.  He  was 
brought  up  a  farmer.  He  came  to  Vermilion  with  his  father  in  1840. 
They  came  to  the  same  farm  that  the  Captain  now  owns.  Mr.  Vinson 
has  been  a  large  land-holder,  but  sold  off"  recently.  He  married  Nao- 
mia  Ligget  in  September,  1850.  He  is  a  member  of  the  A.F.  &  A.M. 
lodge  at  New  Town.  Mr.  Vinson  went  out  with  the  125th  Reg.,  as 
captain  of  Co.  I.  He  led  the  company  till  they  started  with  Sherman 
to  the  sea.  His  health  failed,  and  he  resigned  in  March,  1863.  He 
came  home  and  remained. 

Isaac  K.  Cannon,  Oakwood,  farmer,  is  known  as  one  of  the  neatest 
corn-producers  of  the  township  and  of  the  county,  so  far  as  we  have 
learned.  He  is  an  old  man,  but  we  found  him  plowing  away  in  the 
warm  weather,  like  a  young  man  just  beginning  in  life.  Mr.  Cannon 
was  born  in  Delaware  on  the  15th  of  Februaiy,  1817.  His  father  was  a 
farmer,  and  the  son  staid  there  till  he  was  twenty-six  years  old.  He 
then  came  to  Ross  county,  Ohio,  and  staid  about  two  years  on  Deer 
Creek.  He  came  to  New  Town  in  1845.  He  lived  four  years  near 
this  place,  then  about  two  miles  west,  four  years,  and  then  moved  to  a 
large  farm  one  and  a  half  miles  northwest.  This  belonged  to  Mr. 
Campbell.  He  then  moved  to  Mr.  Craig's  place,  and  staid  twelve 
years;  then  to  the  place  where  he  now  lives.  After  staying  here  five 
years  he  tried  keeping  boarders  in  Fithian  for  thirteen  months.  From 
Fithian  he  went  back  to  the  farm,  and  still  lives  there.  He  bought 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land  first,  and  then  eighty.  He  now 
owns  one  hundred  and  eighty-seven  and  a  half  acres,  having  given  his 
son  a  piece.  Mr.  Cannon  married  Eliza  J.  Brown  on  the  15th  of 
March,  1838.  They  have  had  eight  children;  six  are  living,  five  sons 
and  one  daughter. 

William  Hart,  Oakwood,  deceased,  was  one  of  those  brave  men  who 


864  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

sacrificed  their  lives  for  the  sake  of  their  country.  He  was  born  in 
Cincinnati,  Ohio,  on  the  20th  of  February,  1832,  but  his  father  soon 
moved  to  the  country,  and  William  was  brought  up  on  a  farm.  He 
came  to  Vermilion  county  with  his  parents  in  1845.  He  improved  the 
farm  where  his  mother  still  lives.  In  1862  he  volunteered  in  the  125th 
111.  Inf.,  Co.  G.  He  went  out  as  a  private,  but  was  soon  appointed 
sergeant,  and  afterward  second  lieutenant.  He  was  in  the  Perryville 
fight,  October  8,  1862,  but  took  sick  afterward,  and  died  of  bone  ery- 
sipelas in  the  hospital  at  Nashville,  Tennessee,  on  the  2d  of  April, 
1863.  His  body  was  sent  home  by  the  captain,  and  interred  in  the 
cemetery  near  the  State  Road  on  the  south  side  of  the  township.  Mr. 
Hart  married  Sarah  E.  Dougherty  on  the  18th  of  December,  1853. 
They  lived  on  the  home  farm  till  after  he  went  into  the  army.  Since 
then  Mrs.  Hart  has  bought  a  small  farm  just  north  of  Fithian,  and 
kept  her  children  there.  The  youngest  was  born  after  the  death  of 
his  father.  Although  sixteen  long  years  have  passed  since  the  death 
of  the  husband  and  father,  his  deeds  still  live,  and  his  memory  will 
ever  be  cherished,  not  only  by  the  family,  but  by  all  who  honor  patri- 
otism. 

S.  H.  Oakwood  was  born  in  this  county,  in  Blount  township.  He 
is  a  grandson  of  the  original  Henry  Oakwood.  He  was  brought  up  on 
a  farm.  He  began  teaching  at  the  age  of  twenty.  He  taught  and 
farmed  for  five  }^ears,  and  then  went  into  the  drug  business  in  New 
Town  in  the  spring  of  1875.  He  has  been  postmaster  since  January 
1,  1879.  He  was  married  in  September,  1878,  to  Laura  Bennett,  of 
Georgetown.  He  is  a  member  of  the  New  Town  Lodge  of  A.F.  &  A. 
M.,  and  also  a  R.A.M.  of  the  Danville  Chapter. 

John  R.  Thompson  now  lives  on  the  farm  first  settled  by  William 
Smith  in  1830.  This  is  one  of  the  oldest  settled  farms  in  southwest 
part  of  Oakwood  township.  Mr.  Thompson  was  born  in  Washington 
county,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  12th  of  April,  1830.  He  remained  there 
till  grown.  He  then  came  to  the  western  part  of  Vermilion  county. 
He  came  with  a  drove  of  sheep,  and  continued  in  the  business  for  six 
years  afterward.  During  this  time  he  often  took  sheep  to  Chicago, 
and  herded  them  where  the  main  part  of  the  city  is  now  located.  He 
went  to  farming  about  1857.  He  was  on  the  Boswell  farm  two  years, 
and  also  two  years  on  another  east  of  his  present  residence.  He  then 
bought  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  and  improved  it,  but  sold  again, 
and  bought  two  hundred  acres  in  another  place.  This  latter  was 
known  as  the  David  Wright  farm.  He  sold  again,  and  bought  six 
hundred  acres  where  he  now  lives.  He  has  operated  this  since  1865. 
His  family  have  been  in  Danville  three  years,  but  are  now  on  the  farm 


WILLIAM  C.HARRISON 


OAKWOOD   TOWNSHIP.  SI'..". 

again,  with  the  exception  of  the  eldest  son,  who  graduated  from  the 
Danville  high  school  in  the  class  of  '79.  Mr.  Thompson  was  married 
on  the  26th  of  November,  1856,  to  Elizabeth  Wright,  daughter  of 
David  Wright.     They  have  nine  children. 

Stephen  Brothers  was  born  in  Carroll  county,  Ohio,  on  the  25th  of 
September.  1829.  His  father  was  a  farmer,  and  brought  up  his  son  in 
the  same  calling:.  Mr.  Brothers  also  followed  blacksmith  itii>\  He  came 
to  Vermilion  in  March,  1851.  He  came  to  Bloomfield,  and  then  to 
Danville,  where  he  worked  as  a  smith.  He  afterward  went  back  to 
Ohio,  and  then  to  New  York,  but  came  back  to  Illinois.  He  has  also 
been  in  Nebraska  four  years.  He  married  Mary  Hall  on  the  14th  of 
May,  1857.  They  have  two  sons.  Mr.  Brothers  is  a  member  of  the 
Methodist  church,  and  was  a  class-leader  in  Nebraska.  Mr.  Brothers 
was  in  Co.  I,  under  Capt.  Vinson.  He  was  second  lieutenant.  At  the 
battle  of  Perryville  he  was  knocked  over  by  a  shell,  but  not  seriously 
hurt.     He  resigned  his  commission  in  April,  1863. 

George  A.  Fox  has  been  more  closely  identified  with  the  local  pol- 
itics of  Oakwood  township  than  any  man  we  have  met.  He  was  born 
in  Greene  county,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  28th  of  February,  1823.  His 
father  was  a  brick  and  stone  mason.  Mr.  Fox  was  taught  farming,  and 
remained  in  his  native  county  till  the  2d  of  May,  1853.  He  reached 
the  neighborhood  where  he  now  lives,  on  the  9th  of  July,  1853.  In 
1854  he  bought  two  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land  where  he  now 
lives.  On  the  9th  of  November  he  married  Margaret  Oakwood.  She 
was  the  youngest  daughter  of  Henry  Oakwood.  They  have  six  chil- 
dren living;  one  is  a  graduate  of  the  Danville  Business  College  and 
another  is  teaching.  Mr.  Fox  was  elected  J.P.  in  1856,  and  served 
in  that  capacity  till  1870 ;  he  was  supervisor  for  four  years,  1866- 
69;  he  was  the  first  supervisor  from  this  township.  In  Vance  town- 
ship he  was  assessor  and  collector  for  three  years,  1859-61.  He  has 
been  school  director  sixteen  years ;  was  first  elected  in  1858.  He 
was  also  school  trustee  for  three  years.  In  1868  he  got  every  vote 
but  one  for  supervisor.  He  has  been  a  member  of  the  M.  E.  church 
since  the  3d  of  January,  1851.  He  has  been  class-leader  for  a  number 
of  years.  He  is  steward  and  trustee  at  the  present  time  for  Finley 
Chapel. 

Richard  A.  Friedrich,  although  not  one  of  the  oldest  settlers  of  the 
township,  is  one  of  the  first  inhabitants  of  the  prairie  where  he  now 
lives,  and  is  well  known  throughout  the  county.  He  was  born  in 
Saxon}',  Germany,  on  the  15th  of  August,  1830.  He  was  brought  up 
on  the  Hartz  Mountains.  He  went  to  school  all  the  time  he  lived  in 
Germany.  He  came  to  New  York  on  the  1st  of  December,  1848 : 
55 


866  HISTORY    OF    VERMILIOX    COUXTY. 

went  to  Prince  William  county,  Virginia,  and  staid  five  years,  coming 
to  Vermilion  county  on  the  12th  of  June,  1853,  and  settling  just  be- 
low the  Gorman  school-house  ;  he  entered  a  quarter-section  there.  He 
moved  to  where  he  now  lives,  three  miles  north  of  Fithian,  in  the 
spring  of  1867.  He  has  been  here  ever  since.  He  was  married  to 
Permelia  Allhands  on  the  6th  of  August,  1854.  They  have  had  ten 
children.  Mr.  Friedrich  owns  eighty  acres  of  land  where  he  lives. 
He  was  collector  in  1870,  '71  and  '72,  and  in  '74  and  '75  was  assessor 
and  collector,  and  in  '77  and  '78  was  supervisor.  He  has  been  school 
treasurer  for  this  township  for  the  last  ten  years. 

George  Boord,  deceased.  "  They  live.  Although  the  individual  life 
has  lost  its  identity,  its  value  can  never  be  lost.  The  nation's  life  is 
not  composed  alone  of  those  who  live,  but  of  the  many  sacred  offer- 
ings that  have  been  laid  upon  her  altars."  George  Boord  was  born 
in  Warren  county,  Ohio,  on  the  27th  of  June,  1826.  His  father  was  a 
brick-mason  and  farmer.  Mr.  Boord  was  brought  up  on  a  farm.  He 
remained  in  Ohio  six  or  seven  years,  and  then  came  to  near  Covington, 
Indiana.  He  came  to  where  his  widow  now  lives  in  1854.  He  mar- 
ried, on  the  9th  of  September,  1847,  Sarah  A.  Bowling.  She  was  a 
daughter  of  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of  Covington.  Mr.  Boord  en- 
tered one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land,  but  the  widow  has  sold 
twenty  of  it  since.  Mr.  Boord  was  a  member  of  the  125th  Reg.,  Co. 
C;  was  with  the  regiment  as  they  marched  to  Nashville.  This  broke 
his  health ;  he  was  transferred  to  the  invalid  corps  and  then  to  a  camp 
in  southern  Indiana.  He  then  went  to  Camp  Dennison  and  was  sick 
for  some  time.  Mrs.  Boord  got  word  that  he  was  worse,  and  went  to 
see  him  immediately.  She  reached  Columbus,  and  out  to  Camp  Chase, 
thinking  to  rind  him,  but  he  was  dead  and  buried  wThen  she  got  there. 
He  died  on  the  5th  of  November,  1863 ;  his  remains  rest  in  the  cem- 
etery at  Columbus,  where  the  names  of  many  soldiers  are  inscribed  on 
a  suitable  monument.  There  are  four  children  living:  Alpheus  E., 
Martha  A.,  Elijah  J.  and  Ida  May.  Martha  is  married  to  Joseph 
Fisher.  The  other  three  are  at  home.  Mr.  Boord  wras  a  member  of 
the  Christian  church  fifteen  years,  and  died  firm  in  the  faith  and  happy 
in  the  hope  of  life  to  come. 

Joseph  Truax,  Oak  wood,  farmer,  was  born  in  Muskingum  county, 
Ohio,  on  the  25th  of  Julv,  1838.  He  came  to  this  countv  in  1854;  he 
stopped  first  east  of  Pilot  Grove.  He  married  a  daughter  of  Eli  Hel. 
mick.  He  went  into  the  army  in  the  125th;  he  came  out  captain; 
he  was  all  through  the  thickest  of  the  struggle.  He  now  lives  on  his 
farm  south  of  Oakwood  Station.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  church. 


OAKWOOD   TOWNSHIP.  867 

William  B.  Dolph  was  born  in  Indiana  on  the  17th  of  September, 
1853.  He  came  to  this  county  with  his  parents  in  1854.  His  father 
is  a  farmer,  and  W.  B.  was  brought  up  on  a  farm  till  sixteen  years  old. 
He  then  attended  school  at  the  Champaign  Commercial  College.  He 
was  married  in  1875  to  Maiy  Corwin.  They  have  two  children.  They 
now  live  in  Oakwood  Station. 

Sanford  S.  Dickson,  merchant,  was  born  in  the  south  part  of  this 
county,  on  the  22d  of  July,  1855.  His  father  was  Simon  A.  Dickson. 
He  moved  about  with  his  father  until  the  latter  went  into  the  army; 
then  the  mother  and  children  went  to  Indiana  and  staid  three  years. 
They  again  moved  to  the  farm  and  Mrs.  Dickson  married  Dr.  Smith. 
From  the  age  of  sixteen  Mr.  Dickson  managed  for  himself.  After  two 
years  he  went  into  the  store  of  J.  Littler,  at  Fithian.  J.  A.  Cowles 
bought  Littler  out  and  Mr.  D.  became  partner  on  the  1st  of  January, 
1877,  and  then  moved  to  Mnncie.  The  firm  is  J.  A.  Cowles  &  Co. 
Mr.  D.  was  married  on  the  29th  of  January,  1879,  to  Frances  O.  Selby. 
Mr.  D.  is  now  the  postmaster  at  Muncie. 

John  E.  Thompson,  farmer,  was  born  in  Clarke  county,  Ohio,  on  the 
5th  of  March,  1824.  His  father  was  a  farmer,  and  brought  up  his  son 
in  the  hardy  culture  of  the  soil.  Mr.  Thompson  came  to  Edgar  county 
first,  and  then  to  Vermilion  county,  in  1856.  He  came  at  that  time  to 
the  place  where  he  now  lives.  He  married  Sarah  E.  Simpkins  on  the 
7th  of  June,  1849.  They  have  had  six  children,  but  four  only  are 
living,  three  sons  and  one  daughter.  The  daughter  married  J.  F. 
Funk.  One  son  went  to  Colorado.  Mr.  Thompson  owns  eighty  acres 
of  land,  and  farms  much  more.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Fithian  Lodge 
of  I.O.O.F.,  and  a  man  much  respected  in  the  community  in  which  he 
lives. 

James  H.  Black,  farmer.  We  were  directed  to  Mr.  Black  for  the 
facts  in  regard  to  the  early  history  of  this  country.  It  certainly  was 
fortunate,  for  few  men  are  better  acquainted  with  the  early  history  than 
he.  He  was  among  the  first  to  venture  on  these  prairies,  and  has  lived 
to  see  their  development  in  a  marvelous  way.  Mr.  Black  was  born  in 
Bourbon  county,  Kentucky,  on  the  6th  of  January,  1814.  His  father 
was  a  farmer,  and  was  born  in  the  same  county.  His  father  came  to 
Indiana  while  that  was  yet  a  territory,  to  where  Wayne  county  now 
is.  This  was  in  1814  or  1815.  The  family  came  to  Warren  county  in 
1822  or  1823.  At  that  time  they  had  to  go  south  to  mill  about  sixty 
miles.  Mr.  Black,  jr.,  remained  in  this  neighborhood  till  1856.  Then 
he  came  to  where  he  now  lives.  He  bought  two  hundred  and  forty 
acres  of  land,  and  has  lived  here  ever  since.  He  was  married  in  1834 
to  Eliza  Ann  Odell,  a  native  of  New  York.     They  had  seven  boys  and 


868  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

three  girls, — only  two  sons  and  two  daughters  now  living.  Four  of  the 
boys  were  in  the  array.  Two  of  them  died  there.  They  also  had  a 
son  cruelly  murdered  in  the  state  of  Kansas  by  a  man  who  got  into 
difficulty  with  him  in  regard  to  some  land.  Mr.  Black  has  divided  up 
his  land  among  his  children,  and  kept  only  eighty  acres  for  his  home- 
stead. John  Black,  father  of  James  H.,  was  born  in  Kentucky  about 
1785.  He  lived  in  Kentucky  till  he  had  four  children,  and  then  came 
west.  After  moving,  as  noted  above,  he  came  to  Mound  Prairie  in 
1822  or  1823.  His  was  the  third  house  there.  The  first  on  that  prai- 
rie was  John  A.  Lewins,  who  had  come  in  the  spring  of  the  same  year. 
Thomas  Cunningham  had  entered  the  land  previously,  and  came  on 
with  his  family  soon  after.  Mr.  Lewins'  family  arrived,  and  then  in 
the  fall  of  the  same  year  came  Mr.  Black.  Mr.  Black  also  maintains 
that  the  first  man  at  Perrysville  was  Jacob  Andrix.  Soon  afterward 
came  George  Hicks,  who  came  in  west  of  Perrysville.  Mr.  Andrix's 
house  was  on  the  Indian  trail  from  Fort  Harrison  to  Tippecanoe. 

John  McFarland  is  knowm  as  one  of  the  best  farmers  of  Oakwood 
township.  His  farm  shows  the  hand  of  a  careful  manager,  and  his  purse 
feels  the  weight  of  successful  farming.  Mr.  McFarland  was  born  in 
Bedford  county,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  25th  of  May,  1821.  His  father 
moved  to  Ohio  while  John  was  young.  They  lived  in  Marion  and 
Belmont  counties.  Mr.  McFarland  married  Rachel  S.  Oxford  in  Perrys- 
ville, Indiana,  in  1849.  They  had  four  children.  Mrs.  McFarland 
died,  and  he  came  to  Illinois.  In  the  spring  of  1856  he  married  the 
widow  of  Aaron  Dalbey.  They  have  four  children.  Mr.  McFarland 
now  owns  three  hundred  and  twelve  acres  of  land,  including  the  orig- 
inal farm  of  Aaron  Dalbey. 

Abraham  111k  is  a  native  of  Germany.  He  was  born  in  Wurtem- 
berg  on  the  2d  of  February,  1835.  His  father  was  one  of  the  princi- 
pal taxpayers  of  that  country.  Abraham  went  to  school  till  fourteen 
years  old,  and  then  worked  in  his  father's  vineyard.  He  came  to  New 
York  in  1853.  He  says  that  Illinois  has  the  best  reputation  in  Ger- 
many, so  he  came  to  Chicago.  After  working  in  several  places  he 
came  east  of  Homer,  and  worked  on  the  T.  "W.  <fc  W.  R.  R.,  and  lost 
his  work.  He  came  to  the  place  where  he  now  lives,  and  bought  first 
forty  acres.  Since  he  has  added  to  his  forty  till  it  is  one  hundred  and 
ninety-three  acres.  He  was  married  to  Catharine  Ford  in  1857.  They 
have  eight  children.     The  eldest,  Julia,  is  now  teaching. 

H.  C.  Wright,  farmer,  was  born  in  this  count}-.  He  owns  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty  acres  of  land  in  the  east  end  of  Oakwood  township. 
His  father  was  one  of  the  first  in  this  neighborhood.  Thomas  X.  was 
the  father's  name.     He  owned  considerable  land  in  here.     He  has  been 


OAKWOOD   TOWNSHIP.  »69 

dead  some  years.  H.  C.  lives  with  his  mother,  and  they  operate  the 
place. 

John  G.  Kirsh  was  born  in  Bavaria,  Germany,  on  the  18th  of  Octo- 
ber, 1837.  Like  all  German  children,  he  attended  school  till  fourteen 
years  old.  He  left  the  Fatherland  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  and  reached 
New  York  in  August,  1853.  He  worked  at  Terre  Haute  and  Indian- 
apolis in  hotels.  At  Covington  he  learned  the  carpenter  trade.  He 
came  to  Danville  in  1857  and  worked  at  his  trade.  In  1858  he  married 
Eliza  J.  Kinney  and  came  to  the  country.  They  had  one  child.  He 
then  went  into  the  United  States  army,  in  Co.  I,  Capt.  Vinson,  125th 
Inf.  He  was  with  the  regiment  in  the  fight  at  Perryville,  on  the  8th 
of  October.  He  was  left,  sick,  at  Bowling  Green,  Kentucky,  but 
joined  the  regiment  at  Nashville,  in  February,  1863.  He  was  with  the 
regiment  until  after  the  battle  of  Mission  Ridge,  but  was  then  detailed 
to  guard  a  Union  man's  property,  first  by  Harman,  and  then  by  J.  C. 
Davis.  He  joined  the  regiment  again  near  Atlanta,  and  went  with  it 
to  Savannah.  When  the  army  started  to  join  Grant  in  the  north,  Mr. 
Kirsh  was  captured.  He  had  gone  out  with  a  small  foraging  party, 
and  they  were  lost  and  then  captured.  The  first  night  afterward  he 
and  three  others  escaped,  and  traveled  for  some  time,  nearly  reaching 
the  command,  but  were  re-captured  and  taken  to  Augusta,  and  then  to 
Macon,  and  afterward  to  Andersonville.  Mr.  Kirsh  was  in  the  terrible 
prison  three  months.  He  more  than  substantiates  all  the  terrible 
stories  we  ever  heard  about  the  den.  Mr.  Kirsh,  with  others,  was 
taken  to  Jacksonville  and  liberated  at  the  close  of  the  war.  He  was 
reported  dead  at  one  time,  but  he  finally  reached  Springfield,  and  was 
mustered  out.  After  the  war  Mr.  Kirsh  was  married  to  Mrs.  Arm- 
strong, whose  husband  was  killed  at  the  battle  of  Sliiloh. 

Dr.  Samuel  T.  Smith  was  born  in  Fayette  county,  Tennessee,  on 
the  11th  of  December,  1818.  His  father  was  Nicholas  Smith,  a  farmer, 
and  also  an  ordained  elder  in  the  Christian  church.  Dr.  Smith  is  of  Ger- 
man descent.  He  moved  to  Wayne  county,  Ohio,  with  the  family,  in 
1820.  Here  there  were  a  vast  number  of  the  Smiths — over  four  hun- 
dred. The  Doctor  was  raised  on  a  farm.  He  moved  to  Williams 
county  in  1840,  and  remained  there  till  1850.  He  sold  his  farm  and 
went  to  studying  medicine  in  1845,  with  Drs.  Hall  and  Morrison.  He 
served  as  justice  of  the  peace  at  this  time.  He  stayed  here  till  1850. 
At  the  breaking  out  of  the  California  excitement  he  engaged  with  a 
train  from  St.  Louis,  and  went  as  physician  in  the  Great  April  Line. 
Here  he  learned  much  of  cholera.  He  came  back  in  1852  to  Ohio,  and 
next  year  to  Illinois.  He  practiced  medicine  in  Grundy  county  four 
years,  and  then  came  to  Vermilion,  in  1858.     He  went  into  the  39th 


870  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

111.  Reg.  as  physician;  was  post  surgeon  at  Mitchell ville,  Tennessee. 
His  health  failed  and  he  came  back  to  Conkey  Town,  and  then  to 
Fithian,  in  1871.  In  1877  he  moved  to  Muncie,  where  he  still  remains. 
In  1866  he  was  married  to  the  widow  of  Simon  A.  Dickson.  They 
have  three  children.  The  Doctor  has  a  large  practice  in  this  part  of 
the  county,  and  is  well  known  in  professional  circles  over  the  county 
as  a  first-class  M.D. 

"William  H.  Noble,  Fithian,  farmer,  was  born  in  Butler  county, 
Ohio.  His  father  was  a  farmer.  They  came  to  Indiana  and  then  to 
Illinois  in  1858.  Mr.  Noble  bought  land  close  to  Fithian.  He  has 
been  on  the  place  most  of  the  time  since,  although  he  went  to  the  rail- 
road when  the  new  station  started  up.  Mr.  Noble  has  been  an  officer 
in  Oak  wood  for  a  long  time.  He  is  noted  as  an  officer  of  wonderful 
executive  ability,  accuracy  in  transacting  business,  and  ability  to  please. 

James  W.  Barton  was  born  in  Shenandoah  county,  Virginia,  on  the 
4th  of  August,  1845.  James  came  to  this  county  when  thirteen  years 
old.  He  enlisted  in  the  United  States  army  at  St.  Joseph,  Champaign 
county,  in  the  51st  Reg.,  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  Co.  B.  They  went  to  St.  Louis 
first,  and  then  to  Cumberland,  Kentucky.  They  wintered  at  Nashville, 
and  were  in  the  fight  at  Murfreesboro'.  Then  they  went  to  Chatta- 
nooga. Mr.  Barton  went  into  the  hospital  on  the  4th  of  April,  1864. 
He  was  in  hospital  at  various  places,  but  recovered  sufficiently  to  join 
the  regiment  again  at  Nashville  ;  but  his  health  soon  failed,  and  he  was 
discharged  on  the  4th  of  December,  1864.  He  came  back,  and  has 
been  in  this  county  since.  Exposure  to  the  inclemency  of  the  weather, 
long  marching  and  the  hardships  of  army  life  have  broken  his  constitu- 
tion, but  he  has  been  unable  so  far  to  get  a  pension. 

W.  J.  Gohn,  farmer,  is  a  native  of  Ohio,  being  born  in  Wayne 
county  on  the  23d  of  March,  1845.  His  father  was  a  shoemaker  by 
trade.  He  came  to  Illinois  in  1862  from  Indiana,  where  he  had  lived 
two  years.  W.  J.  went  to  Indianapolis  in  1864,  and  staid  till  January, 
1870.  He  was  dealing  in  agricultural  implements.  He  came  back  in 
1870,  and  went  in  the  same  business  in  Danville,  in  1870-71.  Since 
that  time  he  has  been  on  the  farm.  He  was  married  to  Hannah  J. 
Campbell  on  the  14th  of  September,  1871.  She  is  a  daughter  of  Joseph 
Campbell,  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of  Newell  township.  They  have 
two  children. 

William  C.  Harrison,  deceased,  was  born  in  Indiana  on  the  25th  of 
March,  1837,  near  Ladoga.  His  father  was  a  farmer,  and  an  early 
settler  in  that  county ;  he  is  still  living.  Mr.  Harrison  came  to  Ver- 
milion county  in  the  spring  of  1862.  He  was  married  to  Nancy 
Graybill  in  Indiana.     She  was  a  native  of  that  state.     They  settled 


OAKWOOD   TOWNSHIP.  871 

on  a  farm  half  a  mile  south  of  Oakwood  Station.  He  bought  fifty 
acres  first,  and  increased  it  to  two  hundred  and  seventy-two.  Mr. 
Harrison  died  on  the  23d  of  February,  1879.  He  took  a  severe  cold 
and  a  sudden  attack  of  lung  fever.  Mr.  Harrison  was  an  honorable 
and  upright  citizen.  He  was  a  member  of  the  republican  central  com- 
mittee. He  was  prompt  and  reliable  in  business,  and  offered  a  life 
worthy  of  emulation.  He  died  without  owing  a  cent  except  his  doctor 
bill.  His  children  are:  James  IT.,  John  K.,  Robert  I.,  Charles  B., 
Sarah  E.,  Thomas  S.,  William  Scott,  Clark  E.  Two  of  the  eight  are 
dead. 

Ezra  J.  Bantz  is  of  English  and  German  descent,  his  ancestor 
being  from  Maryland  and  Kentucky.  He  was  born  in  Preble  county, 
Ohio,  on  the  12th  of  January,  1827.  His  father  was  a  farmer,  and 
taught  his  son  the  same  business.  When  Mr.  Bantz  was  seven  years 
old  his  father  moved  to  Delaware  county,  Indiana.  Mr.  Bantz,  sen., 
died  there,  and  the  son  began  for  himself.  This  was  in  1848.  Mr. 
Bantz  came  to  Vermilion  county  in  December,  1864,  but  moved  his 
family  in  1865.  In  March,  1848,  he  enlisted  in  the  U.  S.  army,  in  the 
15th  Inf.,  regulars,  under  Capt.  Jones.  He  enlisted  at  Logansport, 
Indiana.  They  went  to  Newport,  Kentucky,  and  remained  in  the 
barracks  there  till  ordered  to  New  Orleans.  But  before  the  command 
had  time  to  start,  the  city  of  Mexico  had  been  taken,  and  the  troops 
never  went.  Mr.  Bantz  has  a  medal,  given  him  at  Washington,  D.C., 
which  recognizes  him  as  one  of  the  veterans  of  the  Mexican  war.  E.  J. 
Bantz  was  married  to  Nancy  Thornburg  on  the  9th  of  November, 
1848,  in  Indiana.  They  have  five  children:  two  daughters  and  three 
sons.  When  he  first  came  Mr.  Bantz  bought  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  land,  but  has  increased  it  to  four  hundred  and  five. 

William  Hill  was  born  in  Muskingum  county,  Ohio,  on  the  7th  of 
March,  1836.  His  father  was  a  farmer,  and  brought  his  son  up  in  the 
same  vocation.  Mr.  Hill  came  to  Vermilion  county  in  1864.  He  was 
married  on  the  2d  of  October,  1856,  to  Corrilla  Francis.  They  have 
five  children.  They  first  came  to  one  and  a  half  miles  north  of  New 
Town.     They  moved  to  their  present  residence  in  March,  1879. 

James  Hargan,  farmer,  was  born  in  Hardin  county,  Kentucky.  His 
father  was  a  farmer,  who  lived  and  died  on  the  same  place  that  he  first 
occupied  after  his  marriage.  James  Hargan  left  Kentucky  in  the  fall 
of  1853,  and  went  to  Putnam  county,  Indiana.  Mr.  Hargan  was  born 
on  the  6th  of  March,  1826.  He  was  married  on  the  21st  of  February, 
1856,  to  Catharine  Grantham.  They  have  seven  children  living.  Ida 
May  died  in  the  spring  of  1879.  The  two  eldest  boys  are  married ; 
they  entered  the  matrimonial  state  in  the  spring  of  1879.     Mr.  Har- 


872  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

gan  came  to  Illinois  in  1865,  and  came  to  the  place  where  he  now 
lives  at  that  time.  He  is  a  man  who  takes  an  interest  in  public  wel- 
fare, and  is  now  one  of  the  highway  commissioners  of  this  township. 
He  takes  interest  in  organization  of  societies,  both  church  and  other- 
wise, and  is  himself  a  member  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  church. 

It  is  with  pleasure  we  record  the  facts  in  regard  to  a  man's  history 
whose  life  presents  a  record  of  services  rendered  for  the  public  good. 
George  W.  Graham  was  born  in  Monongalia  county,  Virginia,  now 
Marion  county,  West  Virginia,  on  the  25th  of  October,  1835.  His 
father's  name  was  Ebenezer  Graham.  George  W.  was  brought  up  on 
a  farm,  where  he  remained  until  his  fourteenth  year.  The  ten  years 
succeeding  this  date  found  him  in  various  parts  of  Marion  and  Wirt 
counties.  At  the  expiration  of  this  time  he  came  to  Henry  county, 
Indiana,  where  he  remained  nearly  two  years.  When  the  spring  of 
1861  came  it  found  him  wending  his  way  to  his  native  state.  The  war 
cloud  was  threatening,  and  he  proposed  to  be  on  the  scene  of  action. 
He  entered  the  service  immediately  as  a  scout  and  guide,  being  em- 
ployed by  Gen.  George  B.  McClellan  on  the  recommendation  of  Gov. 
Pierpoint.  He  continued  in  this  service  about  three  months,  until 
the  7th  of  August,  when  he  enlisted  in  the  three  years'  service  of 
the  Union  army.  He  remained  in  the  6th  Va.  Inf.  nine  months 
under  Capt.  Maulsby.  The  company  was  then  transferred  to  the  In- 
dependent Battery  Light  Artillery.  During  1862  they  served  in  vari- 
ous parts  of  West  Virginia,  keeping  the  front  line  of  the  rebels  back 
till  they  were  sent  into  the  valley,  in  the  winter  of  1862.  The  first 
fight  of  importance  in  which  the}7  were  engaged  was  at  Martinsburg, 
on  the  15th  of  June,  1863,  where  Capt.  Maulsby  was  wounded  and 
Mr.  Graham  took  command.  He  led  the  batterv  from  this  time  on. 
They  were  at  Winchester  on  the  22d  and  24th  of  July,  and  followed 
the  illustrious  Sheridan  through  his  valley  campaign.  Mr.  Graham's 
career  was  marked  with  success  from  the  beginning.  As  a  scout  and 
guide,  he  rendered  important  service  in  directing  the  movements  of 
the  army,  on  account  of  his  acquaintance  with  the  country.  When  he 
enlisted  he  entered  as  a  private.  He  held  all  the  noncommissioned 
offices  in  the  company,  and  then  went  through  the  commissions  to  the 
head  of  the  list.  He  received  his  first  commission  in  the  spring  of 
1862;  was  afterward  first  lieutenant,  and  then  took  command  of  the 
company  in  June,  1863.  He  was  mustered  out  at  Harper's  Ferry  in 
the  fall  of  1864.  He  staid  in  Virginia  about  one  year  afterward,  and 
then  came  to  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  in  summer  of  1865.  He  first 
stopped  on  Salt  Fork,  near  old  Major  Vance's  salt  works,  bought  forty 
acres  of  coal  land,  and  worked  a  good  part  of  the  time  in  the  coal  busi- 


OAKWOOD   TOWNSHIP.  873 

ness.  He  came  to  Fithian  in  the  spring  of  1871  ;  here  he  united  with 
his  brother,  and  formed  the  firm  of  Graham  Brothers,  and  has  con- 
tinned  in  the  mercantile  business  ever  since.  These  gentlemen  have 
been  quite  successful  in  life,  and  by  their  industry  have  gained  a  con- 
siderable portion  of  this  world's  goods. 

Enoch  T.  Graham,  of  the  firm  of  Graham  Brothers,  is  a  native  of 
Virginia.  He  was  born  in  Monongalia  county  on  the  4th  of  May, 
1820.  His  father,  Ebenezer  Graham,  was  a  farmer,  and  brought  up 
his  children  in  that  best  of  methods,  the  method  that  makes  honest 
toil  the  base  of  future  prospects.  Enoch  remained  on  the  farm  until 
he  reached  the  years  of  maturity.  After  the  death  of  his  father  he 
bought  out  part  of  the  heirs,  and  held  the  homestead.  He  held  this 
until  the  j^ear  1862.  Mr.  Graham  was  established  in  mercantile  busi- 
ness in  Wirt  county,  Virginia,  for  some  time.  Before  the  beginning 
of  the  war  in  1861  he  closed  out,  and,  having  sold  out  his  interest  in 
the  homestead,  came  to  Henry  county,  Indiana,  in  1866.  Here  he 
bought  a  farm,  and  remained  two  years.  Then  he  bought  eighty  acres 
of  land  in  Champaign  county,  Illinois,  and  remained  there  two  years. 
From  Champaign  county  he  came  to  Vermilion,  in  1871.  He  and  his 
brother  formed  the  partnership  which  still  exists,  and  began  business 
immediately  in  the  village  of  Fithian.  They  keep  a  general  stock  of 
dry  goods,  groceries,  clothing,  etc.  Mr.  Graham  has  never  been 
pierced  by  Cupid's  arrows,  but  remains  a  free,  un trammeled  man  of 
single  blessedness.  The  season  of  his  life  which  Mr.  Graham  regards 
as  most  trying  was  from  1861  to  1863.  He  was  a  delegate  from  Wirt 
county  to  the  convention  which  met  at  Wheeling,  on  the  11th  of  June, 
1861,  to  reorganize  the  government  of  Virginia.  As  will  be  remem- 
bered, this  convention  appointed  Pierpoint  governor,  and  he  went 
ahead  with  the  restored  government  till  the  state  of  West  Virginia 
was  admitted  to  the  Union.  Mr.  Graham  was  elected,  on  his  return, 
clerk  of  the  circuit  court,  and  held  the  office  till  1863.  These  men 
were  all  declared  traitors  by  the  old  government,  and  many  of  them 
were  caught  and  sent  to  Libby  prison.  Mr.  Graham  had  to  fly  to  the 
Ohio  River  twice  during  his  term  of  office,  in  order  that  raiding  par- 
ties might  not  destroy  the  public  documents  in  his  possession. 

L.  R.  Myers  is  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  but  was  brought  up  on  a 
farm  in  Ohio,  where  he  moved  when  young.  He  came  to  Vermilion 
county  to  the  place  where  he  is  now  living  just  north  of  Muncie.  He 
is  operating  the  old  Vance  place,  which  belongs  to  the  heir  of  Richard 
Fox.  In  1869  he  married  Sarah  E.  Lowman,  who  was  living  in  this 
county  at  the  time.     They  have  six  children. 

Although  Mr.  G.  W.  Purnel  is  not  one  of  the  old  settlers  of  Ver- 


874  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

niilion  county,  be  is  a  native  of  the  Wabash  valley.  He  was  born  in 
Fountain  county,  Indiana,  fifteen  miles  east  of  Covington,  on  the  13th 
of  February,  1834-.  His  father  was  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of  that 
part  of  the  country,  and  his  mother  is  still  living.  She  is  eighty-four 
years  old,  and  as  lithe  and  active  as  many  a  young  woman.  She  can 
walk  a  mile  almost  as  quick  as  anyone,  and  is  constantly  engaged  in 
some  kind  of  work.  Her  husband  cleared  seventy  acres  of  heavy 
timber  in  those  early  times,  and  she  spun  and  wove  the  cloth  for  the 
children's  clothing.  Mr.  Purnel,  jr.,  was  brought  up  on  the  farm  near 
Covington.  His  father  died  in  1852.  In  1854  he  married  Nancy 
Henry.  He  came  to  his  present  residence,  just  south  of  Muncie,  in 
1871.  He  bought  two  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  land  here,  and  has  a 
fine  farm  clear  of  encumbrances.     He  has  four  children. 

Thomas  Firebaugh,  Ogden,  farmer,  was  born  in  Champaign  county, 
Illinois,  on  the  22d  of  August,  1845.  His  parents  were  early  settlers 
in  that  part  of  the  state.  Thomas  came  to  Vermilion  in  1872,  and 
settled  where  he  now  lives.  He  was  married  in  1868  to  Lucinda 
Hobick.  He  has  five  children.  He  bought  eighty  acres  of  land  here 
from  Thomas  Hannah  in  1871.  Mr.  Firebaugh  is  a  member  of  the 
Christian  church. 


BLOUNT  TOWNSHIP. 

Blount  township,  which  received  its  name  from  Mr.  Blount,  who 
had  been  an  early  settler  in  the  town,  but  who  had  moved  away  before 
he  became  famous,  lies  in  the  exact  center  of  the  countv,  having  two 
tiers  of  townships  north  of  it,  two  south  of  it,  and  Pilot  to  the  west 
and  Newell  to  the  east.  It  was  formerly  attached  to  and  a  portion  of 
these  two  latter,  for  political  purposes,  but  the  two  streams  North  Fork 
and  Middle  Fork  formed  such  barriers  to  the  convenient  interchange 
of  neighborly  civilities  and  the  transaction  of  official  business,  that  in 
1856  the  supervisors  erected  that  portion  which  lay  between  the  two 
streams  into  a  separate  township,  and  called  it  Fremont,  after  the  popu- 
lar, dashing  general,  who  that  year  was  the  republican  candidate  for 
president.  This  name  did  not  prove  entirely  acceptable  to  the  demo- 
cratic "  element,"  which  was  a  rank  growth  of  that  time,  in  this  Messo- 
potamia,  and  they  decided  on  the  present  name.  The  lines  which  form 
its  eastern  and  western  boundaries  are  very  irregular,  but  follow,  as 
near  as  straight  lines  and  right  angles  can  keep,  within  hailing  distance 
of  a  creek.  It  embraces  all  the  southern  half  of  town  21,  range  12, 
two  half  sections  of  town  21,  range  11,  three  and  one  half  sections  of 


BLOUNT   TOWNSHIP.  875 

town  21,  range  13,  all  except  nine  sections  of  town  20,  range  12,  and  a 
narrow  strip  of  the  west  side  of  town  20,  range  11,  making,  in  all, 
slightly  more  than  a  congressional  township  and  a  half.  Its  surface  is 
higher  in  the  middle  and  north,  where  the  prairie  lies,  and  was  princi- 
pally covered  in  its  southern  half  and  along  its  eastern  and  western 
boundaries  with  a  stalwart  growth  of  forest  trees  of  oak,  walnut, 
maples,  and  here  and  there  a  beech,  which  is,  so  far  as  the  writer 
knows,  the  most  northerly  appearance  of  this  forest  tree  in  this  state. 
The  timber  line  has  been  very  materially  increased  since  the  earlier 
settlements  by  the  protection  which  civilization  has  thrown  around  it. 
Where  originally  only  a  few  scattering  trees  stood,  like  sentinels  on  an 
advanced  picket,  is  now  found  a  full  growth  of  beautiful  timber.  A 
few  farms  have  been  made,  of  course,  where  timber  originally  grew, 
but  an  old  resident  says  there  is  much  more  forest  in  the  township  now 
than  when  white  men  first  came  into  it. 

The  Indians  were  still  here  along  the  banks  of  the  Middle  Fork 
when  the  early  settlers  came.  For  four  or  five  years  they  were  here 
irregularly,  remaining  a  part  of  the  year  near  the  famous  spring,  which 
attracted  their  attention,  on  the  present  farm  of  Cyrus  Crawford,  on  or 
near  section  8  (20-13).  They  always  appeared  friendly,  and  did  not 
seem  jealous  of  their  new  neighbors.  Mrs.  Hannah  Fairchild,  who 
lived  near  them,  says  they  often  came  to  her  home  for  such  articles  as 
they  wanted,  and  seldom  gave  her  any  cause  for  alarm.  At  this  time 
the  Indians  were  not  permanently  located  here,  but  spent  a  portion  of 
their  time  here,  while  getting  ready  to  move  across  the  Mississippi 
River.     They  numbered  fifteen  hundred  at  that  time. 

Samuel  Copeland  was  among  the  firsc  to  settle  here,  if  not  the  very 
first,  in  Blount  township.  He  settled  in  a  bay  of  the  prairie,  on  section 
14,  and  resides  at  the  same  place  yet,  within  a  few  rods  of  the  place 
where  he  stuck  stakes  fifty-one  years  ago.  He  was  led  to  settle  here 
because  he  thought  it  was  healthy  and  would  soon  settle  up.  His  wife 
and  four  children  accompanied  him.  He  had  hired  a  man  to  cut  some 
rails,  and  brought  a  load  of  plank  with  him.  His  first  care  was  to  get 
some  place  to  live.  He  leaned  the  rails  up  against  a  tree,  and  put  the 
planks  down  on  the  ground  for  a  floor  and  bed,  and  went  to  hewing 
logs  for  his  house.  As  soon  as  he  could  get  the  logs  hewn  he  sent  to 
State  Line  for  help  to  put  them  up.  A  house-raising  was  one  of  those 
occasions  which  required  the  aid  of  the  entire  neighborhood,  and  in 
his  case  of  another  neighborhood,  also,  for  he  could  not  get  men  in  his 
own  to  put  it  up.  It  was  thought  to  be  no  more  than  a  duty  which 
one  owed  to  any  new  settler,  to  "help  him  raise."  No  special  invita- 
tion was  thought  to  be  necessary.     Notice  was  sent  to  make  known 


876 


HISTORY    OF    VERMILIOX    COUNTY. 


the  fact  that  a  house  was  to  be  raised,  and  everyone  who  got  notice 
deemed  it  just  as  much  his  duty  to  go  as  to  "  fodder  his  stock  "  or  cut 
his  night's  firewood.  "When  Copeland  got  his  logs  ready  he  sent  out 
notice,  and  men  came  on  horseback  six  or  eight  miles  to  put  them  up. 
The  first  day  it  rained,  and  they  had  to  go  back  home  without  accom- 
plishing the  work,  but  the  next  day  every  man  came  back  to  finish  the 
job.  Nobody  thought  of  accepting  pay  for  such  acts.  If  a  house  was 
to  be  moved,  the  habit  was  to  turn  out  with  their  oxen  and  hitch  to  it  and 
move  it  to  the  desired  location.  If  a  lunch  was  spread  it  was  all  right 
and  was  enjoyed,  but  if  not  convenient,  the  men  would  go  home  after 
their  neighborly  work  was  accomplished.  He  erected  his  first  house 
right  across  in  front  of  where  his  present  house  stands.  This  house  was 
sold  after  he  built  his  present  residence,  and  moved  to  Blue  Grass 
Grove,  and  after  that  was  moved  to  Buck  Grove,  and  may  be  in  Chi- 
cago or  Milwaukee  by  this  time,  if  it  kept  on  moving  on  the  approach 
of  civilization.      The  early  settlers  came  principally  from  Ohio,  Indi- 


A    PIONEER    CABIN. 


ana  and  Kentuck}*.  When  Copeland  came  here,  in  182S,  Ware  Long 
lived  out  east  of  him  in  the  timber,  and  remained  there  until  he  died. 
Amos  Howard,  Mr.  Shokey  and  Mr.  Priest  lived  in  the  southern  part 
of  the  township,  each  of  whom  had  families.  Ezekiel  Knox  lived  about 
three  miles  south.  He  made  a  good  farm,  and  left  a  family  when  he 
died.  Several  families  soon  settled  around,  on  and  near  sections  26  and 
35  (20-12),  near  the  south  line  of  the  township.  This  was  for  a  long 
time  known  as  Howard's  neighborhood. 


BLOUNT   TOWNSHIP.  877 

The  first  school-house  built  in  town  was  the  old  log  house  one  half 
mile  east  of  Mr.  Copeland's  house.  The  neighborhood  built  it  in  1830. 
It  was  a  considerable  undertaking  for  the  time,  as  there  were  few 
to  help,  and  voting  taxes  for  schools  and  school-houses  had  not  then 
been  invented.  But  these  people  rightly  estimated  that  what  they 
did  in  the  way  of  improving  their  condition  in  a  financial  point  of 
view  would  be  of  little  value  to  their  children  unless  they  could  have 
schooling.  John  Skinner  was  the  first  teacher.  The  earliest  scholars 
were  William,  George  and  Perry  Copeland,  William  Wright,  Nancy 
and  Susan  White,  Mr.  Fairchild's  children,  Mr.  Louin's  and  Mr. 
Swisher's.  Three  years  later  the  settlement  around  Copeland's  had 
stretched  out  so  far  west  that  a  frame  school-house  was  erected  on  the 
road  half  a  mile  west  of  Mr.  Copeland's  house.  In  this  new  house,  which 
still  lacked  all  the  modern  improvements  of  swing-back  seats  and 
lock-drawer  desks,  blackboards,  etc.  John  Higgins  and  John  Stipp 
taught.  At  that  time  it  did  not  cost,  including  books,  to  exceed  three 
dollars  a  term  to  school  a  child ;  at  present  the  amount  is  hardly  less 
than  four  or  five  times  that. 

The  first  preaching  in  the  township  was  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  McKain, 
in  1829,  at  John  John's  house,  about  three-fourths  of  a  mile  northeast 
of  Mr.  Copeland's. 

In  the  first  building  of  that  city  which  is  now  the  wonder  of  the 
world,  immediately  after  the  close  of  the  Blackhawk  war,  about  1833, 
quite  a  trade  sprang  up  between  it  and  this  part  of  the  country.  Wheat 
and  oats  were  the  principal  products  which  the  farmer  had  to  exchange 
for  what  he  wanted  to  buy.  They  used  to  go  there  with  ox-teams, 
camping  out  every  night  on  the  road.  Wheat  would  bring  from  fifty 
cents  to  seventy-five  cents,  and  at  one  time  oats  brought  one  dollar  per 
bushel.  All  the  grain  taken  there  was  measured  when  sold,  in  the 
half-bushel.  Bags  were  the  only  granaries,  and  the  "elevating"  was 
done  by  throwing  it  on  your  shoulder  and  carrying  it  where  it 
was  wanted.  Corn  was  too  cheap  to  make  it  an  ordinary  item  of  mer- 
chandise. 

The  same  year,  1828,  the  Fairchild  family,  a  family  which  has,  per- 
haps, exerted  as  wide  an  influence  as  any  one  in  the  township,  came 
here  to  reside,  and  formed  the  nucleus  of  what  was  known  as  the  Fair- 
child  neighborhood,  nearly  two  miles  northwest  of  Mr.  Copeland.  It 
consisted  of  old  Daniel  Fairchild  and  his  five  sons:  Timothy,  Zenas, 
Orman,  Lyman  and  Daniel,  and  his  daughter  Mrs.  Blevens.  They 
were  all  married,  and  with  their  young  families  commenced  in  earnest 
to  make  homes  in  the  new  country.  The  old  gentleman  was  quite  old, 
nearly  blind  and  helpless,  and  did  not  live  long  after  coming  here.  All 


878  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

the  children  are  now  dead,  but  the  widows  of  three  of  them  still  live 
here  with  several  of  their  children  to  recount  the  exciting  circum- 
stances of  their  early  labors  here,  and  hold  the  line  between  the  pres- 
ent and  the  past. 

Of  this  famil  v,  Rev.  Daniel  Fairchild  was  best  known,  and,  perhaps, 
was  most  widely  influential.  He  was  converted  at  a  camp-meeting, 
near  Evansville,  Indiana,  when  eighteen  years  old,  and  was  almost 
immediately  licensed  to  preach  in  the  Methodist  church.  His  license 
was  annually  renewed  by  authority  of  that  church.  In  1850  Bishop 
Hamline  ordained  him  a  deacon,  and  in  1859  Bishop  Simpson  ordained 
him  elder.  During  the  long  years  of  his  bus}'  life  here  he  was  engaged  in 
preaching  the  gospel  up  and  down  through  this  part  of  the  county,  in 
an  acceptable  manner  to  all  classes  of  people.  He  did  mdre  to  keep 
alive  the  spirit  of  vital  religion  than  almost  any  man  in  the  vicinity, 
and  never  tired  of  the  good  work  which  he  was  specially  ordained  and 
selected  to  do.  When  he  came  here  he  was  only  able  to  enter  forty 
acres  of  land,  and  moved  into  a  little  log  house  with  puncheon  floor,  on 
the  edge  of  the  prairie  near  where  his  brick  residence  stands.  His 
wife,  who  still  survives  him,  enjoying  the  love  of  her  large  family  of 
children  and  grandchildren,  was  a  poor  orphan  girl  whom  the  kind 
parents  of  Mr.  Fairchild  took  when  homeless.  The  third  and  fourth 
generations  of  Daniel  Fairchild,  sr.,  now  live  in  Blount,  a  shining  ex- 
ample of  the  fulfillment  of  the  promise.  Everywhere  a  Fairchild,  or 
the  descendant  of  a  FairGhild,  is  respected. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Daniel  Fairchild  lived  here  on  the  place  he  first  en- 
tered, on  section  4,  bringing  up  their  large  family  to  honest  industry. 
For  twenty  }7ears  the  mother,  with  such  help  as  her  children  could  give 
her,  performed  the  glad  duties  which  this  swarm  of  little  ones  imposed 
on  her;  made  the  cloth  which  clothed  them  ;  kept  the  minister's  home 
for  this  neighborhood,  and,  in  her  husband's  frequent  absence  on  his 
missionary  work,  had  imposed  on  her  the  double  parental  duties.  She 
and  her  sister-in-law,  Mrs.  Hannah,  or  Aunt  Hannah,  as  she  is  better 
known,  boarded  the  hands  who  made  all  the  bricks  for  the  church,  as 
their  contribution  to  the  work.  Of  fourteen  children  born,  eleven 
grew  up,  and  nine  now  live  near  her.  Forty-eight  grandchildren  have 
learned  to  lisp  her  name. 

Mrs.  Hannah  Fairchild,  the  widow  of  Orman,  lives  just  south  of 
where  their  brother  Daniel  long  lived.  They  were  married  at  Evans- 
ville, Indiana,  when  she  was  only  sixteen,  and  came  on  the  farm  where 
most  of  the  active  years  of  her  life  have  been  spent,  wThile  the  Indians 
still  inhabited  the  grove  near  their  home.  They  came  to  live  in  a  lit- 
tle log  house  without  any  chimney,  and  tried  to  make  one  which  should 


BLOUNT   TOWNSHIP.  879 

serve  the  purpose  out  of  mud  and  sticks,  but  the  wind  blew  it  down 
one  stormy  night,  and  they  had  to  devise  some  better  plan.  They  had 
no  money  to  enter  land,  and  for  fifteen  months  went  without  meat,  so 
that  they  could  turn  their  growing  stock  into  money  to  pay  for  the 
land  they  lived  on.  A  little  incident  will  show  how  neighborly  these 
people  were.  Samuel  Copeland  was  one  of  their  nearest  neighbors,  a 
mile  or  more  away.  He  was  well-to-do,  and  in  that  early  time  his 
word  was  as  good  as  a  bond.  A  stranger  who  was  looking  for  a  good 
piece  of  land  to  enter  told  Mr.  Copeland  that  he  believed  he  would 
enter  the  tract  that  Orman  Fairchild  was  on.  Copeland  told  him  if  he 
did  that,  if  he  ever  got  out  of  fire  he  would  not  give  him  a  brand  at  his 
house.  To  refuse  one  a  brand  of  fire  before  the  days  of  friction  matches 
was  about  as  severe  a  punishment  as  one  in  a  new  country  could 
inflict.  That  Sammy  Copeland  would  have  kept  his  word  to  the  claim- 
jumper  no  one  who  knows  him  would  doubt.  The  first  year  their  only 
horse  died,  and  Mr.  F.  got  hold  of  a  yoke  of  steers  which  for  two  years 
was  his  only  team  to  plow  or  to  mill  or  church.  Commencing  married 
life  so  young,  Mrs.  F.  found  it  necessary  to  work  harder  than  many 
women  to  make  up  the  cloth  and  other  articles  necessary  for  comforta- 
ble living.  Usually  in  those  times  the  young  women  gave  some  years 
to  making  up  the  wearing  apparel  necessary  to  commence  housekeep- 
ing. She  commenced  the  life  of  a  pioneer  at  an  age  when  she  had  had 
little  chance  to  prepare  anything.  Taking  the  flax  from  the  ground 
and  the  wool  from  the  sheep's  back,  she  "pitched  in,"  as  she  says,  mak- 
ing the  most  of  every  minute  to  keep  ahead  of  the  new  recruits  which 
were  coming  in  rapid  succession  to  fill  up  the  Fairchild  home.  "  How 
did  you  women  manage,"  asked  the  writer,  "  to  do  the  enormous 
amount  of  labor  which  was  imposed  on  you,  making  all  your  cloth, 
clothing,  sugar,  butter,  cheese,  soap,  candles,  coloring,  rendering  your 
lard  and  tallow,  taking  care  of  your  lambs,  calves,  etc.,  garden,  and  all 
the  thousand  and  one  things  that  devolved  on  you,  and  visit  the  sick 
and  those  in  need,  with  a  baby  to  take  care  of  most  of  the  time?  You 
are  perhaps  aware  that  now-a-days  the  mother  who  raises  two  children 
keeps  a  hired  girl,  hires  her  own  sewing  done,  buys  her  husband's  and 
sons'  clothes  ready  made,  and  keeps  a  horse  and  carriage  to  ride  in, 
thinks  she  is  most  worn  out  at  forty."  The  answer  was  not  long  de- 
layed:  "I  have  had  thirteen  children,  and  when  my  first  was  small  I 
had  two  wheels,  a  large  and  a  small  one.  I  made  a  sling  of  my  apron 
to  put  him  in,  squaw-fashion,  and  hung  him  over  my  back,  and  kept 
the  big:  wheel  g-oinof.  When  he  needed  nourishment  I  took  him  on 
my  lap  and  sat  down  to  the  small  wheel.  By  this  change  of  position 
I  was  rested  and  the  baby  was  cared  for.     Not  only  did  I  have  all  this 


880  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

to  do,  but  for  twenty-five  years  practiced  the  avocation  of  midwife  all 
through  these  woods.  When  I  was  kept  from  home  on  these  errands 
longer  than  I  thought  my  nursing  child  would  permit,  I  used  to  send 
the  anticipating  lather  back  to  my  house  to  bring  me  my  baby.  So  we 
lived,  and  now,  at  seventy-five,  I  do  my  own  housework,  cook,  wash 
and  manage  my  farm."  Seeing  is  believing,  an  old  proverb  says,  and 
yet  there  is  one  who,  though  he  saw  and  believed,  cannot  yet  under- 
stand how  the  good  mothers  of  the  olden  time  escaped  certain  death 
from  overwork. 

They  went  to  Paris  for  their  grinding,  until  Mr.  Treat  built  his 
mill  at  Denmark,  and  after  high  water  carried  that  away  Alex.  Bailey 
began  a  mill,  which  Wyatt  completed  and  used.  They  used  to  pound 
corn  in  a  mortar  with  an  iron  wedge,  for  a  month  at  a  time.  Once 
the  good  woman  thought  she  was  ruined.  In  moving  from  Edgar 
county  her  sieve  got  torn  up,  and  there  was  not  one  for  sale  anywhere 
for  miles  around.  She  was  unhappy;  but  the  Lord,  or  some  one, 
dropped  a  deer-skin  in  the  road,  and  she  had  heard  of  a  sieve  being 
made  out  of  a  skin,  and  she  went  to  work  at  it.  She  wet  the  skin  and 
rolled  it  up  in  wood  ashes,  until  the  hair  came  off,  then  soaked  it,  and 
when  partially  diw,  perforated  it  with  a  pegging  awl.  It  answered  the 
purpose  finely,  and  all  the  neighbors  borrowed  it.  Snakes  were  the 
chief  causes  of  fear.  At  one  time,  just  as  she  had  finished  getting 
breakfast  by  her  fireplace,  she  picked  up  her  baby  off  the  floor  and 
dropped  down  into  her  chair,  when  she  saw  a  snake  crawling  out  of 
the  hollow  fire-log.  She  called  her  husband  to  kill  it,  and,  by  the  time 
that  was  done,  another  came  out  of  the  same  cavity.  At  another  time 
she  saw  one  hanging  down  from  the  unlathed  floor-timbers  over  her 
bed  before  she  had  got  out  of  bed  in  the  morning,  swinging  back  and 
forth,  apparently  hunting  a  good  place  to  fall.  The  expedition  with 
which  she  gathered  up  her  baby  and  disappeared  from  that  immediate 
vicinity  is  said  to  have  been  somewhat  marvelous.  Of  the  other  Fair- 
chikls  who  came  here  early,  Zenas  died  at  Bean  Creek  a  few  3'ears  ago, 
Lyman  on  the  Middle  Fork,  and  Timothy  a  few  miles  south  of  here, 
where  his  widow  still  resides. 

Morgan  Rees,  now  one  of  the  few  earliest  settlers  left  in  the  town- 
ship,  came  from  Pennsylvania  to  Indiana  with  his  father  in  1818.  His 
father,  John  Rees,  died  there,  and  Morgan  came  to  this  county  in 
1827,  and  has  remained  here  ever  since,  though  not  all  the  while  in 
this  township.  He  lived  at  Butler's  Point  one  year,  and  then  entered 
land,  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres,  in  section  26  (21-13),  just  across 
the  line  west  from  that  town.  He  remained  there  eight  years.  He 
went  to  the  Black  Hawk  war  in  Capt.  Thomas'  company.     He  helped 


BLOUNT  TOWNSHIP.  KHl 

lay  out  and  bury  the  fourteen  who  bad  been  killed  by  the  [ndiane 
fifteen  miles  above  Ottawa  on  Indian  Creek.  They  bad  been  dead 
eight  days,  and  had  been  shockingly  mutilated  and  hacked  to  pieces. 
He  moved  into  Blount  township  in  L836.    At  that  time  James  Smalley, 

Wallace  Sperry  (who  committed  suicide  near  his  liou.se),  William  and 
Freeman  Smalley,  Enoch  Oxley,  were  all  living  within  two  miles  ot 
Higginsville.     Two  miles  farther  on  was  the  Fairchild  neighborhood, 

and   some    ways   still    east  of  that  the  Copeland   neighborhood,  when 
Samuel    Copeland,   Mr.   Johns,   Truax,    Humphrey,   Oosat   and   others 
lived.     Jn  the  southern  part  of  the  town  were  the  Howard  and  Luman 
neighborhoods. 

In  1 83  I  and  1835  a  large  number  of  people,  probably  twenty-live 
families,  sold  here  and  went  to  Wisconsin.  The  lead  mines  were  just 
beginning  to  attract  attention,  and  people  rushed  there  as  they  do  to 
Leadville  now,  expecting  to  get  rich  in  a  little  while.  Among  those 
who  went  there  at  that  time  was  Mr.  Blount,  after  whom  the  township 
was  named,  Mr.  Win.  Lane,  who  still  lives  here  at  an  advanced  age. 
Old  John  Snyder,  grandfather  of  Barton  Snyder,  and  his  family,  and 
Messie  and  Magee,  were  then  here. 

About  onedialf  of  this  township  was  then  timber;  some  of  it.  has 
been  made  into  farms,  and  timber  ha6  grown  up  where  before  it  was 
comparatively  open.  Hunting  was  the  principal  business  followed. 
There  was  not  in  these  parts  much  of  such  enterprise  as  we  have  since 
seen.  Sickness  was  terrible.  Whole  families  would  be  down  with 
sickness  at  the  same  time.  The  ague,  the  milk  sickness,  and  other 
diseases  that  were  consequent  upon  early  settlement,  were  so  common 
that  people  were  broken  in  spirit,  and  their  energy  was  sapped.  Kees 
rode  as  constable  in  this  county  twenty-one  years.  He  has  had  all  the 
experiences  of  an  early  officer  who  had  the  tracks  of  horse-thieves  to 
follow  in  times  when  the  name  "horse-thief"  carried  with  it  as  much 
opprobrium  as  "abolitionist."  lie  taught  the  first  school  in  this  part 
of  the  town.  It  was  in  a  little  cabin  just  southeast  of  Higginsville 
that  had  been  abandoned  by  its  builder,  and  as  no  certificate  was  re- 
quired and  no  rent  to  pay,  he  conceived  the  idea  of  putting  the  vacant 
cabin  to  use  for  a  seat  of  learning.  He  carried  around  a  subscription- 
paper  and  got  enough  subscribed,  so  that  he  thought  he  could  live  by 
it,  and  opened  a  school.  There  were  few  who  coul/1  teach  it  any  better 
than  he,  and  those  few  would  not  teach  so  cheap.  There  were  no  other 
schools  in  the  neighborhood  to  compare  it  to,  and  no  big  scholars  who 
could  "stump  the  teacher"  in  "  rule  of  three  "  or  grammar.  So  he 
made  it  go  pretty  well,  and  taught  two  quarters.  As  a  wielder  of  the 
gad  and  rule  he  had  few  equals,  and  no  superiors,  in  the  Higginsville  of 
56 


4.W 


i  — »»i 


882  HISTOKY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

that  day.  The  quarter's  schooling  was  placed  at  two  dollars  and  a  half 
per  scholar.  He  had  eighteen  one  quarter  and  twenty-two  the  other. 
He  received  about  ten  dollars  per  month  and  boarded  himself.  The 
furniture  was  primitive.  The  benches  were  made  out  of  slabs  and 
rails,  and  he  could  hardly  afford  a  blackboard.  He  used  the  old  United 
States  Spelling-book,  English  Reader  and  Testament,  and  Pike's  Arith- 
metic. Each  scholar  had  a  different  book,  and  no  one  had  a  full  sup- 
ply. The  scholars  studied  aloud,  and  the  one  who  made  the  most 
noise  was  understood  to  be  making  the  best  progress.  He  never  heard 
of  a  schedule,  thinks  it  would  have  been  a  decided  improvement.  The 
roll  of  scholars,  as  far  as  he  now  remembers  it,  embraced  John,  Almeda 
and  Rachel  Storms,  Jennie  and  William  Smalley,  three  children  of  Mr. 
Truax,  James,  Freeman,  Frank  and  Sabie  Smalley,  John  Smalley's 
children,  Malinda  Freeman,  and  John,  David,  Moses,  Christopher  and 
Thomas  Loving.  William  Loving  lived  one  mile  and  three-fourths 
east  of  Higginsville,  where  his  sons  still  reside.  James  Smalley  be- 
came a  minister,  drawing  his  theological  as  well  as  his  literary  learning 
no  doubt  from  Rees. 

The  ancient  law  required  punishment  by  whipping  for  theft,  and 
the  whipping  was  sometimes  pretty  severe,  too.  Thomas  Wyatt  lived 
down  near  Decatur,  and  used  to  come  up  here  and  trade  with  the 
Indians.  Whisky  wTas  his  legal  tender,  and  he  used  to  trade  on  the 
basis  of  one  quart  of  whisky  for  a  pony.  He  frequently  got  hold  of  a 
dozen  ponies  in  this  way,  or  by  stealing  them  outright,  and  would  then 
run  them  off  and  sell  them.  He  buried  a  jug  of  whisky  on  the  hillside 
in  Butts'  land,  and  expected  to  come  back  and  turn  it  into  ponies;  but 
before  he  got  around  to  it  he  was  run  up  into  Indiana  and  caught, 
tried,  and  convicted  of  horse-stealing.  He  was  whipped,  and  died.  A 
man  by  the  name  of  Griffiths  was  tried  as  his  accomplice,  because  some 
of  the  horses  were  found  on  his  premises.  Some  years  after  this  Rees 
found  the  jug  of  whisky  which  had  been  secreted,  and  that  portion  of 
it  which  he  sampled  was  pronounced  a  very  superior  article,  rather 
better,  indeed,  than  the  "  sour  mash  "  or  "  benzine"  of  the  present  day. 

Mr.  Oxley,  about  the  year  1832,  made  a  tannery  east  of  Higgins- 
ville. He  had  about  eighteen  vats,  using  the  oak  bark,  which  was  very 
plenty  on  the  trees,  but  difficult  to  obtain.  This  may  seem  strange, 
but  the  reasons  for  it  are  plain.  Bark  will  peel  only  during  the  sum- 
mer months,  commencing  about  the  time  of  corn-planting,  and  sticking 
fast  by  about  the  middle  of  September.  A  sudden  change  in  the 
temperature,  such  as  occurs  in  September,  will  stop  bark  peeling  in  an 
hour.     The  months  of  the  year  in  which  nature  allows  bark-peeling 

ii.  _    i_ i-i.„i.    i„i : l i ]    i_    j.  _     j_      -i    -j. 


SasSSk  ^^^^^>?aas^asg;a 


BLOUNT   TOWNSHIP.  883 

was  an  industrious  man  who  could  find  time  between  corn-plowing  and 
harvest,  or  between  harvest  and  threshing,  to  peel  a  few  cords  of  bark. 
Tanners  had  in  those  times  not  sufficient  capital  to  buy  sections  of  tim- 
ber land,  cut  off  the  oak  for  the  bark,  and  let  the  land  go  back.  The 
vast  aggregations  of  capital  which  are  now  employed  in  tanning  and 
leather  were  then  unknown;  so  Mr.  Oxley's  speculation,  while  it  did 
not  cost  him  very  much  to  inaugurate  it,  never  was  a  great  success,  be- 
cause he  never  was  able  to  drive  it  very  hard.  He  tanned  all  kinds  of 
hides,  and  found  a  market  for  his  leather  in  every  little  shoe-shop  in 
the  country  around.  Rees  carried  it  on  for  him  a  while.  After  him 
John  Hilliard  had  it  three  years,  after  which  Mr.  Oxle}'  took  charge  of 
it  himself  for  a  while,  until  1845,  when  he  sold  out  the  whole  concern, 
with  other  lands,  to  J.  W.  Goodwine,  who  came  in  here  from  Indiana, 
looking  for  good  land  where  he  could  put  in  his  time  to  good  advantage, 
and  fatten  his  steers,  as  well  as  the  next  man  who  came. 

In  1836  Amando  D.  Higgins  (a  brother  of  Judge  Van  H.  Higgins, 
of  Chicago),  and  Marcus  C.  Stearnes  entered  the  east  half  of  the  north- 
west quarter  of  36  (21-13),  and  bought  sixteen  acres  off  the  south  end 
of  the  east  quarter  of  the  southwest  quarter  of  section  25,  to  bring 
them  out  to  the  road,  and  laid  it  out  in  town  lots,  platting  and  record- 
ing it  in  January,  1837,  and  called  it  "Vermilion  Rapids."  The  plat 
was  on  both  sides  of  the  stream,  and  showed  the  "river"  to  be  about 
ten  rods  wide,  and  large  enough  to  float  a  steamer.  The  "  rapids " 
were  the  main  feature  of  this  speculation,  as  no  boat  could  pass  up 
stream  any  farther  than  here.  Along  the  river  front  of  this  "  town," 
boats  could  take  on  the  products  of  the  rich  farming  lands  for  miles 
around,  and  discharge  the  merchandise  brought  from  foreign  climes  in 
rich  profuseness.  Direct  communication  would  be  kept  up  all  the  year 
with  New  Orleans,  Rio,  Cuba  and  Europe,  except  a  couple  of  winter 
months,  when  the  people  would  be  in  constant  anticipation  of  the 
opening  of  spring,  and  the  revival  of  business  activity  along  her 
wharves  and  in  her  great  warehouses.  The  rapids,  unless  removed 
by  government  authority  and  appropriation,  must  ever  remain  a  bar  to 
extending  navigation  farther  up  stream,  and  this  city  could  not  help 
being  the  grand  mart  of  trade  for  a  hundred  miles  around.  The  prin- 
cipal streets  running  north  and  south  to  the  "river  front"  were  four 
rods  wide,  and  were  named  Parish,  Higgins,  Chicago  and  Main  ;  those 
running  east  and  west  were  three  rods  wide,  and  named  Williams, 
Buffalo,  Bluff,  Spring  and  La  Port.  A  wide  "  levee"  lay  between  these 
streets  and  the  "river,"  giving  ample  room  for  "business."  This  town 
was  beautifully  platted,  and  was  taken  to  New  York  city  to  find  pur- 


884  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

older  ones,  some  of  them,  remember)  the  extent  to  which  this  species 
of  speculation  was  carried  on  just  before  the  financial  crash  of  1837. 
The  times  were  "flush,"  business  of  all  kinds  was  in  the  high  tide  of 
apparent  prosperity;  money  was  plenty,  the  banks  were  liberal,  rail- 
roads were  building  all  over  the  country ;  every  river  town  was  looked 
on  as  a  bonanza  which  needed  only  to  be  well  "blowed"  to  make  it  a 
source  of  untold  wealth.  Nobody  knew  what  property  was  worth, 
and  the  fictitious  prices  which  specific  speculation  always  puts  on  its 
wares  looked  very  reasonable  upon  water  lots  which  were  only  waiting 
the  dull  toot  of  the  steamboat  on  the  one  side,  and  the  shrill  whistle  of 
the  locomotive  on  the  other,  to  give  it  life  and  real  value.  Such  was 
the  condition  of  things  when  A.  D.  Higgins  took  his  plat  to  New 
York  to  sell  lots  to  the  Wall  street  speculators.  He  was  a  little  too 
late,  however,  for  the  panic  had  struck  the  center  of  trade,  and  western 
lots  would  hardly  bring  the  price  of  the  paper  they  were  platted  on. 
He  never  sold  a  lot.  Morgan  Rees  now  farms  the  land  which  Higgins 
intended  for  a  mart  of  trade.  The  writer  of  this  waded  across  the 
"rapids"  of  this  paper  city  in  May,  1879,  without  wetting  his  feet, 
although  there  was  water  enough  there  to  have  wet  his  feet  if  he  had 
been  shoeless.  The  property  was  sold  to  Parish,  Metcalf  and  Ebenezer 
Higgins,  and  came  to  be  known  as  Higginsville.  Amando  had  a  store, 
and  commenced  to  build  a  mill  half  a  mile  west  of  where  the  Higgins- 
ville store  now  is,  and  Ebenezer  finished  it  after  it  came  into  his  pos- 
session, and  ran  it  a  few  years,  when  the  high  water  swept  it  away. 

Naffer  &  Smalley  built  a  saw-mill  three-fourths  of  a  mile  southeast 
of  H.  in  1832.  It  did  very  good  work  and  sawed  up  a  good  deal  of 
stuff,  for  hardwood  lumber  was  in  demand  for  fencing,  building,  furni- 
ture and  other  such  purposes.  A  grist-mill  was  afterward  added  to  it, 
and  did  pretty  good  custom-work.  It  run  till  about  1860.  Not  a  ves- 
tige of  it  remains  now. 

Henry  Harpaugh,  who  still  pounds  his  anvil  in  the  mansion  which 
Elder  Herron  used  to  live  in,  came  from  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  in  1836, 
and  has  been  almost  continually  blacksmithing  from  that  time  to  this, 
more  than  forty  years,  the  oldest  and  probably  the  earliest  blacksmith 
in  this  part  of  the  town.  He  built  a  shop  right  in  the  road  east  of 
Higginsville,  then  built  a  house  near  by.  For  eighteen  years  he  has 
been  using  the  old  log  house  which  was  once  the  abode  of  Mr.  Herron  ; 
portions  of  it  are  torn  away.  It  has  settled  so,  and  the  refuse  from  his 
forge  which  he  has  thrown  around  the  door  have  so  raised  the  ground, 
that  you  could  scarce  get  a  horse  inside  of  it.  Of  those  who  lived  about 
here  when  he  came,  only  Morgan  Rees  remains  to  tell  the  story  of  early 
life  along  this  part  of  Middle  Fork. 


BLOUNT   TOWNSHIP.  ISS5 

Cyrus  Crawford  settled  the  same  year,  1836,  southeast  of  him,  on 
the  Danville  road,  and  still  lives  there.  He  has  been  a  worthy  and 
respected  citizen  for  more  than  forty  years,  and  still  lives  on  the  farm 
which  he  entered.  His  eight  children  live  around  him,  making  his 
sunset  days  pleasant  in  the  enjoyment  of  their  society  and  love.  Mr. 
Elliott  lived  a  half  mile  out  on  the  prairie  east  of  them,  which  was  the 
farthest  extent  anyone  had  then  tried.  He  is  now  dead,  and  his  farm 
is  a  part  of  the  Goodwine  land.  In  the  same  neighborhood,  one  mile 
east,  resided  then  Michael  French,  who  afterward  went  to  Indiana ; 
Cornelius  and  Abram  Peterson,  F.  Smalley,  Robert  Lockhart,  Milton 
Anderson  and  Munroe  Rees.  Goodwine  became  owner  of  all  their 
lands. 

Peter  Cosat  came  here  in  1830  and  commenced  a  farm  on  section 
11,  just  west  of  Samuel  Copeland,  and  lived  there  about  thirty  years. 
He  died,  and  his  family  is  scattered,  one  son  living  in  Ross.  His  brother 
David  came  in  1834,  and  took  up  land  near  him  in  the  timber,  and 
lived  there  nntil  1849,  when  he  sold  to  Mr.  Guun  and  went  to  Wis- 
consin, where  his  father-in-law  had  gone.  The  first  tax  he  paid  was 
ten  cents — that  was  when  Thomas  Short  was  collector  —  and  he  suc- 
ceeded in  paying  all  of  it  in  silver  without  being  sold  out  by  the  col- 
lector. Mr.  Cosat  came  back  from  Wisconsin  a  year  later,  and  bought 
one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  B.  M.  Kirk,  at  five  dollars  per  acre. 
When  he  first  came  here  he  could  ride  anywhere  through  the  timber 
without  encountering  so  much  as  an  ox-goad,  and  it  was  not  until  the 
fire  had  been  kept  out  several  years  that  the  undergrowth  began  to  fill 
up  the  timber.  He  engaged  in  farming  and  raising  cattle  and  horses. 
He  still  resides  on  the  farm,  but  thinks  he  has  nearly  passed  his  work- 
ing days.  Several  of  his  children  live  near  him.  His  son,  John  J.,  is 
a  justice  of  the  peace,  and  is  an  ordained  elder  of  the  Christian  church. 

William  White,  now  one  of  the  oldest  citizens  in  town,  took  up 
land  where  he  still  resides,  just  east  of  Copeland's,  about  1831.  He 
was  a  man  of  excellent  character;  very  decided  in  his  religious  convic- 
tions. He  raised  quite  a  family  of  girls,  several  of  whom  now  reside  in 
the  vicinity.  He  is  now  very  old  and  feeble.  His  memory  will  long 
be  held  in  just  esteem  by  those  who  have  long  known  him. 

John  Johns  came  here  from  Kentucky,  having  lived  a  while  in  In- 
diana, in  1829,  and  settled  in  the  Copeland  neighborhood.  It  was  at 
his  house  that  the  first  preaching  was  held.  His  brothers-in-law,  Ben- 
jamin Stewart  and  John  Mills,  and  his  father-in-law,  Mr.  Humphrey, 
came  on  here  to  live  a  few  years  later.  They  were  all  excellent  people 
and  much  esteemed.  Mr.  Johns  now  lives  in  Danville.  He  remained 
in  Blount,  farming,  until  1852,  when  he  removed  to  D.  and  engaged  in 


886  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

the  lime  and  plaster  trade.     He  is  the  father  of  ten  children,  eight  of 
whom  live  in  Danville.     Mr.  Mills  now  lives  in  Fairmount. 

John  Ricard  moved  here  from  Ohio  in  1835,  took  up  land  in  sec- 
tion 14,  and  owned  some  on  the  prairie  farther  north.  He  lived  here 
about  twenty-five  years,  and  for  sixteen  years  served  as  justice  of  the 
peace.  He  was  a  prominent  and  influential  man,  and  was  instru- 
mental in  getting  the  township  laid  off;  Alvin  Gilbert  succeeded  in 
getting  the  name  Fremont  given  to  it.  Tin's  stirred  up  every  demo- 
cratic drop  in  his  veins,  and  he  rebelled.  He  did  not  propose  to  stand 
it.  He  would  never  permit  his  township  to  be  named  after  the  aboli- 
tion candidate  for  president.  His  reasons  for  selecting  Blount  were 
that  it  was  an  uncommon  name;  that  he  was  a  good  man  and  had  early 
settled  in  the  town,  and  was  one  of  the  earliest  preachers  living  in  it, 
and  was  no  abolitionist  b}r  several  degrees. 

Old  A  brain  Blount  came  here  to  live  in  1830,  and  took  up  land  in 
section  28  (20-12)  in  the  timber,  where  Elisha  Grimes  lives.  He  was 
a  man  of  powerful  frame,  and  loved  hunting  better  than  working  on  a 
farm.  He  had  the  best  gun  in  town,  weighing  eighteen  pounds.  He 
was  a  preacher  of  the  Christian  church,  a  good  neighbor  and  an  excel- 
lent citizen.  He  became  dissatisfied  with  the  country,  however.  He 
had  lost  seventeen  horses,  and  thought  their  death  was  caused  by  milk- 
sickness,  and  offered  to  sell  out ;  he  sold  to  Mr.  Snyder,  and  went 
away.  When  the  question  of  changing  the  name  of  the  new  township 
came  up,  Norris  Young  proposed  the  name  of  Blount.  The  people 
remembering  the  jovial  old  man  with  kindly  feelings,  accepted  the 
name. 

J.  B.  Cline  came  from  Kentucky  in  1829,  and  settled  on  section  25. 
He  made  a  good  farm,  and  was  a  good  citizen.  He  had  nine  children, 
who  are  all  dead  but  Spencer,  who  lives  still  in  the  same  log-house  his 
father  built.  Mr.  Cline  died  many  years  ago.  His  widow  died  within 
the  year  past  at  the  age  of  eighty-four.  Spencer,  the  only  living  child, 
has  lived  here  fifty  years.  Of  ten  children  five  are  living,  three  of 
them  at  home.  Jacob  Grimes  came  here  in  1832.  He  rented  awhile, 
and  then  bought  land  in  section  26.     He  now  resides  in  Danville. 

Win,  Cannady  came  from  Kentucky  in  1828,  and  made  a  home  on 
section  35,  where  Joseph  Creamer  now  lives.  He  died  about  ten  years 
ago,  and  his  family  are  either  all  dead  or  moved  away.  He  was  a  good 
man,  kind  hearted  and  true.  During  the  time  of  the  deep  snow,  and 
at  times  of  scarcity,  he  used  to  seek  out  families  who  were  in  want  and 
carry  corn  meal  to  them  when  he  had  nothing  better.  After  he  got 
too  old  to  work,  he  spent  his  time  whittling  brush-brooms,  to  give  to 
those  whom  he  supposed  stood  in  need  of  them. 


BLOUNT   TOWNSHIP.  887 

Joseph  Dyserd  came  to  Blount  about  1830.  He  had  a  large  family, 
four  of  whom  yet  live  in  this  vicinity ;  one  is  the  wife  of  George 
Pentecost,  of  Danville.  Mr.  Gillen,  who  came  here  about  the  same 
time,  died  soon.     His  son  still  lives  here. 

Wm.  Lane  came  in  1836,  and  took  up  land  in  section  22,  where  he 
still  resides.  He  has  been  several  times  married,  and  has  a  large 
family,  the  older  ones  of  whom  are  scattered  through  the  country  and 
elsewhere.  One  was  the  first  wife  of  Judge  McDowell,  of  Fairbury, 
and  another  the  wife  of  John  Wapples,  jr.,  now  living  in  Livingston 
county.  Mr.  Lane  has  been  a  successful  farmer,  raising  and  feeding 
stock  largely,  and  now,  though  past  seventy,  is  strong  and  able  to  do 
considerable  work.  He  has  always  been  a  man  of  influence,  and  that 
influence  alwa}^s  for  good. 

The  Nebiker  family,  who  were  here  early,  went  from  here  to  Nau- 
voo,  and  joined  the  Mormons.  So  far  as  known,  they  were  the  only 
representatives  of  Blount  who  have  openly  espoused  those  doctrines. 

I.  R.  Gritton  came  here  from  Kentucky  in  1840,  and  bought  land 
of  the  estate  of  Abram  Rees.  Mr.  Rees  owned  a  farm  on  section  23, 
and,  while  at  work  building  a  mill  at  Denmark,  died.  Mr.  Gritton 
had  a  family  of  five  children,  only  three  of  whom  survive.  One  was 
killed  a  year  since  by  Mr.  Clem,  in  a  difficulty  growing  out  of  the  lease 
of  a  piece  of  land.  One  of  Mr.  Gritton's  first  acts,  after  coming  on  to 
his  farm,  was  the  selection  and  planting  of  an  excellent  orchard,  which, 
owing  to  his  good  judgment  and  care,  was  for  a  long  time  a  source  of 
increased  revenue.  Gritton's  orchard  was  known  far  and  near  as  one 
of  the  best  in  this  neck  of  woods.  He  never  has  been  a  member  of 
any  church,  but  his  conversation  shows  that  he  has  a  true  appreciation 
of  the  results  of  a  sincere  religious  life  in  a  community  like  this.  The 
now  aged  couple  are  saddened  in  their  last  days  by  the  tragedy  which 
took  the  life  of  a  dear  son. 

Isaac  Smith  came  from  Ohio  in  1838,  and  entered  eighty  acres  in 
section  32  (21-12),  and  lived  here  until  his  death.  His  son,  G.  G. 
Smith,  who  for  many  years  has  served  the  township  as  supervisor  in  so 
capable  a  manner  as  to  indicate  that  he  has  a  life  lease  of  it,  lives  on 
the  farm  which  his  father  made.  While  himself  a  member  of  the 
immortal  Smith  family,  his  children  rejoice  in  lineal  descent  from  the 
honored  family  of  Fairchild. 

The  Smalley  family,  the  names  of  whom  have  frequently  appeared 
in  these  items  as  among  the  very  first  in  the  northwestern  part  of  the 
town,  exerted  a  very  beneficial  influence  on  society,  as  leaders  in  reli- 
gious and  educational  affairs.  The  tone  of  the  neighborhood,  indeed 
of  the  entire  town,  still  feels  the  effects  of  their  early  earnest  efforts. 


888  HISTORY    OF   YERMILION    COUNTY. 

In  and  around  what  is  now  called  Higginsville,  these  old  pioneers  up- 
held the  doctrines  and  practices  of  the  Baptist  believers,  and  organized 
several  churches  in  the  vicinity.  That  another  denomination  seems  to 
have  supplanted  the  institutions  which  Mr.  Smalley  planted  there,  does 
not  argue  that  the  good  he  did  was  interred  with  his  bones.  Local 
and  altogether  natural  causes  have  given  to  the  Methodists  the  territory 
which  he  first  occupied.  Their  methods,  the  shade  of  doctrine  which 
is  made  most  prominent  in  the  gospel  as  presented  by  their  local 
preachers,  who,  as  a  rule,  were  men  of  more  spiritual  than  intellectual 
gifts,  rendered  the  Methodist  church  the  most  natural  home  for  the 
class  of  people  who  redeemed  this  country  from  a  wilderness.  Many 
who  had  first,  from  location  or  from  choice,  attached  themselves  to  the 
Baptist  church,  found  in  the  more  frequent  ministrations,  the  simplicity 
and  the  earnestness  of  the  itinerants  and  their  assistants,  and  more  than 
all  in  the  class-meeting,  the  particular  spiritual  food  and  practice  they 
so  much  needed.  The  good  results  of  Freeman  Small  ey's  labors  are 
yet  seen  everywhere.  The  old  First  Baptist  church  was  formed  at 
Mr.  Smalley's  house  about  1834,  as  recorded  in  the  history  of  Middle 
Fork.  There  was  no  house  of  sufficient  size  to  accommodate  those  who 
desired  to  attend  his  preaching,  and  the  people  began  to  perfect 
measures  for  a  house  of  worship.  In  1837  the  church  was  bnilt  a  few 
rods  west  of  where  the  store  now  stands  at  Higginsville.  The  entire 
neighborhood  turned  out  to  help  get  up  the  u  meeting-house."  Some 
hewed  timber,  some  drew  it,  some  made  the  foundation,  others  the 
shingles.  Moses  Jarrett,  Levi  Asher  and  D.  S.  Halbert  were  the  car- 
penters. The  siding  was  made  of  black-walnut,  quite  common  before 
the  days  of  pine  lumber;  the  floor  they  made  of  ash.  The  seats  were 
as  nice  and  comfortable  as  could  be  made.  The  building  was  24x36, 
and  was  well  considered  a  great  undertaking.  Like  Nelson's  crew, 
every  man  did  his  duty  and  performed  his  share  of  the  work.  The 
building  stood  there  until  it  actually  went  to  pieces  from  old  age.  Be- 
sides Elder  Smalley,  Elder  Bartlett  Dowell  Crede  Herron  (all  one 
man,  reader),  the  Blankenships,  and  others,  used  to  preach  here.  The 
Baptists,  under  the  same  leader,  organized  a  church  in  the  southern 
part  of  town,  and  built  a  house  of  worship  in  1848,  on  land  donated 
for  that  purpose  by  Mr.  James  Pentecast.  Under  the  terms  of  his 
donation  other  Christian  churches  are  to  be  permitted  to  use  the  build- 
ing when  not  wanted  by  the  Baptists.  The  building  is  30x40,  and  is 
a  very  neat  and  comfortable  building.  Elders  Smalley,  Dodson  and 
Blankenship  preached  here. 

The  Christian   church  was  organized  by  the  pioneer  preachers  of 
that  faith,  about  1834.    Samuel  Swisher,  Samuel  Bloomfield  and  James 


BLOUNT    TOWNSHIP.  SS!» 

Magee  were  the  first  officers.  Solomon  McKinney,  Dr.  Hall,  from 
Lebanon,  Indiana,  Mr.  Blonnt  and  Mr.  Mapes,  early  held  services  here 
around  from  house  to  house — usually  at  Mr.  Swisher's  and  Mr.  Peters' 
houses.  Jacob  Swisher,  Mr.  McKinney  and  Mr.  Sears,  kept  alive  the 
public  services,  and  were  joyfully  assisted  by  Mr.  Wm.  Shock ey  until 
he  fell  from  grace  and  adopted  the  doctrines  of  the  "  soul  sleepers," 
after  which  the  orthodox  members  of  this  pioneer  watch-tower  of  Zion 
would  not  listen  to  him. 

The  church  which  stands  just  east  of  Mr.  Copeland's  was  built  in 
1846.  There  were  then  about  fifty  members,  and  all  took  hold  of  the 
work  in  earnest,  and  very  soon  saw  it  completed.  It  is  36x46.  Old 
James  Magee,  who  had  a  saw-mill  up  in  Middle  Fork,  sawed  the  lum- 
ber and  gave  the  black-walnut  boards  for  the  seats  as  his  part  of  the 
work.  Mr.  Hoskins  had  a  lot  of  soft  brick  which  he  gave,  and  which 
were  used  to  fill  in  between  the  joists  to  make  the  house  warmer.  A 
few  years  since,  the  house  was  remodeled  and  lathed  and  plastered. 
Elder  Rawley  Martin  preached  here  once  a  month  for  fifteen  years,  and 
held  protracted  meetings.  Since  his  time,  John  J.  Cosat,  Wm.  Yates,  of 
Ogden,  Oscar  Gravat,  Theodore  Stipp  and  Mr.  Myers  have  successively 
acted  as  pastors  or  occasional  supply.  A  Sunday-school  has  been  main- 
tained summers,  under  the  successive  superintendency  of  David  Cosat, 
Oscar  Gravat,  Wm.  Hoskins  and  George  Justice;  Addison  Justice  is 
the  present  superintendent.  It  has  always  been  a  strong  church,  and 
its  work  as  a  pioneer  in  religious  things  has  been  marked  by  grand 
results.  It  numbers  about  one  hundred  and  forty  members.  J.  J. 
Cosat,  Samuel  Cosat  and  Oscar  Gravat,  are  elders;  H.  Swisher  and 
Joshua  Chinoweth,  deacons.     It  is  called  "Union"  church. 

The  first  public  religious  services  ever  held  within  the  bounds  of 
what  is  now  Blount  was  held  at  the  house  of  John  Johns  in  1829, 
under  the  following  circumstances,  the  facts  of  which  were  kindly 
furnished  by  Mr.  Johns,  still  a  hearty,  strong  man,  living  at  Danville. 
Mr.  Johns  and  his  young  wife,  whose  feeble  life  is  now  almost  gone, 
came  into  this  town  to  make  their  home  in  1829.  They  had  in  their 
former  home  had  the  advantages  of  religious  services,  and  felt  the 
need  of  them  here.  In  December  of  that  year  (and  this  is  now  the 
jubilee  year)  Mr.  Johns  accompanied  Reuben  Partlow,  of  Middle  Fork, 
to  Danville,  to  attend  the  preaching  service  of  Rev.  James  McKain, 
who  was  the  first  traveling  Methodist  preacher  in  the  county.  He  was 
then  in  charge  of  Eugene  circuit,  which  embraced  Perrysville,  Dan- 
ville, Georgetown,  Big  Grove  and  intermediate  points.  After  service 
they  remained  to  the  class-meeting,  and  made  themselves  and  their 
wants  known  to  the  preacher.     They  told  him  they  had  come  to  ask 


890  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

him  to  make  appointments  in  their  neighborhoods  for  the  people,  who 
were  without  religious  teaching.  Mr.  McKain  was  a  true  pioneer. 
He  had  been  engaged  in  mercantile  business  before  commencing 
preaching,  and  had  sufficient  means  of  his  own,  so  that  he  was  inde- 
pendent of  salary.  While  he  did  not  refuse  what  pay  was  tendered 
him,  he  never  would  talk  with  his  people  about  compensation,  and 
seemed  to  prefer  not  to  accept  it.  He  was  a  very  useful  man,  and 
zealous  of  good  works,  of  sufficient  education  to  be  acceptable  to  all. 
He  sent  an  appointment  to  Mr.  Johns'  house,  and  continued  to  fill  the 
appointment  every  four  weeks  as  long  as  he  was  on  this  work.  He 
formed  a  class  there,  the  first  members  of  which  were  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Johns,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Reuben  Partlow,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Henry  Wood, 
Nathaniel  Blaze  and  wife,  who  lived  up  at  Myersville,  and  Jesse  Wood 
and  wife.  Mr.  Wood  was  first  class-leader.  Daniel  Fairchild,  who 
had  been  a  Cumberland  Presbyterian,  and  Mrs.  Hannah  Fairchild,  who 
had  been  a  Baptist,  soon  joined  this  class.  For  seven  years,  and  until 
Mr.  Humphrey  came  here,  and  built  a  larger  house,  the  service  was 
continued  at  Mr.  Johns',  after  McKain,  Mr.  Risley,  Mr.  Harshey  and 
Mr.  Buck  were  the  regular  preachers.  About  1839  the  small  frame 
church  was  built,  near  Mr.  Johns",  a  half  mile  north  and  east  of  the 
Christian  church. 

The  Fairchild  church,  usually  called  "  the  Brick,"  was  built  in  1849. 
This  was  built  under  the  supervision  of  Daniel  Fairchild,  but  all  the 
people  in  this  part  of  the  town  gladly  helped  to  get  up  their  new 
house.  It  was  quite  a  step  in  advance  to  build  a  brick  church  here  in 
the  woods,  when  so  many  lived  in  log  houses;  but  it  was  like  Mr. 
Fairchild,  who  alwajs  was  a  leader,  and  aimed  to  keep  a  step  in  ad- 
vance. It  is  30  x  36  feet.  A  Sunday-school  is  maintained,  of  which 
Milton  Fairchild  is  the  present  superintendent. 

The  Luman  church  was  built  in  1858.  Mr.  James  Luman  and  John 
Wapples  were  interested  in  getting  the  work  along.  Old  Peter  Hast- 
ings, an  itinerant  preacher,  whose  life  was  entirely  devoted  to  the 
work  of  preaching,  used  to  hold  services  at  Luman's  house.  He  organ- 
ized the  first  class  here,  and  it  being  several  miles  to  any  other  house 
of  worship,  he  urged  the  building  of  "Lebanon." 

HIGGINSVILLE. 

Higginsville  consists  of  a  store,  a  post-office,  a  doctor  and  a  black- 
smith's shop.  The  name  came  very  naturally  from  the  Messrs.  Higgins, 
one  of  whom  engaged  in  the  "Vermilion  Rapids"  speculation,  near 
here,  and  the  other  being  the  owner  of  real  estate.  It  was  the  center 
for  a  considerable  population,  and  a  post-office  was  needed.     This  was 


\ 


BLOUNT   TOWNSHIP.  891 

established  in  1851,  and  Wm.  Maquess  was  appointed  postmaster.  The 
office  was  kept  in  Mr.  Harpangh's  house.  Robert  Foster  was  first  mail- 
carrier.  The  mail  was  carried  from  Danville  to  New  Town,  and  thence 
here  twice  a  week.  Mason  Wright  built  a  store  and  stocked  it  with 
goods.  He  afterward,  with  his  brother,  engaged  in  trade  in  Blue  Grass 
and  Marysville.  After  Maquess'  death,  James  Newlan  was  appointed. 
He  soon  afterward  went  to  Texas.  J.  W.  Harris  was  appointed  and 
kept  the  office  in  connection  with  a  small  store  two  years.  Alfred 
Maquess  then  held  it  a  few  years,  then  Mason  Wright,  and  after  him 
Marion  Goodwine,  then  Charles  Harpaugh,  then  Dr.  Porter.  John 
Smalley  is  the  present  official.  Dr.  J.  L.  Hull  came  here  and  commenced 
the  practice  of  medicine  in  1860,  and  his  uncle  of  the  same  name  a  year 
later.  Dr.  Wm.  Porter  commenced  practice  here  in  1864,  and  contin- 
ues to  practice.  The  store-building  now  occupied  by  Mr.  Smalley 
was  built  in  1853.  Robert  Lamon  was  the  carpenter  who  put  up  most 
of  the  buildings  in  this  vicinit}-.  The  fine  brick  residence  now  occu- 
pied by  John  Smalley  was  built  about  the  same  time  by  his  father, 
James  Smalley.  It  is  one  of  the  best  residences  in  town.  Mr.  Smalley 
now  carries  on  the  mercantile  business,  keeping  a  full  stock  of  goods 
and  is  doing  a  very  fair  trade. 

About  1840  Mr.  E.  Oxley  laid  out  a  place  which  he  called  Salem, 
near  where  the  tannery  was,  one  mile  east  of  Higginsville.  Elder 
Herron  kept  a  store  there  as  early  as  1837.  Dr.  J.  B.  Halloway  lived 
there  and  practiced  medicine,  and  then  went  to  Myersville.  Mr. 
Bright  kept  a  blacksmith  shop. 

OTHER    ITEMS. 

In  1859  Henry  and  Andrew  Wood  built  a  saw-mill  and  grist-mill 
on  North  Fork,  near  the  northeast  corner  of  the  township.  It  was  a 
good  mill  with  two  run  of  stones,  and  had  sufficient  water  to  run  nearly 
all  the  time.  They  did  a  good  custom  business  and  some  merchant 
work. 

Allen  Anderson  came  here  from  Michigan  in  1866,  and  put  up  a 
steam  saw-mill  on  section  26  (20-12).  He  bought  sixty  acres  of  timber 
land  and  cut  it  off  for  lumber.  It  was  a  splendid  piece  of  timber. 
The  mill  ran  here  about  eight  years,  and  he  then  sold  it  to  William 
and  John  Lee,  who  moved  it  to  section  36. 

Charles  Deamude  put  down  a  coal  shaft  in  section  21,  near  the  south- 
west corner  of  the  town.  It  has  not  been  a  profitable  undertaking, 
though  a  good  quality  of  coal  is  raised,  and  a  good  home  market  is  had 
for  a  limited  amount. 


S'.fJ  HISTOKY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

The  following  is  a  list  of  all  the  officers  who  have  been  elected  to 
township  office  since  the  organization  of  the  town  in  1856 : 

Date.  Supervisor.  Town  Clerk.  Assessor.  Collector. 

1857. George  Y.  Stipp Adam  Albert David  Clem Benjamin  Hensley. 

1858. Benjamin  Fitzgerald .  Adam  Albert David  Clem Joseph  Stephens. 

1859. Benjamin  Fitzgerald . Adam  Albert David  Clem Joseph  Stephens. 

1860. George  Y.  Stipp Adam  Albert R.  M.  Hensley Joseph  Stephens. 

1861.  A.  B.  B.  Lewis Adam  Albert R.  M.  Hensley David  Clem. 

1862. George  W.  Knight. . .  Adam  Albert R.  M.  Hensley David  Clem. 

1863. George  Y.  Stipp Adam  Albert R.  M.  Hensley David  Clem. 

1864. George  Y.  Stipp Adam  Albert John  C.  Vose Joseph  Stephens. 

1865. George  Y.  Stipp. . . .  Adam  Albert Benjamin  Magness.  J.  H.  Leonard. 

1866.  John  C.  Vose Adam  Albert Joseph  Stephens. .  .Daniel  Fairchild. 

1867.  John  Garrard Adam  Albert John  F.  Pilkington .  Joseph  Stephens. 

1868.  Joseph  Stephens Adam  Albert John  F.  Pilkington. G.  G.  Smith. 

1869. George  G.  Smith Joseph  Stephens. .  W.  R.  Burk George  W.  Hoskins. 

1870.  George  G.  Smith Jacob  Clem W.  R.  Burk George  W.  Hoskins. 

1871. George  G.  Smith Jacob  Clem Joseph  Stephens  .  .  .George  W.  Hoskins. 

1872. George  G.  Smith Samuel  C.  Rickart . Edward  Duncan  . .  .George  W.  Hoskins. 

1873. George  G.  Smith Samuel  C.  Rickart  Edward  Duncan  . .  .George  W.  Hoskins. 

1874. George  G.  Smith  . . .  .John  J.  Cosat David  Clem F.  M.  Clem. 

1875. George  G.  Smith Adam  Albert John  J.  Cosat F.  M.  Fairchild. 

1876. George  G.  Smith  . . .  .Adam  Albert John  J.  Cosat George  W.  Hoskins. 

1877.  George  G.  Smith Adam  Albert John  J.  Cosat Wm.  R.  Firebaugh. 

1878. George  G.  Smith Adam  Albert John  J.  Cosat Wm.  R.  Firebaugh. 

1879. George  G.  Smith John  J.  Cosat Barton  Snider Wm.  R.  Firebaugh. 

The  justices  of  the  peace  have  been  John  Rickart,  George  Y.  Stipp, 
John  Gerrard,  J.  R.  Thurman,  Adam  Albert,  William  Fairchild,  Da- 
vid Clem,  J.  J.  Cosat,  J.  R.  Downing. 

The  township  has  no  railroad.  The  Danville  and  Paxton  road  was 
laid  out  and  nearly  graded,  running  very  nearly  through  the  center  of 
the  town  in  a  northwestern  direction,  by  J.  C.  Short,  some  six  or  eight 
years  ago.  When  he  failed,  the  enterprise  stopped.  He  did  not 
receive  any  local  aid  or  township  subscriptions,  hence  the  town  has  no 
railroad  or  any  other  debt.  The  farmers  are  almost  entirely  free  from 
mortgage  debt,  and  there  seems  no  good  reason  why,  in  the  light  of 
past  experience,  they  should  not  continue  so.  There  never  has  been 
any  strife  or  dissension  among  the  people,  and  very  little  to  mar  the 
friendship  among  neighbors.  From  an  early  day  the  institutions  of 
religion,  the  doctrines  of  temperance,  sobriety  and  frugality  have  held 
full  sway. 

LEGENDARY. 

One  of  those  singular  things  for  which  no  satisfactory  explanation 
seems  known,  is  the  so-called  "  twin  farm  "  on  section  29  (21-12)  in 
this  town.  Every  family  which  has  lived  upon  the  farm  thus  far  has 
had  born  to  them  a  pair  of  twins,  and,  indeed,  the  first  one  had  two. 


BLOUNT   TOWNSHIP.  S'Ki 

Explanations  are  in  order,  and  many  have  been  ottered,  and  none 
appear  to  entirely  satisfy  the  investigators.  It  has  been  referred  to  the 
board  of  supervisors,  who  are  popularly  supposed  to  know  everything, 
and  they  "  appointed  a  committee,"  which  is  their  usual  custom.  The 
committee  recommended  that  the  matter  be  further  tested  by  sending 
a  bachelor  to  live  on  it,  and  thus  tempt  fate,  as  it  were.  Mr.  Sperry 
has  recently  purchased  it  for  his  son,  who,  "as  yet,"  has  no  one  to  call 
a  family  save  his  own  individual  self,  and  the  committee  has  "  leave  to 
sit"  during  the  year  to  await  developments  and  "report."  While  this 
waiting  process  is  incubating,  a  newspaper  reporter  has  interested  him- 
self in  the  question,  and  has  given  the  benetit  of  his  investigation, 
which  is  strange,  if  true,  and  if  true  will  cause  future  fathers  to  pause 
before  purchasing  this  particular  piece  or  parcel  of  land.  Way  back  in 
the  early  days,  where  facts  and  rumors  blend  their  uncertain  lines, 
before  whites  sought  to  wrest  the  fertile  valley  of  the  Wabash  from  the 
dusky  owners  of  these  fruitful  hunting-grounds,  a  contest  long  and 
deadly  was  waged  between  two  tribes  which  claimed  this  Messopota- 
mia,  —  this  land  between  the  two  streams,  —  and  a  great  final  battle 
was  fought  near  Blue  Grass.  The  two  tribes  had  come  to  stay,  and 
each  expecting  to  conquer,  was  accompanied  by  their  women  and  chil- 
dren, which  were  kept  not  far  to  the  rear  of  where  this  deadly  contest 
was  waging  all  day,  with  uncertain  and  ever-shifting  hopes.  A  young 
brave,  named  by  his  doting  mother  All-in-your-eye,  was  particularly 
active,  and  seemed  almost  inspired.  His  seemed  a  charmed  life,  and 
many  an  opposing  warrior  bit  the  dust  in  consequence  of  the  deadly 
aim  of  his  strongly-drawn  bow.  When  asked  why  he  fought  so  des- 
perately he  replied  :  "  I  fight  not  for  Blue  Grass.  If  every  blade  of 
grass  on  its  wide  expanse  was  a  hollow  tree,  with  a  nest  of  coons  in  it, 
I  would  not  draw  my  bow  for  its  possession.  I  fight  for  her,"  point- 
ing to  a  dusky  maiden  of  comely  form  seated  on  a  log  far  back  in  the 
rear,  beyond  the  reach  of  the  flying  arrows.  He  had  hardly  ceased 
speaking  when  he  received  a  fatal  shot  which  pierced  his  heart,  and 
he  died  without  a  groan.  His  wife,  for  such  she  was,  saw  her  warrior 
husband  fall,  and  rushed  forward  to  seize  his  body  before  his  exulting 
enemy  could  apply  the  scalping  knife  to  his  prostrate  form.  She  car- 
ried his  body  miles  away  to  the  south,  hoping  to  reach  the  spot  where 
the  two  streams  flow  into  one  (the  junction  of  the  North  and  Middle 
Forks)  to  bury  him  where  he  could  constantly  hear  the  ripple  of  uniting 
waters,  the  Indian  symbol  for  a  happy  married  life.  She  had  scarcely 
made  half  the  distance  when,  overtaken  by  night,  overcome  with 
fatigue,  hunger  and  weeping,  she  lay  herself  down  to  rest.  In  the  first 
gray  light  of  the  morning  she  discovered  that  she  was  near  the  sod  hut 


894  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

of  a  weird  old  priest  of  the  opposing  tribe,  who  had  taken  up  his  abode 
this  far  away  from  the  strife  of  opposing  arms  that  nothing  might  inter- 
rupt his  incantations,  or  break  the  spell  of  his  communion  with  the 
Great  Spirit.  His  great  joy  on  seeing  her  with  the  corpse  of  her  dead 
warrior  was  inexplicable  to  her  until  he  made  known  to  her  that  dur- 
ing his  incantations  it  had  been  made  known  to  him  that  when  he  saw 
"  two  persons  with  but  a  single  soul,1'  that  moment  peace  should  be  es- 
tablished between  the  warring  tribes,  and  the  ground  upon  which  the 
phenomenon  was  seen  should  be  blessed  through  all  time  to  come  with 
double  productiveness.  As  if  in  verification  of  his  vision,  she  gave 
birth  to  twin  boys,  which  he  wrapped  in  his  own  priestly  blanket  and 
bore  back  to  the  scene  of  the  late  carnage.  The  boys  were  adopted  by 
the  two  tribes,  and  named  respectively  "Peace  on  Earth"  and  "  Good 
Will  to  Men."  When  they  grew  up  they  became  the  chiefs  of  the  two 
tribes. 

Jasper  Atvvood,  Danville,  farmer  and  blacksmith,  was  born  in  Ken- 
tucky on  the  18th  of  August,  1818.  His  father  moved  to  Ohio  when 
he  was  very  small,  and  there  remained  fourteen  years.  During  this 
time  Jasper  worked  on  a  farm,  and  in  1827  came  to  this  state,  settling 
twelve  miles  northwest  of  Danville.  He  has  been  four  times  married: 
first,  to  Eliza  Guillin,  in  1839".  She  was  born  in  Indiana,  and  is  now 
deceased.  Mr.  Atwood  was  then  married,  in  1842,  to  Lydia  Watson, 
who  is  also  deceased.  His  fourth  marriage  was  toDelila  Layton.  Mr. 
Atwood  has  frequently  gone  to  Chicago  with  an  ox-team  hauling  pro- 
duce, and  returned  loaded  with  salt.  He  is  an  honest,  hard-working 
man,  well  respected  in  his  community.  He  has  done  considerable  in 
the  way  of  doctoring,  and  has  a  recipe  that  is  almost  a  specific  for 
chronic  sore  leg,  never  charging  anything,  however,  for  his  services. 
He  owns  forty-eight  acres  of  land,  worth  fifty  dollars  per  acre. 

Samuel  Copeland,  farmer,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  and  one  of 
the  old  pioneers  of  Vermilion  county,  is  the  son  of  Samuel,  sen., 
and  Anna  (Hays)  Copeland.  Samuel,  sen.,  was  born  in  Aramah,  Ire- 
land, about  the  year  1755,  emigrated  to  the  United  States  in  1770,  and 
became  a  soldier  in  the  revolutionary  war.  About  1790  he  married 
Miss  Anna  Hays,  of  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania.  They  became  resi- 
dents of  Butler  county,  that  state,  where  the  subject  of  our  sketch  was 
born,  on  the  13th  of  August,  1801.  In  1806  his  parents  became  resi- 
dents of  the  Texas  Valley,  Virginia,  and  from  there  they  removed  to 
Gallia  county,  Ohio.  In  this  latter  place  the  early  life  of  Mr.  Copeland 
was  spent.  As  the  country  was  new,  he  had  but  little  chance  of  acquir- 
ing an  education,  there  being  nothing  but  the  old  subscription  system, 
and  he  being  obliged  to  cross  the  Ohio  River  to  attend  these,  which  at 


BLOUNT   T0WNSIIII'.  895 

some  seasons  of  the  year  was  impossible  for  him  to  do.  While  a  resi- 
dent of  that  county,  on  the  15th  of  February,  1820,  he  married  Miss 
Elizabeth  Hani,  she  being  a  native  of  Virginia.  lie  remained  a  resi- 
dent of  Gallia  county  for  eight  years  alter  marriage.  Then,  building 
a  boat,  he  came  down  the  Ohio  to  the  mouth  of  the  Wabash,  and  then 
up  this  to  Perrysville,  Indiana,  this  trip  requiring  six  months'  time. 
His  boat  was  loaded  with  salt.  lie  remained  at  Perrysville  long 
enough  to  sell  this,  and  then,  buying  plank  enough  to  lav  a  floor,  he 
moved  to  his  present  home,  where  he  first  built  a  house  of  "rails," 
and  afterward  a  log-house,  lie  was  obliged  to  go  from  seven  to  ten 
miles  to  get  men  enough  to  help  him  raise  the  structure.  He  located 
in  Blount  township  when  there  was  not  a  single  residence  of  a  white 
man  between  his  place  and  Chicago.  lie  first  entered  the  southeast 
quarter  of  section  11,  town  20,  range  12.  With  this  small  beginning 
he,  by  industry  and  economy,  has  accumulated  a  line  property.  lie 
has  already  given  to  his  children  four  hundred  and  eighty  acres,  and 
has  four  hundred  acres  remaining,  besides  some  valuable  city  property. 
There  were  born  to  them  eleven  children,  all  of  whom  married  and  set- 
tled in  the  vicinity  of  the  old  home.  We  have  the  authority  from  one 
of  the  sons  to  say  that  to  these  there  have  been  born  sixty-six  children 
and  twenty-three  grandchildren.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Copeland  have  lived 
to  a  ripe  old  age,  and  both  are  still  smart  and  active.  They  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Baptist  church,  which  they  joined  about  twenty  years  ago. 
Surrounded  by  an  abundance  of  property,  children,  grand  and  great- 
grandchildren, they  are  certainly  living  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  the  labors 
of  their  younger  days. 

Lewis  Swisher,  Danville,  farmer  and  stock-dealer,  section  35,  was 
born  in  Guilford  county,  North  Carolina,  on  the  31st  of  November, 
1800.  His  father  moved  with  him  to  Ohio  when  he  was  hut  twelve 
years  of  age,  where  he  remained  until  the  year  1827.  He  then  moved 
to  this  state  in  1828,  being  among  the  first  settlers  of  the  county.  He 
settled  two  miles  north  of  Danville.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  left 
there  on  account  of  milk-sickness,  of  which  disease  he  had  a  slight  at- 
tack, and  settled  where  he  now  resides.  Mr.  Swisher  was  married  on 
the  21st  of  January,  1830,  to  Elisabeth  Starr,  who  was  horn  in  Ohio  on 
the  14th  of  August,  I  Si  1.  They  have  had  by  this  marriage  nine  chil- 
dren, eight  living.  Mr.  Swisher  had  hut,  very  little  property  with  which 
to  commence,  hut  In;  has  obtained  a  nice  property  consisting  of  one 
hundred  and  ninety-five  acres  of  well  improved  land,  with  good  dwell 
ing-house  and  other  buildings. 

George  Y.  Stipp,    Danville,  farmer  and  local   minister,  section  22, 
was  born  in  Warren,  on  the  13th  of  April,  1820.      Until  eighteen  years 


896  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUXTY. 

of  age  he  worked  on  the  farm,  having  but  ordinary  educational  advan- 
tages. In  1830  he  moved  to  Illinois  with  his  parents,  settling  in  New- 
ell township.  Mr.  Stipp  has  taught  about  twenty-five  schools  in  his 
life-time.  Mr.  Stipp  has  been  three  times  married :  first  to  Amer- 
ica A.  Smith,  on  the  11th  of  November,  1817.  She  was  born  in  this 
county  on  the  21st  of  November,  1831,  and  died  on  the  21st  of  July, 
1870.  They  had  nine  children  by  this  marriage,  six  living:  Theodore 
L.,  Isaac  N.,  Anna  J.,  Sarelda  A.,  Daniel  V.  W.  and  Samuel.  The 
names  of  the  deceased  are  Mary,  Georgey  and  an  infant.  Mr.  Stipp 
was  then  married  to  Mary  E.  Hewes,  on  the  3d  of  February,  1871. 
She  was  born  in  Vermilion  county,  Indiana,  on  the  27th  of  April,  1819, 
and  died  on  the  24th  of  February,  1875.  One  child  was  the  result  of 
this  marriage.  He  was  then  married  to  Elisabeth  H.  Hursely,  on  the 
14th  of  January,  1877.  She  was  born  in  Ohio  on  the  18th  of  July, 
1838.  Mr.  Stipp  has  held  the  office  of  justice  of  the  peace  in  this  town- 
ship for  seven  years,  and  supervisor  of  township  four  terms.  He  is  a 
Baptist  minister  of  considerable  natural  ability.  He  has  been  engaged  in 
several  public  debates  on  various  theological  questions,  with  other  minis- 
ters; one  with  W.  P.  Shocky,  a  very  noted  Universalist  minister,  and 
another  with  Prof.  Clark  Braden,  of  Cornell  University,  and  with  sev- 
eral others  of  less  note.  He  owns  two  hundred  acres  of  land,  worth 
$30  per  acre. 

"William  Potter,  Danville,  farmer  and  stock-dealer,  section  27,  was 
born  in  the  state  of  New  York,  on  the  16th  of  August,  1817.  He 
came  to  this  state  in  1830,  settling  in  New  Town.  He  was  married  on 
the  26th  of  July,  1847,  to  Hester  Lane,  who  was  born  in  Franklin 
county,  Ohio,  in  1823.  They  have  seven  children  by  this  marriage : 
Elijah,  William  H.,  Eliza  J.,  John  F.,  Mary  E.,  Lincoln  A.  and  Andrew 
J.  Mr.  Potter  had  but  little  property  with  which  to  start  in  life,  his 
first  tax  being  only  six  cents;  but  he  has  by  hard  labor,  economy  and 
good  management,  acquired  a  property  of  four  hundred  acres  of  land. 
His  taxes  have  since  been  as  high  as  $250  a  year.  He  went  in  an  early 
day  to  Chicago  from  Blount  township  on  foot,  carrying  his  clothes  on 
his  back,  and  there  worked  for  sevent}T-five  cents  a  day  digging  the 
cellar  for  the  first  brick  house  ever  built  in  Chicago.  His  father  lived 
to  be  eighty-eight  years  old  and  his  mother  ninety-three.  Mr.  Potter 
is  a  republican,  and  does  not  belong  to  any  church. 

William  White,  Danville,  farmer,  section  13,  was  born  in  Bedford 
county,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  3d  of  September,  1796,  and  was  raised 
a  farmer,  and  this  occupation  he  has  followed  through  life,  making  it  a 
good  success.  He  had  no  property  when  he  was  married  to  Betsy 
Guillin,  in  1818,  but  by  hard  labor,  economy  and  fair  dealing,  he  has 


BLOUNT   TOWNSHIP.  897 

acquired  three  hundred  and  thirty  acres  of  good  land,  and  about 
$1,000  in  money,  which  is  on  interest.  And  besides  this  he  has  given 
considerable  to  his  children.  Mrs.  White  was  born  in  Ohio  on  the 
12th  of  March,  1798.  They  are  the  parents  of  ten  children,  seven  liv- 
ing. Mr.  White  has  filled  the  office  of  justice  of  the  peace.  Though 
eighty-three  years  of  age  he  has  never  in  his  life  been  so  sick  but  what 
he  was  able  to  go  about.  He  has  been  quite  temperate  in  his  habits. 
Mr.  White  frequently  went  to  Chicago  with  team  in  an  early  day,  haul- 
ing produce  and  returning  with  salt.  He  went  there  when  there  was 
but  one  house  between  where  he  now  lives  and  Chicago.  He  has  been 
a  very  industrious  man,  and  is  a  man  well  respected  in  the  community  in 
which  he  resides.    He  is  a  republican,  and  does  not  belong  to  any  church. 

Josiah  Crawford,  Danville,  farmer,  section  2,  was  born  in  Virginia 
on  the  9th  of  July,  1811,  and  spent  his  early  days  on  a  farm.  His 
father  moved  to  Ohio  in  1823,  where  the  subject  of  this  sketch  was 
married,  in  1833,  to  Hannah  Watkins,  who  was  born  in  1812,  and  who 
died  in  1860.  They  had  ten  children  by  this  marriage,  five  living: 
Sarah  J.,  William,  Hester  A.,  Benjamin  and  Mary  E.  The  deceased 
were  Samuel,  Almira,  Lucinda,  James  and  Minerva.  Mr.  Crawford  was 
then  married  in  1860,  to  Minerva  E.  Firebaugh,  who  was  born  in  Ohio. 
They  have  had  by  this  marriage  three  children,  two  living  :  Elizora  A. 
and  Frank.  The  deceased  was  Josiah.  Mr.  Crawford  has  held  the 
office  of  road  commissioner.  He  frequently  went  to  Chicago  with  a 
team  and  produce,  and  returned  with  salt.  There  was  at  this  time  only 
one  house  between  his  and  Chicago.  He  had,  when  he  married,  but 
seventy  acres  of  land,  but  by  industry  and  economy  has  accumulated  a 
nice  property  of  four  hundred  acres  of  nice  land.  His  father  was  in  the 
war  of  1812. 

Eli  Fairchild,  Danville,  farmer  and  stock-dealer,  section  2,  was  bom 
in  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  11th  of  February,  1835,  and  is  a 
son  of  Daniel  F.  Fairchild,  mt1io  came  with  his  father  to  this  county  in 
1829,  and  settled  about  seven  miles  northwest  of  Danville,  where  his 
widow  still  lives.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  raised  a  farmer,  which 
occupation  he  still  continues.  He  went  to  school  some  during  the  winter 
months.  Mr.  Fairchild  was  married  to  Clarisa  A.  Dermarest,  on  the 
6th  of  March,  1856,  who  was  born  in  this  county  on  the  10th  of  Octo- 
ber, 1836.  They  are  the  parents  of  ten  children,  nine  living:  Alice  J., 
Rachel  A.,  Ida  L.,  Jessie  M.,  Logan  A.,  and  Milton  E.  and  Elizabeth 
E.,  who  are  twins,  and  Eddy  and  Eva  K.,  also  twins.  The  deceased 
was  John.  Mr.  Fairchild  has  held  the  office  of  school  director  nine 
years,  and  overseer  of  roads  eight  years.  He  is  a  radical  republican  and 
a  Methodist. 
57 


898  HISTOKT    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

William  Lane,  Danville,  farmer  and  stock-dealer,  section  22,  was 
born  in  Guilford  county,  North  Carolina,  on  the  6th  of  August,  1795. 
He  had  no  property  worth  speaking  of  when  he  started  in  life,  but  he 
has  had  at  one  time  fourteen  hundred  acres  of  splendid  land,  mostly  in 
this  county.  He  has  divided  it  among  his  children,  till  he  only  has 
five  hundred  and  ten  acres.  His  father  moved  to  Ohio  in  1812.  Mr. 
Lane  came  to  this  state  in  1835,  settling  seven  miles  northwest  of  Dan- 
ville, only  two  miles  from  where  he  now  resides.  He  has  been  five 
times  married :  first  to  Phceba  Blanch,  now  deceased,  and  the  second 
time  to  Mary  Steel,  also  deceased;  he  afterward  was  united  to  Nancy 
Lacy,  deceased,  and  then  to  Nancy  Yager,  also  deceased ;  his  present 
wife  was  Minerva  Connell.  He  is  the  father,  by  the  first  marriage,  of 
one  child,  now  deceased ;  by  the  second  wife,  two ;  by  the  third  mar- 
riage, fifteen  children,  ten  living,  and  by  the  fifth  union,  five  children, 
four  living,  making  Mr.  Lane  the  father  of  twenty-three  children.  He 
frequently  went  to  Chicago  with  team  in  an  early  day,  traveling  five 
and  six  miles  on  ice.  His  father  was  all  through  the  revolutionary 
war.     Mr.  Lane  is  a  democrat  and  a  Baptist. 

Enoch  Yansickle,  Danville,  farmer,  section  35,  was  born  in  But- 
ler county,  Ohio,  on  the  26th  of  April,  1814.  He  was  married 
to  Nancy  White  (now  deceased),  on  the  8th  of  October,  1837.  She 
was  born  in  Butler  county,  Ohio,  on  the  18th  of  June,  1819.  They 
were  the  parents  of  ten  children,  six  living:  Robert,  Andrew,  who 
died  in  the  army,  Elisabeth,  deceased,  Sarah,  Evart,  William,  killed  by 
lightning  in  1862,  Harriett,  John,  Enoch,  and  one  infant,  deceased. 
Mr.  Vansickle  had  only  forty  acres  when  he  married.  He  tried  hard 
for  years  to  open  up  a  farm  in  the  timber,  but  as  long  as  he  worked  at 
that  he  gained  but  little.  Finally  he  went  on  the  prairie,  where  he 
soon  prospered.  He  now  owns  two  hundred  and  ninety-six  acres  of 
land.  He  made  a  great  many  trips  to  Chicago  with  team  in  an  early 
day,  hauling-  wheat,  oats  and  produce,  and  returning  with  salt.  Mr. 
Yansickle  was  in  the  Black  Hawk  war,  and  was  one  of  the  early  set- 
tlers of  the  county,  helping  to  change  it  from  a  barren  wilderness  to  its 
present  prosperous  condition. 

J.  H.  Cramer,  Danville,  farmer,  section  20,  was  born  in  this  county 
on  the  30th  of  May,  1838,  and  was  raised  a  farmer,  and  this  occupation 
he  has  followed  through  life.  He  was  married  on  the  9th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1860,  to  Nancy  Carpenter,  who  was  born  in  Indiana.  They  have 
had  by  this  union  eleven  children,  seven  living:  William  S.,  John  W., 
Charles,  Mary,  Andrew,  Fred  and  Lillie.  The  deceased  were  Dora  A., 
Margaret  M.,  and  two  infants.  Mr.  Cramer  had  but  little  when  he 
was  married,  but  by  industry,  economy  and  hard  labor  he  has  acquired 


BLOUNT   TOWNSHIP.  899 

a  nice  property,  consisting  of  one  hundred  and  nineteen  acres  of  fine 
farm  land.  He  has  held  the  office  of  school  director  two  years,  and 
school  trustee  two  years.  His  parents  were  natives  of  Virginia.  He 
is  a  republican  in  politics. 

E.  P.  Grimes,  Danville,  tanner,  was  born  in  Pike  county,  Ohio,  on 
the  20th  of  August,  1822;  was  raised  a  farmer,  and  has  followed  that 
occupation  successfully  through  life.  He  came  to  this  state  in  1838, 
settling  five  miles  northwest  of  Danville,  where  he  remained  until 
within  a  few  years.  Mr.  Grimes  was  married  in  this  state,  in  1852,  to 
Elisabeth  Cassia,  who  was  born  in  1835.  They  had  by  this  union  ten 
children,  eight  living:  John  M.,  Elisha  C,  Alvin,  Ella,  Charlie,  May 
B.,  Austin  and  Edward.  The  deceased  were  Jacob  and  William  H. 
Mr.  Grimes  has  acquired  a  good  property,  consisting  of  three  hundred 
and  four  acres  of  good  land.  In  an  early  day  he  has  frequently  gone 
to  Chicago  with  a  team,  loaded  with  apples,  and  came  back  with  salt. 
His  parents  were  natives  of  Pennsylvania.    He  is  republican  in  politics. 

George  G.  Smith,  Higginsville,  farmer,  section  33,  owns  three  hun- 
dred and  fifty  acres,  worth  $30  per  acre,  was  born  in  Scioto  county, 
Ohio,  on  the  31st  of  August,  1829,  and  was  brought  up  on  a  farm.  He 
went  to  school  in  winter  and  worked  on  farm  in  summer.  Pie  came 
with  his  father  to  this  state  in  1839,  settling  in  this  township  ten  miles 
northwest  of  Danville.  He  was  married  on  the  25th  of  March,  1852, 
to  Eliza  A.  Fairchild,  who  was  born  in  this  county  on  the  27th  of  No- 
vember, 1833.  He  is  the  father  of  nine  children:  Elisabeth  L.,  John 
E.,  Elias  D.,  Marshal  M.,  Wesley  C,  Sarah,  Eva  J.,  Woodford  G.  and 
Josiah  O.  Mr.  Smith  has  held  the  office  of  collector  one  term,  office 
of  supervisor  of  township  ten  years,  which  office  he  still  holds.  His 
grandfather  on  his  father's  side  was  in  the  war  of  1812,  and  was  in  the 
battle  at  which  Hull  surrendered.  His  parents  were  natives  of  Vir- 
ginia. Mr.  Smith  has  given  entire  satisfaction  in  the  filling  every 
office  he  has  held.     He  is  well  respected  by  all  who  know  him. 

Harrison  Fairchild,  Danville,  farmer  and  stock-dealer,  section  34, 
was  born  in  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  25th  of  December,  1840. 
His  father,  Daniel  Fairchild,  was  a  very  noted  Methodist  minister,  and 
was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  this  county,  coming  here  in  1829.  Mr.  Har- 
rison Fairchild  was  married  to  Sarah  E.  Leanhorn  on  the  8th  of  March, 
1865.  She  was  born  in  this  county  on  the  11th  of  September,  1845. 
They  are  the  parents  of  seven  children  :  Daniel  W.,  born  on  the  28th 
of  September,  1866;  Lillie  J.,  born  on  the  3d  of  January,  1869  ;  Ettie 
O.,  born  on  the  23d  of  July,  187<>;  Oscar  H.,  born  on  the  2d  of  Jan- 
uary, 1872 ;  Joseph,  born  on  the  13th  of  November,  1873 ;  Myrtie, 
born  on  the  28th  of  August,  1875,  and  Roscoe  S.,  born  on  the  12th  of 


900  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

May,  1878.  Mr.  Fairchild  enlisted  in  1861  in  the  late  war,  with  Co. 
B,  25th  111.  Inf.  Vol.,  and  served  three  years.  He  was  in  the  battles  of 
Pea  Ridge,  Perry  ville  (Ky.),  Nolansville,  Chickamauga,  Mission  Ridge, 
and  was  at  the  siege  of  Corinth.  He  received  a  slight  wound  in  the 
arm,  and  another  in  the  leg,  and  was  mustered  out  at  Springfield,  Illi- 
nois. He  lost  two  brothers  in  the  war.  Mr.  Fairchild  fattens  from 
two  to  three  car  loads  of  cattle  annually,  and  from  seventy-five  to  one 
hundred  head  of  hogs.  He  has  held  the  office  of  school  director  five 
years,  and  overseer  of  roads  five  years.  He  owns  three  hundred  and 
fifteen  acres  of  land,  worth  $25  per  acre.  He  is  a  republican,  and  in 
religion  a  Methodist. 

Nathaniel  R.  Fairchild,  Danville,  farmer  and  stock-dealer,  section  3> 
was  born  in  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  15th  of  August,  1843. 
He  has  followed  the  occupation  of  a  farmer  through  life.  He  attended 
the  high-school  at  Danville  for  four  years.  Mr.  Fairchild  has  been 
twice  married  :  first  to  Elisabeth  Fitzgerald,  on  the  21st  of  April,  1869.- 
She  was  born  in  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  8th  of  November, 
1844,  and  died  on  the  19th  of  August,  1874.  They  had  by  this  mar- 
riage three  children,  two  living :  Marshal  C,  born  on  the  26th  of  Jan- 
uary, 1870,  and  Ada  B.,  born  on  the  11th  of  September,  1871.  The  de- 
ceased was  an  infant.  Mr.  Fairchild  was  then  married,  on  the  30th  of 
March,  1875,  to  Sarah  Dore,  who  was  born  in  Vermilion  county  in  1842. 
They  have  by  this  union  two  children :  Daniel  J.,  born  the  19th  of 
January,  1876,  and  Wesley  E.,  born  on  the  28th  of  July,  1878.  The 
father  of  Mr.  Fairchild,  Daniel  Fairchild,  was  one  of  the  early  settlers 
of  this  county,  having  come  here  in  1829.  He  was  a  very  noted  min- 
ister of  the  Methodist  church.     He  is  a  republican  and  a  Methodist. 

John  J.  Cosat,  Danville,  minister  of  the  gospel,  section  13,  was 
born  in  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  13th  of  March,  1844,  and 
spent  his  boyhood  days  on  a  farm.  He  had  but  little  opportunity  for 
acquiring  an  early  education,  but  by  close  study  at  home  he  suc- 
ceeded in  acquiring  a  sufficient  education  to  enable  him  to  teach  school, 
which  he  continued  for  thirteen  years.  He  commenced  preparing  for 
the  ministry  at  the  age  of  twenty-five.  He  was  ordained  in  the  Chris- 
tian church  in  1873,  and  has  charge  of  two  churches.  He  is  also  elder 
in  the  church.  He  was  married  on  the  11th  of  July,  1869,  to  Emma 
Cline,  who  was  born  in  Vermilion  county,  this  state,  on  the  30th  of 
September,  1851.  They  have  six  children,  three  living:  Ernest  H., 
born  on  the  15th  of  May,  1870 ;  Pleasant,  born  on  the  5th  of  May, 
1872,  died  May  8th,  1872 ;  Theodore  W.,  born  on  the  30th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1873 ;  John  D.,  born  on  the  25th  of  October,  1875,  died  on  the 
14th  of  November,  1876;  Lafayette,  born  on  the  26th  of  August,  1877, 


BLOUNT   TOWNSHIP.  901 

and  died  on  the  2d  of  October,  1877 ;  Everett  M.,  born  on  the  25th  of 
September,  1878.  Mr.  Cosat  has  held  the  office  of  town  clerk  one  term, 
township  assessor  four  years,  justice  of  the  peace  two  years,  and 
this  office  he  is  still  holding.  He  enlisted  in  the  late  war  in  1864,  in 
Co.  I,  5th  Wis.  Inf.,  as  corporal.  He  was  one  of  the  six  men  who  cap- 
tured Lieutenant  Ewell.  He  served  one  year  and  was  in  the  battles  of 
Cedar  Creek,  Petersburg,  Sailor  Creek,  and  several  other  engagements. 
He  is  a  republican  in  politics.  His  parents  were  natives  of  Kentucky.* 
Mr.  Cosat's  father  came  to  this  state  in  1831,  hence  was  one  of  the 
early  settlers  of  this  county. 

Elkanah  Fairchild,  Danville,  farmer,  section  2,  was  born  in  Ver- 
milion county,  Illinois,  on  the  14th  of  June,  1845,  and  is  a  son  of 
Daniel  Fairchild,  one  of  the  pioneers  of  the  county,  and  a  minister  of 
the  Methodist  church  of  considerable  note,  and  a  man  of  great  influ- 
ence. The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  married  on  the  25th  of  January, 
1866,  to  Emily  Fitzgerald,  who  was  born  in  Vermilion  county,  this 
state,  on  the  21st  of  May,  1847.  They  are  the  parents  of  five  children, 
four  living:  Ina  O.,  born  on  the  10th  of  April,  1869;  Benjamin  F., 
born  on  the  16th  of  January,  1872  ;  Ella  G.,  born  on  the  13th  of  April, 
1873 ;  Grant,  born  on  the  1st  of  July,  1878 ;  Minnie  A.,  born  on  the 
21st  of  October,  1866,  and  died  on  the  9th  of  January,  1867.  Mr.  Fair- 
child  enlisted  in  the  late  war  in  1864,  in  Co.  B,  135th  111.  Vol.  Inf., 
and  served  five  months.  He  did  picket  duty,  and  was  mustered  out  at 
Mattoon.  He  sells  a  few  cattle  and  hogs  every  year,  and  farms  quite 
extensively.  Mr.  Fairchild  owns  two  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land, 
is  all  in  all  a  well-to-do  farmer,  and  well  respected  by  all  who  know 
him.     He  is  a  republican  and  a  Methodist. 

Joseph  M.  Ingram,  Danville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Franklin  county, 
Ohio,  on  the  24th  of  July,  1844,  and  spent  his  early  days  in  working 
on  a  farm.  He  came  with  his  father  to  this  state  in  1852,  settling  ten 
miles  north  of  Danville.  He  was  married  on  the  17th  of  June,  1867, 
to  Elizabeth  Fairchild,  daughter  of  Daniel  Fairchild,  quite  a  noted 
Methodist  minister  of  this  township.  She  was  born  in  Vermilion 
county,  this  state,  on  the  9th  of  January,  1850.  They  have  by  this 
union  seven  children,  six  living:  Harrison  M.,  born  August  9,  1869; 
Daniel  E.,  born  May  30,  1871;  Earl  R.,  born  Sept.  6,  1873;  Nora  F., 
born  January  21,  1876 ;  Elsie  R.,  born  March  22,  1877 ;  Ordilla  M., 
born  December  25,  1878;  and  one  infant  deceased.  Mr.  Ingram  en- 
listed in  the  late  war  in  1864,  in  Co.  K,  135th  111.  Inf.  Vol.  He  served 
five  months,  and  was  mustered  out  by  general  order.  His  parents 
were  natives  of  Kentucky  and  Virginia.  He  is  a  republican  and  a 
Methodist. 


902  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Johnson  Gamrael,  Danville,  farmer,  section  34,  was  born  in  New 
Jersey  in  1843.  His  parents  died  when  he  was  but  three  years  of  age, 
and  he  was  then  raised  by  his  uncle.  He  came  to  this  state  when  he 
was  twelve  years  of  age.  He  enlisted  in  1864  in  Co.  E,  51st  111.  Inf. 
Vol.  He  served  one  year,  and  was  in  the  battles  of  Dalton,  Dallas 
and  New  Hope.  He  received  a  gunshot  wound  in  the  left  arm  in  the 
battle  in  Tennessee,  for  which  he  receives  twelve  dollars  per  month 
pension.  Mr.  Gammel  was  married  on  the  6th  of  October,  1871,  to 
Mary  Lemmon,  who  was  born  in  this  county  on  the  26th  of  February, 
1844.  They  have  by  this  union  three  children :  Nettie,  Eddy  and 
Lula.  Mr.  Gammel  has  held  the  office  of  school  director  one  year. 
He  is  a  well-to-do  farmer,  and  is  in  good  standing  in  his  neighborhood. 
He  had  but  little  property  when  he  commenced  for  himself,  but  has 
acquired  a  good  property  consisting  of  one  hundred  and  seventeen 
acres  of  splendid  farm  land.     He  is  a  republican  and  a  Methodist. 

John  Brandt,  Danville,  farmer,  section  11,  was  born  in  Pennsj'lvania 
on  the  3d  of  October,  1825,  and  was  raised  on  a  farm.  At  the  age  of 
fourteen  years  he  entered  a  general  store  as  clerk,  and  there  remained 
for  a  period  of  twelve  years,  after  which  he  taught  school  four  years. 
He  was  married  in  1857  to  Nancy  Starr,  who  was  born  in  Pennsyl- 
vania in  1826.  By  this  marriage  they  are  the  parents  of  two  children  : 
Frederick  E.  and  Abraham  L.  Mr.  Brandt  has  held  the  office  of  school 
director  several  years.  He  had  no  property  when  he  married ;  but,  by 
economy,  industry  and  perseverance  he  has  acquired  one  hundred  and 
fifty  acres  of  land.  His  parents  were  both  Dunkards.  He  is  repub- 
lican in  politics. 

Francis  M.  Fairchild,  Danville,  farmer  and  stock-dealer,  was  born 
in  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  10th  of  November,  1858,  and  is 
a  son  of  Daniel  Fairchild,  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  this  county,  and 
a  minister  of  considerable  note  of  the  Methodist  church.  He  married 
more  couples  and  preached  more  funeral  sermons  than  probably  any 
other  man  in  the  county.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  married  on 
the  30th  of  March,  1870,  to  Ina  B.  Fitzgerald,  who  was  born  in  this 
county  on  the  20th  of  April,  1848.  They  are  the  parents  of  five  chil- 
dren, four  living:  Charles  W.,  born  December  4,  1870;  Lola  M.,  born 
August  14,  1872;  Daisy  W.,  born  November  9,  1875;  Oliver  L.,  born 
June  28, 1877.  Mr.  Fairchild  has  held  the  office  of  collector  one  term, 
and  has  been  Sunday-school  superintendent.  He  fattens  and  ships 
from  two  to  four  car-loads  of  cattle  a  year,  and  some  hogs.  .  He  owns 
three  hundred  and  eighty-eight  acres.  Mr.  Fairchild  is  a  member  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  church,  and  in  politics  is  a  republican. 

G.  W.Justus,  Danville,  farmer  and  nurseryman,  was  born  in  Mont- 


BLOUNT   TOWNSHIP.  903 

gomery  county,  Indiana,  on  the  3d  of  May,  1834,  and  at  the  age  of 
twenty-two  he  went  into  mercantile  business,  which  he  continued  for  a 
period  of  seven  years.  He  has  been  three  times  married :  first,  to 
Eliza  Smith,  on  the  18th  of  September,  1856.  She  was  born  in  Foun- 
tain county,  Indiana,  on  the  30th  of  September,  1841,  and  died  on  the 
16th  of  September,  1860.  They  had  two  children  by  this  union : 
Sarah  C.  and  Clara  D.,  now  deceased.  Mr.  Justus  was  then  married, 
on  the  4th  of  August,  1861,  to  Margaret  Graves,  who  was  born  in  Ken- 
tucky on  the  14th  of  May,  1829,  and  died  on  the  1st  of  February,  1872. 
One  child  by  this  marriage:  Elizabeth,  now  deceased.  He  was  then 
united  to  Hannah  Cunningham  on  the  3d  of  September,  1873.  She 
was  born  in  Vermilion  county,  this  state,  on  the  3d  of  September, 
1840.  They  have  had  four  children  by  this  union,  two  living:  Alia 
L.  and  Bertha ;  the  deceased  were  William  V.  and  one  infant.  Mr.  Jus- 
tus has  held  the  office  of  constable  one  year;  justice  of  the  peace,  six 
years;  school  director,  three  years;  postmaster,  three  years,  and  is 
deacon  and  elder  in  the  Christian  church. 

William  Vancamp,  Danville,  physician,  was  born  in  Clark  county, 
Ohio,  and  was  engaged  working  in  an  oil  mill  owned  by  his  father 
until  twenty  years  of  age.  His  chances  for  an  early  education  were 
limited.  He  came  to  this  state  in  1856,  and  settled  in  Coles  county, 
where  he  remained  one  year.  Some  time  afterward  he  removed  to 
Indiana,  where  he  practiced  medicine  thirteen  years,  and  then,  in  1869, 
came  to  this  state,  and  settled  in  Pilot  Grove,  where  he  remained  till 
1871,  during  which  time  he  had  an  extensive  practice,  attended  with 
good  success.  From  Pilot  Grove  he  removed  to  Danville,  where  he 
practiced  six  years.  In  1864  Mr.  Vancamp  enlisted  in  the  late  war  in 
Co.  I,  130th  Ind.  He  had  charge  of  the  hospital,  and  during  this 
time  he  discovered  a  remedy  for  cerebro-spinal  meningitis  that  has 
proved  to  be  almost  a  specific.  The  Doctor  has  been  twice  married : 
first,  on  the  15th  of  May,  1853,  to  Nancy  A.  Lymill,  who  was  born  in 
Indiana  on  the  13th  of  February,  1838,  and  is  now  deceased.  They 
had  by  this  marriage  five  children,  four  living.  Mr.  Vancamp  was 
then  married,  on  the  4th  of  July,  1865,  to  Elizabeth  Sorett,  who  was 
born  in  Indiana  on  the  22d  of  August,  1837.  They  are  the  parents  of 
six  children,  four  living.  The  Doctor  has  been  very  benevolent,  doc- 
toring the  poor  without  any  hope  of  pay.  He  is  a  Methodist  and  a 
Mason. 


904  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 


PILOT  TOWNSHIP. 


No  section  of  country  in  this  part  of  Illinois  presents  a  more  at- 
tractive view  than  that  occupied  by  Pilot  township.  Pilot  is  one  of 
the  original  townships  reported  by  the  committee  appointed  to  divide 
the  county  into  townships,  in  December,  1850.  It  has  the  name  then 
given.  The  committee's  report,  submitted  on  the  27th  of  February, 
1851,  bounded  the  township  as  follows :  Beginning  at  the  southeast 
corner  of  section  34,  in  town  20,  range  12,  go  north  to  the  east  corner 
of  section  3  in  said  town  ;  thence  to  the  southeast  corner  of  section  33, 
town  21,  range  12  ;  thence  north  to  the  northeast  corner  of  section 
21  in  said  town  21  ;  thence  west  on  the  section  line  to  the  north- 
west corner  of  section  22,  in  town  21,  range  14 ;  thence  south  on  the 
county  line  to  the  southwest  corner  of  section  34,  town  20,  range  14 ; 
thence  east  on  the  south  line  of  town  20,  to  the  place  of  beginning. 
Since  that  time  the  township  has  undergone  some  changes  in  boundary, 
the  principal  one  being  the  two-mile  slice  from  the  south  side  upon  the 
formation  of  Oakwood  township  in  1868.  At  present  it  is  bounded  as 
follows :  Beginning  at  the  southeast  corner  of  section  20,  town  20, 
range  12,  go  north  one-half  mile  ;  thence  west  one-fourth  mile  ;  thence 
north  one  and  one-half  miles ;  thence  west  to  the  northwest  corner  of 
section  17  in  said  town;  thence  north  two  miles;  thence  west  to  the 
southeast  corner  of  section  35,  town  21,  range  13 ;  thence  north  two 
miles;  thence  west  one-half  mile  ;  thence  north  one  mile;  thence  west 
to  the  county  line ;  thence  south  on  the  county  line  to  the  southwest 
corner  of  section  22,  town  20,  range  14;  thence  east  to  the  point  of 
starting.  From  these  boundary  lines  it  will  be  seen  that  Pilot  now 
contains  sixty-five  and  one-eighth  square  miles ;  that  it  is  ten  miles 
from  east  to  west  in  its  longest  portion ;  that  it  is  seven  miles  wide, 
and  that  it  lies  mostly  in  ranges  13  and  14,  only  a  small  portion  being 
in  range  12.  Pilot  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Middle  Fork  township, 
on  the  east  by  Blount,  on  the  south  by  Oakwood,  and  on  the  west  by 
Champaign  county.  It  occupies  the  middle  of  the  western  side  of  Ver- 
milion county. 

The  surface  of  this  township  is  undulating,  or  gently  rolling,  in  the 
central  part.  In  the  south  and  southwest  portions  the  tendency  is 
to  flatten  out  and  become  too  level.  Along  the  eastern  edge  we  have 
the  brakes  of  the  Middle  Fork.  There  is  a  high  portion  of  the  town- 
ship which  is  known  as  California  Ridge.  It  is  the  water-shed  between 
the  waters  of  the  Salt  and  Middle  Forks.  It  is  exceptionally  high 
ground  for  this  country,  and  has  on  it  some  of  the  most  desirable  farms 


PILOT   TOWNSHIP.  905 

in  the  state  of  Illinois.  Nearly  all  of  the  land  is  prairie.  There  is 
some  timber  on  the  eastern  side  along  the  Middle  Fork,  though  not 
much  of  the  Middle  Fork  timber  extends  into  Pilot  township,  and 
there  is  a  small  grove  near  the  center  of  the  township  known  as  Pilot 
Grove.  This  point  of  timber,  away  out  in  the  prairie,  away  from  any 
stream,  and  on  the  highest  portions  of  land  in  the  country,  very  natu- 
rally attracted  the  attention  of  early  settlers.  It  was  called  Pilot  on 
account  of  its  peculiar  situation,  this  rendering  it  a  kind  of  guide, —  a 
kind  of  beacon-light  to  the  explorers  of  the  prairie.  The  township  de- 
rived its  name  from  this  grove.  There  are  no  streams  in  Pilot  of  im- 
portance, with  the  exception  of  Middle  Fork,  which  skirts  the  edge  on 
the  east,  now  in  and  now  without  the  limits  of  the  township.  The 
head  waters  of  Stony  Creek  take  their  rise  in  the  western  part,  and 
there  is  a  small  stream  flowing  into  Middle  Fork  from  the  northeastern 
part,  called  Knight's  Branch.  But  water  is  furnished  by  good  wells  in 
sufficient  quantity  for  man  and  beast,  and  is  elevated  to  the  surface  by 
the  power  of  the  wind,  which  in  this  country  has  free  scope,  and  is 
almost  constantly  blowing. 

There  is  no  village  within  the  borders  of  Pilot.  It  has  one  post- 
office  and  store,  but  a  village  has  not  been  laid  out.  Neither  is  there 
a  railroad  across  its  territory.  It  is  entirely  devoted  to  agricultural 
interests,  and  these  are  well  represented.  The  soil  is  black,  deep  and 
fertile.  In  some  places  it  is  necessary  to  drain  in  order  to  secure  good 
results,  but  there  is  a  greater  portion  of  this  township  that  will  yield 
good  crops  without  draining  than  of  any  other,  perhaps,  in  the  county. 
Corn,  wheat,  oats,  flax  and  grass,  are  the  principal  products.  Cattle 
and  hogs  are  grown  in  vast  numbers.  There  is  more  than  the  usual 
amount  of  grazing  and  cattle-growing.  Sheep  are  kept  quite  exten- 
sively by  a  few,  and  they  report  the  business  successful.  It  is  said  to 
be  the  best  paying  business  that  can  be  followed  in  this  country.  Very 
little  of  the  vast  acres  of  corn  are  shipped.  It  is  generally  bought  up 
by  the  cattle-feeders  in  the  neighborhood.  A  good  thing  in  Pilot  is  the 
herd  law.  People  fence  in  their  stock  instead  of  their  grain.  This 
they  found  easier  and  less  expensive.  Vast  areas  of  corn  and  other 
grain  may  be  seen  growing  by  the  roadside,  with  nothing  in  the  shape 
of  a  fence  anywhere  in  sight.  Pilot,  like  some  other  portions  of  West 
Vermilion,  suffers  socially  from  a  number  of  large  land-owners.  When 
this  country  began  to  settle  up,  men  who  realized  the  importance  of 
the  movement  strove  to  get  possession  of  large  areas,  that  they  might 
have  the  advantage  of  the  rise  in  value.  The  prairies  of  Pilot  offered 
as  attractive  farms  as  any  in  the  country,  and  accordingly  we  find  here 
a  number  of  farms,  each  of  which  includes  vast  areas.     These  would 


906  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

not  have  been  as  detrimental  to  the  best  interests  of  the  community, 
had  the  owners  been  able,  in  every  case,  to  improve  them  and  keep 
them  up  with  the  progress  of  the  times. 

THE    PIONEERS. 

The  points  for  early  settlement  were  two, — the  timber  of  Middle 
Fork  and  Pilot  Grove.  Accordingly,  we  find  settlements  made  at  the 
places  at  quite  an  early  date.  The  first  white  settler  within  the  limits 
of  this  township  is  not  now  positively  known.  So  many  conflicting 
stories  reach  the  ear  that  one  cannot  positively  affirm  that  such  and 
such  were  actually  the  first  persons  withing  certain  limits.  It  is  proba- 
ble that  James  McGee  was  the  first  man  in  here.  He  came,  as  near  as 
can  now  be  ascertained,  in  1824  or  1825.  The  McGees  (for  there  were 
a  number  of  them  afterward)  remained  in  the  neighborhood  for  a  long 
time,  but  finally  moved  away.  Mr.  Griffith,  we  are  told  by  some, 
came  before  this  man.  Griffith  was  in  what  is  now  Oakwood  township, 
but  just  on  the  edge,  and  in  the  same  neighborhood.  In  1827  Morgan 
Pees  and  the  Juvinalls  came  into  the  township  and  settled  on  the 
Middle  Fork,  above  where  the  others  had  stopped.  Morgan  Rees  is 
still  living  in  Blount  township,  but  on  the  west  side  of  the  creek,  near 
where  he  settled  fifty-two  years  ago.  He  has  been  most  of  his  time 
right  here,  and  is,  perhaps,  better  acquainted  with  the  history  of  this 
part  of  the  county  than  any  other  man  living.  The  Juvinalls  were 
well  known  in  this  community,  all  through  the  years  of  pioneer  life. 
The  old  man,  father  of  a  number  of  boys,  came  with  his  family  at  the 
early  date  before  mentioned.  His  first  name  was  John,  and  his  sons 
were  Andrew,  David,  James,  and  John  Juvinall,  jr.  David  and  An- 
drew were  married  when  they  came.  The  children  of  Andrew  still 
live  in  the  neighborhood.  The  Juvinalls  came  from  Ohio.  The  Mor- 
rison  family  came  in  a  little  farther  up,  about  the  same  time.  Morrisons 
were  important  elements  in  the  neighborhood,  but  they  finally  went 
awa}\  William  Trimmell  came  about  the  year  1828.  He  settled  in 
the  same  neighborhood.  There  are  still  a  few  of  the  name  found  in 
various  parts  of  the  county.  Samuel  Bloomfield  came  up  to  Middle 
Fork  about  1829  or  1830,  to  improve  his  farm.  He  had  come  to 
Quakers'  Point  as  early  as  1823,  and  had  lived  in  other  parts  of  the 
county,  before  he  came  up  here,  some  six  or  seven  years.  His  family 
was  raised  mostly  here,  and  many  comparatively  old  settlers  have  all 
the  time  thought  that  this  was  his  first  stopping-place  in  the  county; 
but  we  learn  from  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Deamude,  that  her  father  came 
to  the  county  in  the  spring  of  1823.  Mrs.  Deamude  was  then  but  a 
child,  but  remembers  the  coming.     She  has  been  here,  then,  more  than 


PILOT   TOWNSHIP.  907 

fifty-six  years.     She  is  much  the  oldest  settler  living  in  the  township. 
Mrs.  Atwood,  her  sister,  who  lives  here,  was  born  in  the  township. 

In  1828  Absalom  Collison  came  to  the  settlement  on  the  Middle 
Fork.  He  stopped  with  the  Jnvinalls  for  a  while.  They  were  all 
from  Ohio,  and  Mr.  Collison  was  a  single  man  at  the  time,  and  needed 
a  home.  He  did  not  content  himself  with  that  kind  of  a  home  long  — 
he  concluded  to  have  one  of  his  own.  He  paid  his  respects  to  Mary 
Chenoweth,  who  accepted  his  offer  for  better  or  worse,  and  they  were 
married  in  1829.  This,  we  presume,  was  the  first  marriage  in  that 
neighborhood.  Miss  Chenoweth  had  come  to  the  neighborhood  in  the 
same  year  with  her  father's  family.  They  went  to  the  farm  that  they 
occupied  so  long,  immediately.  Here  they  remained  and  brought  up 
their  family,  and  here  Mr.  Collison  died  in  1853.  The  widow  still 
survives  at  an  advanced  age,  living  on  the  same  farm  that  she  began 
her  married  life  upon  "  full  fifty  years  ago." 

The  Atwoods  came  to  the  east  end  of  Pilot  township  in  1829. 
They,  too  came  from  Ohio.  Alfred  Atwood,  whose  biography  ap- 
pears elsewhere,  was  a  prominent  member  of  society.  He  came 
with  his  parents  when  only  six  years  old.  Eli  Helmick,  who  came 
first  to  Salt  Fork  in  1833,  came  to  the  east  side  of  Pilot  township  in 
1836.  At  an  advanced  age  he  still  lives  and  enjoys  good  health  in  the 
same  neighborhood  where  for  forty-three  years  he  has  been  one  of 
the  principal  men.  When  we  remember  that  this  man  came  here  at 
the  age  of  thirty-four,  and  that  a  man  in  the  middle  of  life  may  go 
into  a  new  country  wrhere  there  is  nothing  but  vast  wastes  of  unoccu- 
pied land,  and  where  but  few  white  men  are  to  be  seen,  and  yet  live  to 
see  a  populous,  thriving,  well-to-do  community  spring  up  around 
him,  with  all  the  facilities  for  culture  and  refinement  to  be  had  in  any 
locality,  no  matter  how  old,  we  realize  that  this  is  an  age  of  progress, 
and  that  life  means  more  than  it  did  a  hundred  years  ago.  What  if 
Methuselah  did  live  nine  hundred  and  sixty-nine  years ;  did  he  see  such 
progress  as  "  Uncle  Eli  "  has  seen  within  his  days. 

We  have  mentioned  the  principal  pioneers  of  Middle  Fork  in  Pilot ; 
others  may  have  lived  here  who  deserved  a  preservation  of  their 
deeds  in  the  history  of  their  community,  but  no  matter  how  deserv- 
ing, unless  some  one  is  left  to  tell  the  story,  their  deeds  of  heroism 
must  sink  into  oblivion,  or,  perchance,  live  in  the  better  lives  of 
those  wrho  have  been  led  they  know  not  by  whom.  The  first  settler 
at  Pilot  Grove  is  in  dispute.  Rumor  has  it  that  a  man  by  the  name 
of  Girard, —  a  relative  of  old  Stephen  Girard,  of  Philadelphia, —  was 
the  first  white  man  who  lived  there ;  but  others  tell  us  that  Mr.  All- 
corn  was  the  first.     Certain  it  is  that  Mr.  Allcorn  was  there  in  1830. 


908  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

It  is  said  that  he  was  succeeded  by  a  Mr.  Wheat.  The  grove,  and 
quite  a  large  scope  of  land  around  it,  is  now  occupied  by  W.  H.  Fow- 
ler. For  some  time  this  has  been  the  seat  of  a  large  farm.  It  certainly 
is  a  good  place  to  excite  the  energy  of  an  ambitious  man.  The -first 
settler  in  the  western  part  of  the  township,  in  the  prairie,  was  Robert 
Butz  ;  but  this  was  recent  as  compared  with  the  settlements  on  the 
Middle  Fork.  His  son,  J.  K.  Butz,  has  one  of  the  best  improved 
farms  in  the  county.  He  began  on  it  as  wild  prairie  in  1859.  Eph- 
raim  B.  Tillotson  was  the  first  settler  in  the  northwest  part.  He  came 
to  section  31,  T.  21,  R.  13,  in  1856  ;  he  has  remained  there  ever  since, 
and  has  one  of  the  best  farms  in  the  township.  The  earliest  settler  in 
the  northeastern  part  was  a  Mr.  Knight,  who  settled  on  a  branch  that 
has  since  borne  his  name.  In  here  the  only  old  settler  still  living,  so 
far  as  we  could  learn,  is  William  R.  Furrow,  who  came  with  his 
mother  and  her  family  in  1841.  He  has  held  on  to  his  early  efforts 
here  with  advantage  and  profit. 

EDUCATIONAL. 

The  early  settlements  in  Pilot  township  were  so  scattered  along  the 
creek  that  they  did  not  become  sufficiently  numerous  in  any  one  vicin- 
ity to  support  a  school  until  a  comparative  recent  date.  In  the  neigh- 
borhood of  the  Juvinalls,  but  just  across  the  creek  in  Blount  township, 
school  was  taught  at  a  very  early  day  by  Morgan  Rees.  Children 
from  this  settlement  would  attend  the  school  across  there,  and  conse- 
quently in  those  days  school  was  not  necessary  on  the  western  side  of 
the  creek.  The  first  school-house  built  in  Pilot  was  put.  up  on  sec- 
tion 20,  T.  20,  R.  12.  This  was  in  1836  or  1837.  Ezekiel  Lewton 
taught  the  first  school  in  this  building.  There  had  been,  however,  a 
school  previous  to  this,  in  a  cabin,  taught  by  a  Mr.  Beard.  This  was 
about  the  year  1834.  These  schools  possessed  the  usual  primitive 
character.  The  days  of  loud  schools  had  not  gone.  The  ambitious 
youth  were  taught  to  exercise  their  vocal  organs,  and  the  more  noise 
made  the  more  successful  the  school.  The  present  condition  of  educa- 
tional affairs  is  quite  satisfactory.  Good  school-houses  are  seen  in 
nearly  all  the  districts,  and  competent  teachers  manage  successful 
schools  as  a  rule. 

CHURCHES. 

Pilot  is  without  villages,  but  is  not  lacking  in  churches.  Within 
the  narrow  limits  of  one  small  township  we  find  five  churches  and 
several  societies  that  hold  meetings  without  owning  any  house  of  wor- 
ship. Not  only  do  we  find  a  number  of  churches,  but  there  is  a  large 
membership. 


PILOT   TOWNSHIP.  909 

The  very  first  meetings  within  the  limits  of  this  township  were 
held,  as  nearly  as  we  can  ascertain  the  facts,  under  the  auspices  of  the 
McGees.  As  before  noted,  these  people  came  here  very  early.  The 
elder  McGee  was  a  minister.  These  were  one  branch  of  the  Christian 
church.  They  seem  to  have  been  neither  what  is  called  Campbellite 
nor  New  Light,  though  probably  a  branch  of  the  latter.  They  had  an 
organization  quite  early.  Stephen  Griffith  was  one  of  the  members  at 
that  time, —  or,  at  least,  an  influential  man  among  them.  They  held 
meetings  in  private  houses  for  some  time.  It  is  related  that,  about 
1828  or  1829,  they  got  up  quite  an  excitement.  They  concluded  to 
follow  the  apostolic  order  and  have  all  things  common.  But  this  did 
not  suit  all  concerned,  and  difficulty  arose  in  camp.  They  did  other 
things  not  considered  orthodox  at  present :  such  as  meeting  and  wait- 
ing for  the  descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  This  society  was  strong  and 
influential  in  the  first  days  of  the  neighborhood,  but  it  finally  suc- 
cumbed, and  left  no  vestige  of  its  former  strength. 

Christian  chapel,  located  in  the  south  edge  of  Pilot  township,  was 
built  by  the  Christians  (New  Lights)  in  1873.  It  is  a  neat  country 
church,  26x40  feet,  and  cost  $1,200.  The  society  that  meets  here  had 
its  origin  in  Oakwood  township,  for  the  first  efforts  of  Emly  and  Wil- 
kins  are  recorded  there.  When  the  society  left  the  Craig  school-house 
it  met  at  the  Snyder  school-house  next.  The  meetings  in  the  Snyder 
school-house  were  first  held  in  1862.  There  was  a  time  when  it  be- 
came almost  disorganized;  some  of  the  members  were  gone  away  to 
the  army,  and  others  had  moved  away,  until  things  were  in  rather  a 
dilapidated  condition.  But  a  revival  of  the  work  was  begun,  and  has 
continued  ever  since.  Meetings  were  held  in  the  Snyder  school-house 
until  the  building  of  the  church.  Since  that  time  services  are  regu- 
larly held  in  the  chapel.  A  flourishing  Sabbath-school  is  generally 
kept  going;  good  feeling  prevails;  there  is  little  clashing  with  other 
denominations,  and  the  society  holds  a  membership  of  about  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty.  Thomas  Snyder  is  the  present  pastor,  and  has  held 
the  position  for  sixteen  years.  He  resides  in  the  neighborhood,  being 
a  descendant  of  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of  the  county.  There  is  a 
society  of  this  denomination  in  the  western  part  of  the  township, 
which  meets  at  the  Hope  school-house.  It  was  organized  on  the  4th 
of  April,  1874,  with  forty-four  members.  It  was  organized  under  the 
supervision  of  Thomas  Snyder.  Previous  to  the  organization  of  the 
church  here,  J.  K.  Butz  and  wife,  Mr.  Hedge  and  wife,  and  Mr. 
Thompson,  were  the  only  members  of  this  denomination  in  the  neigh- 
borhood. Meetings  are  now  held  monthly.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Rippey  is 
the  present  pastor;  before  him,  Elder  Green  officiated.    There  are  now 


910  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

about  fifty  members.  The  school-house  at  Hope  is  one  of  the  best 
country  school-houses  in  the  county.  It  was  put  up  with  a  view  to  the 
accommodation  of  religious,  as  well  as  educational,  enterprises.  In 
this  house  there  is  a  well  organized  and  enthusiastic  Sabbath-school. 
The  parents  take  an  interest  in  it.  '  They  see  that  their  children  have 
a  good  place  to  go  to  on  Sunday. 

There  are  several  members  of  the  Campbellite  division  of  the 
Christian  church  within  the  limits  of  Pilot,  but  those  on  the  south  side 
belong  to  the  society  that  meet  at  the  Gorman  school-house  in  Oak- 
wood  township.  The  people  of  the  north  have  built  themselves  a  very 
pleasantl}7  appearing  church  on  the  north  side  of  the  township.  It  is 
24  x  36  feet,  but  cost  them  only  about  $400.  There  is  quite  a  flourish- 
ing little  society  here.  The  main  man  of  this  organization  is  Ephraim 
B.  Tillotson. 

In  the  northeast  part  of  the  township  is  located  Knight's  Branch 
church,  as  it  is  generally  known.  It  is  so  called  from  its  location  on 
the  branch  first  settled  by  a  Mr.  Knight.  The  proper  name  of  the 
church  is  Olive  Branch.  This  society  is  the  only  early  organization  of 
United  Brethren  in  this  part  of  the  county.  The  first  member  of  this 
society,  or  of  this  denomination,  in  this  part  of  the  country,  was  Abra- 
ham Peterson.  He  came  in  here  about  1839  or  1840.  The  next  man 
of  influence  of  this  persuasion  was  P.  A.  Canady.  He  arrived  in  this 
neighborhood  about  the  year  1850.  Peterson  was  a  minister  and  did 
the  first  preaching  for  these  people.  He  held  meetings  at  his  own 
house.  The  class  was  soon  organized.  They  built  the  church  in 
1867.  It  is  42  X  50  feet.  It  cost  $2,700.  It  was  dedicated  by  Bishop 
Weaver.  At  the  time  of  the  dedication  there  were  nearly  one  hundred 
members,  but  the  society  has  not  been  prosperous  of  late  years.  There 
are  now  only  about  twenty-five  persons  belonging  to  the  church.  The 
present  pastor  is  the  Rev.  Scott.  They  have  a  Sabbath-school  in  suc- 
cessful operation,  superintended  by  Elon  Sperry.  Before  the  building 
of  the  church,  while  meetings  were  held  in  the  school-house,  there  was 
a  great  interest  manifested.  During  harvest-time,  prayer  meetings 
were  kept  up  every  day  of  the  week.  Men  would  stop  the  reaper  to 
go  to  meeting.  As  a  result  of  this  deep  interest,  there  were  seventy- 
five  or  eighty  additions  to  the  church  at  that  one  time. 

Pilot  Class  of  United  Brethren  was  organized  about  seven  years  ago, 
at  Pilot  Grove  school-house.  The  first  members  included  D.  C.  Butz, 
W.  B.  Tillotson,  H.  K.  Curtis  and  wife,  Mrs.  Endicott,  Austin  Endi- 
cott  and  wife.  The  first  to  hold  meetings  for  this  society  were  Ira 
Mater  and  Joseph  Cooper.  There  are  about  twenty  members  in  this 
class.     W.  B.  Tillotson  is  the  class-leader,  and  H.  K.  Curtis  is  steward. 


PILOT   TOWNSHIP.  911 

We  have  yet  to  notice  the  Methodists  in  this  township.  They  are 
among  the  strongest  here,  and  their  origin  in  this  country  dates  hack  to 
the  earliest  pioneer  days  of  the  white  settlements  in  this  part  of  the 
country.  The  Morrison's  and  Juvinalls  were  Methodists.  Their  early 
settlement  here  has  already  been  noticed.  Meeting  was  regularly  held 
at  the  residence  of  Mr.  Morrison  till  he  went  away  to  Wisconsin. 
This  was  for  some  years  after  the  first  settlements.  The  earliest  minis- 
ter recollected  is  the  Rev.  McKain,  who  was  here  in  the  earliest  times. 
Meetings  were  sometimes  held  at  the  residence  of  the  Juvinalls.  After 
the  school-houses  began  to  be  built,  meeting  was  held  in  them.  The 
Pilot  chapel  organization  met  in  the  Collison  school-house  till  the  build- 
ing of  the  church.  Pilot  chapel  was  built  in  the  early  part  of  the  year 
and  dedicated  in  June,  1871.  The  Rev.  David  Brewer  was  the  pastor 
at  the  time  of  building.  This  is  a  well-built,  attractive  country  church, 
and  has  a  flourishing  society  with  a  good  membership.  The  preacher 
in  charge,  at  present,  is  the  Rev.  Eli  Helmick.  His  career  has  already 
been  dwelt  upon  at  length  in  these  pages,  and  will  simplj'  mention 
here  that  he  is  one  of  the  old  wheel-horses  of  Methodism  in  this  coun- 
try. He  came  in  here  as  early  as  1830.  He  traveled  all  over  this 
country,  at  that  time  and  subsequently,  and  preached  in  almost  every 
settlement  in  early  times.  In  1830  he  traveled  with  "  Old  Freeman 
Smalley,"  whom  the  old  settlers  will  recollect  as  one  of  the  most  re- 
markable pioneers  of  early  times.  The  author  of  these  lines  met  the 
old  man,  in  late  years,  on  the  frontier,  where,  at  an  extreme  old  age,  he 
still  made  his  way  to  the  school-houses  wherever  Baptist  congregations 
gathered  to  worship.  But  he  is  gone !  His  comrade  lingers  on  the 
shores  of  time,  but  will  soon  join  the  innumerable  hosts  of  pioneers, 
where  nearly  all  the  old  settlers  have  already  gone. 

Emberry  is  the  name  of  a  church  built  by  the  Methodists  on  the 
south  side  of  the  "California  Ridge,"  and  within  two  miles  of  the 
south  line  of  the  township.  The  society  that  occupies  this  church  was 
organized  by  Rev.  John  E.  Vinson.  This  was  at  what  was  called  the 
Sand  Bar  school-house,  about  the  }7ear  1857.  Mr.  Vinson  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Illinois  Conference  of  Methodist  Itinerants.  He  was,  at  that 
time,  appointed  to  the  "circuit"  that  included  this  territory.  The 
Sand  Bar  school-house  continued  to  be  a  regular  place  appointed  to 
hold  services  for  this  membership  until  the  building  of  the  church. 
The  first  members  of  this  society  consisted  of  Rev.  Vinson,  wife  and 
two  children,  and  William  Price  and  wife.  If  there  were  others  their 
names  are  forgotten.  In  1855,  while  Rev.  John  Long  was  on  the 
circuit,  there  was  an  extensive  revival  here.  More  than  forty  persons 
united  with  the  church ;  the  Cassell  family,  the  Deamude  family,  the 


912  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Cannon  family  and  others  were  taken  in  at  this  time.  The  church  was 
built  in  1875.  This  was  during  the  pastorate  of  Rev.  I.  Groves.  The 
building  is  an  elegant  frame,  and  cost  $2,300.  When  the  day  of  dedi- 
cation came  this  amount  was  all  provided  for,  and  nothing  was  asked 
of  the  congregation.  There  is  a  prosperous  society,  and  a  reasonable 
membership. 

In  the  western  part  of  the  township  there  are  a  number  of  persons 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  faith  and  practice.  They  have  no  church,  but 
we  understand  that  services  are  held  semi-occasionally  in  private 
houses  whenever  the  priest  can  come  out  from  Danville. 

POLITICAL    AND    WAR    RECORD. 

In  politics,  Pilot  is  not  only  republican,  but  radically  so.  In  all 
state  and  national  elections,  Pilot  heaps  up  heavy  majorities  for  the 
regular  republican  candidates.  The  township  offices  are  seldom 
changed.     Little  ambition  is  manifested  in  securing  them. 

In  war,  as  in  peace,  the  people  manifest  much  interest  in  the  gen- 
eral welfare  of  the  country.  There  is  one  soldier  of  the  Black  Hawk 
war  living  in  the  township,  and  one  living  just  across  the  line  in 
Blount  township,  that  went  from  this.  The  former  is  John  Cassell, 
and  the  latter,  Morgan  Rees.  They  were  under  Col.  Moore.  These 
two  companions  of  forty-seven  years  ago  remain  with  us.  If  there 
were  others  from  this  part  of  the  county  their  names  are  not  remem- 
bered. These  linger  at  advanced  ages,  but  they  will  soon  be  gone,  and 
the  soldier  of  the  Black  Hawk  war  will  be  of  the  past.  If  there  were 
any  in  the  Mexican  war  we  failed  to  find  them;  but,  during  the  stormy 
days  of  the  republic,  when  men  were  rushing  to  the  front  to  stop  the 
ravages  of  an  infuriate  foe,  Pilot  furnished  her  own  proper  proportion. 
Eli  Helmick  lost  two  sons:  George  and  Eli  R.  George  was  in  the  21st 
111.  Inf.  under  Gen.  (then  Col.)  Grant.  He  died  at  home.  The  other 
was  in  the  35th,  under  Capt.  Timmons.  He  died  at  Otterville,  Mis- 
souri. Mr.  Atwood  also  died  from  the  effects  of  disease  contracted  in 
the  army.  We  learned  the  names  of  no  others.  We  are  inclined  to 
think  that  the  soldiers  from  Pilot  did  not  experience  as  great  a  mor- 
tality in  their  ranks  as  many  sections  have  known.  Within  a  limited 
area,  smaller  by  far  than  Pilot,  we  have  found  the  homes  of  nearly  two- 
score  men  who  lie  on  southern  fields.  But  a  good  portion  of  Pilot 
lay  open  and  unoccupied  in  1861. 

A    TILE    FACTORY 

Is  in  successful  operation  in  this  township.  The  surface  of  the  country 
here  is  not  particularly  level,  but  it  soon  runs  into  that  kind  of  surface 


PILOT   TOWNSHIP.  913 

as  we  go  out  from  the  "  California  Ridge."  This  factory  was  built 
in  the  fall  of  1877.  It  is  located  in  the  northeastern  part  of  the 
township,  and  was  put  up  by  James  Acton.  The  factory  is  composed 
of  kiln,  shed  and  round-house.  The  kiln  is  15x17  feet,  the  shed 
24x100  feet,  and  the  round-house  forty-two  feet  in  diameter.  The 
machine  for  molding  the  tile  and  grinding  the  clay  is  a  four-horse 
Pennfield  patent.  It  is  capable  of  turning  out  two  thousand  six-inch 
tiles  per  day.  It  will  mold  tiles  of  3,  3-J-,  4,  5  and  6  inches  in  diameter. 
They  make  the  flat-bottomed  tile.  The  factory  is  owned  by  James 
Acton  and  Conrad  Friedrich,  the  latter  having  charge  of  and  oper- 
ating it.  They  make  tiling  from  remarkably  peculiar,  tough,  blue  clay. 
This  is  said  to  be  the  best  for  the  purpose ;  it  certainly  makes  very 
good  tile  so  far  as  appearance  goes.  The  manufacturers  claim  that 
their  tile  is  harder  than  the  usual  kinds  ;  it  is  almost,  if  not  quite, 
as  hard  as  the  best  burned  brick.  They  are  selling  quite  a  large 
number  of  tiles.  This  country  when  thoroughl}T  drained  will  be  un- 
surpassed in  fertility,  as  it  is  now  in  soil,  in  the  United  States.  It  is 
certainlv  commendable  that  an  effort  be  made  to  manufacture  so  neces- 

ml 

sary  an  article  in  the  community  in  which  it  is  needed. 

HIGHWAYS. 

As  Pilot  lies  principally  on  a  prairie  ridge,  there  were  few  public 
thoroughfares  in  early  days.  Persons  traveled  across  the  prairies  in 
those  days  without  roads,  or  even  paths.  For  many  years  after  settle- 
ments were  made  along  the  timber,  the  traveling  over  the  prairie  was 
done  by  direction.  The  traveler  would  ascertain  the  direction  he 
must  take  to  reach  his  desired  destination,  and  then  keep  to  his  course, 
over  pathless  waste,  crossing  streams  and  swamps  as  best  he  could.  A 
few  roads  along  the  Middle  Fork  date  back  to  the  days  of  early  settle- 
ment; more  recently  nearly  all  the  section  lines  have  been  made  public 
highways.  As  the  herd  law  is  operative  here,  all  that  is  necessary  for 
a  road  in  many  places  is  a  space  left  between  the  cultivated  portions  of 
adjoining  farms.  There  are  few  streams,  and  consequently  few  bridges 
are  required.  In  many  places  the  roads  present  a  pleasing  appearance 
on  account  of  the  clover  and  timothy  that  grow  beside  them. 

ORGANIZATION    OF    PILOT. 

This  was  one  of  the  first  townships,  as  before  stated.  The  commit- 
tee who  fixed  the  original  boundary  and  gave  it  the  name  Pilot,  was 
composed  of  John  Canady,  Alvan  Gilbert  and  Hamilton  White.  The 
township  was  represented  in  the  first  supervisor's  court  that  met  on 
the  13th  of  June,  1851,  by  Samuel  Partlow.  The  next  supervisor  was 
58 


914  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Eli  Helmick,  who  continued  in  the  office  a  number  of  years.  As  be- 
fore remarked,  the  people  of  Pilot  are  not  given  to  a  great  deal  of 
changing  of  officers.  Mr.  J.  E.  Vinson  was  justice  of  the  peace  for 
twenty  years,  and  the  present  supervisor,  Mr.  Keeslar,  is  serving  his  ninth 
term.  At  the  election  held  on  the  1st  of  April,  1879,  the  following 
officers  were  chosen  :  Charles  W.  Keeslar,  supervisor ;  L.  Tillotson, 
town  clerk ;  J.  C.  Tevebaugh,  assessor ;  T.  C.  Smoot,  collector ;  John 
Z.  Selsor,  commissioner  of  highways ;  J.  A.  Knight,  constable,  and 
F.  A.  Collison,  pound-master.  The  latter  i-esigned  and  C.  O.  Ball 
was  appointed  to  fill  the  vacancy. 

HOPE   POST-OFFICE. 

Although  Pilot  cannot  boast  any  villages,  it  has  its  post-office.  We 
have  yet  to  find  in  this  part  of  the  county  a  lovelier  place  for  a  little 
village  than  the  spot  where  the  post-office  is  located.  But  these  people 
seem  not  to  be  ambitious  in  this  line.  No  railroad  facilities  can  ever 
be  expected  here,  and  these  are  necessary  for  a  successful  village  in 
these  days  of  fast  traveling.  This  office  is  in  the  southwestern  part  of 
the  township.  It  was  first  a  special  office,  the  people  paying  their  own 
carrier.  J.  K.  Butz  was  the  first  postmaster.  The  carrier  at  this  time, 
came  to  Hope  from  Compromise,  in  Champaign  county.  In  1873  a 
regular  office  was  established,  and  Mr.  Butz  was  made  postmaster,  and 
continued  till  1875.  Since  that  time  E.  A.  Donaldson  has  held  the 
office  at  the  "  Cross-Roads."  They  now  have  two  mails  a  week.  The 
school-house  here  and  the  society  of  New  Lights  were  noticed  under 
the  heading  "Churches."  In  1876  Mr.  Butz  put  up  a  blacksmith-shop. 
Wicoff  and  son  worked  in  it  a  while,  and  then  J.  T.  Johnson  swung 
the  hammer  and  blew  the  bellows.  At  present,  Gr.  W.  Cool  manages 
the  fires.  Ezra  Harrison  began  a  mercantile  business  at  this  place  in 
the  spring  of  1878.  Although  he  has  been  operating  for  so  short  a 
time,  he  has  built  up  a  successful  trade.  He  occupies  a  store-room 
16x38  feet.  He  carries  on  a  general  country  trade,  dealing  in  such 
things  as  are  in  demand  in  a  farming  community.  Mr.  E.  A.  Donald- 
son, the  postmaster,  who  is  also  a  school-teacher,  carries  a  small  stock 
of  goods,  for  the  benefit  of  the  community  and  himself. 

BIOGRAPHICAL. 

Samuel  Bloomfield,  deceased,  was  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of 
Vermilion  county.  He  was  a  native  of  Ohio,  and  came  here  in  the 
spring  of  1823.  He  stopped  awhile  in  Indiana.  The  first  place  that 
he  occupied  in  this  county  was  Quaker's  Point.  He  was  the  first  set- 
tler there.      He  remained  here  two  years  and  then  moved  close  to 


PILOT   TOWNSHIP.  915 

Georgetown.  After  a  short  residence  there  he  moved  to  six  miles 
southeast  of  Danville,  and  then  two  and  a  half  miles  below  Danville. 
After  a  stay  here  he  came  to  Middle  Fork.  He  lived  and  died  in  that 
neighborhood.  He  died  on  the  road  home  from  mill,  in  1862,  of  heart 
disease.  His  wife  lived  until  1871.  They  had  five  daughters  and  four 
sons.  The  eldest,  Mrs.  Deamude,  lives  on  her  farm  in  Pilot  township. 
She  was  married  to  Samuel  Deamude  on  the  3d  of  April,  1842.  He 
was  born  on  the  16th  of  August,  1807.  He,  too,  was  an  early  settler. 
He  came  in  1835.  He  had  married  Miss  Hillery  previously.  Mr.  D. 
died  on  the  27th  of  January,  1868.  He  had  five  children  by  first  wife 
and  four  by  second.  They  came  to  the  farm  in  Pilot  in  1848.  He 
bought  four  hundred  acres  of  land  here.  Mrs.  D.  still  lives  on  the 
place.  It  has  been  divided  up  among  the  children,  but  the  mother 
has  a  large  and  pleasant  house  to  live  in,  and  she  still  carries  on  a  good 
deal  of  business. 

S.  P.  Leneve,  Pilot,  farmer,  is  one  of  the  oldest  persons  that  we 
have  found  who  were  born  in  this  county.  He  was  born  here  on  the 
23d  of  December,  1828.  His  father  was  one  of  the  very  first  in  this 
country.  S.  P.  Leneve  grew  to  manhood  on  his  father's  farm.  He 
then  went  to  California  in  1852.  He  had  received  a  fair  education  at 
the  Georgetown  high  school,  and  was  prepared  to  make  his  way  in  the 
world.  He  went  by  way  of  New  Orleans  and  the  Isthmus.  They 
touched  at  Acapulco.  On  the  way  they  had  some  difficulty  in  regard 
to  food.  He  first  went  to  Mary  ville.  He  worked  in  the  mines  at  $110 
per  month.  From  this  he  went  to  teaming,  and  followed  the  business 
fourteen  years.  He  then  went  to  Nevada  and  dealt  in  stock  and  grain. 
He  made  his  home  in  Virginia  City  two  years.  He  then  came  back 
to  this  county  by  way  of  New  York  city.  In  1869  he  married  Adaline 
Wilson.     He  has  since  lived  on  his  farm  in  Pilot  township. 

Alfred  Atwood,  deceased,  Pilot,  was  a  well-known  character  in  the 
community  in  which  he  lived.  He  was  born  in  Preble  county,  Ohio, 
on  the  10th  of  October,  1823,  and  died  on  the  2d  of  June,  1865.  He 
died  of  chronic  diarrhoea,  contracted  in  the  United  States  service.  He 
came  with  his  parents  to  Illinois  at  the  age  of  six  years.  They  first 
stopped  on  Middle  Fork,  in  the  east  end  of  Pilot  township.  Here  he 
grew  up,  and  on  the  21st  of  January,  1847,  married  Diadama  Bloom- 
field.  She  was  born  here  on  the  18th  of  June,  1832.  She  still  lives 
here  with  her  children.  Mr.  Atwood  joined  the  Christian  church  in 
1850,  and  was  ordained  elder  in  1852.  He  enlisted  in  the  125th  Reg. 
111.  Inf.  in  August,  1862.  ^He  maintained  his  Christian  character 
through  all  the  trials  of  war.  He  was  earnest,  devout,  and  often 
preached  to  his  gathered  comrades.     On  the  1st  of  May,  1864,  he  was 


916  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

sent  to  the  hospital,  and  was  discharged  in  1865.  He  then  came  home 
and  died  as  above.  Funeral  services  were  not  held  till  the  return  of 
his  comrades,  on  the  3d  of  September,  1865.  He  left  a  wife,  three 
sons  and  one  daughter  to  mourn  his  loss.  He  owned  at  that  time  one 
hundred  and  ninety  acres  of  land  in  east  end  of  Pilot.  Mr.  Atwood's 
Christianity  was  unchallenged.  The  goodness  and  piety  of  his  life 
threw  a  radiant  halo  of  eternal  glory  around  his  every  action.  Men 
loved  and  admired  him,  while  his  faithful  performance  of  duty  enno- 
bled his  life  and  established  confidence  in  humanity. 

David  H.  Lindsey,  Higginsville,  farmer,  is  a  native  of  Kentucky, 
having  been  born  in  Harrison  county  on  the  26th  of  July,  1817.  His 
father  died  when  he  was  young,  and  his  mother  married  Mr.  Martin. 
They  came  to  Illinois  in  the  fall  of  1829.  David  came  along,  and  has 
made  this  his  home  ever  since.  They  stopped  close  to  state  line,  where 
the  family  grew  up.  Mr.  Lindsey  married  Mariah  Boyd  on  the  30th 
of  June,  1839.  She  died,  and  he  married  Sophronia  Canady  on  the 
19th  of  March,  1844.  Upon  her  death  he  took  to  himself  Minerva  J. 
Wood,  on  the  30th  of  April,  1852.  He  was  united  with  his  last  wife, 
Ordelia  Anderson,  upon  the  death  of  the  third.  Her  father  was  a 
pioneer  Methodist  preacher  in  earl}T  times.  Mr.  L.  has  five  children 
living.  He  came  to  Pilot  in  1849.  He  bought  a  large  tract  of  land 
here  at  first.  He  now  owns  two  hundred  and  fifty-four  acres.  He  is 
a  member  of  the  M.  E.  church,  being  steward  and  trustee. 

W.  H.  Price,  Pilot,  farmer,  came  to  Vermilion  county  when  young. 
He  was  born  in  Ohio  on  the  4th  of  July,  1827.  He  reached  Illinois 
in  1830.  His  father's  family  came  to  two  miles  north  of  Danville. 
Here  the  son  stayed  till  he  was  sixteen  years  old.  At  that  time  he  be- 
gan life  for  himself,  with  nothing  but  his  ability  to  start  on.  He 
worked  out  three  vears.  He  remained  in  the  neighborhood  of  State 
Line  till  twenty-three  years  old.  He  was  married  in  January,  1850,  to 
Mary  A.  Cazzatt.  He  moved  to  where  he  now  lives  in  Pilot  township, 
in  the  spring  of  1852.  He  bought  two  hundred  acres  of  land  when 
nineteen  years  old,  and  paid  for  it  by  working  at  nine  dollars  per 
month.  He  now  has  six  hundred  and  forty  acres.  He  has  five  chil- 
dren.    He  is  a  member  of  the  M.  E.  church,  and  of  the  A.F.  &  A.M. 

"Uncle  Eli,"  as  Eli  Helmick,  retired  farmer  and  minister,  is  known 
all  over  the  country,  is  one  of  the  few  remaining  old  settlers  who  came 
here  at  a  very  early  day,  and  yet  was  old  enough  to  have  quite  a  family 
when  he  came.  He  was  born  in  Randolph  county,  Virginia,  on  the  4th 
of  August,  1802.  His  father,  Jacob  Helmick,  was  in  the  war  of  1812. 
The  family  had  moved  to  Warren  county,  Ohio,  in  1805.  Jacob  Hel- 
mick died  there  in  1815.     While  his  father  was  in  the  war,  Eli  thought 


PILOT   TOWNSHIP.  917 

to  go  ahead  with  the  work,  and  in  making  a  wooden  wedge  for  the 
purpose  of  rail-splitting,  he  cut  off  his  thumb  with  the  ax.  He  lived 
in  Warren  county  from  1805  till  1819,  and  in  Clinton  from  1819  till 
1833.  In  1830  Mr.  Helmick  and  old  Mr.  Freeman  Smalley,  whom 
the  old  settlers  will  remember,  came  to  Illinois  on  horseback.  They 
traveled  all  over  this  country,  and  would  have  moved  the  next  year 
had  not  the  threatening  Indian  troubles  kept  them  back.  But  when 
things  quieted  down  after  the  war  of  1832,  they  began  fixing  up  for 
the  journey.  They  reached  Vermilion  county  in  1833.  They  first 
stopped  two  and  a  half  miles  east  of  where  Homer  now  is.  Mr.  Hel- 
mick hauled  the  first  load  of  goods  that  ever  went  to  Homer,  in  1834. 
He  stayed  on  this  place  till  1836,  and  then  came  to  the  east  side  of 
Pilot  township,  where  he  has  lived  ever  since  (residence  first  in  section 
20,  town  20  north,  range  12  west ;  residence  now  in  section  13).  When 
he  first  came  to  Pilot  he  bought  six  hundred  acres  of  land,  but  has  sold 
off  and  given  to  his  children  till  he  now  owns  three  hundred  and  thirty- 
eight  acres  —  two  hundred  and  forty  prairie,  and  ninety-eight  timber. 
On  the  28th  of  July,  1825,  Mr.  Helmick  was  married  to  Rachel  Villars. 
They  had  nine  children,  eight  of  whom  lived  to  be  grown.  Four  of 
these  are  now  living.  His  son  George  was  in  the  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  21st 
Reg.  He  went  out  with  the  first  three-years  men.  He  was  in  Grant's 
regiment.  George  took  sick  at  Iron  Mountain  and  came  home  and 
died  on  the  28th  of  March,  1862.  Eli  R.,  a  younger  son,  volunteered 
in  August,  1861,  and  went  with  his  regiment  (35th)  to  Otterville, 
where  he  died  on  the  7th  of  October,  1861.  These  sons  were  both 
buried  in  Mt.  Pleasant  cemetery.  Thomas  A.  was  also  in  the  army, 
but  he  returned.  John  W.  is  a  traveling  minister  in  the  Illinois  Con- 
ference M.  E.  church.  Thomas  A.  was  also  a  minister,  but  died  in 
August,  1877,  in  Kansas.  Eli  Helmick  was  married  a  second  time  on 
the  8th  of  February,  1848,  to  Amanda  Oakwood,  daughter  of  Henry 
Oakwood.  They  had  three  children.  Amanda  died  on  the  19th  of 
January,  1875.  His  first  wife  had  died  on  the  7th  of  March,  1846. 
"Uncle  Eli"  has  been  a  member  of  the  M.  E.  church  for  fifty-seven 
years.  He  was  ordained  local  deacon  in  the  M.  E.  church  on  the  22d 
of  October,  1843,  by  Bishop  Andrews,  at  Crawfordsville,  Indiana.  He 
was  ordained  elder  at  Decatur,  Illinois,  on  the  4th  of  October,  1857. 
He  now  has  charge  of  the  Pilot  circuit.  He  was  elected  supervisor 
from  Pilot  township  to  fill  vacancy  made  vacant  by  Samuel  Partlow. 
He  was  thus  second  supervisor  from  the  township,  and  continued  in 
the  office  for  a  number  of  terms.  He  is  now  growing  old,  but  is  vig- 
orous and  hearty  for  one  in  his  seventy-seventh    year,  he    spending 


918  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

his  time  preaching,  thus  being  ready  for  the  Master  when  he  declares 
the  harvest  ended  and  the  work  done. 

Matthew  Laflen,  Pilot,  farmer,  is  one  of  the  oldest  settlers  of  this 
township  now  living.  He  was  born  in  Monroe  county,  Ohio,  on  the 
13th  of  September,  1816.  He  stayed  in  Ohio  till  fourteen  years  old, 
and  then  came  to  Indiana  in  1830.  He  then  came  to  Vermilion  county, 
Indiana,  in  1832.  He  remained  in  that  place  two  years  and  then  came 
over  to  Illinois  in  1834,  to  two  and  a  half  miles  east  of  Danville.  He 
remained  there  till  1843,  when  he  came  to  where  he  now  lives,  town 
20,  range  13,  section  13.  He  then  bought  one  hundred  and  ten  acres 
of  land,  now  he  has  four  hundred  and  fifty  acres.  He  was  married  to 
Eliza  J.  Lamm  in  1836.  She  is  a  daughter  of  Edward  Lamm.  She  is 
the  mother  of  twelve  children,  all  of  whom  are  living.  They  had  two 
sons  in  the  late  war.  Amos  W.  was  in  the  125th,  and  William  A. 
was  in  the  4th  Iowa  under  Col.  Dodge.  He  was  in  the  Pea  Ridge 
fight,  but  went  into  invalid  corps ;  was  discharged  and  enlisted  again. 
Amos  W.  went  through  with  the  125th.  Matthew  Laflen  has  been  a 
member  of  the  M.  E.  church  since  1833. 

Andrew  J.  Michael,  Pilot,  was  born  in  this  county  on  the  30th  of 
December,  1834,  at  New  Town.  His  father  is  Robert  Michael.  He 
came  to  this  county  in  October,  1834.  Mr.  Michael  was  brought  up 
on  a  farm  near  the  place  of  his  birth.  In  1856  he  began  for  himself. 
In  1859  he  went  to  the  gold  mines  in  Colorado.  He  broke  prairie 
previously  with  ox-teams  for  five  years.  His  health  had  failed,  and  the 
western  trip  restored  it.  He  came  back  in  1860.  He  went  to  farming 
where  he  now  is  in  1863.  He  married  the  widow  of  Joseph  English, 
of  the  25th  111.  Vol.  Inf.  They  have  five  children.  Mr.  Michael  has 
made  all  his  wealth  since  1856.  He  owns  two  hundred  and  fifteen 
acres  of  land,  which  is  clear  of  incumbrances  of  all  kinds. 

John  Cramer,  deceased,  was  born  in  Virginia  on  the  22d  of  March, 
1815.  He  moved  first  to  West  Virginia,  and  then  to  Ohio.  From 
Ohio  he  came  to  Illinois  in  1835,  and  settled  about  five  miles  north- 
west of  Danville.  In  1836  he  married  Malinda  Lewman,  daughter  of 
Aaron  Lewman,  who  came  to  Illinois  from  Kentucky  in  1827.  After 
their  marriage  they  lived  in  different  parts  of  the  same  neighborhood, 
till  he  bought  land  near  the  West  Lebanon  church.  They  remained  at 
this  place  till  1857,  when  they  moved  to  the  prairie,  in  Pilot  township, 
where  they  bought  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land,  and  where  the 
family  still  live.  Mr.  Cramer  died  on  the  8th  of  November,  1865.  He 
left  a  wife  and  six  children.  He  was  a  member  of  the  M.  E.  church 
for  more  than  twenty  years. 

The  Vinsons  are  a  well-known  and  much  respected  people  in  the 


PILOT   TOWNSHIP.  919 

western  part  of  Vermilion  county.  John  E.,  farmer  and  minister,  was 
born  in  Kentucky  on  the  10th  of  November,  1823.  His  father,  Hen- 
son  Vinson,  sen.,  was  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of  Parke  county,  In- 
diana, having  reached  that  state  in  1828.  Mr.  Vinson,  sen.,  came  with 
his  family  to  Middle  Fork  in  1837.  John  E.  grew  to  manhood  on  his 
father's  farm,  southwest  of  New  Town.  On  the  12th  of  June,  1844, 
he  married  Elizabeth  E.  Trimmell,  daughter  of  William  Trimmell,  sen. 
She  was  born  half  a  mile  north  of  New  Town.  They  moved,  first,  to 
the  east  side  of  Pilot  township,  and  staid  there  three  years.  They 
then  moved  to  their  present  home  farm  on  the  highlands  of  Pilot 
township.  Here  they  were  alone  in  the  prairie  for  some  time.  Mr. 
Vinson  first  bought  land  here  in  1845.  The  home  place  has  four  hun- 
dred acres.  Besides  this,  he  owns  land  in  Kansas  and  some  other  land 
in  this  state.  Mr.  Vinson  has  been  a  member  of  the  M.  E.  church  for 
forty-one  years.  He  has  been  a  local  minister  for  twenty-two  }7ears. 
In  1853  he  was  elected  justice  of  the  peace,  and  served  in  that  capacity 
for  twenty  years.  Mr.  Vinson  went  out  with  the  125th  in  Co.  I,  as  first 
lieutenant,  his  brother,  Levin  Vinson,  being  captain.  He  remained 
with  the  regiment  till  they  reached  Nashville.  He  was  taken  sick  just 
after  the  Perryville  fight.  He  resigned  his  commission  in  January, 
1863,  and  came  home.  He  was  sick  for  some  time,  but  recovered  in 
time  to  recruit  a  new  company  in  the  spring  of  1863.  Mr.  Vinson 
started  out  as  captain  of  this  company,  but  gave  it  up  in  order  to 
hasten  the  organization  of  the  company,  and  took  the  first  lieutenancy 
again.  They  were  mustered  in  at  Mattoon.  They  were  now  in  com- 
pany I,  135th.  Their  service  was  mostly  in  Missouri.  They  went  out 
as  one-hundred-day  men,  and  were  mustered  out  in  the  fall  of  1863. 

Martin  H.  Watson,  Fithian,  farmer,  is  a  native  of  the  county.  He 
was  born  on  the  6th  of  May,  1840.  His  father,  John  R.  Watson,  of 
Danville,  came  to  the  county  at  a  very  early  date.  Martin  was  born 
on  the  farm  three  miles  north  of  Danville ;  he  grew  to  manhood  on 
that  farm.  On  the  3d  of  April,  1860,  he  married  Martha  A.  Cunning- 
ham, and  moved  to  Pilot  township  the  same  year.  They  have  eight 
children.  Mr.  W.  owns  three  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land,  lying 
in  a  square  on  the  southwest  corner  of  section  24,  T.  20  N.,  R.  14  W. 
They  have  lived  on  this  place  since  1860.  Mr.  W.  is  a  member  of  the 
regular  Predestinarian  Baptist  church. 

Matthew  Barkman,  Higginsville,  farmer,  resides  on  section  1,  T.  20, 
R.  13,  where  he  owns  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  acres  of  land.  He 
came  to  this  place  twenty-five  years  ago,  and  has  been  living  here  ever 
since.  He  was  born  in  Licking  county,  Ohio,  on  the  16th  of  April, 
1824.     He  remained   there  till  he  was  eighteen  years  old,  and  then 


920  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

came  to  Pilot  township,  this  county ;  this  was  in  1842.  Mr.  Bark- 
man  married  Ruamia  Juvenal,  a  daughter  of  one  of  the  first  settlers 
here,  in  1847.  Mr.  B's  early  advantages  were  very  limited,  but  he  has 
by  energ}'  and  perseverance  gained  a  competency. 

George  Watson,  Hope,  farmer,  is  another  of  those  whose  parents 
came  to  Vermilion  in  the  earliest  days  of  pioneer  settlement.  George 
was  born  in  this  county  on  the  27th  of  February,  1844,  in  Newell 
township.  He  lived  there  till  he  was  twenty-three  years  old.  He 
moved  to  Pilot  township  in  the  fall  of  1867.  He  has  three  hundred 
and  eighty-two  and  a-half  acres  of  land  and  is  in  good  condition.  He 
married  Rebecca  J.  Olehy,  daughter  of  John  Olehy,  on  the  30th  of 
July,  1865.     They  have  four  children  living. 

Few  grown  men  have  been  in  Pilot  township  longer  than  W.  R. 
Furrow,  of  Potomac,  and  but  few  can  show  as  good  a  record  of  success 
under  difficulties.  He  was  born  in  Madison  county,  Ohio,  on  the  9th 
of  May,  1826.  He  stayed  there  till  eighteen  years  old.  He  went  to 
school  till  his  father  died,  and  then  he  had  to  work  out.  His  mother 
was  left  a  widow  with  five  children.  She  settled  on  Knight's  Branch 
in  1844.  Mr.  F.  says  that  next  season  would  have  seen  them  in  Ohio, 
but  they  were  too  poor  to  go  back.  At  one  time  he  walked  to  Indian- 
apolis ;  he  also  went  to  Arkansas,  but  didn't  stay.  He  married  Ava- 
rilla  Bailey,  daughter  of  Henry  Bailey,  in  1850.  He  moved  to  his 
present  residence  in  1865.  The}7  have  four  children.  Mr.  F.  has  two 
hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land  which  he  puts  mostly  to  grass,  and 
pastures  it.  He  is  a  member  of  the  Knight's  Branch  church  of  United 
Brethren. 

Dr.  Samuel  H.  Yredenburgh,  Higginsville,  physician,  is  one  of  the 
oldest  practitioners  in  this  part  of  the  county.  He  was  born  in  Indi- 
ana on  the  3d  of  September,  1820.  His  father  was  a  Methodist  preacher, 
and  the  Doctor  began  life  as  a  teacher.  He  followed  this  profession 
five  years,  and  then  changed  off  to  the  practice  of  medicine.  He 
began  the  latter  at  the  age  of  twenty-six  years.  He  came  to  Illinois  in 
June,  1846,  and  began  the  practice  of  medicine  in  New  Town.  He  has 
since  remained  in  this  part  of  the  county,  running  a  farming  business 
and  practicing  medicine.  He  belongs  to  the  old  school  of  allopathic 
practice  and  has  been  quite  successful  in  life.  He  still  superintends 
his  farm  and  waits  upon  the  afflicted. 

John  Cessna,  Hope,  farmer,  is  a  native  of  Ohio.  He  was  born  on 
the  29th  of  June,  1833.  He  lived  there  three  years,  and  then  moved 
to  near  Toledo.  The  family  then  moved  to  Cairo,  this  state.  At  this 
time  there  were  only  three  houses  in  Cairo.  His  father  died  there. 
He  then  went  to  Ohio  and  sta}^ed  till  lie  came  to  this  county,  in  the 


PILOT  TOWNSHIP.  921 

fall  of  1848.  His  mother  had  married  again,  and  he  came  with  the 
family.  He  remained  in  Blonnt  township  till  twenty-four  years  old, 
and  then  went  to  California.  He  was  on  a  ranch  there  two  years.  He 
came  back  in  January,  1860,  having  had  a  profitable  trip.  He  was 
married  on  the  12th  of  July,  1862,  to  Ann  R.  Truax.  She  died  in 
January,  1876.  They  have  five  children.  On  the  14th  of  June,  1877, 
Mr.  Cessna  married  Nancy  J.  Reed.  They  have  one  child.  Mr.  C. 
bought  first  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land  here,  but  has  in- 
creased it  to  two  hundred  and  twenty. 

Nathan  Smoot,  Pilot,  farmer,  was  born  in  Ohio,  on  the  31st  of 
March,  1840.  He  came  to  this  county  in  1849,  with  his  parents.  They 
stopped  first  in  section  13,  town  20,  range  13.  His  father  bought  one 
hundred  and  eighty-seven  acres  of  land  here.  Nathan  now  has  one 
hundred  and  sixty.  He  was  married  on  the  12th  of  October,  1871,  to 
Minnie  Michener.  He  was  in  the  125th  Reg.,  Co.  I,  under  Capt.  Yin- 
son.  He  was  with  the  regiment  at  all  times,  except  when  he  had  the 
measles,  at  Bowling  Green,  Kentucky.  He  was  then  away  from  the 
regiment  only  one  month.  Otherwise  he  was  in  all  the  actions  of  the 
125th,  and  was  mustered  out  with  it  at  Washington.  He  is  now  com- 
missioner of  highways  in  Pilot  township;  was  elected  in  April,  1877. 
He  has  been  assessor  five  years  and  collector  one  year.  He  was  also 
town  clerk  for  five  years. 

J.  C.  Mosier,  Pilot,  farmer,  lives  in  the  east  side  of  Pilot.  His 
father's  name  was  Solomon  Mosier,  who  was  born  in  Virginia,  on  the 
15th  of  September,  1796.  Solomon  lived  in  Virginia  till  the  war  of 
1812.  He  was  in  the  latter  part  of  this  war.  He  came  to  Ohio  in 
1818,  and  from  Ohio  to  Indiana  in  1836.  He  came  to  Pilot  and  bought 
his  home  in  1848,  and  moved  in  1849.  He  had  five  children.  He  died 
on  the  1st  of  April,  1871.  J.  C.  was  elected  justice  of  the  peace  in 
1874,  and  has  been  since.  The  Mosiers  are  noted  for  their  intelligence, 
talent  and  general  information.  The  father  was  particularly  noted  in 
the  neighborhood  as  being  well  "posted." 

Clapp  Sumner,  Pilot,  farmer,  a  Yankee  by  birth  and  training,  has 
become  thoroughly  westernized.  He  was  born  in  Corinth,  Orange 
county,  Vermont,  on  the  19th  of  November,  1831.  He  remained  there 
till  twenty-one  years  old.  He  came  to  Vermilion  in  July,  1852.  He 
worked  at  the  carpenter  trade  for  two  years,  after  first  coming  to  Dan- 
ville. He  came  out  to  Pilot  township  in  1854.  He  owns  forty  acres 
of  land  in  section  13,  town  20,  range  13.  He  has  lived  in  this  part  of 
the  township  since  1854.  He  married  Mary  Smoot  in  the  spring  of 
1854.  They  have  five  children.  Mr.  Sumner  was  one  of  the  charter 
members  of  the  New  Town  A.F.  &  A.M.    He  was  special  deputy  under 


922  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Myers  and  Gregory  for  a  number  of  years.  He  has  been  constable 
some  time. 

J.  K.  Butz,  Hope,  farmer,  is  the  elegant  man  of  the  township.  He 
would  take  the  premium  for  taste  in  fixing  up  his  residence,  and  for 
neat  farming,  too,  perhaps.  He  was  born  in  New  Jersey,  on  the  17th 
of  September,  1835.  He  came  with  his  father's  family  to  Macon 
county  in  1852.  He  then  came  to  Vermilion  county  in  1854.  He 
married  Rebecca  Tillotson  in  1859.  They  have  six  children.  They 
moved  to  the  place  where  they  now  live  in  1861.  They  have  four 
hundred  acres  there.  They  began  on  wild  prairie,  and  now  have  one 
of  the  finest  farms  in  the  state  of  Illinois.  He  keeps  his  place  mostly 
in  grass,  and  raises  stock.  He  has  a  great  number  of  trees  of  different 
kinds  on  his  place,  both  fruit  and  forest  trees.  He  is  an  active  mem- 
ber of  the  Christian  church,  and  by  his  efforts  it  has  gained  a  good 
footing  in  his  neighborhood. 

J.  P.  Tevebaugh,  Pilot,  farmer,  is  a  native  of  Virginia.  He  was 
born  in  Hardy  county  on  the  1st  of  July,  1835.  At  the  age  of  twenty 
he  came  with  his  parents  to  Illinois  and  settled  on  Middle  Fork,  near 
Higginsville.  He  has  remained  in  this  part  of  Vermilion  county  ever 
since  that  time.  In  1858  he  was  married  to  Catharine  McScott,  daugh- 
ter of  Charles  McScott,  of  Pilot  township.  In  1867  they  moved  to 
the  south  side  of  Pilot  township,  where  Mr.  Tevebaugh  bought  eighty 
acres  of  prairie.  They  have  remained  here ;  have  improved  the  wild 
prairies,  bought  more  land,  and  become  independent.  Mr.  Tevebaugh 
is  a  member  of  the  New  Town  lodge  of  A.F.  &  A.M.,  and  has  belonged 
to  the  horse  compauy  for  twenty  years. 

Newell  E.  Rice,  Hope,  farmer,  was  born  in  Alleghany  county,  New 
York,  on  the  22d  of  December,  1823.  His  -father  was  a  farmer,  and 
taught  his  boy  to  be  skillful  in  the  art.  Mr.  Rice  lived  in  New  York 
till  the  27th  of  August,  1855,  when  he  started  for  Illinois.  He  stopped 
in  Danville  in  1856.  He  went  up  to  Will  county,  but  came  back  and 
began  making  ties  on  the  T.  W.  &  W.  R.  R.  He  first  farmed  on  the 
Spencer  farm.  He  was  here  one  year,  and  then  went  to  Warren  county, 
Indiana,  and  staid  two  years.  He  then  staid  one  year  on  the  Neal 
farm,  and  then  went  to  southeast  of  Catlin  and  remained  two  years,  and 
came  to  the  west  side  of  Pilot  on  the  11th  of  April,  1866.  He  has 
remained  here  ever  since.  He  married  Vilinda  B.  Hartley  in  1861. 
She  died  on  the  29th  of  June,  1873.  They  had  two  sons.  Mr.  Rice 
is  a  member  of  the  A.F.  &  A.M. 

Jacob  A.  Freese,  Hope,  farmer  and  shepherd,  is  noted  for  his  fine 
sheep.  He  has  over  two  hundred  American  Merino.  His  main  ram 
that  he  had  a  short  time  ago  yielded  fifteen  pounds  of  wool  at  one 


PILOT  TOWNSHIP.  923 

year  old,  and  when  two  and  three  years  he  gave  twenty-three  pounds. 
He  also  has  a  fine  ewe  that  yields  sixteen  pounds  every  year.  Quite 
a  number  yield  ten  pounds  apiece  on  the  average.  He  now  has  a  fine 
lamb,  a  few  weeks  old,  worth  $25.  Mr.  Freese  came  to  Illinois  from 
Ohio,  where  he  was  born,  in  1836.  He  came,  in  1856,  to  five  miles 
west  of  Danville,  and  then  to  near  Catlin,  in  1862.  In  1869  he  came 
to  his  present  residence  on  section  11,  T.  20,  R.  14.  He  owns  half  of 
a  section  here.  He  was  married  in  1867  to  Lisle  Fleming,  of  Muskin- 
gum county,  Ohio.  They  have  four  children  —  two  sons  and  two 
daughters.  Mr.  Freese  is  a  member  of  the  New  Town  Lodge  of  A.F. 
&  A.M. 

E.  B.'  Tillotson,  Hope,  farmer,  is  one  of  those  men  that  you  often 
hear  of  when  in  their  neighborhood,  both  on  account  of  his  public 
spirit  and  his  integrity  as  a  man.  He  was  born  in  New  York  on  the 
28th  of  December,  1811.  He  lived  there  only  two  years,  and  then 
came  to  Hamilton  county,  Ohio.  Here  he  remained  fourteen  years, 
and  removed  to  Warren  county,  Indiana,  in  1825.  His  parents  both 
lived  and  died  in  Warren  county,  Indiana.  Here  Mr.  Tillotson  re- 
mained until  January,  1856,  when  he  came  to  section  31,  T.  21,  R.  13, 
where  he  has  since  remained.  He  bought  government  land  here  then. 
It  was  comparatively  cheap.  He  was  married  in  1833  to  Mary  Cronk- 
hite.  They  have  reared  nine  children.  Mr.  T.  is  a  prominent  member 
of  the  Christian  church.  By  his  industry  he  has  made  a  competency 
and  the  desert  to  blossom  as  the  rose. 

Charles  W.  Keeslar,  Pilot,  farmer,  president  of  the  board  of  su- 
pervisors, deserves  an  extensive  notice,  but  as  we  have  not  sufficient 
data,  we  must  content  ourselves  with  a  bare  outline.  Mr.  Keeslar  was 
born  in  New  York  on  the  13th  of  January,  1835.  He  went  to  Branch 
county,  Michigan,  in  1837,  and  there  he  remained  till  1858.  At  this 
time  he  came  to  Danville.  Fourteen  years  ago  he  came  to  the  farm 
where  he  now  lives.  In  October,  1860,  he  married  Sarah  Snyder. 
Thev  have  three  children.  Mr.  Keeslar  is  now  serving  his  ninth  term 
in  the  supervisor's  court,  and  is  president  of  the  same.  Township 
offices  have  been  put  on  him  quite  frequently,  having  always  had  the 
pleasure  of  holding  some  kind  of  an  office.  He  is  a  member  of  the 
Christian  church,  and  of  the  New  Town  Lodge  of  A.F.  &  A.M. 
He  was  one  of  the  charter  members  of  the  last.  He  is  also  anxious 
that  it  be  known  that  he  is  a  temperance  man,  and  will  not  support 
anyone  who  indulges. 

Lonzo  Campbell,  deceased,  was  a  native  of  New  York  state.  He 
was  born  near  Adamsville  on  the  3d  of  June,  1824.  Mr.  Campbell 
came  first  to  Cook  county,  and  lived  there  a  while.     He  came  to  Ver- 


924  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

milion  county  in  1859.  He  lived  on  his  farm  in  Pilot  township  until 
his  death  on  the  22d  of  July,  1871.  His  widow  carries  on  the  farm  of 
two  hundred  and  forty  acres,  raising  cattle  and  hogs,  and  conducting 
other  farming  interests  with  a  great  deal  of  skill.  In  1877  she  built  a 
very  pretty  residence  at  a  cost  of  $1,000.  She  has  only  one  child,  a 
daughter  fifteen  years  old.  She  has  one  of  the  most  attractive  resi- 
dences  in  the  township. 

Still  clinging  to  life  at  a  good  old  age,  we  found  Anthony  Long,  on 
the  extreme  border  of  the  county.  He  was  born  in  Pennsylvania, 
near  Harrisburg,  on  the  5th  of  April,  1805.  He  lived  there  about 
twent}T-one  years.  He  began  the  carpenter's  trade  at  seventeen.  He 
lived  in  various  parts  of  Pennsylvania,  New  York  and  Ohio  till  1851, 
when  he  went  to  California.  He  went  overland,  and  came  back  by 
sea.  He  worked  part  of  the  time  in  the  mines  and  part  at  his  trade. 
He  went  back  to  Ohio  and  staid  till  1863,  when  he  came  to  this  county. 
He  has  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land  here.  He  was  married 
twice,  and  had  six  children  by  his  first  wife  and  three  by  the  second. 
Those  that  are  living  are  scattered  abroad  in  different  parts  of  the 
Union.  Mr.  Long  has  been  a  member  of  the  M.  E.  church  for  a  long 
time. 

Thomas  Collison,  Hope,  farmer,  is  a  native  of  England,  having  been 
born  in  the  county  of  Kent  on  the  12th  of  April,  1S36.  He  was 
farmer,  and  his  father  was  farmer  and  huckster  there.  He  was  married 
in  April,  1849,  and  set  sail  for  America  the  same  spring.  He  went  to 
Oneida  after  landing  at  Long  Island ;  from  Oneida  to  Buffalo.,  and 
then  to  Cincinnati  in  1851.  He  went  to  Bartholomew  county  in  1853. 
In  1864  he  came  to  Danville,  and  remained  six  years,  and  then  came 
to  the  west  end  of  Pilot.  He  bought  two  hundred  and  forty  acres 
where  he  now  lives  in  1869.  He  has  seven  children  living.  Mr.  Col- 
lison was  a  member  of  the  Independents  in  England,  but  belongs  to 
the  Christians  here.  Mr.  Collison  had  only  five  shillings  when  he 
landed  in  New  York.  His  ancestors  were  wealthy,  but  were  cheated 
out  of  the  property  on  the  death  of  his  grandfather. 

Samuel  Freese,  Hope,  farmer  and  dealer  in  fine  stock,  is  one  of  the 
neat  farmers.  He  is  not  so  extensive  a  dealer  as  some  men  in  Pilot, 
but  he  maintains  that  all  that  he  handles  is  his  own.  He  is  a  native  of 
Licking  county,  Ohio,  born  in  1832.  He  remained  in  his  native  state 
till  1865,  when  he  came  to  this  county.  He  staid  near  Catlin  seven 
years,  and  then  went  to  Danville  and  remained  two  years,  and  then 
came  to  the  southwest  of  Pilot  township  and  bought  eighty  acres  of 
land.  Mr.  Freese  has  been  dealing  in  American  merino  sheep.  He 
has  taken  the  prizes  in  nearly  all  the  fairs  in  this  part  of  the  country. 


PILOT  TOWNSHIP.  925 

He  also  keeps  fine  horses  and  cattle.  His  aim  is  to  stock  up  his  place 
with  thoroughbreds  of  all  stock.  He  married  Mary  E.  Evans  in  1857. 
They  have  six  children.  Mr.  F.  is  a  member  of  the  A.F.  &  A.M.,  and 
also  of  the  M.  E.  church. 

Dennis  S.  Blew,  Hope,  farmer,  was  born  in  Champaign  county,  Ohio, 
on  the  6th  of  November,  1833.  He  was  reared  on  his  father's  farm  in 
that  county.  He  remained  in  that  part  of  Ohio  till  April,  1866,  when 
he  came  to  section  10,  range  14,  town  20.  They  bought  the  place  in 
1877.  Mr.  Blew  was  married  in  Ohio,  in  1856,  to  Lucy  Helmer. 
They  have  five  children.  Tan  is  the  oldest,  then  come  Henry  H., 
Abraham  H.,  Jesse  J.  and  Cora  A.  Mr.  Blew  is  laboring  under  a 
chronic  attack  of  disease  that  has  made  him  unable  to  work  for  several 
vears. 

Jacob  Y.  Ludwig,  Pilot,  farmer,  is  a  young  farmer  with  flattering 
prospects.  He  occupies  one  of  the  most  desirable  situations  in  the 
county.  He  was  born  in  Berks  county,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  13th  of 
November,  1853.  He  came  to  this  county  in  1867.  His  father  came 
with  his  two  sons  and  bought  four  hundred  and  eighty-six  acres  of 
land.  There  are  two  hundred  and  forty  acres  in  the  farm  that  J.  V. 
occupies.  He  was  married  on  the  20th  of  November,  1875,  to  Char- 
lotte G.  Stevens.  They  have  two  children.  Mr.  L.  is  a  member  of 
the  New  Town  Lodge  of  A.F.  &  A.M. 

Ezra  Harrison,  Hope,  merchant,  was  born  in  Chautauqua  county, 
New  York,  on  the  24th  of  September,  1848.  He  was  reared  on  a 
farm.  He  remained  a  farmer  till  "of  age."  He  came  to  this  county 
in  1867.  He  came  to  Danville  first.  His  parents  reside  in  this  town- 
ship on  a  farm.  Ezra  began  merchandising  at  Hope  post-office,  in 
March,  1878.  He  has  done  a  good  business  for  a  country  store.  He 
remains  in  single  blessedness,  notwithstanding  he  is  the  only  successful 
merchant  and  consequently  the  most  desirable  man  in  a  large  scope  of 
territory. 

Elijah  Henry,  Potomac,  farmer,  was  born  in  Mason  county,  Ken- 
tucky, in  1836.  He  lived  there  till  fifteen  years  old,  when  he  came  to 
Fountain  county,  Indiana.  He  remained  in  Indiana  till  1871,  when 
he  came  to  Bookwalters  farm  in  Pilot  township.  He  has  lived  here 
ever  since  with  the  exception  of  three  years  that  he  spent  in  Muncie, 
Illinois.  In  February,  1876,  he  married  Mary  Mahoma,  of  Fountain 
county,  Indiana. 


926  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 


NEWELL  TOWNSHIP. 


The  pioneers  were  early  attracted  to  this  section  of  country.  Its 
rich  soil,  pure  water,  abundant  timber,  and  picturesque  configuration, 
afforded  strong  inducements  to  them  to  accept  with  cheerfulness  the 
deprivations  of  the  border.  The  earlier  settlers  came  mostly  from 
Ohio  and  Kentucky.  In  those  theaters  of  stirring  experience  they  had 
been  trained  to  vigorous  exercise  and  ingenious  resource.  Their  capi- 
tal— steady  and  industrious  habits,  strong  wills  and  constitutions — was 
the  best  for  the  times  and  the  circumstances;  with  little  else,  they 
came  to  build  homes  and  to  gather  around  them  the  ordinary  conveni- 
ences of  civilized  life.  To  leave  comfortable  firesides  and  happy  asso- 
ciations and  emigrate  to  this  wild  region,  was  no  trifling  episode  in 
their  lives.  It  was  not  unmixed  with  trials  and  difficulties,  which 
abounded  with  disheartening  constancy.  The  splendor  and  mazy 
activities  of  the  present  day  so  monopolize  our  interest  that  we  cannot 
content  ourselves,  while  looking  back,  to  dwell  on  the  picture  long 
enough  to  get  a  distinct  view  of  objects.  The  failure,  therefore,  nigh 
universal,  to  comprehend  and  appreciate  the  personal  sacrifices  of  these 
resolute  men  and  women,  is  not  surprising.  But  the  fact,  however,  is 
the  same — that  they  laid  the  foundations  of  the  local  inheritance  and 
prosperity  of  this  generation.  To  the  Le  Neves  must  be  accorded  the 
honor  of  making  the  first  beginning  in  Newell  township.  In  the  fall 
of  1823,  Obadiah  Le  Neve  journeyed  on  horse-back  from  Vincennes  to 
St.  Louis,  and  thence  into  Northeast  Missouri,  and  on  his  homeward 
trip  made  a  circuit  in  northern  Illinois.  With  very  correct  judgment 
he  pronounced  the  region  enclosed  in  the  present  limits  of  Newell 
township  the  best  that  he  had  seen.  Obtaining  the  numbers  of  the 
following  tracts— W.  \  N.W.  \  Sec.  23,  and  E.  \  N.E.  \  Sec.  24,  town 
20  N.,  range  11  W.,  3d  principal  meridian  —  he  returned  home,  and  a 
public  land  sale  shortly  after  occurring,  he  purchased  those  pieces. 
Just  prior  to  Christmas,  in  the  year  1824,  Obadiah  and  John  Le  Neve 
left  their  relations  in  Lawrence  (then  Crawford)  county,  Illinois,  and 
with  a  team  loaded  with  provisions  and  a  small  outfit  of  bedding,  they 
set  out  for  their  future  home.  A  third  person  accompanied  to  take  the 
team  back.  On  arriving  at  their  destination,  they  rived  a  few  rails  and 
laid  up  a  square,  chinking  and  filling  the  interstices  with  pulled  grass, 
and  covering  one  half  of  the  rude  structure  with  puncheons.  The 
Indians  were  numerous,  and  came  to  their  camp  with  freedom,  and 
behaved  in  the  most  friendly  manner.  They  never  disturbed  anything 
while  the  men  were  away,  though  they  often  came  about  the  place 


NEWELL   TOWNSHIP.  927 

during  their  absence.  They  proved  themselves  honest  and  conscion- 
able  neighbors.  When  the  pioneers  spread  their  homely  meals,  the 
Indians,  if  any  were  present,  were  invited  to  the  repast,  and  they  always 
accepted  with  the  best  familiarity  which  hunger  and  gratitude  could 
prompt.  The  immigrants  had  other  neighbors  far  less  companionable. 
These  were  the  wolves  that  came  about  in  great  numbers,  making  the 
woods  resonant  with  their  hideous  nocturnal  serenade.  The  two 
brothers  had  come  to  prepare  for  their  ultimate  removal,  and  during 
the  whole  winter,  which  they  spent  in  this  neighborhood,  were  splitting 
rails.  Toward  the  latter  part  of  February  they  began  to  prepare  for 
their  departure.  They  first  erected  a  cabin  on  section  14,  town  20, 
about  forty  rods  west  of  where  John  Le  Neve  has  always  lived.  This 
was  for  occupation  by  Ben.  Buttertield,  who  was  expected  to  arrive 
soon  with  his  family.  He  came  near  the  close  of  the  month,  and  two 
or  three  days  later  the  Le  Neves  went  back.  The  actual  settlement  of 
Newell  township  was  thus  begun  by  Buttertield,  in  February,  1825. 
In  the  course  of  the  summer  and  fall  quite  numerous  additions  were 
made  to  the  number  of  inhabitants,  as  the  following  list  will  show: 
John  Current  arrived  from  Virginia.  The  Howards  —  Henry,  Lack- 
land, Amos,  Aaron  and  Nathan — and  William  and  James  Delay  emi- 
grated from  Ohio.  Jeremiah  Delay,  son  of  James  Delay,  probably 
came  at  the  same  time.  Oliver  Miller  settled  on  Stony  Creek  in  sec- 
tion 14.  The  Le  Neves  returned  in  November  or  December.  Samuel 
and  John  Adams  and  Joseph  Martin  came  together,  from  Harrison 
county,  Kentucky.  The  first  located  on  section  22,  town  20,  where  he 
has  always  resided.  William  Newell,  from  the  same  place,  settled  on 
section  23,  just  east  of  Adams.  John  Lamb  and  his  son  Simeon 
(Quakers),  natives  of  North  Carolina,  came  from  Indiana.  John 
Goodener,  Elijah  Hale  and  John  Swisher  settled  in  the  timber  between 
Samuel  Adams'  and  Solomon  Rodrick's.  Three  brothers  of  John 
Swisher — Samuel,  Lewis  and  Jacob — also  lived  in  the  same  neighbor- 
hood, but  the  date  of  their  settlement  cannot  be  given.  All  these  per- 
sons were  from  Ohio.  George  Ware  came  to  Vermilion  county  this 
year.  He  made  a  farm  on  section  16  in  this  township.  The  next  year 
Adam  Starr  came  up  from  Georgetown.  Samuel  Swinford,  Richard 
Blair,  William  Adams,  Edward  Martin  and  James  Newell  came  from 
Harrison  county,  Kentucky.  The  last  came  the  year  before  to  examine 
the  country,  and  entered  land  on  section  10,  on  the  5th  day  of  October. 
Abraham  and  Frederick  Stipp,  from  Virginia,  settled  on  section  9. 
John  Watson  settled  in  the  south  part  of  the  township.  In  1827  Will- 
iam Current,  from  Virginia,  settled  on  section  36,  town  20.  David 
Tickle,  Jacob  and  George  Swisher,  and  Eli  Hewitt,  came  from  Ken- 


928  HISTOKY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

tucky.  Nathaniel  Taylor  settled  in  the  Le  Neve  neighborhood,  and 
afterward  went  to  Denmark.  Joseph  Gundy  began  improvements 
near  Myersville,  but  did  not  bring  his  family  until  the  next  year. 
Luke  Wiles,  from  Indiana,  settled  across  the  Fork  from  Myersville. 
In  1828  Hugh  Bolton  and  Solomon  Rodrick  emigrated  from  Ohio. 
The  latter  settled  where  he  now  lives,  on  section  34,  town  20.  Dr. 
John  Woods,  a  native  of  New  York,  located  in  the  southeast  part  of 
the  township  as  early  as  this  year.  It  is  believed  that  his  father-in-law, 
Supply  Butterfield,  came  not  far  from  this  time.  Those  from  Kentucky 
were  Thomas  Hendren,  Jehu  Chandler,  Jacob  Eckler,  James  Duncan 
and  his  sons  Asa,  Alpha,  Darius  and  James.  In  1829  Ralph  Martin 
and  his  step-son  John  P.  Lindsey,  Henry  Ferguerson,  William  Cun- 
ningham and  his  minor  sons  James  and  Joseph,  Harrison  Oliver, 
George  W.  Smith,  Samuel  Oliver  and  his  son  Bushrod,  John  Shafer, 
and  James  and  Andrew  Makemson.  arrived  from  Kentucky.  Ambrose 
Andrews  and  his  family,  including  his  son  Ambrose  Phelps,  just  then 
of  age,  Nathaniel  Glaze  and  family,  Thomas  Carter  and  family,  Jacob 
Bumgardner,  William  Longshore,  Robert  Thornsburg,  and  John  Stal- 
cup,  came  together.  Abram  and  Josiah  Henkle,  Henry  Wood,  Peter 
Starr,  a  native  of  North  Carolina,  William  G.  Blair,  a  native  of  Ken- 
tucky, Andrew  Davison  and  his  sons  James  and  Robert,  Virginians, 
all  came  from  Ohio.  Samuel  Torrence  came  this  year  or  earlier.  In 
1830,  George  Stipp,  Robert  Price,  Richard  Brewer,  William  J.  Barger, 
and  Consider  Scott,  a  native  of  New  York,  came  from  Ohio.  Valen- 
tine Leonard  and  his  sons-in-law,  Charles  S.  Young,  John  Young  and 
Otho  Allison,  emigrated  from  Kentucky.  The  next  year  Caleb  Worley 
arrived  from  Kentucky,  and  George  French  from  Indiana.  Louis 
Neely  came  in  1832;  also  Daniel  P.  Huffman  came  from  Kentucky. 
John  Campbell,  and  Samuel  Campbell,  jr.,  migrated  from  New  York 
in  1833.  In  the  following  year  Harper  J.  and  Joseph  Campbell, 
brothers  to  these,  and  Samuel  Campbell,  sr.,  located  in  this  township. 
Clarendon  E.  Loring,  a  native  of  Maine,  came  from  Indiana.  Zacha- 
riah  Robertson,  Jacob  Huffman,  John  Deck  and  John  Rutledge, 
arrived  from  Kentucky.  Michael  Deck  probably  came  at  the  same 
time.  Jacob  Deck,  a  Pennsylvanian,  settled  here  in  1835.  John 
Stipp,  a  brother  to  those  who  had  already  located  in  the  township,  and 
John  Williams,  recently  from  England,  came  about  this  time.  The 
following  is  a  list  of  early  settlers  who  came  perhaps  not  later  than 
1835:  Armenus  Miller,  Michael  and  James  Leonard,  Edward  Morgan, 
Samuel  Briarly,  Isaiah  Treat,  William  Stevens,  a  preacher,  Robert 
Layton,  from  Kentucky,  Abel  and  Vatchel  Newborough,  Duncan 
Lindsey,  a  man  named  Long,  and  another  named  Moss.     The  latter 


NEWELL   TOWNSHIP.  929 

built  a  tannery  on  section  26,  town  20,  but  in  1834  sold  his  place  to 
Samuel  Campbell,  sr.,  and  settled  in  Danville  township,  where  he  built 
another  tannery. 

Henry  Wood  came  from  Ohio  about  1829,  arriving  in  October.  He 
split  rails  and  laid  up  a  square,  covering  it  with  clapboards,  which  he  also 
rived,  and  this  he  occupied  for  a  house.  Mrs.  Wood,  with  her  four  chil- 
dren, used  to  stay  alone  in  this  place  over  night  while  her  husband  was 
away  at  the  Wabash  after  provisions.  The  wolves  and  Indians  abound- 
ed in  the  neighborhood,  seemingly  in  equal  numbers;  but,  fortunately 
for  Mrs.  Wood's  equanimity  of  mind,  the  former  exhibited  the  greater 
anxiety  to  cultivate  acquaintance.  By  Christmas  they  had  a  more 
substantial  habitation  enclosed.  Though  neither  door  nor  floor  was 
made,  nor  chinking  and  daubing  done,  they  were  forced  to  occupy  it. 
One  day  about  midwinter  the  Henkles  came  over,  and  the  three  men 
chinked  and  daubed  the  house.  That  night  it  set  in  cold,  and  con- 
tinued so  a  long  time.  The  fire-place  was  planked  up  only  as  high  as 
the  mantel,  and  their  experience  with  a  "smoking  chimney"  was  in- 
deed distressing.  In  course  of  time,  as  opportunity  was  given,  the 
floor  was  put  down,  the  door  hung,  and  the  flue  Raised  to  its  proper 
height.  This  is  a  specimen  of  the  experience  of  quite  a  number  who 
came  early.  Those  who  came  later  were  generally  in  better  circum- 
stances. They  had  means  to  enter  a  little  piece  of  land  for  a  home, 
some  eighty,  some  one  hundred  and  twenty,  and  a  few  one  hundred 
and  sixty  acres.  Until  they  had  built  and  become  settled  they  camped 
out  and  bunked  down  in  the  most  convenient  manner.  As  a  rule,  all 
had  to  struggle  hard  to  get  a  living,  and  were  content  if  they  could 
make  a  few  scanty  improvements.  Making  rails  became  the  staple 
employment  for  those  who  could  spare  any  time  from  home,  and  they 
eagerly  sought  the  opportunity  to  work  for  thirty-seven  and  a  hall 
cents  per  hundred,  and  did  not  feel  themselves  unfortunate  if  they  got 
but  twenty-five. 

In  the  summer  and  fall  of  1832  John  Johnson  worked  on  the 
Wabash,  rafting  logs.  He  came  home  on  foot  Saturday  nights,  a  dis- 
tance of  thirty  miles,  bringing  on  his  back  provisions  for  his  family. 
The  hard  situation  of  all  things  was  so  grievously  borne  by  many  that, 
could  they  have  returned,  they  would  gladly  have  accepted  any  occa- 
sion. About  all  they  possessed  was  required  of  them  to  reach  the 
place,  and  then  it  was  only  through  much  fortitude  that  they  could 
remain,  even  after  it  seemed  impossible  for  them  to  depart.  It  may 
seem  strange  to  the  later  generation  in  Newell  township  that  any  dis- 
content should  ever  have  been  excited  by  the  course  of  life  here,  and 

that  there  could  have  been  a  heart  that  yearned  to  leave  the  place  for- 
59 


930  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

ever;  but  many  bitter  thoughts  and  burning  tears  of  women  have 
indelibl}"  impressed  on  the  memories  of  many  venerable  ones  now 
living,  in  the  midst  of  every  comfort,  the  simple  story  of  their  trials. 
Sickness  added  more,  perhaps,  to  the  discouragements  of  those  who 
were,  heart-sick  in  their  new  homes  than  any  other  thing.  The  preva- 
lent diseases  were  ague,  typhoid  fever,  milk  sickness  and  congestive 
chills.  Usually  in  summer  and  fall,  sickness  prevailed  to  a  melancholy 
extent  throughout  the  country ;  very  often,  whole  families  were  down 
together.  Dr.  John  Woods  was  the  first  regular  physician.  James 
Makemson  borrowed  books  and  studied  physic  with  the  view  to  treat 
his  own  family,  and  his  success  soon  became  so  conspicuous  that  his 
neighbors  began  to  employ  him,  and  in  a  little  time  he  had  a  good 
practice  and  reputation. 

James  Makemson  was  one  of  the  earliest  blacksmiths.  He  worked 
some  at  his  trade  in  connection  with  farming,  until  he  got  to  doctoring. 
William  Current,  though  not  a  shoemaker  by  trade,  began  doing  such 
work  as  soon  as  he  came.  Richard  Brewer,  who  came  a  little  later, 
was  a  regular  tradesman.  Customers  bought  leather  at  Moss'  and  Tay- 
lor's tanneries,  and  employed  the  shoemakers  to  manufacture  it  into 
boots  and  shoes.  The  tanneries  furnished  a  considerable  business  to 
the  people  in  peeling  and  hauling  bark,  which  increased  either  their 
available  funds  or  their  stock  of  leather.  Their  harnesses,  which  were 
of  the  chain-tug  pattern,  were  home-made.  The  collars  were  fast  at  the 
top,  and  had  to  be  forced  over  the  horses'  heads. 

The  "hard  winters,1'  universally  mentioned  as  such,  were  in  1830-1 
and  1831-2.  Deep  snows  covered  the  ground  all  winter.  The  first 
was  the  more  remarkable  for  the  depth  of  snow  and  the  severity  of  the 
weather.  The  snow  began  falling  on  the  27th  of  December,  1830,  and 
lay  on  until  March.  Fences  were  buried  out  of  sight.  First  a  thaw 
and  a  rain  came,  and  afterward  a  freeze,  forming  a  crust,  when  stock 
roamed  about  at  will,  and  teams  were  driven  over  fences  and  fields. 
The  eaves  of  the  houses  did  not  drip  for  forty-one  days.  Game  of  all 
kinds  perished  in  great  numbers.  Deer  became  a  prey  to  the  wolves 
who  pursued  them  to  the  woods,  where  they  slumped  so  as  to  be  una- 
ble to  escape,  and  were  devoured.     Wild  turkeys  totally  disappeared. 

At  the  time  of  which  we  write,  the  inhabitants  of  this  region,  lack- 
ing the  agents  of  locomotion  which  annihilate  time  and  space,  were 
removed  from  the  markets  of  the  world  by  toilsome  distances. 

Flat-boating  soon  became  general.  Boats  built  on  the  Wabash  were 
commonly  about  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  long  and  fourteen  feet 
wide,  but  those  constructed  on  the  Vermilion  were  about  sixty  feet 
long.     A  Vermilion  boat  was  manned  by  a  steersman  and  two  oarsmen. 


NEWELL   TOWNSHIP.  931 

These  boats  were  laden  for  New  Orleans,  and  the  freight  comprised 
hogs,  staves,  poultry,  produce,  hoop-poles,  baled  hay,  barreled  pork, 
etc.  The  hogs  and  poultry  were  not  fully  fattened  when  put  aboard, 
but  became  so  on  the  trip,  which  lasted  about  six  weeks.  This  time 
included  numerous  stoppages  at  points  along  the  Mississippi,  for  trad- 
ing with  merchants  and  planters.  They  sold  their  boats  and  cargoes 
for  what  they  could  get,  and  then  returned, —  some  on  foot,  some  buy- 
ing horses  or  mules  and  riding;  but  all,  however,  taking  care  to  keep 
well  back  from  the  river,  to  avoid  the  numerous  banditti  who  infested 
the  shores.  After  the  steamboats  got  to  plying  the  rivers  they  came 
back  on  them.  William  Guthrie  was  one  who  did  much  of  this  busi- 
ness. He  walked  back  from  New  Orleans  two  or  three  times.  Will- 
iam Martin  was  another. 

Before  the  invention  of  matches,  people  used  flint  and  steel  to  strike 
fire,  igniting  a  piece  of  tow  with  the  sparks.  On  one  cold  winter  morn- 
ing, at  the  house  of  George  W.  Smith,  the  flint  and  steel  would  not 
fulfill  their  office,  and  one  of  the  family  was  dispatched  to  a  neighbor's 
for  a  coal.  Mrs.  Smith  could  not  wait  so  long,  so  placing  a  handful  of 
tow  in  the  fire-place,  she  charged  the  gun  with  powder  and  fired  into  it, 
when  she  soon  had  a  blazing  hearth. 

DENMARK. 

This  ancient  town,  situated  on  the  left  bank  of  the  North  Fork,  two 
miles  above  Danville,  was  settled  by  Seymour  Treat,  probably  in  1826. 
In  "Coffeen's  Hand-Book  of  Vermilion  County"  we  find  this  informa- 
tion :  "The  first  settler  within  the  present  limits  of  this  county  was 
Seymour  Treat,  in  1819,  or  perhaps  in  1820.  He  came  with  a  man  by 
the  name  of  Blackburn,  to  the  salt  springs,  on  Salt  Fork,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  manufacturing  salt.  He  afterward  settled  Denmark  and  built 
a  saw-mill  at  that  place."  Treat's  mill  was  a  "corn  cracker"  and  saw- 
mill combined.  He  was  the  first  blacksmith  in  Newell  township,  and 
besides  operating  his  mill,  worked  some  at  his  trade. 

In  a  few  j^ears  a  considerable  settlement  had  been  made.  Two  dry- 
goods  stores  were  started,  one  belonging  to  Alexander  Bailey  and  the 
other  to  Stebbins  Jennings.  Probably  the  former  was  the  first  estab- 
lished in  business.  He  attained  to  much  local  prominence.  Jennings 
was  gifted  with  practical  talents.  His  acquirements,  also,  were  good 
for  the  times.  He  took  a  leading  interest  in  business  and  educational 
concerns,  and  was  freely  intrusted  with  responsible  duties.  James 
Skinner,  too,  was  an  early  settler  and  prominent  citizen.  He  kept  a 
store,  and  with  William  McMillin,  purchased  the  mill  from  Treat.  It 
is  said  by  some  that  he  opened  the  first  inn.     McMillin   came  from 


932  HISTOKT    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Franklin  county,  Ohio,  about  the  latter  part  of  1832.  He  was  a 
farmer.  Before  there  was  a  tavern  in  the  place  he  regularly  furnished 
entertainment  to  whomsoever  drew  up  to  his  door.  Jonathan  Patter- 
son settled  here  in  quite  an  early  day,  and  opened  a  public  house. 
Robert  and  Thomas  Wyatt  and  John  Williams,  also  came  quite  early, 
the  latter  in  1834  or  1835,  and  the  others  about  the  same  time.  These 
and  some  others  had,  at  different  times,  an  interest  in  the  mill.  The 
Wyatts  were  the  last  owners  who  ran  it  with  profit,  either  to  them- 
selves or  the  community  at  large.  Williams  kept  a  general  store. 
John  Hunt  and  John  Hathaway  kept  groceries.  Several  of  these  were 
supported  in  the  place.  A  "  grocery  "  was  what  is  now  called  a  saloon. 
Only  liquors  were  kept  and  sold.  Abel  and  Vatchel  Newborough 
were  early  blacksmiths.  John  Young  had  a  smithy  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, across  the  Fork.  John  Knox,  who  settled  in  Blount,  worked 
here  at  the  shoemaker's  trade.  Solomon  Kooder  was  the  carpenter. 
He  built  the  first  bridge  across  the  North  Fork,  which  was  located  at 
the  Denmark  Crossing.  Nathaniel  Taylor,  who  settled  in  the  Le  Neve 
neighborhood  about  1828,  came  the  following  year  to  Denmark  and 
started  a  tan-yard.  About  1835  an  independent  rifle  company  was 
organized,  and  regularly  drilled  here.  William  G.  Blair  was  the  cap- 
tain. 

Denmark  was  laid  out  before  Danville.  During  the  final  agitation 
of  the  county-seat  question  a  strong  effort  was  made  to  have  the  seat 
of  justice  located  here.  This  desired  object  was  nearly  realized.  As 
the  history  of  this  matter  will  be  fully  related  in  its  proper  connection 
elsewhere,  no  details  upon  the  subject  will  be  attempted  at  this  point. 
Denmark  became  a  noted  place.  The  bad  name  it  received  was  first 
deserved.  Whisky  brought  it  to  ruin.  Brawls  and  street  fights  were 
an  everyday  occurrence.  Religious  worship  was  scarcely  known. 
Daniel  Fairchild  preached  there  some  at  an  early  time,  but  the  obdu- 
racy of  the  place  evidently  caused  it  to  be  abandoned  in  despair. 
From  1835  to  1842  was#the  period  of  its  greatest  prosperity. 

BLACKHAWK    WAR. 

Newell  township,  as  well  as  other  sparsely  settled  localities  which 
contributed  men,  felt  the  serious  burden  of  the  Blackhawk  war.  The 
demand  for  volunteers  fell  chiefly  and  heavily  on  the  frontier  settle- 
ments. While  these,  lying  first  in  the  pathway  of  the  savages,  were 
the  more  concerned  in  the  events  of  the  war,  they  also  needed,  more 
than  people  in  the  remoter  and  older  settlements,  their  whole  time  to 
raise  a  crop,  and  to  fit  up  comfortable  abodes.  Those  most  exposed  to 
danger  are  always  justly  expected  to  evince  the  greater  alacrity,  and  to 


NEWELL   TOWNSHIP.  .     933 

make  the  greater  sacrifice  for  their  defense.  So  it  devolved  upon 
these  people  to  leave  the  plow  in  the  furrow,  with  but  a  part  of  the 
sod  turned,  and  much  of  that  implanted,  and  to  shoulder  their  pieces 
and  go  from  the  fields  of  domestic  peace  and  rural  song  to  those  which 
resounded  with  Indian  yells  and  mortal  conflict.  The  following  is 
believed  to  be  a  complete  list  of  those  who  went  from  this  township : 
Charles  S.  Young,  Asa  Duncan,  Alpha  Duncan,  James  Cunningham, 
.  Ambrose  P.  Andrews,  Bushrod  Oliver,  Obadiah  Le  Neve,  John  Le 
Neve,  William  Current,  William  G.  Blair,  Soam  Jennings,  John  Deck, 
Samuel  Swinford,  Jacob  Eckler,  Jeremiah  Delay,  John  Watson,  George 
Ware  and  Alexander  Bailey.  The  two  last  commanded  companies. 
Bailey's  was  the  largest  in  Col.  Moore's  regiment.  John  Young  went 
too,  but,  notwithstanding  he  was  a  leading  spirit  in  Denmark,  he  does 
not  properly  belong  to  Newell  township,  for  he  lived  across  the  Fork. 

The  only  percussion-gun  in  the  regiment  was  one  owned  and  brought 
from  Virginia  by  Abraham  Stipp.  Uncle  Charles  Young  borrowed  it 
from  Stipp,  and  bore  it  through  the  campaign.  The  people  left  at  home 
were  harassed  with  racking  apprehensions,  and,  as  a  consequence,  kept 
in  continual  readiness  for  surprise  or  flight.  After  the  axes  and  pitch- 
forks had  been  brought  inside  at  night,  all  the  doors  were  safely  barred. 
Many  retired  for  rest  haunted  with  the  terrible  fear  that  they  would 
be  killed  and  scalped  before  morning.  Only  a  part  at  a  time  laid 
down,  and  those  never  with  left-off  clothing.  The  horses  were  kept 
standing  in  harness,  and  the  wagons  with  covers  on.  Dishes  and 
household  utensils  were  buried.  Only  a  few,  to  be  placed  in  the  wagon 
at  the  alarm,  were  reserved  from  concealment  for  present  use.  The 
number  of  those  who  "  died  a  thousand  deaths  in  fearing  one  "  was  in 
extravagant  disproportion  to  the  number  actually  harmed,  for  there 
were  a  good  many  of  the  former  and  none  of  the  latter. 

The  volunteers,  having  returned  home,  set  themselves  industriously 
at  work  mauling  rails  to  make  a  support,  as  they  had  lost  by  their 
service  the  season  for  raising  a  crop. 

THE    MORMONS. 

The  Mormon  church  was  organized  by  Joseph  Smith  at  Manchester, 
Ontario  county,  New  York,  on  the  6th  of  April,  1830.  This  delusion 
was  energetically  propagated,  and  at  once  spread  into  Pennsylvania, 
Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois  and  Missouri.  No  later  than  the  following  year 
missionaries,  in  the  persons  of  Orson  and  Parley  Pratt,  appeared  in 
Newell  township.  The  former  is  now  a  prominent  leader  in  the 
church  at  Salt  Lake  City.  His  brother  Parley  is  represented  as  having 
been  the  abler  and  more  eloquent  of  the  two.     It  is  conceded  that  he 


934  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

was  one  of  the  brightest  intellectual  lights  in  the  church  bf  the  Latter 
Day  Saints.  The  center  of  their  operations  was  in  Blount  township. 
The  first  preaching  point  they  made  in  Newell  was  at  the  house  of 
Oliver  Miller.  Afterward  they  occupied  the  Eckler  school-house,  and 
made  appointments  at  Harrison  Oliver's  and  Jehu  Chandler's.  The 
latter  neither  joined  them  nor  approved  their  customs.  Elders  Sherer, 
George  Morey,  Coon,  Packard,  Jackoway,  and  perhaps  others,  labored 
in  disseminating  the  Mormon  doctrine.  Very  bitter  opposition  was 
encountered  from  some.  In  preaching,  they  called  themselves  "the 
children  of  the  kingdom";  they  pretended  to  heal  the  sick,  and  talked 
some  of  raising  the  dead,  but  made  very  little  point  of  this  last  ingre- 
dient of  the  imposture.  The  efficacy  of  their  treatment  consisted  in  the 
laying  on  of  hands.  In  several  instances  they  tested  their  healing 
powers  with  ignominious  failure.  Consider  Scott  was  one  of  their  first 
converts.  Harrison  Oliver,  Louis  Neely  and  Oliver  Miller  also  em- 
braced their  doctrine,  and,  taking  their  families,  went  to  Independence, 
Missouri,  with  the  missionaries,  when  the  latter  shook  the  dust  of 
Newell  township  from  their  feet.  A  number  who  had  joined  them 
refused  to  follow. 

The  following  grotesque  incident  is  related:  The  Mormon  elders 
made  a  convert  of  one  Robert  Baxter,  an  itinerant  tailor,  who  was  as 
deaf  as  a  stone.  A  day  was  fixed  for  his  baptism  at  Denmark;  he 
attended  punctually.  It  was  winter,  and  pretty  cold.  On  approaching 
the  water  he  looked  up  and  all  around  as  if  in  torturing  doubt  whether 
to  be  plunged  beneath  the  chilly  wave,  or  openly  and  flatly  to  retract 
his  profession  before  a  crowd  of  gaping  spectators.  At  length,  with  an 
uneasy  twitch  of  his  shoulders  and  a  toss  of  his  head,  he  cried  out, 
abruptly,  in  wretched  voice,  "  I  guess  I'll  withdraw  ! "  "  Oh,  no  !  you 
must  not  withdraw  now,"  said  the  officiating  elder.  He  looked  pain- 
fully about  him  again  for  a  moment,  then  blurted  out,  excitedly,  "I 
guess  I'll  withdraw!"  and  at  the  same  instant  broke  and  ran  at  the 
top  of  his  speed  till  he  was  out  of  sight. 

SCHOOLS. 

Kentucky  and  Ohio  gave  liberally  to  Newell  township  of  the  flower 
of  their  emigrant  population.  These  people  had  been  reared  in  com- 
munities where  habits  of  thrift  and  general  intelligence  were  promi- 
nent objects  of  private  care  and  public  patronage.  That  they  should 
cherish  the  sentiments  which  underlie  these  constituents  of  societary 
and  political  growth — which  are  the  pabulum  of  the  state  —  and  labor 
to  cultivate  the  same  in  their  new  position,  was  to  be  looked  for  with 
just  expectation.    They  engaged  early  in  organizing  schools,  and  socie- 


NEWELL   TOWNSHIP.  935 

ties  for  religious  worship.  The  pioneer  log  school-house  was  one  of 
the  simplest,  yet  most  celebrated,  institutions  that  has  figured  in  the 
settlement  of  our  country.  It  was  built  of  round  or  hewed  logs,  and 
contained  one  room.  Puncheons  covered  the  floor ;  a  rude  fire-place 
in  one  end  reached  nearly  from  corner  to  corner;  in  the  other  end  an 
opening  had  been  made  by  leaving  out  a  log,  and  in  this  upright 
pieces  were  placed  at  proper  intervals,  and  oiled  paper  pasted  on 
them  to  admit  light.  The  furniture  consisted  of  rough  benches.  Pins 
were  driven  into  the  logs,  or  wooden  hooks  fastened  up,  on  which  the 
boys  hung  their  caps,  and  the  girls  their  hoods  and  shawls.  At  the 
window  a  long  writing-board  was  put  up,  with  the  customary  pitch, 
and  a  bench  which  reached  across  the  room  was  placed  before  this 
desk.     Here,  in  the  flood  of  light,  the  scholars  practiced  their  copies. 

This  period  antedates  the  establishment  of  the  free  system  by  the 
state.  Schools  had  to  be  inaugurated  by  direct  exertion,  and  supported 
by  private  contribution,  and  only  those  who  paid  received  their  ben- 
efits. School-houses  were  built  in  the  same  voluntary  manner.  The 
settlers  met  at  a  place  agreed  on  for  the  site;  some  cut  down  the  trees, 
others  hauled  them  up ;  while  another  set  of  hands  were  employed 
in  cutting,  saddling  and  putting  them  in  place  in  the  building.  On 
the  frontier,  where  the  distribution  of  labor  was  little  equalized,  and  all 
men  had  to  depend  principally  on  their  own  hands  to  fabricate  ar- 
ticles of  necessity,  most  people  were  more  or  less  skillful  with  tools. 
In  the  public  gatherings  of  this  kind,  the  best  workmen  took  the 
lead  and  did  the  most  particular  portions  of  the  work.  Schools  were 
not  limited  to  those  houses  alone  which  were  built  for  that  purpose, 
but  vacant  cabins,  suitably  located  and  not  less  commodious  than  the 
school-houses  themselves,  were  customarily  devoted  to  this  use.  Who- 
ever proposed  to  organize  a  school,  went  around  among  the  settlers 
and  took  subscriptions  for  the  number  of  scholars  that  each  would  send. 
If  a  stranger  came  into  the  settlement  and  announced  a  like  inten- 
tion, someone  would  volunteer  to  accompany  and  introduce  him  to 
all  interested  in  that  object.  The  usual  price  paid  was  $1.00  and  $1.50 
per  term  of  three  months  for  each  scholar,  but  sometimes  twenty-five 
cents  extra  were  added  for  a  winter  term  to  pay  for  fuel.  Often  those 
whose  financial  ability  would  permit,  and  who  were  much  concerned 
to  have  a  school,  would  subscribe  for  three  or  four  scholars  when  they 
had  not  more  than  half  the  number.  Others,  who  had  three  or  four 
old  enough  to  be  instructed,  could  subscribe,  perhaps,  for  only  one,  and 
would  divide  the  attendance  among  them,  or  between  the  two  older, 
by  sending  them  alternately  a  week  at  a  time.  Reading,  writing, 
spelling  and  ciphering  comprised  the  studies. 


936  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

The  first  school-house  in  Newell  township  was  on  section  23,  at  the 
four  corners  just  east  of  Samuel  Adams',  situated  on  William  Newell's 
land,  and  was  called  the  Newell  school-house.  It  was  built  in  1827. 
A  man  named  Scott,  who  is  described  as  a  good-natured,  fatherly  old 
soul,  was  the  first  teacher.  The  second  was  Duncan  Lindsey.  He 
directed  the  shooting  ideas  of  the  young  with  frequent  and  vigorous 
applications  of  the  hickory.  Corporal  punishment  was  little  remarked 
in  those  days,  and  was,  as  a  rule,  laid  on  in  scripture  quantity,  accord- 
ing to  the  inexorable  dictates  of  supposed  duty.  It  is  not  to  be 
doubted  that  Duncan  Lindsey  used  the  rod  with  a  zeal  worthy  of  a 
holy  cause.  His  liberal  disposition  in  this  respect  left  impressions 
which  are  distinct  to  this  day.  This  man's  scholars  learned  well, 
and  in  other  respects  he  taught  a  good  school.  Present  methods  of 
school  government  are  in  striking  contrast  to  this  barbarous  and  de- 
grading recourse  for  correction.  The  second  was  known  as  the  Eckler 
school-house,  and  was  built  on  land  owned  by  Jacob  Eckler.  It  was 
situated  between  Joseph  W.  Osborne's  and  William  R.  Campbell's.  A 
person  riding  along  that  road  will  not  fail  to  see  a  large  beautifully 
spreading  walnut  tree  standing  in  the  southwest  corner  of  Mr.  Os- 
borne's pasture.  Just  back  of  that  a  few  paces  was  the  site  of  this 
house.  It  was  built  in  the  fall  of  1830.  Valentine  Leonard,  who 
came  with  his  family  about  that  time,  lived  in  it  the  following  winter. 
The  next  summer  the  first  school  was  opened,  with  Miss  Elizabeth 
Stipp  as  teacher. 

As  early  as  1833  a  school-house  stood  on  the  banks  of  the  North 
Fork,  about  eighty  rods  south  of  Denmark.  Mary  Beasly,  Noah 
Sapp  and  Elizabeth  Stipp  were  among  the  earliest  teachers.  After 
a  few  years  the  building  was  abandoned,  and  a  private  house  in  Den- 
mark used.  The  latter  is  yet  standing.  The  Lamb  school-house, 
located  on  the  southeast  corner  of  section  26,  was  built  about  1835.  It 
had  a  window  on  each  side,  consisting  of  a  single  row  of  8x10  inch 
panes  placed  close  up  to  the  eaves,  and  running  the  whole  length  of 
the  building.  Among  the  teachers  at  this  place  may  be  mentioned 
Robert  Price,  John  McKee,  J.  Poor  and  James  A.  Davis.  An  inci- 
dent is  related  as  having  transpired  at  this  school-house :  The  door 
fastened  on  the  outside  by  means  of  a  padlock.  An  irate  youth  whom 
the  teacher  had  just  punished,  went  out  and  secured  the  door,  and  then 
climbed  on  top  of  the  building  and  covered  the  chimney.  Coming 
down,  he  seated  himself  on  a  log  to  await  developments  and  to  enjoy 
his  revenge.  Blinded  and  almost  suffocated  by  smoke,  the  school  was 
soon  in  exasperated  confusion.  At  length  the  teacher  thought  to  ex- 
tinguish the  fire  from  the  water-pail,  when  one  of  the  boys  crawled  up 


NEWELL   TOWNSHIP.  937 

the  flue  and  uncovered  it.  The  Cunningham  school-house  was  built 
about  1840,  and  for  a  number  of  years  stood  some  distance  west  of  its 
present  site.  Levi  Cronkhite  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  teacher. 
Since  1858  the  town  elections  have  been  held  at  this  place.  Wonder- 
ful and  happy  changes  have  occurred  in  Newell  township,  but  in  noth- 
ing is  the  revolution  greater  than  in  the  matter  of  the  education  of  the 
youth.  The  old  log  hut  with  its  puncheon  seats  and  paper  windows, 
has  given  way  to  comfortable  little  temples  of  learning,  with  the  mod- 
ern patent  iron-framed  desks.  Blackboards,  charts  and  apparatus, 
which  in  the  pioneer  times  were  unknown,  now  tempt  the  willing  feet 
Rapidly  along  the  path  and  up  the  hill  of  science. 

RELIGIOUS    HISTORY. 

The  first  preaching  in  Newell  township  was  at  the  house  of  Wm. 
Delay,  in  1826.  One  day  a  Methodist  preacher  was  passing,  and  Mr. 
Delay  invited  him  to  stop,  and  before  he  left  he  delivered  a  sermon  to 
the  neighbors  who  had  been  collected  to  hear  him.  The  Delay  class 
was  immediately  organized,  and  circuit  preaching  begun.  Mr.  Delay 
and  his  wife  Susan  were  original  members.  At  different  times  between 
this  date  and  1835  the  following,  with  many  others  whose  names  can- 
not be  obtained,  joined  the  society:  Mary  Boston,  Anthony  Howard, 
John  Brewer  and  his  wife,  Lavina;  Aunt  Polly  Makemson,  and  her 
husband,  James  Makemson ;  Christina  Brewer,  Sarah  Rodrick,  Jane 
and  Jacob  Delay,  Aunt  Polly  Current  and  her  husband,  William  Cur- 
rent. Aunt  Polly  Current  is  the  only  living  representative  of  this 
class.  The  next  point  was  at  Peter  Starr's.  Services  were  commenced 
there  soon  after  his  settlement  in  the  township,  in  the  fall  of  1829. 
This  was  a  stated  place  of  worship  for  several  years,  and  became  a 
noted  resort  for  christian  people.  The  genuine  piety  and  hospitality 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Starr  endeared  them  to  all  the  brethren.  Mother 
Starr  still  lives  at  a  very  advanced  age,  to  cheer  the  hearts  of  her  chil- 
dren. The  Eckler  school-house,  in  the  same  neighborhood,  was  also 
used  for  services,  and  by  several  denominations.  The  Methodists,  Pre- 
destinarian  Baptists,  the  Disciples  or  Campbellites,  and  a  sect  distin- 
guished by  the  local  name  of  Radical  Methodists  —  all  had  classes  here. 
James  Harshy  and  Wrisley  were  the  first  Methodist  preachers ;  either 
one  or  the  other  filled  the  appointment  fortnightly.  James  Norris  was 
the  first  to  the  Baptists,  and  Dr.  Hall  the  first  to  the  Disciples.  An- 
other prominent  preaching  place  was  at  Jeremiah  Delay's.  Subse- 
quently, meetings  were  held  several  years  at  John  Johnson's  and  Wm. 
G.  Blair's.  The  United  Brethren  held  monthly  meetings  at  Samuel 
Adams'  a  few  years,  and  afterward  at  the  Newell  school-house.     The 


938  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Christians  held  meetings  in  an  early  da}-  at  William  Cunningham's. 
Some  of  the  earliest  preachers  in  that  denomination  were  Dr.  Hall, 
Walters,  Hibbs,  Watson  Clark,  Solomon  McKinney,  John  Ashby,  Sears, 
Law  and  Thurman. 

In  1834  or  1835  the  christian  society  called  Walnut  Corners  church 
was  organized,  and  held  meetings  at  the  house  of  William  Cunning- 
ham and  at  the  Eckler  school-house.  Several  years  later  the  place  of 
worship  was  changed  to  the  Cunningham  school-house,  a  very-  good 
frame  building  for  those  days.  In  the  summer  of  1850  the  meeting- 
house at  the  Corners  was  built,  Frank  Stevens  and  Samuel  Mussulman 
being  employed  to  do  the  work.  It  is  a  low-post  building  30x40 
feet.  Its  cost  cannot  be  known.  Money  was  subscribed  and  work 
given  b}7  the  people,  regardless  of  church  or  other  affiliations.  It  was 
erected  as  a  Union  house,  though  its  control  has  either  been  assumed 
by  the  Christians  or  left  to  them  by  general  consent.  Its  pulpit  has 
been  freely  used  by  ministers  of  all  denominations.  About  nine  years 
ago  the  larger  part  of  the  Christian  society  settled  in  State  Line  City, 
and  built  an  edifice  there,  but  the  brethren  remaining  in  the  vicinity 
of  the  old  church  preserved  their  membership  with  the  majority. 
After  standing  unused,  and  in  a  dilapidated  state,  for  some  time,  the 
house  was  lately  repaired,  receiving  fresh  coats  of  paint  and  plastering, 
and  it  is  now  in  a  condition  for  indefinite  use.  The  repairs  were  made 
by  the  community  at  large.  This  was  the  first  frame  church  ever 
erected  in  Newell  township.  At  present  the  pulpit  is  not  regularly 
supplied.  A  flourishing  Sunday-school  is  maintained  in  the  summer- 
time. 

The  Asbury  church  building  is  Methodist  property,  and  was  erected 
in  1851.  The  community  contributed  the  timbers  and  hauled  all  the 
material.  The  work  was  done  by  Frank  Stevens  and  a  man  named 
Wilson.  About  $700  in  cash  were  distributed  by  the  society  in  its 
construction.  It  is  26x36  feet,  low-posted,  and  what  would  be 
called  an  old  church.  The  frame  is  of  the  old-fashioned  kind,  and  con- 
sequently substantial.  Should  the  building  be  kept  in  repair  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that  it  will  outlast  many  more  imposing  structures.  It  is 
situated  on  land  given  for  the  purpose  by  William  Current,  sr.,  in  sec- 
tion 36,  town  20.  The  house  was  consecrated  on  the  4th  of  April, 
1852,  Elder  Fairbanks  preaching  the  dedication  sermon.  Religious 
services  are  held  once  every  three  weeks.  Rev.  G.  B.  Goldsmith  is 
the  preacher  in  charge  the  present  year.  A  Sunday-school  is  kept  up 
through  the  summer  season. 

The  Christian  church,  called  Pleasant  View,  is  located  in  the  Leon- 
ard settlement.    The  society  was  organized  at  the  Nauvoo  school-house 


NEWELL   TOWNSHIP.  939 

about  the  year  1848  or  1849.  Among  the  original  members  were  an 
old  lady  named  Morris,  Abram  Long  and  his  wife  Barbara,  Elizabeth 
Clapp,  Augustine  Clapp,  and  a  few  others.  In  the  course  of  the  first 
year  numerous  additions  were  made.  Isaac  Emily,  who  was  so  nearly 
blind  that  on  dark  days  he  was  obliged  to  have  a  guide,  was  the  first 
minister.  He  was  a  noted  organizer  of  churches,  both  in  Illinois  and 
Indiana.  He  and  his  successor,  Z.  M.  Wilkins,  were  the  leading  spirits 
of  this  society.  Samuel  Gregory  and  Absalom  Kearny  were  the  two 
next  elders.  In  the  summer  of  1852  a  house  of  worship,  30x40  feet 
in  size,  was  built  at  a  cost  of  $1,200.  The  site  was  donated  by  'Squire 
Leonard.  Four  years  ago  it  underwent  a  general  refitting,  and  is  at 
present  in  first-rate  condition.  This  organization  was  once  very  numer- 
ous, having  as  many  as  three  hundred.  Though  now  decreased  to  one 
hundred  and  fifty,  it  may  yet  be  said  to  be  strong.  The  church  enjoys 
a  fair  degree  of  prosperity.  The  Rev.  Jones  is  pastor  the  current  year. 
On  the  11th  of  June,  1871,  Mahlon  Thrapp  and  his  wife  Sarah, 
Mrs.  Francis  F.  Scott,  Elizabeth  Campbell  and  Mary  Knott  organized 
a  United  Brethren  society,  and  arranged  for  holding  regular  monthly 
meetings.  Mr.  Thrapp  and  the  local  preacher  at  Danville,  George 
Holycross,  conducted  the  services.  The  former  was  appointed  class- 
leader.  In  the  fall  the  Rev.  William  Coffman  was  stationed  at  Dan- 
ville, and  this  charge  was  attached  to  his  circuit.  At  his  first  ministra- 
tion Ruth  Saunders  and  Martha  Campbell  united  with  the  church. 
A  protracted  meeting  was  commenced  at  an  early  day  and  eighteen 
were  added  to  the  membership.  In  the  following  spring  subscriptions 
were  taken  for  erecting  a  house  of  worship.  The  undertaking  received 
liberal  encouragement,  and  before  autumn  the  house  was  built.  Farm- 
ers Chapel  is  a  plain,  substantial  structure,  supported  by  a  brick  under- 
pinning. Its  size  is  30x40  feet.  Its  cost  was  $1,400,  exclusive  of 
considerable  donations  of  labor.  Alexander  Johnson  gave  an  acre  of 
ground  for  a  church  and  a  grave-yard.  It  is  situated  in  the  Blair  neigh- 
borhood on  section  21.  The  membership  is  fifty -seven,  and  the  class, 
of  which  Francis  F.  Scott  is  leader,  is  in  a  flourishing  condition.  Reg- 
ularly on  the  1st  of  May  of  each  year  a  Sabbath- school  is  organized  and 
maintained  in  excellent  life,  until  the  cold  weather  and  the  bad  roads 
of  winter  render  its  discontinuance  expedient.  During  the  winter  sea- 
son a  regular  weekly  prayer-meeting  is  kept  up. 

MYEESVILLE. 

The  first  improvement  in  Myersville  was  the  Chrisman  mill,  which 
formed  a  nucleus  for  this  once  thriving  and  important  village.  The 
Gundys,   Davisons,   Henkles,  Wiles,   Kerr,  Wood,   Andrews,  Carter, 


940  HISTOKY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Glaze,  Barger  and  a  few  others  were  living  in  a  cordon  around  the 
place.  In  1838  Peter  Chrisman,  of  Indiana,  bought  the  mill  site  and 
commenced  work  on  the  building.  He  designed  erecting  a  combined 
saw  and  grist  mill,  but  when  the  first  was  up,  and  before  the  second 
was  begun,  his  son,  Joseph,  was  killed  while  prosecuting  the  work, 
which  melancholy  event  so  affected  him  that  he  left  it  unfinished.  A 
sharp  ridge  lay  transversely  to  the  mill-race  which  the  men  were  cut- 
ting, and  it  was  determined  to  tunnel  it  to  avoid  removing  so  much 
earth.  Young  Chrisman  had  driven  the  digging  too  far  without  prop- 
ping up  the  immense  weight  overhead,  and  it  broke  down,  instantly 
crushing  him  to  death.  This  occurred  in  February,  1839.  The  exact 
spot  of  this  accident  is  pointed  out  at  the  north  side  of  the  bridge 
across  the  race.  In  the  fall  Chrisman  sold  the  property  to  a  man 
named  Koontz,  living  in  Indiana.  He  employed  John  and  Samuel 
Myers,  who  were  millwrights,  to  come  and  complete  the  work  which 
was  begun.  They  arrived  in  the  spring  of  1840,  and  not  long  after- 
ward bought  out  Koontz.  Early  in  1841  they  removed  their  families 
from  Indiana.  These  brothers,  besides  running  the  saw-mill,  at  once 
put  in  a  run  of  stones,  and  also  set  a  carding-mill  in  operation.  In 
June,  1843,  they  raised  the  grist-mill.  This  last  is  the  only  one  re- 
maining. They  owned  and  operated  it  nearly  twenty  years.  It  has 
been  a  paying  property.  Joseph  Smith,  of  Danville,  is  the  present 
owner.  William  and  Andrew  Zeigler,  of  Attica,  Indiana,  built  the 
first  store  and  sold  the  first  goods  in  the  place.  William  Briggs  suc- 
ceeded them,  and  he  in  turn  was  bought  out  by  Green  &  Gundy 
(Joseph  Gundy)  in  the  spring  of  1852.  Columbus  Crossen  started  the 
first  wagon  shop,  and  Thomas  L.  Silvey  was  one  of  the  earliest  black- 
smiths. Dr.  John  B.  Holloway  located  here  as  early  as  1844,  and 
opened  a  drug  store,  but  he  was  not  an  early  settler.  Early  in  1854 
Andrew  Gundy  took  charge  in  his  own  name  of  the  business  previous- 
ly carried  on  by  Green  &  Gundy.  In  1857  he  retailed  $36,000  worth 
of  goods  from  the  establishment.  His  business  embraced  corn  and 
wool-buying,  and  the  feeding  of  cattle  and  hogs,  and  this  branch  by 
itself  considerably  exceeded  $100,000  that  year.  People  came  here  for 
distances  of  seventy  miles  to  trade  and  to  get  milling  done.  That  in- 
toxicating liquors  were  never  sold  in  this  place  is  the  best  possible  evi- 
dence of  the  high  social  and  moral  character  of  the  people.  Joseph 
Gundy  and  the  Myers  owned  the  land,  and  they  guarded  the  interests 
of  the  little  community  as  men  having  a  lively  sense  of  their  responsi- 
bility, and  of  the  evils  of  this  costly  and  unholy  traffic.  Myersville 
has  always  excelled  in  celebrations  of  our  national  holiday.  The  pretty 
location  of  the  place  upon  the  North  Fork,  the  adjoining  wood,  and 


NEWELL   TOWNSHIP.  943 

the  public  spirit  of  the  citizens,  have  contributed  to 'recommend  it  to 
everybody.  The  matrons  of  the  place  have  always  borne  a  prominent 
part  in  these  affairs,  and  it  is  but  just  to  add  that  their  spirit  and  their 
services  were  indispensable.  Aunt  Sarah  Holloway,  Aunt  Susan  Hea- 
der!, Aunt  Katie  Duncan,  Mrs.  Joseph  Smith  and  Mrs.  Ava  Tuttle 
constitute  this  roll  of  honor.  The  first  post-office  established  here  was 
called  Myers'  Mills,  but  owing  to  some  irregularity  it  was  discontinued 
for  awhile,  and  when  it  was  reestablished  was  named  Myersville.  Prior 
to  this  change  the  village  had  always  been  designated  by  the  first  name. 
Before  they  had  a  post-office  in  this  place  the  people  got  their  mail  at 
Samuel  Gilbert's,  in  Ross  township. 

The  early  history  of  the  Methodist  society  at  Myersville  is  nearly 
dissolved  under  the  triturating  wheels  of  time.  As  near  as  we  have 
been  able  to  ascertain,  it  came  into  existence  as  a  complete  organization 
about  1840.  James  Davison,  Henry  Wood  and  his  wife,  Jesse  Wood, 
Robert  and  Elizabeth  Davison,  Nathaniel  Glaze  and  Joseph  Kerr  are 
all  the  original  members  who  can  now  be  recalled.  All  these  were 
pillars  in  the  church,  but  this  distinction  is  particularly  applied  to 
James  Davison.  Meetings  were  held  at  Henry  Wood's,  John  Hum- 
phrey's, James  Davison's,  and  the  Kerr  school-house.  In  1854  the 
meeting-house  at  Myers'  Mills  (since  Myersville)  was  built,  and  called 
Wesley  Chapel.  It  is  thirty  by  forty  feet  on  the  ground,  one  story  of 
fourteen  feet,  four  windows  on  each  side,  and  two  in  one  end.  It  is  a 
heavy,  substantial  frame,  and  cost  $1,375.  On  the  28th  of  July  John 
B.  and  Sarah  Jane  Holloway  conveyed  the  site  in  fee  simple  to  the 
trustees.  The  church  is  experiencing  some  lukewarmness,  but  there 
are  hopeful  indications  of  a  recovery  of  interest.  The  society  num- 
bers about  sixty  members.  A  flourishing  Sabbath-school  has  been  do- 
ing continuous  work  for  the  four  last  years.  Joshua  A.  Shockley  is 
the  superintendent.  The  Rev.  G.  B.  Goldsmith  has  been  the  pastor 
during  the  last  conference  year. 

BISMAEK. 

The  Coal  Branch  of  the  C.  &  E.  I.  R.  R.,  which  intersects  the  main 
line  at  this  place,  was  surveyed  and  built  in  1872.  Charles  S.  Young 
and  Dr.  John  B.  Holloway  each  gave  twenty  acres  of  land  for  a  town 
site.  John  Myers  added  ten  acres,  reserving  the  alternate  lots  and 
selling  the  remainder  to  the  railroad  company.  The  town  was  laid 
out  in  the  fall.  The  first  building  put  up  in  the  place  was  by  Robert 
Kerr,  a  year  or  more  anterior  to  the  laying  out  of  the  town,  and  was 
used  for  a  store.  He  was  succeeded  bv  John  Leonard  and  Asa  Bush- 
nell.     The  latter  bought  out  the  former,  and,  entering  into  partnership 


9^  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

with  Francis  M.  Gundy,  they  erected  a  commodious  building,  and  are 
now  keeping  a  general  store.  They  also  deal  largely  in  hogs  and  some 
in  cattle.  William  Tate  first  sold  lumber  and  bought  corn.  He  put  up 
several  buildings.  At  the  end  of  two  years  he  sold  out  to  John  R. 
Carter,  who  is  engaged  in  the  grain  trade.  Green  &  Phillips  kept  a 
grocery  and  provision  store  two  years,  and  were  succeeded  by  the 
Phillips  Brothers,  who  are  not  now  in  business.  In  the  winter  of 
1871-2  the  post-office  was  removed  from  Myersville  to  Bismark. 
Robert  Kerr  was  the  first  postmaster.  Asa  M.  Bushnell  is  the  present 
incumbent.  About  four  years  ago  the  railroad  company  built  an  en- 
gine-house and  turntable  here.  The  former  was  destroyed  by  fire  in 
the  spring  of  1879,  and  another  was  erected.  The  district  school-house, 
standing  in  the  village,  is  very  old,  having  been  in  use  nearly  thirty 
years.  On  the  24th  of  May,  1879,  at  an  election  held  for  that  purpose, 
the  people  authorized  an  issue  of  bonds  to  build,  a  new  one.  The  prin- 
cipal buildings  are  the  depot,  engine-house,  a  general  store,  drug  store, 
wagon  and  blacksmith  shop,  and  a  boarding-house.  About  thirty  fami- 
lies live  here.  Two  physicians  have  established  themselves  in  the 
place.  In  1876  a  voting  precinct  was  established  at  Bismark,  and  the 
first  poll  held  at  the  general  election  of  that  year. 

The  Methodists  have  held  meetings  at  Bismark  about  six  years. 
The  United  Brethren  had  meetings  much  earlier.  The  former  have  no 
regular  organization ;  their  membership  is  at  Myersville.  The  Rev. 
James  T.  Barr  began  preaching  for  them.  Services  have  been  con- 
tinued at  this  place  ever  since.  They  have  a  successful  Sunday-school, 
with  an  average  attendance  of  about  fifty.  The  Rev.  Gilbert  B.  Gold- 
smith is  the  present  pastor.  An  effort  is  making  to  build  a  church  at 
an  estimated  cost  of  $1,500 — $600  being  subscribed,  and  a  small  portion 
of  the  sum  paid.  Their  plan  and  specifications  are  drawn,  and  if  they 
succeed  in  raising  the  necessary  funds  to  erect  the  house  as  contem- 
plated, it  will  be  a  Gothic,  30  x  50  feet  on  the  ground,  fourteen-foot 
posts,  arched  ceiling,  two  class-rooms  and  a  gallery.  When  the  house 
shall  have  been  erected  the  Myersville  society  will  be  removed,  and  the 
two  appointments  merged  in  one. 

The  Christian  Society  was  organized  on  the  11th  of  January,  1879, 
by  the  Rev.  Henry  H.  Gunn,  assisted  by  the  Rev.  John  A.  Clapp, 
with  eleven  members.  Subsequently,  seven  were  added.  The  Rev. 
Gunn  is  pastor  of  this  congregation.     They  have  no  house  of  worship. 

DESCRIPTION    AND    ORGANIZATION. 

Newell  township  is  bounded  on  the  north  by  Ross,  on  the  east  by 
Indiana,  on   the  south   by  Danville  township,   and   on   the  west  by 


NEWELL   TOWNSHIP.  943 

Blount.  It  embraces  all  of  township  20,  range  11,  except  a  strip  on 
the  west  side  three-fourths  of  a  mile  wide,  but  includes  about  an  equal 
quantity  of  range  10  on  the  east.  It  further  comprises  all  the  sections 
from  19  to  36  inclusive,  in  township  21,  range  11,  except  the  west  half 
of  sections  30  and  31,  which  belong  to  Blount,  making  an  irregular 
west  boundary  with  four  mediate  right-angles.  It  covers  an  area  of 
about  fifty-three  sections  —  the  first  tier  in  township  20  being  short  one 
half — and,  with  a  trifling  variation,  is  eight  and  one-half  miles  from 
north  to  south,  and  six  miles  from  east  to  west.  It  presents  a  boldly 
undulating  surface  of  prairie  and  timber  land,  the  latter  embracing  the 
three  southernmost  tiers  of  sections,  and  the  remaining  space  west  of 
the  Chicago  &  Eastern  Illinois  railroad.  The  more  valuable  timber- 
growth  is  found  in  the  southern  portion,  and  consists  of  the  common 
varieties,  including  some  beech.  Great  quantities  of  black  walnut 
abound.  Stony  and  Lick  Creeks  are  the  principal  streams.  The 
North  Fork  of  the  Vermilion  winds  along  the  western  border,  crossing 
it  half  a  dozen  or  more  times. 

At  the  election  held  on  the  5th  of  November,  1850,  Vermilion 
county  adopted  township  organization.  John  Canady,  Alvan  Gilbert 
and  Hamilton  White  were  the  commissioners  to  divide  the  county  into 
townships.  Newell  township  was  originally  named  Richland.  At  the 
first  meeting  of  the  board  of  supervisors  on  the  13th  day  of  June, 
1851,  the  name  was  changed  to  Newell,  as  there  was  another  town  of 
Richland  in  the  state.  The  town  bears  its  present  name  in  honor  of 
'Squire  James  Newell,  the  first  justice  of  the  peace.  The  first  elec- 
tion in  the  township  after  the  adoption  of  the  new  system  of  county 
government  was  the  annual  town  election  on  the  first  Tuesday  in 
April,  1851,  held  at  the  house  of  Otho  Allison.  John  Woods  was 
chosen  moderator,  and  Benjamin  Stewart,  clerk  pro  tempore.  The 
electors  then  proceeded  to  elect  a  moderator  and  a  clerk  of  the  town. 
John  Woods  received  twelve  votes  for  the  first  position,  and  William 
R.  Chandler,  eleven,  and  Benjamin  Stewart,  two,  for  the  second.  The 
remaining  offices  were  filled  by  the  election  of  the  following  persons: 
Asa  Duncan,  supervisor;  William  G.  Blair,  Samuel  Copeland  and 
Solomon  Clapp,  commissioners  of  highways;  Willard  Brown  and  Ben- 
jamin Stewart,  justices  of  the  peace;  David  Cosatt,  constable;  Augus- 
tine Clapp,  assessor;  J.  C.  Rutledge,  collector;  and  Peter  Starr,  over- 
seer of  the  poor.  At  this  meeting  two  pounds  were  established  ;  one, 
known  as  the  East  pound,  was  located  at  Peter  Voorhees',  and  the 
other,  described  as  the  West  pound,  at  David  Cosatt's.  It  was  voted 
to  hold  the  next  annual  town  meeting  at  the  Nauvoo  school-house. 
Elections  were  held  at  this  place  till  1857.    No  minutes  of  this  meeting 


944  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

were  recorded.  Those  of  the  previous  one  show  no  action  on  the  ques- 
tion of  removal ;  and  as  it  appears  by  the  record  that  the  annual  meet- 
ing of  1858  was  held  at  the  Cunningham  school-house,  we  infer  that 
the  change  of  polling-place  was  voted  at  the  spring  election  of  1857. 
The  value  of  the  town  records  is  greatly  affected  by  the  numerous 
hiatuses  which  occur,  one  of  which,  in  the  very  important  period  of 
the  war,  covers  a  space  of  four  years.  The  annual  meetings  have 
since  been  held  at  the  Cunningham  school-house,  but  at  the  last  elec- 
tion (April,  1879)  the  polling-place  was  transferred  to  the  Le  Neve 
school-house,  where,  for  the  first  time,  an  election  will  be  held  in  the 
fall  of  the  current  year.  Stock  has  always  been  permitted  to  run  at 
large.  The  town  has  uniformly  been  democratic,  and  may  boast  with 
no  unseemly  pride  that  it  is  free  from  debt. 

In  1856  Fremont  (now  Blount)  township  was  created  from  Newell 
and  Pilot  townships.  In  the  formation  of  this  new  town  Newell  lost 
about  one  third  of  its  area. 

WAR    HISTORY. 

The  defective  town  records  oblige  us  to  resort  to  verbal  information 
for  much  material  which  otherwise  would  be  documentarv  and  far 
more  complete  and  reliable.  This  recourse  is  especially  enforced  in  an 
account  of  the  raising  of  funds  to  hire  substitutes  in  the  time  of  the 
war.  Whatever  errors  or  omissions  occur  in  this  relation  should  be 
attributed  to  the  natural  weakness  and  failure  of  the  memory  —  no 
more  in  those  who  have  supplied  these  scanty  materials  than  in  the 
great  mass  of  men.  Sometime  in  the  summer  or  fall  of  1864  a  requi- 
sition was  made  on  Newell  township  for  twenty-eight  able-bodied  men 
for  the  military  service.  Several  public  meetings  were  convened  at 
the  regular  polling-place  at  the  Cunningham  school-house.  At  the 
first  of  these,  committees  were  appointed  to  obtain  subscriptions  to  a 
fund  for  hiring  substitutes  and  filling  the  quota  of  the  town.  Fourteen 
thousand  dollars  were  subscribed  in  sums  varying  from  ten  dollars  to 
two  hundred  dollars.  Andrew  Gundy  and  Harry  Ross  were  deputed 
to  go  to  Cairo,  Illinois,  to  contract  the  required  number  of  men.  This 
duty  the}'  performed  with  entire  success  and  satisfaction.  Early  in  the 
succeeding  winter  a  demand  for  twenty-eight  men  was  again  made  on 
the  township.  An  election  was  ordered  to  ascertain  the  will  of  the 
people  in  regard  to  issuing  bonds  for  another  quota  of  money  to  avert 
a  draft.  Authority  was  given  by  a  large  majority  to  issue  fourteen 
thousand  dollars  of  bonds.  This  measure  met  with  some  opposition 
from  the  wealthier  men  of  the  town,  and  it  was  sought  to  defeat  it  by 
stratagem  after  it  had  been  decisively  carried.     The  town-clerk  was 


NEWELL   TOWNSHIP.  945 

secured  by  this  faction  to  act  in  their  interest.  He  was  to  postpone  his 
signing  of  the  bonds  until  the  latest  moment,  when  he  was  to  resign 
his  office,  and  so  leave  no  competent  authority  to  complete  the  transac- 
tion. The  party  favoring  the  issue  of  the  bonds  got  notice  of  this 
snare  in  time  to  have  a  qualified  person  on  the  ground  to  be  imme- 
diately appointed  by  the  town  board.  The  arrangement  was  fully  car- 
ried out  on  both  sides,  and  the  bonds  were  issued  in  pursuance  of  the 
authority  granted  by  the  people.  The  face  of  the  bonds  was  twenty- 
five  dollars  and  fifty  dollars,  with  ten  per  centum  annual  interest. 
They  were  offered  for  sale  on  the  fair,  grounds  at  Danville,  and  were 
disposed  of  at  par.  Solomon  Starr  bought  the  first  one,  and  Joseph 
W.  Osborne  the  largest  amount,  one  thousand  dollars.  When  put  up 
for  sale,  announcement  was  made  that  they  should  be  received  for  the 
taxes  of  that  year  —  which  announcement,  of  course,  contained  no  legal 
obligation.  This  promise  was  fairly  observed,  though  it  was  not  strictly 
lawful  for  the  collector  to  receive  bonds  in  payment  of  taxes.  To 
avoid  trouble,  and  to  satisfy  any  scruples  which  might  be  felt,  the 
town-clerk  (we  think  it  must  have  been  the  supervisor)  daily  receipted 
to  the  assessor  in  a  sum  equal  to  the  amount  of  the  bonds  he  had 
taken. 

The  present  town  officers  are:  Andrew  Gundy,  supervisor;  Richard 
M.  Jenkins,  town  clerk;  William  O.  Cunningham,  assessor;  T.  J. 
Scott,  collector;  Joseph  Cunningham,  Martin  Adams,  and  J.  D.  Camp- 
bell, commissioners  of  highways ;  J.  S.  Johnson  and  William  R.  Wil- 
son, justices  of  the  peace;  Stephen  Daniels  and  William  R.  Osborne, 
constables. 

The  Newell  Horse  Company  was  organized  in  1854,  and  held  its 
first  quarterly  meeting  in  October  of  that  year.  It  was  composed  of 
many  of  the  best  citizens  of  Newell  township.  The  earliest  records 
are  not  extant.  The  objects  of  the  association  are  expressed  in  the 
preamble  to  the  constitution  to  be  "  to  shield  us  from  the  depredations 
of  horse-thieves,  counterfeiters  and  swindlers,  and  to  afford  mutual 
assistance  in  reclaiming  stolen  horses  and  in  apprehending  thieves." 
Depredations  had  been  extensively  committed  in  the  township  by 
horse-thieves.  Just  over  in  Indiana  was  a  nest  of  them,  who  combined 
counterfeiting  with  their  other  crimes.  John  Deck,  sr.,  Geo.  Luckey, 
and  one  or  two  others  who  had  been  sufferers  by  their  operations,  after 
vainly  urging  upon  the  citizens  the  organizing  of  some  means  of  pro- 
tection, entered  into  a  compact,  pledging  themselves  to  assist  and  pro- 
tect one  another.  Soon  others  were  attracted  to  the  company,  and 
when  the  number  had  increased  to  twenty-five,  they  effected  a  perma- 
nent organization,  at  the  Nauvoo  school-house,  by  adopting  a  constitu- 
60 


946  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

tion  and  by-laws,  and  electing  officers.  This  body  steadily  grew  in 
numbers  and  efficiency,  till  it  became  so  formidable  to  the  depredators 
that  it  was  a  standing  menace  to  them,  and  an  invaluable  protection  to 
the  community.  They  captured  counterfeiting  presses,  recovered  stolen 
property,  and  ferreted  out  and  apprehended  horse-thieves  and  counter- 
feiters. They  broke  up  and  dispersed  the  gang  that  had  infested  this 
region  of  country,  and  so  completely  overawed  one  of  the  ring-leaders, 
named  Lane,  that  whenever  applied  to  by  them  he  gave  information 
against  his  fellows,  and  rendered  material  aid  in  bringing  them  to  jus- 
tice. He  afterward  moved  to  another  county,  where  he  and  his  son 
became  so  notorious  in  stealing  and  counterfeiting  that  both  were  killed. 
One  notable  instance  of  summary  execution  occurred  in  the  early  days 
of  this  organization.  A  horse  had  been  stolen  in  the  vicinity.  The 
company  overtook  the  thief  at  Beaver  Lake.  He  was  about  to  escape, 
when  Abiah  Luckey  snatched  a  fowling-piece  from  a  gamester  in  their 
midst,  and,  after  commanding  the  escaping  criminal  to  halt  without 
heed  to  the  summons,  shot  him  dead.  For  several  years  at  first  this 
company  held  meetings  at  the  Nauvoo  school-house,  afterward  at  the 
Rutledge  school-house,  and  still  later  at  the  Smith  school-house.  Like 
most  other  mutual  organizations,  this  has  lapsed  at  times  in  interest 
and  vigilant  operations,  for  want  of  employment.  It  is  a  member  of 
the  Wabash  General  Association  of  Detective  Companies,  which  in- 
cludes forty-eight  similar  bodies. 

STATE    LINE    CITY    AND    ILLIANA. 

The  site  of  State  Line  City  and  Illiana  was  the  western  terminus  of 
the  Toledo  &  Wabash  railroad.  The  Great  Western,  built  and  owned 
by  another  company,  and  a  continuation  of  the  same  route  to  the  south- 
west, about  the  same  time  formed  a  junction  here,  whereupon  the  town 
began  immediate  growth.  State  Line  City  was  laid  out  in  the  spring 
of  1857,  by  Robert  Casement,  and  on  the  suggestion  of  A.  P.  Andrews 
was  christened  by  its  present  name.  Not  long  afterward  that  part  of 
the  town  lying  on  the  Illinois  side  was  laid  out  by  Parker  Dresser  and 
Edward  Martin,  and  designated  Illiana — a  name  formed  from  the  first 
two  syllables  of  Illinois  and  the  last  two  syllables  of  Indiana.  Two 
engine-houses  and  a  passenger  depot  with  a  large  eating-house  attached 
were  at  once  erected  by  the  railroad  companies.  Passengers  changed 
cars,  and  all  local  freight  was  trans-shipped  here.  A  large  region,  em- 
bracing the  towns  of  Covington,  Perry sville,  Eugene,  Rossville,  Myers- 
ville  and  Marysville,  shipped  and  received  freight  at  this  point. 
About  forty  railroad  hands  were  kept  employed.  Some  time  during 
that  season  John  Briar  and  A.  P.  Andrews,  under  the  firm  name  of 


NEWELL   TOWNSHIP.  947 

Briar  &  Andrews,  built  a  general  merchandising  establishment.  Will- 
iam Toole  started  a  grocery  and  saloon.  In  the  fall  Robert  Casement 
erected  two  large  buildings  north  of  the  track,  for  a  grain  elevator. 
The  next  year  Perrin  Kent  and  his  son  William,  and  Col.  E.  F.  Lucas, 
under  the  firm  name  of  Kent  &  Co.,  built,  on  the  same  plan,  another 
elevator.  Harvey  Barkley  opened  a  dry-goods  store,  and  Boyd  &  Part- 
low  a  druo'  store.  Dr.  Porter  came  in  the  fall.  Robert  Craig:  and 
John  Ludlow  set  up  in  the  blacksmith  business.  By  this  time  a  con- 
siderable number  of  shanties  had  been  put  up  by  railroad  employes, 
and  also  a  few  good  dwellings  by  other  persons.  In  the  fall  of  this 
year  Prof.  Elbridge  Marshall,  with  a  view  of  establishing  a  manual 
labor  school,  solicited  subscriptions  to  that  object,  and  issued  stock 
certificates  entitling  the  holders  to  tuition  for  the  amounts  subscribed. 
He  purchased  ten  acres  of  ground  and  erected  a  two-story  brick  build- 
ing, 40x42  feet  in  dimensions,  at  a  cost  of  $4,000.  This  institution 
was  named  Evans  Union  College.  Marshall  was  a  thorough  instructor, 
and  under  his  able  management  the  school  gained  a  pleasing  efficiency. 
In  1864  his  connection  with  it  ended,  and  John  H.  Braiden  became 
the  controlling  spirit  in  its  affairs.  Prof.  Aaron  D.  Goodwin  succeeded 
as  principal.  These  changes  became  the  fruitful  source  of  sectarian 
dissension,  and  the  prosperity  of  the  school  rapidly  diminished.  Two 
or  three  years  afterward  the  trustees  of  Kent  township  purchased  the 
house  for  $2,700.     It  is  now  used  for  the  public  school. 

In  June,  1865,  the  passenger  house  and  railroad  hotel  were  burned. 
The  two  roads  having  been  consolidated,  the  engine-houses  were  re- 
moved to  Danville.  The  town  suffered  from  this  last  event,  and  per- 
haps still  more  from  the  building  of  other  railroads,  which  cut  off  terri- 
tory tributary  to  it,  and  in  consequence  has  undergone  serious  decline. 

The  question  of  incorporation  having  been  presented  to  the  people, 
the  issue  was  decided  affirmatively  at  an  election  held  for  that  purpose 
on  the  26th  of  April,  1873.  An  election  for  trustees  was  held  in  June. 
The  board  consists  of  five  members.  State  Line  City  contains  a  popu- 
lation of  about  three  hundred  ;  has  eight  business  houses,  one  large 
three-story  flouring-mill,  three  churches  and  two  secret  societies. 

The  Methodist  society  was  organized  in  1857.  About  1865  they 
erected  a  substantial  and  imposing  meeting-house,  whose  dimensions 
are  35x55  feet.  Samuel  Beck  was  the  preacher  in  charge  at  that  time. 
A  Sunday-school  is  maintained  throughout  the  year,  with  an  average 
attendance  of  twenty-five.  The  Rev.  Jonathan  B.  Coombs  was  the 
pastor  during  the  conference  year  just  closed. 

The  edifice  in  which  the  Presbyterians  worship  is  32x48  feet. 
The  Rev.  Edmund  Post  is  the  shepherd  of  this  flock.     The  history  of 


948  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

this  society  we  have  been  unable  to  obtain,  after  using  "  due  diligence  " 
to  that  end. 

In  the  summer  of  1864  the  Rev.  Jacob  Wright  came  to  State  Line 
City,  and  began  holding  meetings  in  the  seminary.  A  society  of  the 
Christian  denomination  was  soon  organized,  when  the  one  at  the  Wal- 
nut Corners  united  with  them.  In  1867  they  began  and  enclosed  a 
brick  church,  36  feet  wide  by  54  feet  long,  and  18  feet  high  from  floor 
to  ceiling,  and  in  the  following  year  completed  it.  The  building  cost 
$3,000.  Asa  Duncan,  George  A.  Miller,  John  H.  Braiden,  James  H. 
Simpson  and  James  Hoover  were  elected  trustees.  The  first  two  are 
dead,  and  the  vacancies  have  not  been  filled.  Not  long  after  the  erec- 
tion of  this  church  the  society  at  the  Kiser  School-house  transferred 
their  membership  to  this  place.  Both  the  church  and  the  Sunday- 
school  have  been  animated  by  little  interest  for  some  time  past,  but 
members  express  a  hopeful  belief  that  there  will  be  an  early  reawaken- 
ing.    At  present  no  regular  preacher  is  employed. 

Mound  Lodge,  No.  274,  A.F.  &  A.M.,  received  a  dispensation  from 
the  Grand  Lodge  of  Indiana,  on  the  19th  of  December,  1860,  and  a 
charter  on  the  29th  of  May,  1861.  The  first  officers  under  the  charter 
were  Walker  Hurd,  W.M. ;  William  Jones,  S.W. ;  William  Dixon, 
J.W.  In  May,  1865,  this  Lodge  purchased  the  hall  in  the  railroad 
hotel,  which  was  consumed  the  succeeding  month.  The  same  year,  in 
conjunction  with  R.  Munnell,  they  erected  a  building  22  feet  wide  by 
50  feet  long,  of  which  he  owned  the  lower  half,  and  they  the  hall 
above.  The  cost  of  the  latter  was  $850.  They  own,  besides,  an  undi- 
vided half  of  the  building  lot.  Munnell's  part  of  the  property  is  now 
owned  by  James  Cunningham.  The  new  hall  was  dedicated  on  the 
21st  of  December,  1865.  The  present  officers  are :  E.  R.  Burch,  W.M.; 
Amos  Brooks,  S.W.;  Lester  Leonard,  J.W.;  C.  H.  Campbell,  Treas.; 
B.  F.  Marple,  Sec;  A.  M.  Porter,  S.D.;  Martin  Current,  J.D.;  John 
P.  Lucas  and  John  D.  Campbell,  Stewards,  and  William  Barger,  Tyler. 
The  membership  is  thirty-seven.  The  Lodge  enjoys  a  fair  degree  of 
usefulness.  Its  regular  communications  are  on  the  first  Wednesday  of 
each  month,  before  the  full  moon. 

The  charter  of  Illiana  Lodge,  No.  240, 1.O.O.F.,  was  granted  by  the 
Grand  Lodge  of  Indiana,  on  the  17th  of  May,  1865,  on  the  application 
of  John  Simmons,  Divan  Smawley,  R.  S.  Burke,  Thomas  S.  Jones  and 
John  M.  Knox.  The  Lodge  was  instituted  by  Milton  Herndon,  G.S., 
on  the  13th  of  June,  1865.  The  following  officers  were  elected  and 
installed  at  the  same  time :  John  Simmons,  N.G.;  R.  S.  Burke,  V.G., 
and  J.  M.  Knox,  R.S.  The  present  officers  are  :  Martin  Lindsey,  N.G.; 
John  W.  Clapp,  V.G.;   B.  F.  Bonebrake,  R.S.;   W.  O.  Cunningham, 


NEWELL   TOWNSHIP.  949 

P.S.;  A.  M.  Porter,  T.;  Job  Stevens,  W.;  S.  J.  King,  C;  T.  K.  Wil- 
son, O.S.;  A.  F.  Cunningham,  K.S.N. G.;  Philo  Knapp,  L.S.N.G.; 
Kobert  Hunter,  R.S.G.G.;  P.  Oavanaugh,  K.S.S.;  M.  Cordell,  L.S.S. 
This  Lodge  is  in  a  healthy  condition,  and  numbers  about  forty  mem- 
bers. It  was  first  named  Simmons,  but  was  afterward  changed  to 
Illiana. 

The  Order  of  Patrons  of  Husbandry  was  instituted  to  ameliorate 
the  condition  of  the  agricultural  population  by  fostering  diversion  and 
social  intercourse ;  by  combining  more  calculation  with  muscle  in  the 
operations  of  the  farm ;  by  providing  a  medium  of  popular  education 
on  all  topics  relating  to  their  occupation ;  and  by  avoiding  unnecessary 
middlemen,  bringing  producer  and  consumer  nearer  together,  and  en- 
abling them  to  secure  better  returns  for  their  labor, —  not  by  produc- 
tion alone,  but  also  by  a  check  upon  the  waste  of  profit.  It  compre- 
hends the  highest  and  broadest  culture,  and  the  encouragement  of  every 
useful  industry.  It  may  be  doubted  if  any  institution,  not  professedly 
religious,  devoted  to  more  lofty  and  practicable  ends,  has  ever  been  de- 
vised, or  has  ever  reached  such  a  degree  of  general  favor  among  any 
class  of  people  as  this  did.  The  most  noted  grange  that  existed  in 
Newell  township  was  Star  Grange,  No.  909.  It  was  organized  on  the 
13th  of  January,  1874,  by  John  Abbott,  count}'  deputy,  with  twenty- 
three  charter  members.  The  first  officers  were  George  W.  Smith,  M. ; 
George  W.  Woods,  O.;  George  W.  Cunningham,  L.;  Thomas  J.  Alli- 
son, S.;  James  Starr,  A.S.;  Mary  C.  Woods,  L.A.S.;  John  A.  Wilson, 
C;  Solomon  Starr,  T.;  Zachariah  Starr,  Sec;  George  W.  Allison,  G.K.; 
Cleantha  Starr,  C;  Jeanette  Wilson,  P.,  and  Margaret  E.  Wilson,  F. 
The  growth  of  this  grange  was  prodigious.  At  the  end  of  the  first 
year  the  membership  amounted  to  one  hundred  and  fifteen,  and  at  last 
reached  one  hundred  and  forty-five.  The  present  number  is  seventy- 
six.  Just  now  the  grange  is  in  a  lethargy.  A  revival  of  interest  at 
an  early  day  may  be  justly  and  confidently  expected.  In  1874,  in 
conjunction  with  district  No.  8,  town  21,  this  grange  erected  a 
brick  building,  24  x  36  feet,  the  lower  part  being  used  for  a  school- 
room and  the  upper  part  for  a  grange  hall.  The  members  of  the 
grange  subscribed  and  paid  $750  toward  the  construction  of  this  build- 
ing. At  Stewart's  Grove,  on  the  4th  of  June,  1874,  the  Order  held  a 
picnic  which  was  a  notable  affair.  A  programme  of  uncommon  merit 
was  prepared  for  the  occasion,  and  Col.  E.  M.  Johnson,  and  the  Rev. 
Theodore  L.  Stipp,  delivered  addresses.  Two  tables,  each  ninety  feet 
long,  were  spread  with  provisions  of  such  richness  and  delicacy,  as  quite 
to  surpass  the  powers  of  ordinary  description.  A  year  later  another 
festive  gathering  was  held  at  the  same  place. 


950  HISTOKY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

In  1849  cholera  raged  with  great  mortality  in  many  northern  cities. 
In  July  it  appeared  in  Danville  township  where  its  ravages  were  mostly 
confined.  The  disease  was  at  its  height  in  August,  and  the  last  cases 
occurred  in  September.  The  former  month  was  very  rainy,  and  with 
every  shower  it  seized  other  victims.  Jacob  Herrin's  cooper  shop  was 
taken  for  a  hospital.  The  number  of  deaths  was  thirty-four.  Three 
of  those  who  died  were  inhabitants  of  Newell  township,  namely  :  Joab 
Martin,  Jacob  Olehy  and  his  wife.  The  two  last  volunteered  as 
nurses  and  died  at  the  post  of  duty,  which  discovers  the  noblest 
humanity,  and  compels,  if  we  except  truth  and  honor,  the  highest 
sacrifice. 

A  post-ofiice  was  once  established  at  the  Walnut  Corners,  which  is 
thought  to  have  been  the  first  in  the  township.  Ambrose  P.  Andrews 
was  the  postmaster.  Another,  at  Myers  Mill,  was  probably  opened 
about  1854.  Still  another,  called  "Kentucky,"  was  first  located  oppo- 
site Pleasant  View  church,  and  was  kept  by  Mordecai  Wells,  a  blind 
man,  who  had  a  little  store  at  that  place.  He  held  it  only  a  short  time, 
when  'Squire  Philip  Leonard  became  the  postmaster,  and  retained  the 
office  above  twenty  years.     The  fourth  is  at  Bismark. 

BIOGRAPHICAL. 

William  F.  Adams,  State  Line,  farmer,  was  born  in  Harrison  county, 
Kentucky,  on  the  20th  of  November,  1822,  and  is  the  son  of  Samuel 
and  Nancy  (Martin)  Adams.  His  father  was  born  in  the  same  place 
on  the  27th  of  April,  1800,  of  Nancy  (McCarty)  Adams.  His  grand- 
father, William  Adams,  was  a  native  Virginian.  His  parents  were 
married  on  the  7th  of  February,  1822, —  his  mother  being  the  sister  to 
Joseph  Martin,  one  of  the  earliest  settlers  of  Newell  township,  and  the 
first  carpenter  in  it.  The  family  came  from  Kentucky  in  1825,  and 
Samuel  Adams  located  where  he  now  lives.  His  first  wife  died  on  the 
31st  of  March,  1847,  and  he  married  a  second  time,  on  the  30th  of 
April,  1848,  to  Sarah  Wiles,  relict  of  J.  Pails.  They  have  fourteen 
living  children.  For  a  number  of  years  circuit  preaching  was  held  at 
his  house  regularly  each  month.  Though  he  never  united  with  any 
denomination,  he  has  always  been  a  friend  to  the  cause  of  religion,  and 
a  well-wisher  of  those  who  were  trying  to  live  pious  lives,  and  now  in 
his  eightieth  year  looks  back  on  a  life  of  humble  usefulness,  and  for- 
ward to  a  state  of  reward  for  those  who  have  done  well.  The  subject 
of  this  biography  is  one  of  the  substantial  citizens  of  Newell  township. 
He  was  married  on  the  7th  of  March,  1844,  to  Jerusha  Price,  who  was 
born  on  the  18th  of  February,  1824,  and  died  on  the  17th  of  May, 
1860.      His  second  marriage,  on  the  1st  of  December,  1863,  was  to 


NEWELL   TOWNSHIP.  951 

Josephine  Booe,  who  was  born  on  the  9th  of  July,  1832.  They  have 
live  living  children  :  John  L.,  William  M.,  Samuel  R.,  Eleanor  S.  and 
Elsie  I.  In  politics  Mr.  Adams  is  a  democrat,  and  in  religion  a  Chris- 
tian or  Disciple. 

Andy  Gnndy,  Bismark,  was  born  in  Ross  township,  near  Myers- 
ville,  on  the  20th  of  November,  1828,  and  is  a  son  of  Joseph  and  Sally 
(Davison)  Gundy.  His  father  was  born  in  Pennsylvania  or  Ohio  on 
the  20th  of  August,  1796.  He  lived  a  short  time  in  Indiana,  and  re- 
moved to  Illinois,  and  settled  in  Ross  township,  Vermilion  county,  in 
1828,  where  he  resided  until  his  death.  His  business  was  farming  and 
stock  buying  and  raising.  This  he  carried  on  quite  extensively  for  the 
times.  Between  1852  and  1854  he  owned  an  interest  in  the  principal 
store  in  Myersville.  He  was  an  influential  and  highly  respected  man, 
and  died  on  the  9th  of  July,  1864.  Mrs.  Gundy  died  on  the  24th  of 
April,  1857,  aged  nearly  fifty-four  years.  Andy  began  his  school  life 
under  the  tutorship  of  George  Stipp,  a  pioneer  school  teacher,  in  a 
vacant  private  house  on  the  Luke  Wiles  place,  just  west  of  the  North 
Fork,  at  Myersville,  and  finished  his  education  at  Georgetown,  under 
Prof.  J.  P.  Johnson.  At  the  age  of  twenty-three  he  commenced  busi- 
ness on  his  own  account,  engaging  in  merchandising  in  Myersville. 
He  carried  on  an  extensive  outside  business  in  wool,  grain  and  stock. 
Mr.  Gundy  has  held  various  offices  of  trust  and  responsibility.  He  was 
a  member  of  the  twenty-ninth  general  assembly.  Mr.  Gundy  had  a 
large  private  interest  in  coal  lands,  and  was  recognized  as  a  person 
well  qualified  to  serve  on  the  committee  on  mines  and  mining.  He 
was  a  member  of  the  finance  committee,  and  one  other  not  remem- 
bered. He  is  at  present  serving  his  third  term  as  supervisor  of  Newell 
township.  At  one  time  Mr.  Gundy  owned  about  eighteen  hundred 
acres  of  real  estate,  but  in  the  failure  of  the  banking  firm  of  J.  C. 
Short  &  Co.  he  was  a  loser  to  the  extent  of  $150,000.  He  owns  some 
six  hundred  or  seven  hundred  acres.  He  is  an  original  whig;  on  the 
dissolution  of  that  party  joined  the  republicans,  in  which  he  has  since 
faithfully  served.  Probably  it  was  out  of  respect  for  the  wish  of  St. 
Paul,  that  all  men  were  like  himself,  that  Mr.  Gundy  never  married. 

James  Cunningham,  State  Line  City,  Warren  county,  Indiana,  was 
born  near  Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  5th  of  March,  1810,  and 
is  a  son  of  William  and  Mary  (Humes)  Cunningham.  His  parents 
removed  with  him  at  an  early  age  to  Harrison  county,  Kentucky. 
There  Wm.  Cunningham  and  his  sons,  of  whom  he  had  seven,  cleared 
one-half  of  a  farm  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  acres.  Much  of  the  land 
in  those  parts  was  military  land,  and  the  titles  were  defective.  Mr.  C. 
paid  for  his  land  twice,  when  a  third  man  presented  himself  and  his 


952  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

title  to  the  unimproved  half  (which  was  now  fenced).  Declining  to 
buy  this  claim,  he  shortly  after  sold  the  remainder  and  removed  to 
Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  settling  in  Newell  township  in  the  fall  of 
1829.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  married  on  the  8th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1833,  to  Mary  Andrews.  He  was  bred  to  farming,  and  by  hard 
labor  and  careful  management  acquired  a  good  property.  He  was  a 
member  of  Col.  Moore's  regiment  during  the  Sac  war.  Shortly  after 
his  return  from  this  campaign  he  improved  a  farm,  on  which  he  has 
always  lived  until  within  fourteen  years,  since  which  time  he  has  re- 
sided in  Illiana,  doing  no  business.  His  son  William  occupies  the  old 
homestead.  He  is  the  father  of  four  children :  Hannah  C,  Ambrose 
F.,  William  (3.  and  James  A.  In  politics  he  is  a  republican.  Both 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.  are  Presbyterians. 

Ambrose  Phelps  Andrews,  State  Line  City,  farmer,  was  born  in 
Madison  county,  New  York,  on  the  22d  of  October,  1808.  In  Decem- 
ber, 1818,  his  parents,  Ambrose  and  Hannah  (Phelps)  Andrews  re- 
moved, and  settled  on  the  Scioto  bottom,  in  Pike  county,  Ohio.  Here 
his  father  bought  a  farm,  but,  losing  it  through  a  bad  title,  was  induced 
to  emigrate  to  Illinois.  Accordingly,  in  1829  he  settled  in  Newell 
township.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  removed  hither  with  him  and 
others  who  came  in  company.  He  was  married  on  the  8th  of  April, 
1832,  to  Elizabeth  Newell,  daughter  of  'Squire  James  Newell.  She 
died  on  the  11th  of  May,  1856.  Mr.  Andrews  has  always  been  a 
farmer,  which  vocation  he  has  followed  with  profit  and  success.  For 
some  years  he  was  engaged  in  merchandising  in  State  Line  City.  He 
served  in  the  Blackhawk  war  as  a  member  of  Col.  Moore's  regiment. 
At  one  time  he  owned  three  hundred  and  forty-two  acres,  but  has  sold 
all  but  one  hundred  and  thirty.  He  has  six  living  children :  Amelia 
H.,  Sophia,  Ellen,  Helen  Victoria,  Austin  S.  and  James  O.  He  is  a 
republican  in  politics. 

David  P.  Andrews,  deceased,  was  born  in  Madison  county,  New 
York,  on  the  17th  of  July,  1815,  and  was  a  son  of  Ambrose  and  Han- 
nah (Phelps)  Andrews.  He  was  reared  a  farmer,  and  pursued  that 
calling  during  life.  His  parents  removed  to  Ohio  when  he  was  quite 
young,  and  from  thence  to  Illinois,  settling  in  Newell  township,  near 
Bisraark,  in  1829.  On  the  14th  of  July,  1848,  Mr.  Andrews  was  mar- 
ried to  Rhoda  Zumwalt,  who  was  born  on  the  21st  of  February,  1818. 
He  led  a  successful  life,  and  acquired  the  respect  and  confidence  of 
the  community.  He  died  on  the  17th  of  February,  1879,  leaving  four 
children:  Dewit  C,  born  April  20,  1849;  James  A.,  June  3,  1850; 
Charles  P.,  April  26,  1853,  and  Clara  J.,  June  25,  1858.  He  was  a 
republican  in  politics. 


NEWELL   TOWNSHIP.  958 

Joseph  Cunningham,  State  Line  City,  Indiana,  farmer,  was  horn  in 
Harrison  county,  Kentucky,  on  the  27th  of  February,  1828,  and  is  a 
son  of  William  and  Mary  (Humes)  Cunningham.  His  father  removed 
to  Newell  township  in  November  of  1829.  Mr.  Cunningham  was  mar- 
ried to  Mary  Ann  Swisher  on  the  5th  of  April,  1849.  He  is  always 
found  on  the  side  of  right,  encouraging  justice,  good  morals  and  good 
government.  He  has  filled  the  office  of  commissioner  of  highways  the 
past  six  }Tears.  He  has  six  living  children :  Cleantha,  John  I.,  Nora, 
Eddie,  Ida  M.,  Joseph  S.  He  owns  two  hundred  and  eighty-five  acres 
of  land,  worth  $11,000.  In  politics  he  is  a  democrat,  and  in  religion, 
a  Christian  or  Disciple. 

Philip  Leonard,  Bismark,  farmer,  was  born  in  Harrison  county, 
Kentucky,  on  the  20th  of  December,  1820,  and  is  the  son  of  Valentine 
and  Mary  (Fowler)  Leonard.  His  father  was  a  native  of  North  Caro- 
lina, and  for  several  years  in  his  youth  was  a  captive  among  the 
Indians.  He  died  at  the  extreme  old  age  of  ninety-six  years.  In  the 
fall  of  1830  the  family  settled  in  Newell  township  on  the  tract  of  land 
now  owned  and  occupied  by  William  R.  Campbell,  on  section  3,  T.  20, 
R.  11.  'Squire  Leonard  was  married  on  the  25th  of  March,  1841,  to 
Angelina  E.  Williams.  He  was  postmaster  twenty  years,  and  has  been 
justice  of  the  peace  a  longer  period.  Only  two  appeals  were  ever 
taken  from  judgments  rendered  by  him ;  one  of  these  was  to  gain  time, 
and  in  the  other  case  his  judgment  was  sustained.  He  was  personally 
acquainted  with  Abraham  Lincoln,  and  enjoyed  his  confidence,  and, 
during  the  war,  held  a  civil  appointment  at  his  hands.  He  took  the 
stump  and  did  effective  service  in  enlisting  men  in  Newell  township. 
His  son,  John,  was  a  member  of  Co.  D,  125th  Reg.  111.  Vols.  He  was 
crippled  in  the  army,  and  laid  in  the  rebel  prison  at  Richmond  nine 
months.  Mrs.  Leonard  was  a  daughter  of  John  and  Elizabeth  (Bloom- 
field)  Williams,  and  was  born  in  Worcestershire,  England,  on  the  17th 
of  September,  1825.  She  came  with  her  parents  to  America  in  1831 
or  1833.  Mr.  Leonard  has  eight  living  children.  In  politics  he  is  a 
democrat,  and  in  religion  a  Christian  or  Disciple.  He  owns  two  hun- 
dred acres  of  land,  worth  $8,000. 

Charles  S.  Young,  Bismark,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in 
Woodford  county,  Kentucky,  on  the  16th  of  September,  1809,  and  is  a 
son  of  James  and  Lucinda  (Baldwin)  Young.  When  sixteen  years  old 
he  moved  into  Harrison  county,  Kentucky,  and  on  the  14th  of  Janu- 
ary, 1829,  was  married  to  Elizabeth  Leonard.  He  emigrated  to  Newell 
township,  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  where  he  arrived  on  the  14th  of 
October,  1830,  and  settled  near  the  present  site  of  Pleasant  View 
church.    He  served  as  a  volunteer  in  Col.  Moore's  regiment  during  the 


954  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Blackhawk  war.  In  1843  Mr.  Young  engaged  in  the  stock  business, 
which  from  that  time  forth  grew  into  an  extensive  trade.  Seventeen 
summers  in  succession  he  bought  and  drove  horses  to  market,  in  1846 
extending  his  business  to  include  cattle,  and,  during  the  whole  of  that 
year,  kept  stock  in  Cincinnati  on  sale.  He  was  a  heavy  patron  of  the 
Chicago,  Danville  &  Vincennes  Railroad,  donating  to  the  company  on 
certain  conditions  twenty  acres  of  land  on  which  Bismark  stands,  and 
deeds  to  the  "right  of  way"  for  six  and  a  half  miles  of  track  of  the 
Branch  road  through  Newell  township.  As  agent  of  the  company  he 
superintended  their  improvements  about  Bismark.  He  has  changed 
his  abode  but  once  since  he  came  here.  In  1860  he  bought  and  occu- 
pied the  farm  where  he  now  resides.  He  commenced  in  Newell  town- 
ship with  two  ponies  and  seventy -five  cents  in  cash,  and  is  now  one  of 
the  wealthiest  farmers  in  Vermilion  county,  and  has  made  his  riches 
without  aid  from  anybody.  Mr.  Young  has  some  two  thousand  acres 
of  land  and  twenty-one  tenants.  He  reared  three  sons  and  six  daugh- 
ters. One  of  the  former  served  in  Co.  B,  125th  111.  Vols.,  and  was 
discharged  shortly  before  his  term  of  service  expired,  on  account  of 
disability.  He  since  died.  Mr.  Young  cast  his  first  vote  for  Andrew 
Jackson,  and  has  been  voting  "  Old  Hickory "  principles  ever  since. 
His  wife  died  on  the  21st  of  November,  1871. 

Thomas  Elder,  State  Line,  farmer,  was  born  in  Pike  county,  Ohio, 
on  the  3d  of  March,  1822.  His  parents,  Thomas  and  Rachel  (Boiler) 
Elder,  moved  to  Perrysville,  Vermilion  county,  Indiana,  in  1830; 
thence  in  1838  to  Danville  township.  His  father  was  a  native  of 
North  Carolina,  and  his  mother  of  Virginia.  On  the  11th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1840,  he  was  married  to  Sarah  Brewer,  who  was  born  also  in  Pike 
county,  Ohio,  on  the  12th  of  May,  1824.  In  1828  her  parents  removed 
to  the  neighborhood  of  Lafayette,  Indiana;  thence  to  Newell  town- 
ship, Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  in  1830.  Mr.  Elder  settled  in  Newell 
township  in  1841,  and  in  the  following  year  moved  to  Marion  county, 
Illinois,  returning  from  there  to  Newell  in  the  fall  of  1848.  He  be- 
gan poor ;  split  rails  for  twenty-five  and  thirty-seven  and  a  half  cents 
per  hundred  to  buy  a  few  necessary  articles  for  housekeeping  and  farm- 
ing, but  by  industry  and  frugality  has  acquired  an  honorable  compe- 
tence. Mr.  and  Mrs.  Elder  have  been  members  of  the  M.  E.  church, 
respectively,  since  1843  and  1839.  He  has  held  the  office  of  school 
trustee  in  town  20,  range  10,  for  twenty-two  consecutive  years,  and 
been  steward  in  the  church  twenty-three  years.  He  is  the  father  of 
seven  living  children  :  Richard  M.,  Simeon  A.,  Rachel,  Charles  W., 
John  H.,  George  A.  and  Frank.  He  owns  four  hundred  and  twenty 
acres,  worth  $16,500. 


NEWELL   TOWNSHIP.  955 

Benjamin  Brewer,  Danville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Pike  county,  Ohio, 
on  the  14th  of  June,  1820,  and  is  a  son  of  Richard  and  Christina 
Brewer.  His  father  was  born  in  Ohio  in  1789 ;  was  a  soldier  in  the 
second  war  with  England,  belonging  to  Gen.  Cass'  detachment,  and 
was  surrendered  with  that  body  on  its  return  to  Detroit  after  the  capit- 
ulation of  Gen.  Hull,  on  the  16th  of  August,  1812.  On  his  return 
home  he  immediately  married  Christina  Rodrick.  In  the  fall  of  1830 
he  migrated  to  Yermilion  county,  Illinois,  and  settled  in  Newell  town- 
ship on  the  farm  now  owned  and  occupied  by  the  subject  of  this  sketch. 
The  latter  was  married  on  the  26th  of  April,  1847,  to  Rebecca  Van 
Kirk.  He  has  the  following  children  :  Joseph  W.,  John  R.,  George 
E.,  Anna.  He  owns  four  hundred  acres,  worth  $16,000.  In  politics 
he  is  a  democrat. 

Edward  Rouse,  Danville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Scioto  county,  Ohio, 
on  the  18th  of  March,  1825,  and  is  a  son  of  Reason  and  Martha  (Olehy) 
Rouse.  His  father  dying  when  he  was  five  years  old,  his  mother,  with 
six  small  children,  removed  to  Danville  township  in  the  fall  of  1830. 
In  the  following  March  she  died  and  left  her  family  to  be  cared  for  and 
reared  by  friends.  Five  were  taken  back  to  Ohio,  and  while  on  the 
return  trip  the  oldest  child,  a  girl,  was  stricken  down  and  died  soon 
after  reaching  the  destination.  Two  years  later  the  surviving  members 
returned  to  Danville,  since  which  time  the  subject  of  this  sketch  has 
resided  within  five  miles  of  the  city.  He  was  married  on  the  4th  of 
October,  1846,  to  Minerva  Martin.  He  has  been  school  trustee,  super- 
visor, and  a  prominent  member  of  the  Order  of  Patrons  of  Husbandry. 
He  was  a  director  in  the  Vermilion  County  Association,  having  head- 
quarters at  Danville,  after  the  business  was  put  into  the  hands  of  an 
assignee.  Mr.  Rouse  is  the  father  of  eleven  living  children  :  Martha 
Ann.,  Dennis  H.,  Susan,  John  B.,  Rosan,  Mary  Ann,  Rebecca  Ann, 
Julia  Ann,  Minerva  Ann,  Sarah  Ann,  Edward  Austin.  He  owns  two 
hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land,  worth  $9,000,  and  is  a  democrat  in 
politics. 

Nathan  J.  Norris,  M.D.,  Bismark,  farmer  and  physician,  was  born 
in  Brown  county,  Ohio,  on  the  14th  of  December,  1824,  and  is  a  son 
of  James  and  Elizabeth  (Carter)  Norris.  His  father  was  born  in  Mason 
county,  Kentucky,  August,  1798.  At  the  age  of  nine  years  he  removed 
with  his  parents  to  Ohio.  In  November,  1833,  he  settled  in  Oakwood 
township,  and  in  the  spring  of  1845  moved  into  Newell,  where  he 
died,  on  the  21st  of  September,  1850.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  mar- 
ried Martha  Norris,  on  the  29th  of  January,  1852.  He  removed  to 
Brown  county,  Ohio,  in  1854,  and  engaged  in  the  practice  of  medicine. 
In  February,  1858,  he  graduated  from  the  American  Medical  College, 


956  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Cincinnati.  In  1864  Mr.  Norris  returned  to  Newell  township,  where 
he  has  since  lived,  tilling  the  soil  and  practicing  his  profession.  He 
has  been  supervisor  of  Newell  township  five  terms.  He  owns  one 
hnndred  and  twenty  acres  of  land,  worth  $4,800.  In  politics  lie  is  a 
democrat,  and  in  religion  a  Baptist. 

Austin  S.  Andrews,  State  Line,  farmer,  was  born  in  Newell  town- 
ship, Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  31st  of  December,  1836,  and  is 
a  son  of  Ambrose  P.  and  Elizabeth  (Newell)  Andrews.  He  was  bred 
a  farmer,  and  has  always  followed  that  occupation.  He  enlisted  in  Co. 
C,  Capt.  W.  I.  Allen,  12th  Eeg.  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  Col.  McArthur,  and  mus- 
tered into  United  States  service  on  the  7th  of  September,  1861,  at 
Padncah,  Kentucky.  He  was  orderly  sergeant  of  the  company,  and 
bore  a  share  in  the  battles  of  Fort  Donelson,  Shiloh  and  Corinth  (Oc- 
tober, 1862).  In  the  winter  of  1863-4  he  was  detached  and  put  in 
command  of  twenty-four  mounted  men  to  guard  the  railroad  from 
Pulaski  to  the  Tennessee  River,  and  to  do  general  scouting  duty.  He 
served  throughout  the  Atlanta  campaign,  being  engaged  in  the  two 
great  battles  in  front  of  Atlanta  on  the  22d  and  the  28th  of  July,  1864. 
He  was  mustered  out  on  the  8th  of  September,  1864.  Mr.  Andrews 
was  married  on  the  27th  of  November,  1867,  to  Eliza  J.  Clark.  He 
owns  two  hundred  and  thirty  acres,  worth  $9,000.  He  has  six  living 
children :  Morton  C,  Herbert  S.,  Betty  A.,  John  O.,  Nancy  E.  and 
Eliza  J.     In  politics  he  is  a  republican. 

Ambrose  F.  Cunningham,  State  Line,  farmer,  was  born  in  Newell 
township,  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  2d  of  November,  1836, 
and  is  a  son  of  James  and  Mary  Ann  (Andrews)  Cunningham.  He 
was  married  on  the  17th  of  March,  1859,  to  Mary  Ann  Lockhart.  He 
has  been  assessor  of  Newell  township  two  terms.  Mr.  Cunningham 
has  six  living  children  :  Oscar,  Charley,  Mattie,  Ella,  Morton  and  Rolla. 
He  owns  one  hundred  and  ninety-four  acres,  worth  $6,000.  He  is  a 
republican  in  politics,  and  an  influential  Odd-Fellow. 

William  C.  Saunders,  Danville,  abstract  clerk,  was  born  on  the  28th 
of  May,  1824,  in  the  county  of  Norfolk,  England.  In  1835  he  came 
with  his  parents,  John  and  Maria  (Raynor)  Saunders,  to  America.  A 
residence  of  one  year  was  made  in  Indiana,  when  they  came  to  this 
county  and  located  in  Danville,  his  father  engaging  in  blacksmithing. 
His  mother  died  on  the  26th  of  September,  1842.  Shortly  after  this 
he  became  employed  in  the  county  clerk's  office,  by  Amos  Williams, 
who  at  that  time  held  all  the  important  offices.  In  1844  he  went  to 
Iowa,  and  on  the  28th  of  November,  1848,  Mr.  Saunders  was  married 
to  Ellen  Sleef.  He  was  the  first  mail  messenger  from  Chicago  to  Bur- 
lington on  the  Chicago,  Burlington  &  Quincy  railroad,  which  position 


NEWELL   TOWNSHIP.  957 

he  held  five  years,  when  he  was  transferred  to  the  Burlington  &  Mis- 
souri River  railroad.  In  the  spring  of  1862  he  returned  to  Danville, 
and  since  that  time  has  been  engaged  chiefly  in  the  county  and  circuit 
clerks'  offices. 

Watkin  W.  Williams,  Bismark,  farmer,  was  born  in  Worcestershire, 
England,  on  the  11th  of  August,  1826,  and  is  a  son  of  John  and  Eliza 
(Bloomfield)  Williams.  He  emigrated  with  his  parents  to  America  in 
1831  or  1833;  settled  and  lived  in  Ohio  two  or  three  years,  when  the 
family  removed  to  Illinois,  and  located  at  Sugar  Grove,  Champaign 
county ;  but,  not  liking  the  place,  his  father  traded  his  farm  to  James 
Skinner  for  the  Denmark  mill,  taking  Robert  Wyatt  as  a  partner.  He 
changed  his  residence  several  times  subsequent  to  this ;  at  one  time 
living  three  years  on  the  Kankakee  river.  The  subject  of  this  sketch 
was  married  on  the  11th  of  November,  1854,  to  Marth  Ann  Worley, 
daughter  of  Caleb  Worley,  born  on  the  23d  of  April,  1831.  They  have 
eight  living  children :  Emma  C,  Adelia  C,  William  Sherman,  Eliza- 
beth Ann,  George  Bunyan,  Eliza  C,  Martha  Jane  and  Simon  Peter. 
He  owns  two  hundred  and  ten  acres  of  land,  worth  $6,500.  In  politics 
he  is  a  democrat. 

Francis  M.  Rodrick,  Danville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Newell  town- 
ship, Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  9th  of  July,  1838,  and  is  a  son 
of  Solomon  and  Sarah  (Brewer)  Rodrick.  His  father  was  born  on  the 
Scioto  River,  in  Pike  county,  Ohio,  on  the  15th  of  September,  1803; 
married  three  times,  and  has  six  living  children.  In  the  fall  of  1828 
he  came  to  Illinois,  and  settled  in  the  south  part  of  Newell  township, 
where  he  has  ever  since  resided.  He  speculated  some  in  land,  and 
until  the  building  of  the  T.  W.  &  W.  R.  R.  kept  tavern,  from  which 
he  realized  a  handsome  property.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  mar- 
ried on  the  21st  of  March,  1860,  to  Catharine  Shindler.  They  have 
seven  living  children:  Hester  A.,  Emma  M.,  Solomon,  Peter,  Alvin, 
Sarah,  Simeon.  He  owns  eighty  acres,  valued  at  $3,200.  He  is  a 
democrat  in  politics. 

David  Clapp,  State  Line  City,  farmer,  was  born  in  Orange  county, 
North  Carolina,  on  the  24th  of  November,  1817,  and  is  a  son  of  John 
and  Margaret  (Huffman)  Clapp.  He  came  to  Newell  township  in 
1838 ;  was  employed  during  seven  years,  alternately,  by  'Squire  James 
Newell  and  Asa  Duncan,  and  thus  accumulated  enough  to  buy  the  first 
piece  of  land.  By  successive  additions  he  has  increased  the  quantity 
to  two  hundred  and  fifteen  acres,  valued  at  $8,500.  He  was  married 
on  the  24th  of  February,  1847,  to  Hannah  Blair,  who  died  on  the  11th 
of  September,  1852.  He  married  again  on  the  16th  of  August,  1854, 
to  Mary  Jane  Cunningham,  who  was  born  on  the  25th  of  July,  1834. 


958  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Four  living  children  have  been  born  nnto  them  :  Sarah  Jane,  John 
Wesley,  James  Henry,  Charles  Asbury.  In  politics  he  is  a  democrat, 
and  in  religion  a  Methodist. 

Noah  Young,  Bismark,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in  Newell 
township,  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  20th  of  July,  1838,  on  the 
Hollensworth  farm.  He  is  a  son  of  Charles  S.  and  Elizabeth  (Leon- 
ard) Young,  and  has  always  been  engaged  in  farming  and  the  stock 
business.  Mr.  Young  was  married  on  the  19th  of  February,  1863,  to 
Mary  Cunningham,  who  was  born  on  the  3d  of  August,  1844,  on  the 
Franklin  Adams  farm,  and  was  reared  on  the  Price  or  Martin  Powell 
farm  in  Newell  township.  They  have  six  living  children  :  Halena, 
born  on  the  25th  of  December,  1863 ;  Charles  Scott,  on  the  9th  of 
November,  1865;  Ann  Elizabeth,  on  the  7th  of  October,  1867;  James 
"William,  on  the  17th  of  February,  1875,  Josie  Dean,  on  the  5th  of 
June,  1878,  and  Lillie  May,  on  the  10th  of  April,  1879.  He  owns 
three  hundred  and  seventy  acres,  worth  815,000.  In  politics  he  is  a 
democrat,  and  in  religion  a  New  Light. 

George  W.  Cunningham,  Bismark,  farmer,  was  born  in  Newell 
township,  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  18th  of  May,  1838,  and  is 
a  son  of  John  and  Nancy  (Lindse}7)  Cunningham.  He  was  married  on 
the  17th  of  November,  1859,  to  Holly  A.  Taylor,  who  died  on  the  5th 
of  January,  1874.  He  married  again  on  the  31st  of  Julv,  1874,  to 
(formerly)  Mary  Lang,  relict  of  Jonathan  Lesher.  He  enrolled  in  Co. 
B,  125th  111.  Vols.,  on  the  12th  of  August,  1862,  and  mustered  into 
United  States  service  on  the  3d  of  September  following  at  Danville, 
Illinois;  fought  in  the  battle  of  Perryville,  Kentucky ;  was  detached 
form  his  command  during  the  battle  of  Stone  River,  with  a  squad  of 
train  guards,  and  had  a  sharp  encounter  of  an  hour's  duration  in  repell- 
ing a  cavalry  attack.  He  fought  subsequently  at  Chickamauga,  Mission 
Ridge,  Lookout  Mountain,  Buzzard  Roost,  Rocky  Face  Ridge,  Dallas 
and  Kenesaw  Mountain.  At  the  latter  place  Mr.  Cunningham  lost  his 
right  arm.  He  was  discharged  on  the  10th  of  December,  1864,  at 
Springfield,  Illinois.  He  has  served  as  collector  of  Newell  township 
three  successive  terms.     In  politics  he  is  a  republican. 

William  O.  Cunningham,  State  Line,  Indiana,  farmer,  was  born  in 
Newell  township,  Vermilion  county,  111.,  on  the  15th  of  December,  1838, 
and  is  a  son  of  James  and  Mary  Ann  (Andrews)  Cunningham.  He 
spent  five  years  in  California,  between  1858  and  1863.  He  was  mar- 
ried on  the  22d  of  February,  1865,  to  Matilda  J.  Chandler,  who  was 
born  on  the  27th  of  July,  1848.  He  is  one  of  the  substantial  farmers 
and  respected  citizens,  and  the  present  assessor  of  Newell  township. 
He  has  three  hundred  and  forty-five  acres  of  fine  farming  land,  worth 


NEWELL   TOWNSHIP.  959 

$13,000.  He  has  four  living  children  :  Irvin,  Alice,  James  and  Porter. 
Mrs.  Cunningham's  father  and  mother,  and  a  brother  and  sister,  died 
in  the  same  week  of  milk-sickness. 

Perry  C.  Cosatt,  Danville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Vermilion  county, 
Illinois,  on  the  1st  of  January,  1838,  and  is  a  son  of  Peter  and  Nancy 
(Tooma)  Cosatt.  His  father  was  born  near  Harrodsburg,  Kentucky ; 
was  a  life-long  whig ;  settled  in  Blount  township  in  an  early  day;  died 
in  November,  1859.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  married  on  the 
23d  of  September,  1858,  to  Ellen  Wood,  who  was  born  on  the  3d  of 
January,  1839.  He  was  formerly  a  republican,  but  is  now  neutral  in 
politics.  They  are  the  parents  of  two  children  :  Commodore  P.  and 
Sarah  D.  He  owns  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land,  worth 
$6,500. 

John  Myers,  deceased,  was  born  on  the  28th  of  January,  1808,  near 
Hagerstown,  Maryland,  and  was  reared  there.  The  Myers  family 
moved  to  Dayton,  Ohio,  in  an  early  day.  From  there  two  of  the  sons, 
John  and  Samuel,  removed  to  Indiana,  and  located  near  Lafayette.  In 
1840  they  came  to  Yermilion  county  and  purchased  the  mill-improve- 
ment begun  and  owned  by  Peter  Chrisman,  and  commenced  building 
their  grist-mill.  In  1841  they  brought  their  families  to  Newell.  The 
village  received  its  name  from  these  brothers.  They  ran  their  mill 
about  twenty  years  and  sold  it  to  William  Goodwin.  John  now  began 
farming,  and  for  some  years  the  brothers  were  engaged  together  in  the 
manufacture  of  coffins.  John  Myers  died  on  the  8th  of  January,  1878, 
leaving  two  children  :  Frank  A.  and  Mary  E. 

David  K.  Woodbury,  Danville,  saddler,  was  born  in  South  Dan- 
ville on  the  24th  of  August,  1840,  and  is  a  son  of  Gardner  and  Eliza- 
beth (Songer)  Woodbury.  He  was  married  on  the  18th  of  October, 
1866,  to  Mary  M.  Kerr.  He  has  been  town  clerk  of  Danville  town- 
ship. He  owns  a  country  residence  and  grounds  of  twenty  acres  of 
land  near  the  fair  grounds,  and  on  the  boundary  between  Danville  and 
Newell  ten  acres  lying  in  each  township,  valued  at  $5,000.  He  also 
owns  six  lots  on  Hazel  street,  three  hundred  feet  front,  containing  two 
dwellings,  worth  $5,000.  Mr.  Woodbury  is  a  manufacturer  of  harness 
and  saddles,  and  a  jobber  in  goods  pertaining  to  that  business.  He 
is  the  father  of  one  child,  named  Winstead.  In  politics  he  is  a  repub- 
lican. 

Samuel  Duncan,  Danville,  farmer  and  stock-dealer,  was  born  in 
Newell  township,  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  23d  of  November, 
1840,  and  is  a  son  of  Darius  and  Margaret  Duncan.  His  mother  was 
a  daughter  of  'Squire  James  Newell,  from  whom  Newell  township 
derived  its  name.     Mr.  Duncan  has  been  both  assessor  and  collector  of 


960  HISTOKY    OF   VEKMILION    COUNTY. 

his  town.  He  was  married  on  the  23d  of  September,  1869,  to  El- 
dora  McDoel.  Mr.  Duncan's  principal  business  has  been  dealing  in 
stock.     He  has  one  child  :  Henry  McDoel  Duncan. 

John  N.  Le  Neve,  State  Line  City,  Indiana,  farmer,  was  born  in 
Newell  township,  Yermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  7th  of  October, 

1841.  He  is  a  son  of  Obadiah  and  Polly  (Lemons)  Le  Neve.  He 
traveled  in  the  south  during  the  war;  was  a  clerk  in  the  sutler  estab- 
lishment of  Charles  Pratt  in  Nashville,  Tennessee,  in  the  summer  of 
1864.  Previous  to  this  employment  Mr.  Le  Neve  was  a  clerk  in  a 
dry-goods  store  in  Vincennes,  Indiana,  six  years.  In  politics  he  is  a 
republican. 

John  Watson,  jr.,  Danville,  farmer,  was  born  on  the  3d  of  April, 

1842,  in  Newell  township,  Vermilion  county,  Illinois.  He  was  mar- 
ried on  the  22d  of  September,  1859,  to  Amy  Rabourn.  He  is  the  son 
of  John  R.  and  Susanna  (Martin)  Watson.  He  is  the  father  of  eight 
children :  Eliza  A.,  Susanna,  Ida,  Minerva  J.,  Ada,  Eben,  Walter  L, 
and  Thomas.  Mr.  Watson  owns  one  hundred  and  seventy  acres  of 
land,  valued  at  $5,000.  In  politics  he  is  a  democrat,  and  in  religion  a 
Baptist. 

Francis  M.  Gundy,  Bismark,  merchant,  was  born  in  Ross  township, 
Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  17th  of  May,  1843,  and  is  a  son  of 
Joseph  and  Sarah  (Davison)  Gundy.  He  was  married  on  the  15th  of 
October,  1875,  to  Mary  E.  Smith,  who  was  born  in  Attica,  Indiana,  on 
the  30th  of  September,  1854.  Mr.  Gundy  has  been  engaged  several 
years  in  selling  goods,  at  Marshfield,  Indiana,  and  at  Myersville, 
Illinois.  He  is  now  keeping  a  general  store  at  Bismark,  in  company 
with  A.  M.  Bushnell.  He  owns  an  undivided  half  of  eight  hundred 
and  sixty  acres,  worth  $30,000.  Mr.  Gundy  is  the  father  of  one  child, 
Clara  G.,  born  on  the  19th  of  September,  1878. 

Obadiah  Phillips,  Bismark,  farmer,  was  born  in  Newell  township, 
Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  22d  of  October,  1844,  and  is  a  son 
of  William  and  Julia  Ann  (Luckey)  Phillips.  He  enlisted  in  Co.  B, 
25th  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  on  the  4th  of  August,  1862,  and  was  in  the  battles 
of  Perryville,  Stone  River,  Chickamauga,  Kenesaw  Mountain,  and 
Peach  Tree  Creek.  The  25th  was  mustered  out  on  the  4th  of  August, 
1864,  and  his  time  not  having  expired,  he,  with  others,  was  sent  to  the 
headquarters  of  the  fourth  corps,  where  he  remained,  doing  duty,  the 
rest  of  his  term.  He  was  present  at  the  battles  of  Franklin  and  Nash- 
ville, and  was  mustered  out  on  the  9th  of  June,  1865.  Mr.  Phillips 
was  married  on  the  25th  of  January,  1866,  to  Martha  E.  Kidwell. 
They  have  six  living  children:  Nellie,  Emma,  Willie,  Josie,  Ross,  and 
Morton. 


NEWELL   TOWNSHIP.  961 

Martin  J.  Barger,  Bismark,  farmer,  was  born  in  Newell  township, 
Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  11th  of  February,  1845,  and  is  a  son 
of  William  J.  and  Elizabeth  (Rudy)  Barger.  His  father  died  when  he 
was  quite  young,  and  his  mother  marrying  again,  he  left  home  and 
apprenticed  himself  to  the  shoemaker's  trade,  which  he  learned.  The 
subject  of  this  sketch  displayed  a  truly  heroic  spirit  in  his  persistent 
effort  to  become  enrolled  with  the  Union  defenders.  At  the  beginning 
of  the  war  young  Barger  endeavored  to  get  into  the  army  while  he  was 
yet  but  sixteen  years  of  age.  He  was  very  small  and  delicate,  and  had 
a  girlish  appearance.  At  that  time  the  physique  of  the  volunteer  was 
closely  scrutinized,  as  the  supply  of  men  was  greater  than  the  demand. 
Co.  B  of  the  25th  Reg.  111.  Vols,  was  organizing  at  Danville,  and  he 
presented  himself  to  Capt.  Thomas  McKibben,  who  was  recruiting  it. 
The  Captain  "laughed  him  to  scorn,"  and  told  him  that  they  did  not 
want  boys,  but  men  to  fight,  at  the  same  time  pointing  to  some  stal- 
wart specimens  standing  by.  After  this  rebuff,  he  repressed  his  mili- 
tary ardor  until  the  early  spring  of  1862,  when  some  of  the  Davison 
and  Myers  boys,  of  the  25th,  were  home  on  furlough.  He  now  deter- 
mined on  making  another  trial,  in  spite  of  the  ridicule  which  beset 
him,  from  all  who  became  acquainted  with  his  intention.  When  his 
friends  returned  he  started  with  them,  and  on  reaching  Danville 
applied  to  be  mustered  into  the  service,  in  the  hope  of  saving  trans- 
portation expenses.  Failing  in  this,  he  went  on  to  Springfield,  but 
was  rejected  there.  Proceeding  thence  to  St.  Louis  with  his  compan- 
ions, he  was  also  rejected  there.  He  then  went  to  Rolla,  and  fared 
likewise  there.  This  point  was  the  end  of  railroad  travel.  A  squad 
of  convalescents  was  forming  here  to  move  forward  to  join  their  com- 
mands, and  our  hero  stated  his  case  to  the  commanding  officer,  and 
requested  permission  to  join  them  and  to  be  furnished  rations.  When 
they  reached  Springfield,  Missouri,  he  renewed  the  effort,  with  the 
same  disheartening  result.  He  continued  on  with  the  squad  to  For- 
sythe,  Missouri,  where  he  joined  the  25th  111.  Reg.  He  was  dressed 
in  civilian  clothing,  and  before  he  found  the  command,  was  arrested 
and  taken  before  Siegel's  provost  marshal,  but,  on  explaining  himself, 
was  released.  Making  application  at  once  to  Capt.  Wall,  of  Co.  B,  he 
was  told  that  it  was  no  use,  he  would  die  in  a  few  days.  Foiled  again, 
and  at  the  last  resort  of  appeal,  he  did  not  know  what  to  do,  but 
finally  decided  to  follow  the  army  and  be  a  soldier,  if  for  nothing  else 
than  to  triumph  over  all  opposers  and  opposing  circumstances.  He 
was  furnished  arms  and  equipments,  and  an  outfit  of  clothing.  In 
about  a  week  the  army  was  in  motion  for  Batesville,  Arkansas.  The 
first  day  he  kept  up,  the  second  day  did  not  get  into  camp  with  his 
61 


962  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION"   COUNTY. 

command,  the  third  day  did  not  arrive  until  late  at  night,  and  the 
fourth  day  entirely  lost  sight  of  the  army.  He  had  some  money,  and 
bought  his  meals  along  the  route,  camping  out  at  night.  He  moved 
forward  every  day,  way-worn  and  weary,  almost  fainting  from  fatigue. 
When  he  came  into  camp  at  Batesville  about  an  hour  after  the  com- 
mand had  arrived, — not  having  been  seen  for  nearly  a  week,  and  sup- 
posed to  be  either  captured  or  dead — the  cheers  of  the  boys  arose  to 
greet  him,  and  signalize  his  triumph.  Henceforward  he  kept  abreast  of 
the  best  among  them.  From  thence  the  army  moved  to  Cape  Girardeau, 
where,  after  a  time,  it  was  paid  off.  The  captain  asked  him  if  he 
wanted  pay.  "If  you  think  I  will  make  a  soldier,"  was  the  answer. 
"  O,  you'll  do!"  replied  the  captain,  with  an  air  of  confidence  and 
satisfaction.  Having  signed  the  pay-roll,  he  was  legally  a  soldier;  his 
hopes  were  realized  and  his  triumph  complete.  Old  soldiers  know  the 
meaning  of  "sand"  and  "grit,"  but  few  have  seen  a  better  exhibition 
of  it.  He  was  in  Mississippi  in  the  summer  of  1862,  and  marched  to 
Louisville  under  Buell,  and  was  present  at  the  battle  of  Perryville,  but 
not  engaged.  He  was  in  the  battles  of  Stone  River  and  Chickamauga  ; 
wounded  and  taken  prisoner  at  the  latter  place,  and  held  about  ten 
days,  when  he  was  released  on  parole.  He  was  not  exchanged  until 
the  next  summer,  while  on  the  Atlanta  campaign.  Mr.  Barger  re- 
mained with  his  regiment  until  exchanged,  but  not  doing  dutv.  He 
fought  his  last  battle  at  Jonesborough ;  was  present  at  the  subsequent 
battles  of  Columbia  and  Nashville.  The  term  of  service  of  his  regi- 
ment having  expired,  the  recruits  served  out  the  rest  of  their  time  at 
Gen.  Stanley's  headquarters.  He  was  discharged  in  March,  1865.  His 
wound  incapacitates  him  for  hard  labor,  and  he  draws  a  pension.  He 
was  married  on  the  19th  of  April,  1868,  to  Mary  A.  Steward,  who  died 
on  the  16th  of  August,  1870.  He  was  married  again  on  the  25th  of 
September,  1873,  to  Margaret  W.  Richie.  They  have  four  living  chil- 
dren: Walter  L.  R.,  Anna  M.,  Samuel  B.  and  John  W.  Mr.  Barger 
is  a  republican  in  politics,  and  in  religion  a  Methodist. 

Thomas  Watson,  Bismark,  farmer,  was  born  in  Newell  township, 
Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  18th  of  February,  1846,  and  is  a  son 
of  John  R.  and  Susannah  (Martin)  Watson.  He  was  married  on  the 
21st  of  September,  1865,  to  Sarah,  daughter  of  Samuel  Adams,  born 
on  the  1st  of  Januar}T,  1846.  He  lived  in  Danville  during  the  years 
1873—4,  engaged  in  the  saddle  and  harness  trade.  '  In  addition  to  his 
farming  operations  Mr.  Watson  buys  and  feeds  a  good  deal  of  stock,  in 
which  business  he  enjoys  a  rare  degree  of  prosperity  and  success.  He 
is  the  father  of  four  living  children :  Dora  E.,  born  on  the  26th  of 
July,  1866;  Samuel   R.,  February  13,  1868;  Bertha  A.,  March  26, 


NEWELL   TOWNSHIP.  963 

1873;  Earnest  M.,  January  10,  1876.      He  is  an  independent  in  poli- 
tics. 

Corydon  H.  Campbell,  Danville,  former  and  line-stock  breeder,  was 
born  in  Seneca  county,  New  York,  on  the  19th  of  December,  1825, 
and  is  a  son  of  John  and  Elmira  (Hewitt)  Campbell.  The  substantial 
prosperity  which  Mr.  Campbell  has  wrought  out  for  himself  little 
indicates  his  humble  beginning.  His  early  life  was  spent  in  roving 
more  or  less  in  the  southwest,  and  in  handling  and  driving  stock.  In 
1840  he  went  to  Missouri  and  lived  there  seven  years,  meantime  buy- 
ing and  driving  hogs  to  the  Cherokee  nation,  and  returning  with  cattle 
to  Milwaukee.  He  brought  three  herds  through  from  that  country. 
For  many  years  he  has  been  an  extensive  stock-raiser,  and  has  devoted 
his  attention  largely  to  the  breeding  of  blooded  stock,  of  which  he 
keeps  the  best  strains  in  the  country.  Mr.  Campbell  was  married  on 
the  11th  of  November,  1849,  to  Julia  A.  Howard,  who  died  on  the  1st 
August,  1850.  His  second  marriage,  on  the  22d  of  November,  1852, 
was  to  Mary  W.  Brittingham,  who  died  on  the  13th  of  March,  1869. 
His  third  marriage  was  to  Sarah  E.  Current,  on  the  1st  of  January, 
1870.  He  is  the  father  of  three  living  children:  John  J.,  Joseph  B., 
Benjamin.  He  owns  eight  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land,  worth 
$34,500. 

Peter  Voorhees,  Danville,  farmer,  was  born  on  the  26th  of  June, 
1827,  in  Butler  county,  Ohio,  and  is  a  son  of  Stephen  and  Rachel 
(Elliott)  Voorhees.  When  he  was  two  years  old  his  parents  removed 
and  settled  in  Fountain  county,  Indiana.  In  1848  he  came  to  Ver- 
milion county,  Illinois,  locating  in  Newell  township,  where  he  now 
resides.  He  has  been  supervisor  of  Newell  township,  and  held  minor 
offices  of  trust  and  responsibility.  Mr.  Voorhees  is  a  large-hearted, 
public-spirited  man,  who  has  been  abreast  of  the  foremost  in  the  ac- 
tivities of  his  community,  and  who  has  made  his  energy  felt  on  all 
occasions.  He  is  a  brother  of  Hon.  Daniel  W.  Voorhees,  present 
United  States  senator  from  Indiana,  who  has  made^a  national  reputa- 
tion as  a  lawyer  and  statesman.  The  management  of  a  large  farm  has 
chiefly  engrossed  his  attention  during  a  busy  life.  Like  thousands  of 
others,  he  has  not  escaped  the  vicissitudes  of  the  times.  He  was  mar- 
ried on  the  1st  of  April,  1848,  to  Mary  Button.  They  have  five  living 
children :  Rachel  R.,  Julia  E.,  Arthur  E.,  Daniel,  and  Philip  B.  He 
owns  five  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  land,  worth  $27,000. 

Jacob  Robertson,  State  Line,  Indiana,  farmer,  was  born  in  Newell 
township,  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  22d  of  September,  1848, 
and  is  a  son  of  Zachariah  and  Abigal  (Starr)  Robertson.  He  was  mar- 
ried on  the  6th  of  February,  1872,  to  Melissa  Brittingham,  who  was 


964  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

born  on  the  24th  of  November,"  1848.  He  has  one  child,  Hallie  Ger- 
trude. Mr.  Robertson  is  an  independent  in  politics,  and  in  religion  a 
Methodist. 

Theodore  L.  Stipp,  Bismark,  farmer,  school-teacher  and  minister, 
was  born  in  Newell  township,  on  the  24th  of  December,  1848,  and  is 
a  son  of  George  Y.  and  America  A.  (Smith)  Stipp.  He  began  private 
law  studies  in  1868 ;  was  admitted  to  practice  in  the  Circuit  Court  of 
Warren  county,  Indiana,  in  the  April  term  of  1870.  He  attended  a 
course  of  lectures  at  the  University  of  Michigan  in  the  winter  of  1870-1, 
graduating  the  29th  of  March,  1871.  Finding  the  law  not  congenial 
to  his  tastes,  he  abandoned  the  profession  and  became  identified  with 
the  Church  of  Christ,  and  was  ordained  a  minister  on  the  24th  of  Aug- 
ust, 1873.  His  labors  have  since  been  extended  over  a  wide  field,  em- 
bracing Warren,  Fountain  and  Vermilion  counties,  Indiana,  and  Cham- 
paign and  Vermilion  counties,  Illinois.  Mr.  Stipp  has  never  been  a 
political  aspirant  for  office,  but  in  the  campaign  of  1875  was  favorably 
mentioned  as  a  candidate  for  congress  on  the  independent  ticket,  and 
received  the  support  of  the  Vermilion  county  delegation  in  the  Tolono 
convention,  which  nominated  J.  H.  Pickrell.  He  was  married  on  the 
28th  of  March,  1872,  to  Emma  P.  Norris.  They  are  the  parents  of  two 
living  children:  Emma  Belle  and  Theodore  E.  Mr.  Stipp  owns  sixty 
acres  of  land,  worth  $1,800. 

Martin  Powell,  State  Line,  farmer,  was  born  on  the  13th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1811,  in  Llanwenarth  parish,  Monmouthshire,  England,  and  came 
with  his  parents,  Thomas  and  Jane  (Pritchard)  Powell,  to  America  in 
the  spring  of  1823,  and  settled  in  Dearborn  county,  Indiana.  At  the 
age  of  twelve  he  went  to  Baltimore,  Ohio,  where  he  spent  five  years  in 
learning  the  trade  of  cloth-dressing  and  carding,  but  he  has  never  fol- 
lowed the  business.  On  his  return  to  Indiana  he  went  into  the  woods 
and  began  clearing  up  land  and  farming.  On  the  12th  of  April,  1838, 
he  was  married  to  Jeanette  Churchill.  Between  the  years  1835  and 
1845  Mr.  Powell  labored  in  the  capacity  of  pedagogue  in  the  log  school- 
houses  of  Indiana.  At  different  times  in  his  life  he  has  filled  the  sacred 
desk.  His  two  sons,  Thomas  and  John,  served  in  the  army  during  the 
rebellion,  the  former  three  years  in  the  33d  Ind.  Inf.,  and  the  latter 
two  years  in  the  86th.  Mr.  Powell  is  a  highly-respected  and  valued 
citizen,  who  is  always  prominent  in  local  enterprises.  He  has  held 
some  town  offices.  He  owns  six  hundred  and  eighty  acres  of  land, 
worth  §20,500.  He  has  five  living  children  :  William  M.,  Thomas  C, 
Mary  A.,  Alvah  M.  and  Eliza  J. 

James  A.  Andrews,  Bismark,  farmer,  was  born  in  Newell  township, 
Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on   the  3d  of  June,  1850,  and  is  a  son  of 


NEWELL   TOWNSHIP.  965 

David  P.  and  Rhoda  (Zumwalt)  Andrews.  He  was  married  on  the 
2d  of  April,  1878,  to  Annie  Johnson,  who  was  born  on  the  18th  of 
March,  1855.  Mr.  Andrews  has  an  undivided  half  of  two  hundred  and 
thirty  acres  of  choice  prairie  land,  and  an  undivided  fourth  of  forty 
acres  of  timber,  the  whole  valued  at  $4,000.  He  is  a  republican  in 
politics. 

Samuel  Chester,  sr.,  Danville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Ross  (now  Fair- 
field) county,  Ohio,  on  the  9th  of  October,  1810.  His  father,  Thomas 
Chester,  was  a  soldier  in  the  second  war  with  Great  Britain,  and  died 
of  rheumatism  and  congestive  chills  in  the  year  1813.'  Samuel's 
mother,  whose  maiden  name  was  Ruth  Peterson,  was  thus  left  with 
seven  small  and  helpless  children,  and  being  poor,  as  the  majority  of 
the  people  then  were,  Samuel  was  indentured  at  the  age  of  seven  to 
Elias  Florence,  and  served  with  him  till  he  attained  his  majority.  Im- 
mediately on  becoming  of  age  he  was  married  to  Elizabeth  Castel,  on 
the  16th  of  November,  1831.  In  1834  he  commenced  driving  fat  cat- 
tle and  hogs  over  the  Alleghany  mountains  to  New  York,  seven  hun- 
dred miles;  to  Philadelphia,  six  hundred  miles,  and  to  Baltimore,  five 
hundred  miles.  His  droves  ranged  from  one  hundred  to  one  hundred 
and  fifteen  head.  The  round  trip  to  New  York  occupied  eighty-three 
days  ;  to  Philadelphia,  seventy-three  days,  and  to  Baltimore,  fifty  days. 
He  followed  this  business  eleven  summers,  and  while  thus  employed, 
bought  one  hundred  and  five  acres  of  land  in  the  neighborhood  where 
he  had  been  raised,  for  $525.  In  1852  he  sold  it  for  $2,100,  and  moved 
to  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  settling  in  Danville  township,  where  he 
purchased  six  hundred  and  twenty  acres  on  the  Middle  Fork.  This  he 
afterward  sold  for  $8,500.  Leaving  the  farm,  he  lived  in  Danville  six 
years.  In  1862  he  bought  and  moved  on  the  place  where  he  is  now 
residing,  one  and  a  half  miles  north  of  Danville.  Mr.  Chester's  first 
wife  died  in  March,  1858.  On  the  11th  of  June  following  he  was  mar- 
ried to  Elizabeth  Skeels.  She  died  on  the  14th  of  August,  1878.  He 
married  again  on  the  4th  of  November,  1878,  to  Susan  Barker.  Mr. 
Chester  received  but  two  months'  schooling.  He  made  his  start  in  life 
by  investing  in  three  ewes,  the  increase  of  which  amounted,  in  seven 
years,  to  seventy-three  head.  In  politics  Mr.  Chester  is  a  staunch  re- 
publican. He  owns  at  present  two  hundred  and  eighty-seven  acres  of 
land,  valued  at  $12,000. 

Robert  Phillips,  Bismark,  merchant,  was  born  in  Switzerland  coun- 
ty, Indiana,  on  the  22d  of  January,  1835,  and  is  a  son  of  William  and 
Julia  Ann  (Luckey)  Phillips.  He  came  and  settled  with  his  parents 
at  Myersville  in  1844.     He  worked  nine  years  in  the  Myersville  mill. 


966  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

He  was  married  on  the  20th  of  January,  1879,  to  Martha  Gating.  In 
politics  he  is  a  republican. 

Charles  R.  Andrews,  State  Line  City,  Indiana,  farmer,  was  born  in 
Newell  township  on  the  26th  of  April,  1853,  and  is  a  son  of  David  P. 
and  Rhoda  (Zumwalt)  Andrews.  He  has  been  engaged  in  school- 
teaching  since  he  was  twenty  years  of  age.  Mr.  Andrews  graduated 
from  Mayhew's  Commercial  College,  Danville,  in  the  spring  of  1875. 
He  has  traveled  across  the  continent.     In  politics  he  is  a  republican. 

Benjamin  F.  Bonebrake,  State  Line  City,  Warren  county,  Indiana, 
merchant,  was  born  on  the  22d  of  March,  1839,  in  Fountain  county, 
Indiana.  He  is  the  son  of  Jacob  and  Mary  Magdalen  (Null)  Bone- 
brake.  His  father  was  born  on  the  28th  of  February,  1789,  near 
Chambersburg,  Pennsylvania,  and  his  mother  near  Richmond,  Virginia. 
The  family  settled  in  Newell  township  on  the  8th  of  October,  1856; 
the  father  dying  on  his  farm  on  the  25th  of  July,  1869,  and  the  mother 
on  the  21st  of  March  of  the  same  year.  Benjamin  enlisted  in  August, 
1862,  in  Co.  B,  125th  111.  Vols.,  Captain  Robert  Stewart,  and  was 
mustered  into  United  States  service  as  private  on  the  3d  of  September, 
1862.  He  was  promoted  to  sergeant  on  the  3d  of  December,  1862, 
and  to  the  rank  of  orderly-sergeant  on  the  22d  of  February,  1863.  He 
became  sergeant-major  of  the  regiment  on  the  3d  of  September,  1863, 
and  was  in  the  battles  of  Perry  ville,  Chickamauga,  Mission  Ridge,  and 
marched  to  the  relief  of  Knoxville,  Tennessee.  After  that  he  bore  a 
part  in  the  battles  of  Buzzard  Roost,  Resaca,  Dallas  and  Kenesaw 
Mountain.  At  the  last  named  place  he  received  a  severe  wound  in  the 
head,  fracturing  trTe  skull.  He  was  in  the  hospital  at  Nashville  five 
and  one-half  months,  and  rejoined  his  regiment  at  Savannah,  Georgia, 
on  the  14th  of  January,  1865.  On  his  return  a  commission  as  first- 
lieutenant  awaited  him  for  gallant  and  meritorious  conduct  at  Kenesaw 
Mountain,  bearing  date  of  December  5,  1864,  and  giving  him  rank 
from  the  10th  of  December,  1864.  He  commanded  Co.  B  thencefor- 
ward till  the  close  of  the  service,  participating  in  the  final  event  which 
signalized  it,  namely  :  the  grand  review  of  Sherman's  army  on  the 
25th  of  May,  1865,  in  the  capital  of  the  nation.  He  was  mustered  out 
on  the  9th  of  June  ;  paid  off  at  Chicago,  and  disbanded  the  29th.  Mr. 
Bonebrake  was  married  on  the  2d  of  April,  1866,  to  Mary  M.  Lindsey. 
They  have  two  living  children :  Ralph  and  Maud.  Lillie  died  on  the 
5th  of  August,  1875. 

Asa  M.  Bushnell,  Bismark,  merchant,  was  born  in  Cook  county,  Illi- 
nois, on  the  8th  of  December,  1850,  and  is  a  son  of  Henry  and  Lavina 
(Dayton)  Bushnell.  He  removed  with  his  parents  at  the  age  of  five 
years  and  settled  in  Steuben  township,  Warren  county,  Indiana.    Sub- 


NEWELL   TOWNSHIP.  967 

sequently  they  moved  into  Newell  township,  and  after  four  or  five  years 
returned  to  Cook  county,  remaining  there  two  or  three  years,  when 
they  went  to  Iroquois  county  and  spent  a  year,  after  which  they  settled 
in  Rossville.  At  this  place,  in  1873,  Mr.  Bnshnell  embarked  in  mer- 
chandising. He  is  postmaster  at  Biemark,  and  is  keeping  a  general 
store  in  partnership  with  Francis  M.  Gundy.  Mr.  Bushnell  was  mar- 
ried on  the  15th  of  October,  1873,  to  Wilhelmina  Shockley,  who  was 
born  on  the  17th  of  April,  1856.  They  have  three  living  children: 
Clyde,  born  on  the  7th  of  June,  1875;  Mabel,  on  the  30th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1876 ;  Frank,  on  the  23d  of  April,  1878.  In  politics  Mr.  Bnsh- 
nell is  a  republican. 

James  H.  Burgoyne,  Danville,  brickmaker,  was  born  near  Union- 
town,  Muskingum  county,  Ohio,  on  the  15th  of  June,  1834.  When 
ten  years  of  age  his  parents,  James  and  Mary  (Minor)  Burgoyne,  moved 
with  him  to  Wayne  county,  Indiana.  In  1859  he  came  to  Catlin,  Ver- 
milion county,  Illinois,  but  after  a  brief  stay  went  to  Kansas,  where  he 
lived  a  year  or  two  and  then  returned  to  Vermilion  county  on  the  3d 
of  September,  1862.  He  was  enrolled  for  three  }^ears  in  Co.  G,  125th 
111.  Vol.  Inf.,  and  bore  an  honorable  part  in  the  battles  of  Perryville, 
Chicamauga,  Lookout  Mountain,  Mission  Ridge,  Tunnel  Hill,  Rocky 
Face  Ridge,  Kenesaw  Mountain,  Peach  Tree  Creek,  Jonesborough,  and 
in  Sherman's  march  to  the  sea,  and  in  the  later  and  greater  campaign 
through  the  Carolinas,  which  practically  ended  with  the  battle  of 
Bentonsville,  in  which  he  was  engaged.  He  passed  through  Richmond, 
Virginia,  on  the  homeward  march,  and  was  mustered  out  of  the  United 
States'  service  at  Washington  City,  on  the  9th  of  June,  1865,  and  the 
regiment  disbanded  at  Chicago  on  the  2d  day  of  July.  Mr.  Burgoyne 
was  married  on  the  31st  of  December,  1867,  to  Miss  Louie  Butler. 
They  have  three  living  children. 

Joseph  S.  Johnson,  State  Line,  farmer  and  stock-shipper,  was  born 
on  the  16th  of  September,  1827,  in  Hendricks  county,  Indiana,  and  is 
a  son  of  George  and  Polly  (Walter)  Johnson.  He  was  married  on  the 
16th  of  March,  1854,  to  Matilda  M.  Kemper.  He  was  engaged  in 
mercantile  pursuits  from  1848  to  1855.  He  settled  in  Newell  town- 
ship in  1864,  and  has  taught  school  and  music,  and  has  traveled  exten- 
sively in  the  middle  portion  of  the  Union.  In  Indiana  he  was  county 
commissioner,  real  estate  appraiser,  deputy  sheriff  and  notary  public. 
In  Newell  township  he  has  been  assessor  and  collector,  and  at  the 
present  time  is  justice  of  the  peace.  Besides  these,  he  has  held  other 
offices.  He  is  the  father  of  nine  children.  He  owns  eighty-five  acres 
of  land,  and  is  an  independent  in  politics. 

B.  F.  Marple,  State  Line,  merchant,  was  born  on  the  28th  of  Feb- 


968  HISTOEY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

rnary,  1837,  in  Knox  county,  Indiana,  and  is  the  son  of  Jeremiah  and 
Elizabeth  (Boyd)  Marple.  His  father  died  in  October,  1842.  His 
early  life  was  devoted  to  farming.  He  clerked  in  the  railroad  office  at 
State  Line  for  some  time,  but  abandoning  this  employment  he  em- 
barked in  the  drug  trade,  which  he  has  since  continued.  He  has  been 
trustee  of  fechools  in  Kent  township  three  successive  terms.  Mr.  Marple 
was  married  on  the  16th  of  June,  1864,  to  Mary  E.  Duncan.  They 
have  three  living  children  :  Charles,  Grace  and  Stella.  In  politics  Mr. 
Marple  is  a  democrat,  and  in  religion  a  Methodist. 

Wm.  R.  Campbell,  State  Line,  Indiana,  farmer,  was  born  in  Lan- 
caster county,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  23d  of  September,  1823,  and  is  a 
son  of  Obadiah  and  Delilah  (Treen)  Campbell ;  descended  from  revo- 
lutionary stock.  When  he  was  one  year  old  his  parents  removed  to 
Pickaway  county,  Ohio,  thence,  in  1830,  to  Tippecanoe  county,  Indiana, 
and  in  1837  to  Fountain  county,  where  Mr.  Campbell  resided  until 
1866,  when  he  came  to  Newell  township.  He  was  married  on  the  28th 
of  December,  1847,  to  Melinda  A.  Lucas,  who  was  born  on  the  2d  of 
January,  1828.  He  has  been  in  the  mercantile  business  six  years. 
He  served  as  school  trustee  several  years,  and  filled  the  office  of  super- 
visor for  Newell  township  four  terms.  He  has  four  living  children  : 
Maria  E.,  Josephine,  John  F.  and  Charles  A.  He  owns  three  hundred 
and  fifteen  acres  of  land,  worth  $12,500. 

Jonathan  Lesher,  deceased,  was  born  in  Berks  county,  Pennsylvania' 
in  1831.  He  was  married  on  the  1st  of  November,  1855,  to  Mary 
Lang,  in  Fountain  county,  Indiana.  He  was  a  firm  supporter  of  the 
war  for  the  Union,  and  being  examined  was  found  unfit  for  military 
service;  nevertheless  he  afterward  furnished  a  substitute  for  the  army. 
In  1869  he  removed  to  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  and  settled  in  Newell 
township,  where  he  died  on  the  1st  of  November,  1872.  Mr.  Lesher 
united  with  the  Lutheran  church  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  and  continued 
a  consistent  member  throughout  his  life. 

Ezra  Peters,  Bismark,  physician,  surgeon,  oculist  and  aurist,  was 
born  in  Licking  county,  Ohio,  on  the  4th  of  July,  1846,  and  is  a  son 
of  Tunis  and  Mary  (Dicas)  Peters.  He  enlisted  in  Co.  C,  95th  Ohio 
Vol.  Inf.,  on  the  12th  of  August,  1862,  when  but  sixteen  years  of  age. 
He  was  engaged  at  Richmond,  Kentuelcy,  where  he  was  taken  prisoner; 
held  three  days  and  paroled;  took  part  in  the  battle  of  Jackson,  Mis- 
sissippi, on  the  14th  of  May,  1863;  siege  of  Vicksburg;  siege  of  Jack- 
son :  battles  of  Tupelo,  Mississippi,  and  Nashville,  Tennessee  ;  the 
siege  of  Spanish  Fort,  Alabama,  and  was  mustered  out  on  the  14th  of 
August,  1865.  He  began  his  education  at  the  University  of  Michigan, 
where  he  spent  two  years,  taking  two  courses  of  medical  lectures  at 


VANCE   TOWNSHIP.  969 

that  institution.  He  practiced  medicine  tirst  at  Grand  Rapids,  Michi- 
gan ;  then  at  Central  City,  Nebraska,  and  again  at  the  former  city  — 
eight  years  altogether.  He  entered  the  Bennett  Eclectic  College  of 
Medicine  and  Surgery,  graduating  therefrom  on  the  21st  of  February, 
1878,  and  on  the  23d  of  the  same  month  graduated  from  the  Chicago 
College  of  Ophthalmology  and  Otology.  Since  his  recent  settlement 
at  Bismark,  Mr.  Peters  has  successfully  operated  for  cataract  in  a  num- 
ber of  cases,  extracting  the  lens  and  restoring  sight.  He  has  contrib- 
uted one  of  these  cases  to  the  Chicago  Medical  Times.  He  was 
elected  vice-president  of  Illinois  State  Eclectic  Association,  held  at 
Springfield  on  the  4th  and  5th  of  June,  1879,  and  was  delegated  to  the 
national  association,  which  convened  at  Cleveland,  Ohio,  on  the  18th 
of  June,  1879.  He  was  married  on  the  1st  of  September,  1869,  to 
Edith  Conrad. 


VANCE   TOWNSHIP. 

Yance  township,  as  now  bounded,  occupies  a  position  on  the  west- 
ern border  of  the  county,  and  is  in  the  second  tier  of  townships  from 
the  southern  line,  having  Oakwood  on  its  northern  boundary,  Catlin 
on  its  eastern,  Sidell  on  its  southern,  and  Champaign  county  on  its 
western.  The  Salt  Fork  of  the  Vermilion  river  runs  through  its  north- 
ern part  nearly  the  whole  length,  which  is  skirted  by  timber  on  an 
average  of  about  one  mile  on  either  bank.  The  township  is  seven 
miles  long  east  and  west,  and  live  miles  wide,  and  contains  one  section 
less  than  a  full  congressional  township.  The  State  Road  from  Danville 
to  Decatur  runs  through,  keeping  as  nearly  as  possible  about  one  and 
one  half  miles  away  from  the  Salt  Fork  ;  and  the  Wabash  railway  runs 
very  nearly  through  its  center,  having  the  village  of  Fairmount,  a 
neatly  built  and  pleasantly  located  town,  situated  about  one  mile  from 
its  eastern  border.  Abundance  of  building-stone  is  found  along  and  in 
the  bed  of  the  stream,  and  ledges  of  calcareo-silicious  stone  crop  out 
on  the  prairie  near  the  center  of  the  town,  which  is  the  best  known 
material  for  making  roads,  and  makes  an  excellent  quality  of  lime  for 
building  purposes,  and  for  dressing  for  wheat  lands.  This  stone  is 
hard  enough  to  withstand  natural  destruction  from  the  elements,  and 
soft  enough  to  wear  smooth  under  wagon-wheels,  giving  just  the 
quality  suitable  for  McAdam  roads.  It  is  being  sparingly  used  here  as 
yet,  but  in  other  places  in  this  state  where  it  has  been  used  for  years 
its  value  has  been  thoroughly  tested  and  abundantly  proved.  There  is 
a  mine  of  wealth  in  these  ledges  of  stone,  such  as  crop  out  on  the  Big 


970  HISTORY    OF    VERMILIOX    COUXTY. 

Spring  farm  of  J.  0.  Sandusky.  The  ridge,  or  divide,  between  the 
Salt  Fork  and  the  Little  Vermilion  runs  along  the  southern  border  of 
Yance,  and  the  prairie  land  all  sheds  toward  the  north,  being  freely 
supplied  with  streams  and  small  branches,  which  beautifully  water  the 
farms  and  afford  fine  drainage.  The  surface  is  neither  flat  nor  hill}', 
having  sufficient  undulation  to  make  it  capable  of  tillage  all  seasons, 
with  here  and  there  small  mounds  or  easily  rising  hills,  which  add 
variegated  beauty  to  the  scene  no  less  than  real  value  to  its  worth. 
Originally  about  twelve  square  miles  of  its  territory  was  timber  land, 
being  about  one  third  of  its  present  surface.  This  proportion  is  not 
much  varied,  for  few  farms  have  been  made  on  that  portion  which  was 
timber,  although,  of  course,  some  of  it  was  cut  off  by  early  settlers. 
It  is  as  fine  a  tract  of  farming  land  as  can  be  found  in  this  or  an}'  other 
state.  Let  any  one  who  has  an  eye  to  that  which  is  both  beautiful  and 
useful  in  nature  and  in  rural  life  drive  along  the  State  Road  in  May  or 
June  in  the  cool  evening,  and  see,  where  only  a  few  short  years  ago 
all  was  as  nature  had  prepared  it  for  man,  the  wealth  which  has  sprung 
from  well  directed  toil  and  the  frugal  lives  of  those  who  rescued  these 
acres  from  wild  nature,  the  substantial  farm-houses,  with  their  sur- 
roundings of  groves,  orchards,  herds  and  buildings,  well-tilled  land 
and  thrifty  crops,  and  his  doubting  will  be  turned  into  conviction  of 
the  strongest  type.  Here  one  sees  farm-life  arrayed  in  its  goodliest 
adornments.  The  small  farms  that  have  come  down  from  father  to 
son  show  the  qualities  which  time  lends.  The  tiresome  appearance  of 
newness  which  everywhere  in  the  prairie  country  confronts  us  is  want- 
ing.    Everything  which  adds  to  comfort  is  here  found. 

The  earlier  settlements  were  made  along  this  State  Road ;  or,  to 
state  it  more  correctly,  they  were  made  along  the  border  of  the  timber, 
and  the  State  Road  was  made  here  because  of  this  fact.  At  first  the 
road  wound  in  and  out  wherever  clearings  were  made;  and,  through 
the  influence  of  Col.  Vance,  who  was  then  a  member  of  the  legislature, 
the  road  was  straightened  and  adopted  as  a  state  road. 

The  railroad  was  graded  through  this  townjin  1836.  It  was  one  of 
that  network  of  "internal  improvements"  that  the  state  proposed  at 
that  time  to  prosecute  for  the  purpose  of  developing  the  country.  It 
is  looked  upon  now  as  a  wild  and  visionary  scheme.  John  W.  Vance, 
from  whom  this  township  was  named,  aroused  serious  opposition,  and 
destroyed  whatever  prospects  he  may  have  had  for  political  promotion, 
by  opposing  the  railroad  scheme,  or  "ring"  as  it  would  now  be  called. 
His  reasons  for  opposing  it  were,  that  it  was  far  in  advance  of  the 
necessities  of  the  times,  and  must  result  in  failure.  He,  of  course,  did 
not  suppose  that  such  a  revulsion  as  came  in  1837,  was  at  hand ;  but 


VANCE   TOWNSHIP.  971 

his  argument  was  based  upon  sure  and  certain  business  principles.  He 
said,  in  justifying  his  opposition,  that  there  was  not  then,  and  for  years 
could  not  be,  business  to  support  so  many  railroads  as  they  were  pro" 
posing  to  build ;  that  a  single  road  would  carry  all  there  was  to  be  car- 
ried to  market  for  years  to  come.  This  was  undoubtedly  true,  and  yet 
those  whom  he  was  opposing  sought  to  find  in  his  opposition  some 
selfish,  hidden  reason.  He  was  a  statesman,  and  was  about  as  far  in 
advance  of  his  time  as  the  railroads  of  1836  were.  No  better  evidence 
of  his  ability  as  a  legislator  is  wanted  than  his  record  on  this  matter. 
His  brother  was  governor  of  Ohio,  and  it  is  said  b}r  those  who  knew 
them  both,  that  John  was  by  far  the  abler  man  of  the  two.  The  town- 
ship that  received  his  name  embraced  a  portion  of  what  is  now  Oak- 
wood  until  1866,  and  he  resided  in  that  part  of  the  township. 

As  soon  as  the  railroad  was  located,  Ellsworth  &  Co.  entered  all  the 
land  along  its  line,  from  Danville  to  Decatur,  that  had  not  previously 
been  taken,  and  held  it  for  speculation.  Owing  to  the  revulsion  which, 
in  due  course  of  nature's  law,  must,  and  did,  follow  the  flush  times  of 
1836,  the  speculators  did  not  get  an  opportunity  to  sell  their  land  for 
twenty  years.  With  the  actual  building  of  the  Wabash  road  came 
their  opportunity  to  sell  at  from  five  to  eight  dollars  per  acre,  so  that 
their  speculation  was  not  a  magnificent  one  by  any  means,  for  though 
taxation  was  much  lighter  then  than  now,  the  interest  on  their  invest- 
ment, and  taxes  for  twenty  years,  amounted  to  no  inconsiderable  part 
of  the  receipts. 

EARLY    SETTLEMENTS. 

The  first  settler  known  to  make  a  home  within  the  bounds  of  Vance 
was  Thomas  Osborne,  who  made  a  little  cabin  in  section  32,  a  mile  or 
two  northwest  of  Fairmonnt,  in  1825.  He  did  not  do  any  large  amount 
of  clearing  or  farming,  but  spent  his  time  in  fishing  and  hunting,  which 
latter  was  by  far  the  most  profitable  business  of  that  day  and  age.  The 
skins  and  furs  of  a  winter's  crop  were  wTorth  more  than  a  corn  crop. 
Osborne  did  not  stay  here  long  after  the  game  began  to  grow  scarce, 
but  went  on  west.  Mr.  Rowell  and  Mr.  Gazad  had  cabins  near  by, 
and,  as  "  squatters,"  remained  around  here  a  short  time.  In  the  same 
neighborhood  James  Elliot,  James  French  and  Samuel  Beaver  com- 
menced a  year  or  two  later.  They  also  pushed  on  farther  west,  and 
William  Davis  bought  their  claims  when  he  came  here  soon  after. 
Beaver  was  a  tanner,  and  kept  and  worked  a  small  tan-yard,  the  mate- 
rial for  which  business  was  plenty  here  at  that  time.  His  house  stood 
exactly  where  the  Baptist  church  was  built,  —  in  fact,  the  church  was, 
for  some  reason  not  now  known,  built  around  the  house,  which  was 
torn  down  and  carried  out  after  the  church  was  enclosed.     The  church 


972  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

was  built  in  1*35,  and  thirty  years  later  was  to  have  been  moved  to 
Fairmount,  but  was  burned  the  night  before  it  was  to  have  started  on 
its  journey.  Henry  Hunter  took  up  a  claim  in  1828,  on  section  33, 
just  north  of  Fairmount.  He  sold  to  Jennings  in  1833,  and  after  liv- 
ing awhile  here,  died.  His  family  are  gone,  some  still  living  in  Mis- 
souri. Jennings,  a  few  years  after,  sold  and  went  to  the  vicinity  of 
Jacksonville,  where  his  widow  still  resides.  He  was  a  peculiar  man, 
and  difficult  to  get  along  with  ;  was  not,  in  fact,  a  popular  neighbor,  or 
a  very  agreeable  man.  The  Catletts  now  own  the  land.  Win.  Steward 
the  same  year  (1828)  took  up  land  near  by,  and  died  in  1833.  His  was 
the  second  grave  in  the  Dougherty  grave-yard.  He  is  spoken  of  as 
being  a  man  of  excellent  character.  His  land  also  belongs  to  the  Cat- 
lett  farm.  Near  by  were  several  old  cabins  of  those  who  had  been  here 
for  a  short  time.  Thomas  Redmond  and  Joseph  Yount  came  the  same 
year  from  Ohio,  and  took  up  claims  in  section  3,  near  Homer.  They 
remained  here  until  they  died.  Some  members  of  the  Yount  family 
live  on  the  place  yet. 

The  next  year  James  Smith  commenced  a  farm  on  section  2,  near 
by.  He  died  there,  and  his  family  are  all  gone  except  William,  who 
lives  on  a  portion  of  the  land  which  is  in  section  1.  John  Cordts  owns 
and  occupies  the  old  homestead.  A  little  farther  east  W.  H.  Lee  set- 
tled in  1829.  He  died  there,  and  most  of  his  family  are  dead  also. 
Such  as  are  living  are  in  the  neighborhood.  Wm.  Hardin  settled  here 
at  the  same  time.  He  was  a  prosperous  and  influential  man  in  the 
community.  He  died  about  1861.  One  son,  Wm.  M.  Hardin,  lives 
near  by,  and  one  resides  in  Iowa.  These  people,  as  far  as  known,  com- 
prise the  first  settlers,  and  were  all  from  Ohio. 

Wm.  O'Neal  came  here  in  1829,  and  three  years  later  sold  to  Fran- 
cis Dougherty  and  moved  farther  north.  His  place  was  on  section  34, 
just  northeast  of  Fairmount.  W.  Fielder  settled  near  there  the  next 
year,  and  W.  H.  Butler  settled  on  the  same  section.  He  afterward 
went  farther  east,  and  made  his  home  in  Catlin  township.  James 
Buoy  purchased  his  place,  which  is  now  owned  by  James  M.  Dougher- 
ty. Wm.  Reynolds  had  a  claim  just  north  of  these,  in  section  27,  and 
also  went  to  Catlin,  where  he  was  long  an  influential  citizen,  and  a 
prominent  local  preacher  of  the  Methodist  church.  B.  M.  Dougherty 
bought  his  claim.  Mr.  Nicholas  Van  Duzen  also  settled  in  this  section 
in  1832,  and  lived  here  until  1810.  The  same  year  Peter  Frazier  set- 
tled on  section  28,  where  he  still  resides.  He  is  now  more  than  ninety 
years  old,  and  is  nearly  blind.  His  daughter,  Mrs.  Smith,  lives  on  the 
farm,  taking  care  of  her  aged  father  in  his  declining  years.  In  1S31 
Aaron  Dabley  came  to  the  same  section  to  live.     He  sold  to  Henry 


VANCE   TOWNSHIP.  973 

Hunter  and  removed  farther  north  into  Oak  wood  township,  where  he 
died.  His  family  are  nearly  all  dead,  though  some  still  reside  there. 
Harvey  Stearns  took  up  a  claim  on  section  5  in  1832.  His  widow 
lives  on  the  farm  yet,  and  his  sons,  Alvin,  Calvin  and  Alonzo,  live  on 
farms  near  by.  Luther  Stearns  had  a  farm  in  section  1,  west  of  Har- 
vey's. He  went  to  Texas.  His  son  resides  in  Homer.  Geo.  Custar 
bought,  and  Mr.  Saladay  owns,  the  land.  Pretty  much  all  these  set- 
tlements were  on  what  was  the  old  road,  before  it  was  straightened  in 
conformity  to  the  plan  to  make  it  the  State  Road. 

Francis  Dougherty  came  here  from  Brown  county,  Ohio,  in  Septem 
ber,  1832,  with  teams  to  bring  his  family  and  worldly  effects.  His 
family  then  consisted  of  three  daughters  and  one  son,  Samuel.  His 
son  Alexander  came  with  his  family  at  the  same  time,  and  another  son, 
B.  M.,  had  come  a  year  before.  His  son  James  and  family,  and 
daughter,  Mrs.  Ferrior,  and  family,  came  the  next  year.  He  purchased 
land  of  Mr.  O'Neal,  and  afterward  entered  considerable,  amounting  in 
all  to  nine  hundred  acres.  He  was  a  man  of  enlarged  views  and  strict 
business  habits,  industrious  and  frugal.  When  he  came  he  had  means 
enough  to  commence  in  a  new  country  comfortably,  and  his  boys  had 
been  brought  up  to  work.  It  was  not  long  before  they  got  into  easy 
circumstances,  and  were  well  enough  fixed  so  that  the  revulsion  of 
1837,  which  ruined  so  many,  did  not  affect  them  much.  He  died  in 
1860,  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety-one,  leaving  to  his  children  and 
grandchildren — who  still  live  in  the  neighborhood,  and  have  been 
among  the  most  energetic  business  men  —  an  honored  name,  and  the 
memory  of  a  well-spent  life.  Mrs.  Dougherty  died  in  1851.  Alex- 
ander, who  was  then  just  commencing  life,  still  lives  in  Fairmount. 
Though  now  past  his  three-score  and  ten,  and  apparently  feeble  in 
physical  strength,  his  mind  is  as  clear  and  his  recollection  as  accurate 
as  need  be.  The  writer  has  been  placed  under  very  many  obligations 
to  him  for  the  facts  for  this  sketch.  He  was  a  member  of  the  first 
Methodist  class  ever  formed  in  the  township — by  Father  Anderson,  at 
Henry  Hunter's,  in  1833, — and  it  may  be  added  that,  so  far  as  known, 
he  has  never  fallen  from  grace.  It  is  a  real  pleasure  to  spend  an  hour 
or  two  with  such  old  citizens,  whose  minds  are  stored  with  the  pleasant 
reminiscences  of  early  days,  especially  now  that  so  few  are  left  who  do 
really  know  any  thing  which  the  gleaner  for  historical  statistics  needs. 
Dr.  Thomas  Deacon  had  a  residence  in  the  part  of  this  township  which 
lies  north  of  the  Fork,  as  early  as  1830.  He  acquired  considerable 
land,  and  was  a  prosperous  man  and  an  excellent  citizen.  He  has 
recently  died,  leaving  behind  him  an  honored  memory  for  honesty,  in- 
dustry and  thrift.     His  family  still  reside  there. 


974  HISTOKY   OF   VEKMILION    COUNTY. 

That  portion  of  the  township  which  lies  south  of  the  railroad  did 
not  come  into  g-eneral  cultivation  until  about  1855  or  1860.  About 
1850  it  became  known  that  the  railroad  which  had  been  graded  four- 
teen years  before,  would  be  built.  Senator  Douglas  had  secured  an 
assurance  of  the  passage  through  congress  of  the  Illinois  Central  Rail- 
road bill,  and  it  was  readily  seen  that  the  building  of  that  would  force 
the  completion  of  the  lines  already  begun.  This  called  attention  to 
land  lying  within  a  few  miles  of  these  lines,  and  soon  every  acre  of  it 
was  taken  up.  Josiah  Sandusky,  who  lived  at  Catlin,  a  prosperous  and 
driving  man,  took  the  occasion  to  enter  the  land  which  he  had  long 
had  his  eye  upon,  for  his  son  Jacob,  just  south  of  where  Fairmount 
now  is,  and  known  as  the  "Big  Spring"  farm.  The  springs,  bubbling 
up  out  of  the  ledge  of  lime-stone,  way  out  on  the  prairie,  was  so  notice- 
able that  it  had  long  attracted  attention.  Everybody  in  this  part  of 
the  county  knew  the  "big  spring,"  and  everybody  thought  "what  a 
nice  place  that  would  be  for  a  milk-house  if  this  prairie  ever  gets  set- 
tled up,"  and  everybody  thought  they  would  like  to  own  that  farm  some- 
time. What  others  thought,  Josiah  Sandusky,  with  his  eye  as  usual 
on  the  main  chance,  did.  Putting  $450  into  his  pockets,  he  went  to 
Danville  and  entered  nine  "forties"  around  this  famous  spring,  making 
a  square  farm  three-fourths  of  a  mile  each  way,  which  thirty  times  that 
amount  of  money  could  not  buy  to-day.  He  soon  brought  it  into  culti- 
vation, and  put  on  it  the  old  Butler  house,  which  stood  so  long  the  mon- 
ument of  the  pioneer  of  Butler's  Point.  This  was,  aside  from  its  asso- 
ciations, a  famous  house.  The  logs  were  of  black  walnut,  hewn,  and 
so  large  that  they  would  now,  if  sawed  into  inch  boards,  bring  almost 
enough,  at  market  rates,  to  build  a  good-sized  farm  residence.  While 
everything  about  is  good,  the  chief  attraction  is  the  magnificent  spring, 
or  really  a  series  of  springs,  which  furnish  water  enough  for  the  stock, 
and  has  been  utilized  at  the  milk-house,  and  can  be  in  many  other 
ways.  Isaac  made  his  home  at  Catlin,  and  with  his  sons,  a  portion  of 
whom  lived  there,  became  possessed  of  large  landed  property,  buying 
up  all  the  farms  that  were  for  sale  around  the  mound.  They  are  a 
remarkable  family.  In  the  history  of  Vermilion  county  no  family  has 
cut  so  important  a  figure  in  its  business,  social  and  agricultural  con- 
cerns. 

FAIRMOUNT. 

Fairmount  was  platted  and  recorded  December,  1856,  by  Capt. 
Josiah  Hunt.  He  was  chief  engineer  of  the  Great  Western  railroad, 
as  it  was  then  called,  and  bought  this  tract  of  Mr.  Cornelius,  after  he 
knew  there  was  to  be  a  station  here.  The  plat  included  thirty-seven 
blocks,  several  of  which  were  mere  fractions,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the 


VANCE   TOWNSHIP.  975 

streets  were  made  to  run  parallel  with,  and  perpendicular  to,  the  rail- 
road, instead  of  running  with  the  points  of  compass.  The  town  was  first 
called  Salina.  R.  Q.  Cornelius,  Joseph  Reese,  John  Allen,  John  H. 
Folks  platted  additions  at  various  times  since.  The  name  of  the  town 
was  changed  to  Fairmount,  but  on  the  record  it  remains  Salina.  The 
first  building  put  up  on  the  site  of  this  town  was  built  by  Parish  &  Bow- 
man, in  1836.  They  had  a  "job  on  the  railway"  to  do  grading  in  that 
ancient  time,  and  John  Dougherty  relates  that  he  used  to  come  here  to 
sell  potatoes,  onions  and  cabbages  in  their  season,  to  the  railroad  men. 
It  stood  just  east  of  the  hill,  nearly  opposite  the  mill.  The  station- 
house  was  first  put  up  on  Main  street  in  1857,  and  served  all  the  pur- 
poses of  railroad  station,  residence  for  Mr.  Michael  Dunn,  tool-house, 
hotel,  and  in  fact  everything  but  church.  Mr.  Dunn,  who  is  the  pio- 
neer, and  who  still  lives  here  doing  the  railroad  work,  was  by  far  the 
most  important  personage  in  the  business.  He  had  great  difficulty  at 
first  in  getting  a  supply  of  water.  The  building  was  16  x  24,  and  made 
a  very  sightly  appearance  as  it  was  seen  from  a  distance  across  the  prai- 
ries. There  was  not  a  tree  or  a  bush  growing  on  the  present  site  of 
the  village,  and  young  mothers  who  moved  there  to  live  had  to  provide 
themselves  with  switches  for  family  use,  and  bring  them  along  with 
the  household  goods.  Mr.  Dunn  says  that  there  was  the  same  lack  of 
switch  for  railroad  purposes.  The  side-track  was  not  long  enough  to 
sidetrack  a  train  if  trains  happened  to  meet  here.  The  first  residence 
was  built  where  the  residence  of  Mr.  Aams  now  stands. 

John  Allen,  who  owned  a  farm  east  of  town  three  miles,  where 
Thomas  Sandusky  now  lives,  was  employed  by  W.  P.  Chandler  to 
negotiate  the  sale  of  lots  in  the  new  town  for  Capt.  Hunt.  He  sold  a 
good  many  of  the  lots.  J.  W.  Booker,  Andrew  Howden,  Allen,  and 
others,  purchased.  He  built  a  residence  upon  the  site  where  he  now 
lives,  and  bought  several  acres  adjoining.  Win.  Goodwin  built  on 
Main  street,  where  Bradway's  drug  store  now  is.  Mr.  Booker  built  a 
dwelling  east  of  Main  street ;  John  Haney,  a  residence  on  the  corner 
near  the  railroad.  Allen  &  Booker  built  the  store  now  occupied  by 
Gibson,  and  Booker  lived  in  it.  Mr.  Allen  kept  a  boarding-house, 
having  eight  or  ten  boarders.  Allen  &  Booker  put  in  a  general  stock 
of  goods,  very  general,  too,  as  is  remembered,  containing  everything 
from  tin  pans  to  patent  medicines.  After  two  years,  W.  A.  Lowery, 
of  Danville,  purchased  it,  and  put  Charles  Tilton  in  charge  of  it,  a 
youth  of  some  experience  in  mercantile  pursuits,  and  a  keen  taste  for 
the  business,  and  who  is  still  selling  goods  here.  He  ran  it  successfully 
for  nearly  two  years,  when  Caleb  Yredenberg,  an  old  citizen  of  Dan- 
ville, bought  it,  and  came  here  and  sold  goods  for  a  time,  then  removed 


976  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

it  to  Homer.  John  R.  Witherspoon  came  from  Indiana  in  the  spring 
1869,  bringing  a  store  already  framed  with  him,  and  the  carpenters  to 
put  it  up.  He  erected  it  on  the  corner  next  to  Til  ton's  present  store, 
and  stocked  it  with  goods.  He  was  a  successful  and  experienced  busi- 
ness man.  He  died  after  about  ten  years'  business  here.'  His  widow 
and  family  still  reside  here,  engaged  in  the  hotel  business.  John  Corts 
commenced  to  build  the  hotel  in  1860,  when  Mr.  Hall  bought  it  and 
finished  it;  afterward  enlarging  and  materially  improving  it.  He  con- 
tinues to  occupy  it.  Mr.  Witherspoon  occupied  the  house  for  a  resi- 
dence which  Wm.  Woods  resides  in  for  one  year,  after  which  he  lived 
in  the  building  where  Mr.  Stalons  now  is.  This  residence  had  no 
fence  around  it,  and,  during  "fly-time,"  the  cattle  and  sheep  from  a 
thousand  acres  used  to  collect  around  to  find  the  grateful  shade,  and 
pick  up  whatever  they  could  find.  If  Mrs.  W.  left  the  door  open  for 
a  minute,  the  chances  were  that  the  calves  would  make  a  raid  into  her 
pantry,  or  chase  the  frightened  children,  of  whom  she  had  a  goodly 
number,  through  the  house.  Many  a  time  she  longed  to  be  back  among 
the  Hoosiers,  where  at  least  the  cattle  were  compelled  to  recognize  the 
fact  that  white  folks  had  some  rights  which  horned-cattle  were  bound 
to  respect.  For  weeks  at  a  time  she  had  to  throw  out  pickets  of  young 
Witherspoons  and  dogs  to  keep  the  cattle  from  eating  up  her  "starched 
clothes"  out  on  the  line.  A  "  boiled  shirt"  seemed  to  be  the  particular 
delight  of  the  half-grown  calves  which  collected  around  her  castle.  This 
house  has  been  enlarged  and  rebuilt  by  Mr.  Ellis  Adams,  who  still 
owns  it.  John  B.  Turner  built  the  house  on  the  north  side  of  the 
railroad,  where  his  widow  still  lives.  The  house  now  occupied  by 
Lewis  E.  Booker  was  built  by  his  father  as  a  residence  when  he  first 
came  here.  F.  L.  Dougherty  built  the  first  elevator  in  1859,  which 
was  burned  in  1862,  and  he  then  built  the  present  one.  Joseph 
Dougherty's  residence  was  burned  in  1867.  Another  fire,  probably  in 
1866,  burned  the  entire  wooden  row  on  the  east  side  of  Main  street. 
It  burned  Aldridge's  and  Heistenel's  buildings,  New's  drug  store,  and 
some  other  small  buildings. 

A  fellow  by  the  name  of  Crawford  conceived  the  idea  that  here 
■would  be  a  "  right  smart  chance  "  to  sell  whisky,  so  he  supplied  him- 
self with  a  little  stock  of  choice  native  and  foreign  "  forty  rod,"  "  in- 
stant death,"  "linger  long"  and  other  choice  brands.  Messrs.  Allen 
and  Catlett,  thinking  to  convert  the  chap  from  the  evil  of  his  ways, 
made  a  bargain  with  him  to  buy  his  stock,  provided  he  would  discon- 
tinue business  permanently.  Mrs.  Crawford,  however,  when  being  in 
terviewed,  "  separate  and  aside  from  her  husband,"  would  not  consent 
to  the  bargain,  and  Allen  had  to  make  the  best  of  so  one-sided  a  bar- 


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DANVILLE. 


VANCE   TOWNSHIP.  977 

gain,  and  when  he  found  he  could  not  make  a  bargain  with  the  woman 
of  the  house,  crawled  under  the  bed  to  get  the  keg,  while  the  old  lady 
went  for  him  with  the  rolling-pin  "in  a  way  he  despised."  Allen,  who 
was  never  known  to  show  the  white  feather,  retreated  with  the  keg 
through  the  back  window,  while  Catlett  covered  his  retreat  in  a  mas- 
terly manner.  The  Crawfords  were  not  conquered,  however,  and  with 
the  money  the  citizens  had  given  them,  went  to  Danville  and  laid  in  a 
fresh  supply.  This  was  a  little  too  much  for  the  mild  temper  of  John 
Allen,  even.  A  meeting  was  held  in  the  upper  story  of  the  warehouse, 
the  only  public  hall  in  town,  and  the  situation  was  discussed  in  all  its 
bearings.  Seventy  citizens  at  this  council  of  war  decided,  first,  that 
liquor  should  not  be  sold  in  Fairmount ;  and  second,  —  well,  we  will 
see.  The  next  morning  the  committee  called  on  the  Crawfords  and 
made  known  their  first  resolve,  and  gave  them  their  choice,  to  load  it 
into  a  wagon  which  they  had  in  readiness,  and  take  it,  with  the  re- 
mainder of  their  plunder,  out  of  town,  or  be  dealt  with  more  harshly. 
Mrs.  C.  again  armed  herself  with  the  rolling-pin,  but  Crawford  craw- 
fished, and  consented  to  roll  the  stuff  out,  and  when  it  was  loaded,  an 
"  infuriated  citizen  "  mounted  the  wagon  and  cut  every  hoop  off  the 
barrel  in  a  minute.  Since  that  no  attempts  have  been  made  to  run  a 
saloon  in  Fairmount,  —  except  the  proposition  "Uncle  John  Mills" 
made. 

Mr.  John  Dougherty  built  the  grist-mill  in  1868.  It  is  40x50,  sup- 
plied with  three  run  of  stone,  and  does  excellent  work.  It  cost  $15,000, 
and  has  run  now  eleven  years  without  being  shut  a  half  day  from  any 
cause,  Sundays  excepted.  He  built  the  elevator  in  1877,  since  which 
time  he  has  connected  the  grain  trade  with  that  of  milling.  The  mill, 
under  his  management,  has  been  a  great  success. 

Rev.  James  Ashmore,  the  veteran  minister  of  the  Cumberland  Pres- 
byterians, who  now  resides  in  Fairmount,  has  given  an  energetic  life 
to  gospel  work,  most  of  which  has  been  spent  in  this  county.  His 
parents  were  of  Roman  Catholic  birth,  and  when  he  was  a  small  child 
a  priest  of  that  church  offered  to  take  him  to  Rome  and  educate  him 
for  the  priesthood.  His  parents  assented  to  the  plan,  but  when  the 
time  came  for  parting  with  him  they  changed  their  minds  and  decided 
to  keep  him  with  them.  In  1840  he  came  to  Yermilion  county  and 
commenced  his  life's  work.  He  organized  Mt.  Pisgah  church,  in 
Georgetown,  that  year ;  the  Mt.  Vernon  church,  in  Catlin,  the  same 
year ;  the  Liberty  church,  in  Elwood,  in  1843 ;  the  Yankee  Point 
church,  in  Elwood,  in  1853;  the  Miller  church,  in  Carroll,  in  1866; 
and  Olive  Branch  church  the  same  year.  Several  others,  which  are 
now  flourishing  churches  in  this  county,  have  been  largely  the  off- 
62 


978  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

shoots  of  his  early  ministerial  labors  here.  A  more  extended  notice  of 
this  honored  pioneer,  and  his  son,  Henry,  will  be  found  on  a  future 
page. 

Uncle  John  Hoobler,  as  he  is  familiarly  called,  an  honored 
preacher  of  the  United  Brethren  church,  settled  on  the  Wabash  in 
1826.  From  that  time  his  active  life  has  been  given  to  preaching,  and 
to  the  manual  labors  which  a  large  business  calls  for.  He  came  to  live 
in  this  county  in  1846,  and  purchased  the  old  Ross  mill  at  Rossville. 
He  was  presiding  elder  of  his  church  the  first  year,  and  then  located, 
still  continuing  to  preach  as  occasion  called  for.  While  there,  for  five 
years  he  carried  on  the  mill  and  worked  a  farm.  William  Morgan 
stole  all  his  horses  and  took  them  to  La  Salle  county  to  work  a  farm 
with.  After  this  loss  Mr.  Hoobler  again  took  a  circuit,  his  brethren 
in  the  conference  taking  up  a  collection  to  buy  him  a  horse,  which  he 
declined  to  receive.  He  then  went  to  Livingston  county,  where  he 
lived  thirteen  years,  preaching  and  acting  as  presiding  elder  while 
there.  He  came  to  Fairmount  to  live  four  years  ago.  He  has  been 
greatly  prospered  in  worldly  affairs,  as.  well  as  in  the  ministry,  and  has 
made  good  use  of  his  opportunities.  Though  now  past  seventy,  he  is 
a  brave,  hearty,  well-preserved  old  man.  He  has  in  his  possession  now 
a  picture  of  Owen  Lovejoy,  which  that  gentleman  gave  him  in  1860, 
and  which  he  prizes  for  its  associations  beyond  price,  and  which  he  will 
hand  down  to  his  children  as  a  reminder  of  one  of  the  brave  men  of  his 
day  and  generation.  He  has  now  sixt}7  grandchildren,  and  thirty-three 
great-grandchildren,  with  one  precinct  to  hear  from. 

John  P.  Mills  came  from  Kentucky  to  where  his  brother-in-law, 
John  Johns,  was  living,  in  Blount  township,  in  1836.  He  bought  a 
piece  of  land  on  what  was  then  called  the  barrens,  and  proceeded  to 
make  a  farm.  This  land  was  not  in  anv  sense  barren,  but  it  was  desti- 
tute  of  timber.  He  thought  at  that  day  that  he  could  make  a  farm 
easier  on  such  land  than  on  the  prairie — a  very  common  opinion  then. 
He  made  a  farm  there,  and  remained  on  it  fifteen  years,  and  then  went 
to  Bean  Creek,  farther  north,  and  made  a  farm  there,  and  remained 
there  fourteen  years.  He  was  licensed  to  preach  by  Presiding  Elder 
Hooper  Crews,  on  the  15th  of  August,  1840,  and  ordained  a  deacon  by 
Bishop  Hamline,  in  1846.  He  engaged  largely  in  the  work  of  a  local 
preacher,  and  helped  materially  to  build  up  the  church.  He  was  one 
of  the  first  in  the  county  to  espouse  the  abolition  cause,  and  feels  proud 
now  of  telling  that  his  vote  was  one  of  the  eleven  which  were  cast  in 
this  county  in  favor  of  the  clause,  which  was  submitted  separately,  to 
permit  free  persons  of  color  to  come  into  the  state.  He  does  not  know 
who  the  others  were,  but  is  very  sure  Rev.  Enoch  Kingsbury  was  one, 


VANCE   TOWNSHIP.  979 

and  some  members  of  the  Gilbert  family  were  among  the  eleven.  Mr. 
Kingsbury,  though  belonging  to  a  different  denomination,  was  always 
a  warm  personal  friend  of  Mr.  Mills.  His  son  Eli  died  in  the  service 
of  his  country.  While  very  low,  and  apparently  near  his  end,  Mr.  D. 
L.  Moody,  who  was  near  by,  ministering  spiritually  to  the  sick  and 
wounded  on  the  boat,  raised  him  up  in  bed,  and  he  expired  in  his  arms. 
His  wife  died  soon  after  this,  and  a  few  years  since,  he  came  to  Fair- 
mount  to  live,  hoping  to  find  a  healthy  and  pleasant  location.  While 
here  he  solemnized  a  marriage  which  made  the  two  married  couples 
who  were  the  first  ones  married  in  the  county  one,  by  marrying  Mr. 
Douglass  to  Mrs.  Snow.  Mr.  Mills  is  a  jovial  and  pleasant  gentleman, 
rather  fond  of  a  joke  or  a  surprise,  as  the  case  may  be.  When  he  came 
to  Fairmount  to  see  whether  he  would  decide  to  come  here  to  live,  he 
gave  out  that  he  was  looking  out  for  some  good  place  to  start  a  saloon. 
It  is  proper  to  add  that  the  "  sign  "  which  he  carried  would  hardly  in- 
duce strangers  to  doubt  his  sincerity  when  talking  about  the  saloon 
business,  and  he  was  soon  given  to  understand  that  he  would  be  served 
as  Crawford  was  if  he  undertook  that  business  here. 

The  name  of  Cyrus  Douglass  has  often  appeared  in  these  pages. 
At  the  time  of  this  writing  he  still  lives  at  Fairmount,  though  evi- 
dently his  eventful  life  is  near  its  end.  In  Catlin  township  a  correct 
account  is  given  of  his  marriage,  the  facts  of  which  were  furnished  the 
writer  by  a  lady  who  knew  the  circumstances  well.  After  his  marriage, 
fifty-five  years  ago,  he  went  to  Georgetown  township,  and  afterward 
into  Elwood  township,  where  he  spent  his  life  in  farming,  and  in  doing 
whatever  good  he  could  in  his  humble  way. 

Hiram  Hickman  came  from  Brown  county,  Ohio,  to  this  state,  in 
1828.  He  went  to  Old  Town  timber,  in  McLean  county,  and  bought 
a  piece  of  land,  but  returned  to  this  county  the  next  season.  There 
were  no  settlements  between  the  Yermilion  timber  and  the  Kickapoo 
at  that  time.  In  traveling,  he  had  to  go  on  horse-back,  and  was  nearly 
eaten  up  by  the  fierce  prairie-flies  of  that  day.  In  trying  to  make  the 
Georgetown  timber  on  his  way  back,  he  found  the  big  spring  on  Jacob 
Sandusky's  farm,  and  believes  he  is  the  first  white  man  who  ever  tasted 
its  waters;  but  it  did  not  give  him  perpetual  youth  or  great  riches. 
His  father,  who  was  born  in  Tennessee,  crossed  the  Ohio  River  in  1813, 
and  came  here  to  this  county  in  1831.  Hiram  made  his  home  in 
Georgetown  in  1835,  and  in  1837  commenced  keeping  tavern  there. 
He  was  early  drawn  into  political  life,  being  a  strong  democrat  politi- 
cally. He  was  the  candidate  of  that  party  in  1844,  for  sheriff,  and 
thinks  he  was  elected ;  though  in  the  contest  with  Capt.  Frazier  he 
resigned,  to  get  a  better  hold,  but  he  did  not  get  it.     Again,  in  1846, 


980  HISTORY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

he  was  elected,  and  did  not  resign ;  he  was  elected  again  in  1848.  The 
duties  of  sheriff  under  the  old  system  were  very  important  and  pre- 
carious. In  addition  to  all  the  court  business,  he  had  the  county 
revenue  to  collect,  and  necessarily  required  many  assistants,  who  were 
not  always  the  class  of  men  who  were  the  safest  to  trust.  In  traveling 
over  the  state  in  those  days  by  stage,  he  frequently  had  to  walk,  and 
deemed  it  fortunate  if  he  did  not  have  to  carry  a  rail  to  help  pry  the 
old  wagons — which  by  courtesy  were  called  stages — out  of  the  sloughs. 
Durino-  the  time  he  was  in  office  the  countrv  was  full  of  horse-thieves. 
He  had  little  trouble  in  catching  them,  but  they  had  so  many  friends 
outside  that  he  seldom  had  the  pleasure  of  transporting  them  to  the 
penitentiary. 

CHURCHES. 

The  Goshen  Baptist  Church  was  organized  about  1832,  and  services 
were  held  in  the  Davis  school-house  and  the  Stearns  school-house,  at 
private  houses,  and  wherever  most  convenient,  until  1S35,  when  a 
church  edifice  was  built,  as  before  stated,  on  the  ground  occupied  by 
Samuel  Beaver's  house.  Elder  Freeman  Smalley  and  Elder  G.  W. 
Riley,  as  in  nearly  all  the  other  churches  of  this  denomination  in  the 
county,  were  the  leaders  in  this,  and  Benjamin  Smalley  preached  here 
with  more  or  less  regularity  for  some  years.  The  building  was  frame, 
30x40.  Harvey  and  Luther  Stearns,  William  Lee  and  James  Elliott, 
were  the  leading  men  in  this  organization,  and  it  was  largely  through 
their  instrumentality  that  the  church  was  built.  It  stood  here  until 
1862,  when  arrangements  were  perfected  to  move  it  to  Fairmount, 
when  suddenly  it  burned  down  in  the  night.  It  was  thought  to  be  a 
dispensation  of  Providence,  for  the  Bible  and  hymn-book  were  found 
out  in  the  bushes,  several  rods  away  from  the  burnt  edifice.  Services 
were  usually  kept  up  with  considerable  irregularity,  and  the  church 
was  prospered  in  members  and  spiritual  growth.  Elder  G.  W.  Riley 
continued  to  act  as  pastor  for  some  time,  and  was  followed  by  his 
brother,  J.  W.  Riley,  who  was  ordained  here.  Rev.  David  French, 
Elder  Lackey,  Rev.  Thomas  Reese  and  Elder  Tarnell  acted  as  pastors. 
During  the  pastorate  of  the  latter  the  present  church  was  built.  It 
is  36x54,  and  cost  $7,000.  The  membership  has  usually  numbered 
from  one  hundred  to  two  hundred.  Rev.  Alexander  Cunning  was 
pastor  ten  years,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Coffmau  is  at  present.  The  good  ser- 
vices of  William  Davis,  Ellis  Adams,  V.  M.  Davis,  E.  Bennett,  D. 
Gunder,  and  the  Messrs.  Catlett,  are  recognized  by  the  membership  for 
their  labors  in  behalf  of  the  interests  of  the  church,  and  especially  in 
the  building  of  the  fine  edifice.  A  Sabbath-school  of  one  hundred 
members  and  eight  teachers  is  conducted  by  E.  Holladay,  superintend- 


VANCE   TOWNSHIP.  981 

ent.  The  first  service  held  by  the  itinerant  Methodist  preachers  was 
in  1833,  at  the  house  of  Henry  Hunter,  a  mile  north  of  Fairmount.  In 
the  fall  of  1835  the  first  class  was  formed  by  Father  Anderson,  at  the 
house  of  Richard  Cass,  over  in  Conkey  Town.  The  book  had  on  it  the 
names  of  Alexander  Dougherty  and  wife,  R.  Cass  and  wife  and  son, 
three  daughters  of  Mr.  Hunter  and  Miss  Dougherty.  Of  these  original 
members,  who  forty-four  }7ears  ago  placed  their  names  on  the  church's 
books,  only  A.  Dougherty  remains  in  connection  with  this  branch. 
Services  continued  to  be  held  at  the  private-houses,  and  at  school- 
houses,  on  both  sides  of  the  creek  for  years.  The  earliest  preachers 
were  Mr.  Harshey,  Father  Lewis  Anderson,  Asa  L.  Risley  and  Mr. 
Crissey,  the  latter  quite  as  noted  a  man  in  the  church  as  any  who  have 
preached  here.  Zadock  Hall  and  G.  W.  West  followed,  and  J.  W.  York 
came  soon.  This  was  then  the  Danville  circuit.  About  1858  or  1859 
this  appointment  became  a  part  of  the  Homer  circuit,  and  was  removed 
to  Fairmount,  by  which  name  it  has  since  been  known.  The  present 
edifice,  36x46,  was  erected  in  1864.  It  cost  $3,700.  Joseph  Neville, 
Thomas  Short,  A.  Dougherty,  John  Aldridge,  G.  N.  Neville  and  J.  W. 
Booker  were  among  the  most  active  in  pushing  on  the  work  of  building. 
The  membership  is  about  one  hundred  and  fifty.  The  Sabbath-school 
numbers  one  hundred  and  seventeen  scholars  and  fourteen  teachers. 

The  Fairmount  Cumberland  church  was  organized  by  Rev.  G.  W. 
Jordan, — who  lives  now  at  Anna, —  in  1866.  The  ranks  were  largely 
filled  with  those  who  came  here  to  live,  and  had  belonged  to  the  Mt. 
Yernon  church.  John  Allen,  Frank  L.  Dougherty  and  Maj.  Wilson 
Burroughs  were  the  first  session,  and  continue  the  same  with  the  addi- 
tion of  James  Morris.  There  are  about  forty  members.  The  pastors, 
or  stated  supplies,  have  been  G.  W.  Jordan,  G.  W.  Montgomery,  James 
Ashmore,  H.  H.  Ashmore  and  John  H.  Hess.  The  church  was  built 
in  1871,  is  40  x  60,  and  twenty-foot  posts.  It  cost  $4,000.  The  Sab- 
bath-school, which  numbers  forty-five  members,  is  under  the  superin- 
tendency  of  Maj.  Burroughs. 

The  Olive  Branch  Cumberland,  an  offshoot  of  Mt.  Yernon  church, 
was  first  organized  at  Old  Homer,  on  the  South  Fork,  b}7  Revs.  Messrs. 
Ashmore  and  Whitlock.  It  remained  there,  worshiping  in  the  school- 
house,  until  the  town  was  removed  to  its  present  site,  when  a  church 
was  built  on  the  State  Road  on  William  Hardin's  land,  now  Aaron 
Lee's,  40x60.  It  is  a  strong  church.  Mr.  Ashmore  continued  to 
preach  for  it  eleven  years,  and  received  fifty-four  members  at  one  time. 
Since  his  pastorate  Revs.  Messrs.  Beals,  Whitlock  and  Hess  have  served 
the  church.  The  Sabbath-school,  with  a  large  attendance,  is  under  the 
charge  of  James  Morrison. 


982  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION"    COUNTY. 

A  Baptist  church,  called  "Salt  Fork"  church,  was  originally  out 
west  of  this  near  the  county  line,  and  was  moved  to  Fairmount. 

The  Christian  church  was  organized  September,  1877.  Elder  J.  C. 
Myers  had  been  holding  a  series  of  meetings,  and  organized  the  church. 
Dr.  Hess,  of  Homer,  and  Elder  A.  H.  Morris  have  since  served  the 
church.  The  trustees  elected  were  J.  H.  Walton,  L.  Doney,  E.  A. 
Hawkins  and  Parley  Martin ;  H.  Jackson,  chairman ;  Mr.  Walton, 
clerk.  E.  A.  Hawkins  was  elected  elder.  There  are  twenty-nine  mem- 
bers. The  church,  a  neat  and  pretty  edifice,  26X36,  with  belfry,  spire 
and  bell,  was  built  in  1877  and  1878,  at  a  cost  of  $1,200.  Social  meet- 
ings are  held  each  Lord's  day.     There  is  no  pastor  at  present. 

Fairmount  was  incorporated  on  the  1st  of  January,  1863.  It  em- 
braced the  E.  -§-  of  the  S.E.  \  of  Sec.  4,  and  some  additions  to  the  town 
ordinances  were  adopted  on  the  16th  of  February.  The  town  has 
never  licensed  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors.  The  first  board  of  trus- 
tees consisted  of  John  Allen,  president ;  E.  E.  Bennett,  A.  Honelin, 
F.  L.  Dougherty  and  R.  B.  Ray. 

District  No.  2,  which  embraces  the  village  of  Fairmount,  built  its 
first  school-house  in  1859,  at  a  cost  of  $400.  The  present  building, 
40x48,  two  stories  high,  brick,  with  four  rooms,  was  built  in  1865. 
It  is  a  neat  and  in  every  respect  a  suitable  building,  and  cost  $4,500. 
The  district  employs  three  teachers,  and  has  an  average  of  one  hundred 
and  fiftry  scholars.  The  present  school  board  is  composed  of  Dr.  R.  B. 
Ray,  president ;  H.  B.  Gibson,  secretary,  and  L.  E.  Booker.  The  school 
is  in  very  good  hands  and  is  successful. 

The  Fairmount  Silver  Cornet  Band  was  organized  in  1872.  It  is 
composed  of  the  following  persons  and  pieces:  John  Watson,  leader, 
first  E-flat  cornet ;  C.  G.  Adams,  second  E-flat  cornet ;  Zeno  Stalons, 
B-flat  cornet;  John  Simpson,  solo  alto;  Benny  Simpson,  second  alto; 
Jacob  Stadler,  first  tenor;  C.  H.  Simpson,  baritone;  Reuben  Jack, 
tuba;  Ed.  Thomas,  bass  drum;  Fred  Wilkins,  tenor  drum. 

The  "  Greenback  "Band  "  has  the  following:  E.  Robertson,  leader, 
E-fiat  cornet ;  Wra.  Thomas,  B-fiat  cornet ;  Miss  Winnie  Robertson,  solo 
alto;  George  Wright,  second  alto;  W.  McAllister,  first  tenor;  Armor 
Trimble,  tuba;  Charles  Robertson,  bass  drum. 

Fairmount  Lodge,  No.  590,  A.F.  &  A.M.,  was  organized  under  dis- 
pensation, on  the  9th  of  January,  A.L.  5868.  The  officers  at  its  organ- 
ization were :  H.  H.  Catlett,  W.M.;  J.  S.  Cox,  S.W.;  John  Smoot, 
J.W.;  J.  H.  Dougherty,  Treasurer ;  S.  S.  Burk,  Secretary ;  J.  Reese, 
S.D.;  J.  B.  Folks,  J.D.;  J.  Allman,  Tyler.  The  charter  was  received 
on  the  6th  of  October,  1868.  The  charter  members,  in  addition  to 
those  given  above,  were:  E.  P.  Davis,  George  Cornelius,  Alex.  Cum- 


VANCE   TOWNSHIP.  983 

ing,  Jesse  Donej,  L.  H.  Burroughs,  J.  R.  Witherspoon,  S.  Freese,  J. 
M.  Burroughs,  D.  Gunder,  J.  H.  Littler,  G.  W.  Jordan  and  F.  D.  Meb- 
lick.  The  Worshipful  Masters  serving  in  the  order  of  their  election 
since  that  have  been :  H.  H.  Catlett,  John  Smoot,  H.  H.  Catlett,  T. 
W.  Buckingham,  T.  W.  Buckingham,  S.  W.  Cox,  H.  H.  Catlett,  B.  F. 
Kehoe,  J.  R.  Baldwin.  The  present  officers  are:  S.  W.  Cox,  "W.M.; 
W.  W.  Stockton,  S.W.;  B.  F.  Kehoe,  J.W.;  Jesse  Doney,  Treasurer ; 
J.  J.  Smith,  Secretary ;  J.  M.  Reese,  S.D.;  Zeno  Stalons,  J.D,;  John 
Reese,  Tyler.  The  average  membership  has  been  forty.  It  meets  sec- 
ond and  fourth  Thursdays  in  each  month.  The  Lodge  is  in  a  prosper- 
ous condition. 

A  list  is  given  below  of  the  names  of  those  who  have  been  elected 
to  the  principal  township  offices  since  the  organization  of  Oakwood 
township,  in  1866 : 

Date.         Vote.  Supervisor.  Clerk.  Assessor  and  Collector. 

1866 C.  Radcliffe G.  W.  Powell A.  Stearns. 

1867.... 133 Geo.  A.  Fox Gr.  W.  Powell A.  Stearns. 

1868  Jesse  Doney G.  W.  Powell A.  Stearns. 

1869 J.  H.  Dougherty. ....  .J.  R.  Witherspoon A.  Stearns. 

1870 J.  H.  Dougherty T.  M.  Brittingham A.  Stearns. 

1871 132 W.  B.  Squires T.  M.  Brittingham A.  Stearns. 

1872 150 J.  H.  Dougherty Reuben  Jack A.  Stearns* 

1873 158 H.  Yerkes Reuben  Jack  ...    Aaron  Lee. 

1874.... 165 H.  Yerkes G.  A.  Stadler L.  B.  Loomis. 

1875 172... H.  Yerkes Reuben  Jack L.  B.  Loomis. 

1876 144 H.  Yerkes Reuben  Jack L.  B.  Loomis. 

1877 H.  Yerkes W.  H.  Thomas ...L.  B.  Loomis. 

1878 J.  K.  Mussleman W.  H.  Thomas L.  B.  Loomis. 

1879 J.  K.  Mussleman J.  J.  Smith L.  B.  Loomis. 

*  L.  B.  Loomis,  collector. 

The  justices  of  the  peace  have  been  :  G.  A.  Fox,  F.  L.  Dougherty, 
J.  D.  New,  L.  M.  Moore,  Jesse  Doney,  George  Bowen,  James  Thomas, 
Reuben  Jack. 

BIOGRAPHICAL. 

William  Smith,  Homer,  Champaign  county,  farmer  and  stock-raiser, 
section  1,  son  of  James  and  Mary  Smith,  was  born  in  Clarke  count}', 
Ohio,  in  1827,  and  came  with  his  parents  to  Yermilion  county,  in  No- 
vember, 1829,  and  settled  within  a  quarter  of  a  mile  of  where  he  now 
resides.  His  father  was  born  in  Pennsylvania,  on  the  15th  of  July, 
1792,  and  died  in  this  county  on  the  22d  of  July,  1872.  His  mother 
was  born  in  Ohio,  on  the  25th  of  January,  1794,  and  died  in  this  county 
on  the  29th  of  July,  1854.  The  subject  of  our  sketch  was  united  in 
marriage  on  the  8th  of  May,  1849,  to  Miss  Lucy  A.  Sadler,  daughter 
of  William  and  Keziah  Sadler,  who  were  early  settlers  of  the  county. 


984  HISTORY    OF   YERMILION    COUNTY. 

She  was  a  native  of  Virginia,  and  was  born  on  the  8th  of  June,  1829. 
By  this  union  they  have  a  family  consisting  of  four  sons  and  two 
daughters :  James  E.,  William  E.,  Byron,  Abraham  L.,  Mary  B.  and 
Sarah  J.  Mr.  Smith  owns  a  tine  farm  of  three  hundred  and  ninety-five 
acres,  with  good  improvements,  which  he  has  obtained  by  his  industry. 
He  attended  the  centennial  in  1876.  He  has  resided  in  this  county  fifty 
years,  and  has  not  once  had  the  attendance  of  a  physician. 

William  M.  Hardin,  Homer,  Champaign  county,  farmer,  section  14, 
was  born  in  Clinton  county,  Ohio,  on  the  29th  of  July,  1829,  and  came 
to  this  county  with  his  parents,  William  and  Elizabeth  Hardin,  in  the 
same  year.  His  father  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania  and  his  mother 
of  Ohio,  and  thev  resided  in  Vermilion  countv  until  their  death.  His 
father  was  born  on  the  8th  of  March,  1794,  and  died  on  the  15th  of 
August,  1868.  His  mother  was  born  December,  1800,  and  died  on  the 
22d  of  October,  1860.  Mr.  Hardin  has  been  twice  married.  In  1850 
he  was  united  in  wedlock  to  Miss  Prudence  Acree,  who  was  born  on 
the  17th  of  April,  1820,  and  died  on  the  18th  of  December,  1858.  His 
second  marriage  was  in  1860,  to  Mary  M.  Burroughs,  daughter  of  Jesse 
and  Mary  Burroughs.  She  was  born  in  Ripley  county,  Indiana,  on  the 
16th  of  July,  1833.  Mr.  Hardin  is  the  father  of  three  children  by 
his  former  wife :  Mary  E.,  wife  of  J.  B.  Hendrickson ;  George  A.  and 
William  L.;  and  three  by  present  wife :  Jesse  B.,  John  T.  and  Eva  M. 
Mr.  Hardin  and  wife  are  members  of  the  C.  P.  church.  He  owns  one 
hundred  and  thirty  acres  of  land,  on  which  he  has  made  all  the  im- 
provements.    In  politics  he  is  a  staunch  republican. 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Elliott,  Fairmount,  farmer,  section  7,  was  born  in 
Coshockton  county,  Ohio,  on  the  22d  of  January,  1831.  She  was  the 
wife  of  the  late  William  Elliott,  who  was  a  native  of  Clinton  county, 
Ohio,  and  born  on  the  24th  of  February,  1827.  He  came  to  Yermilion 
county  in  1829,  with  his  parents,  and  improved  a  large  farm  on  the 
prairie,  where  he  was  one  of  the  first  settlers.  He  died  on  the  21st  of 
November,  1878,  leaving  a  widow  and  six  children  to  mourn  his  loss. 
The  names  of  the  childreu  were  Nancy,  Barton  S.,  James  W.,  Ellis  R., 
Milton  F.,  John  D.  and  Rosie  B.  Mr.  Elliott  was  an  industrious  and 
hard-working  man.  and  was  a  respected  citizen.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  Baptist  church  of  which  Mrs.  Elliott  is  now  a  member. 

Mary  A.  Yount,  Homer,  Champaign  county,  farmer,  section  2, 
formerly  Mary  A.  Ashmore,  wife  of  the  late  Charles  G.  Yount,  was 
born  in  Clarke  county,  Illinois,  on  the  25th  of  June,  1826,  and  came  to 
Yermilion  county  in  1S46.  She  was  married  to  Charles  G.  Yount,  on 
the  6th  of  Januarv.  1850,  who  was  a  native  of  Kentuckv,  born  on  the 
26th  of  May,  1827,  and  who  came  to  this  county  in  1830,  where  he 


VANCE   TOWNSHIP.  985 

remained  until  his  death,  which  occurred  on  the  13th  of  June,  1874. 
He  left  a  widow  and  four  children :  Josephus,  Andrew,  Armilda  and 
Alice.  Mr.  Yount  was  an  industrious  and  hard-working  man,  and  is 
missed  in  the  community  where  he  lived.  He  improved  a  farm  of  two 
hundred  and  forty-nine  acres,  which  is  kept  in  good  repair  by  his  two 
sons. 

A.  H.  Dougherty,  Fairmount,  was  born  in  Brown  county,  Ohio,  on 
the  22d  of  July,  1805,  and  there  he  remained  until  twent}'-seven  years 
of  age.  He  was  married  to  Miss  J.  Kirkpatrick,  on  the  13th  of  June, 
1829,  a  native  of  Brown  county,  Ohio,  born  on  the  26th  of  August, 
1811.  Mr.  Dougherty  removed  to  Vermilion  county  in  1832,  and 
settled  within  a  mile  and  a  half  of  Fairmount,  where  he  remained 
until  the  death  of  his  wife,  on  the  3d  of  March,  1863,  when  he  came 
to  Fairmount.  He  married  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Hays,  on  the  8th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1864,  a  native  of  Fayette  county,  Pennsylvania,  born  on  the  8th 
of  October,  1823.  He  has  been  unfortunate  in  raising  a  family.  He 
has  had  five  children,  all  of  whom  are  deceased.  Mr.  Dougherty  came 
to  this  county  with  his  father,  mother,  three  sisters  and  a  brother. 
One  brother  came  a  year  previous,  and  a  brother  and  sister  came  one 
year  after.  His  father  was  a  native  of  Maryland,  born  in  March,  1769, 
and  died  in  October,  1860.  His  mother  was  a  native  of  Pennsylvania, 
born  in  1775,  and  died  in  1850.  Mr.  Dougherty  has  been  a  constant 
member  of  the  M.  E.  church  since  1835.  His  wife,  now  deceased,  was 
also  a  member  from  1834  until  her  death.  His  present  wife  has  been 
a  member  of  the  same  church  for  twenty-five  years.  Mr.  Dougherty 
returned  to  his  old  home  in  Ohio,  after  an  absence  of  forty  years,  and 
left  there  to  return  home  on  the  same  day  of  the  year  on  which  he 
came  west,  forty  years  previous.  Mr.  Dougherty  has  been  an  honest 
and  respected  citizen,  and  now  is  in  his  seventy-fourth  year,  apparently 
in  good  health ;  but  if  he  should  live  the  longest  life  allotted  to  man, 
he  must  soon  be  called  to  join  his  friends  in  that  distant  land  where 
the  pioneer  will  ever  be  at  rest. 

Alvin  Stearns,  Homer,  Illinois,  fanner  and  stock-raiser,  section  1, 
son  of  Harvey  and  Fannie  Stearns,  was  born  in  Clinton  county,  Ohio, 
on  the  28th  of  November,  1815,  and  came  with  his  parents  to  Ver- 
milion county  in  1832.  Mr.  Stearns  now  resides  on  the  farm  where  his 
parents  first  settled  when  they  came  to  the  county.  His  father,  Harvey, 
was  born  in  Vermont  in  1791,  and  resided  in  this  county  until  his 
death,  on  the  30th  of  November,  1847;  and  his  mother,  Fannie  Lock- 
wood,  was  a  native  of  York  state,  born  on  the  8th  of  December,  1790, 
and  died  on  the  1st  of  August,  1877.  Alvin  Stearns  was  united  in 
marriage,  on  the  12th  of  April,  1838,  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Lee,  daughter 


986  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

of  W.  H.  Lee,  who  came  to  Vermilion  county  in  1829.  Mrs.  Stearns 
was  born  in  Clinton  county,  Ohio,  on  the  19th  of  April,  1819.  Her 
father  was  a  native  of  South  Carolina,  born  on  the  8th  of  August,  1798, 
and  died  on  the  14th  of  January,  1855.  Her  mother  was  a  native  of 
Virginia,  born  on  the  7th  of  June,  1797,  and  now  is  living  with  Mr. 
Stearns.  Mr.  Stearns  is  the  father  of  two  sons  and  one  daughter: 
Lawson,  Ersom,  and  Rosella  J.,  wife  of  T.  B.  Craig.  He  has  served  as 
assessor  and  township  collector  for  eight  years.  He  and  his  wife  have 
been  constant  members  of  the  Baptist  church  for  thirty  years.  The 
result  of  the  industry  and  thrift  of  Mr.  Stearns  is  a  fine  farm  of  six 
hundred  acres.     He  is  a  staunch  republican. 

Calvin  Stearns,  Fairmount,  farmer,  section  6,  was  born  in  Clinton 
county,  Ohio,  on  the  28th  of  October,  1820.  He  came  to  Vermilion 
county  with  his  parents  in  1832,  and  now  lives  within  one  mile  of 
where  they  settled  when  they  came  to  the  county.  Mr.  Stearns  has 
been  three  times  married.  He  was  united  in  wedlock  to  Miss  Priscilla 
Lee  on  the  25th  of  February,  1844,  who  was  born  in  Clinton  county, 
Ohio,  on  the  30th  of  December,  1821,  and  departed  this  life  on  the 
10th  of  June,  1850.  His  second  marriage  was  to  Mary  H.  Rodgers, 
on  the  31st  of  March,  1853,  a  native  of  this  county.  She  was  born  on 
the  13th  of  August,  1836,  and  died  on  the  13th  of  October,  1858. 
He  married  his  present  wife,  Miss  Clarinda  Cronkhite,  on  the  20th  of 
June,  1867, — born  in  Warren  county,  Indiana,  on  the  16th  of  February, 
1848.  He  became  the  father  of  one  child  by  his  first  wife,  Eveline, 
and  one  by  his  second  wife,  Mary  H.,  now  wife  of  F.  Cronkhite,  and 
by  his  present  wife,  two :  William  C.  and  Lillie  M.  Mr.  Stearns  owns 
one  hundred  and  seventy-five  acres  of  land,  on  which  he  has  made  the 
improvements.  He  was  formerly  a  whig  until  the  republican  party 
was  organized,  when  he  joined  its  ranks,  and  has  since  been  identified 
with  that  party. 

Alonzo  Stearns,  Fairmount,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  section  8,  was 
born  in  Clinton  county,  Ohio,  on  the  28th  of  June,  1826,  and  came  to 
Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  with  his  parents  in  1832.  He  was  married 
in  1850  to  Miss  Sarah  E.  Catlett,  daughter  of  L.  T.  Catlett,  who  was 
an  early  settler  of  this  county.  She  was  born  in  Virginia  on  the  8th 
of  January,  1833,  and  by  their  union  there  have  been  born  six  children : 
Edwin  H.,  Herald  J.,  Hermon  A.,  Lawrence  O.,  Clement  H.  and  Her- 
bert E.  Mr.  Stearns  and  his  wife  have  long  been  united  with  the 
Baptist  church.  He  owns  a  fine  farm,  which  is  the  result  of  his 
industry. 

J.  H.  Dougherty,  Fairmount,  miller  and  grain  dealer,  was  born  in 
Brown  county,  Ohio,  in  1827,  and  came  with  his  parents  to  Vermilion 


VANCE   TOWNSHIP.  987 

county  in  1833,  and  first  settled  one  mile  north  of  the  now  village  of 
Fairmount.  His  father,  James,  was  born  in  Brown  county,  Ohio,  in 
1802,  and  died  in  this  county  in  1835.  His  mother,  Mary  Dougherty, 
was  born  in  Ohio  in  1800,  and  died  in  1834.  Mr.  Dougherty  then 
resided  with  his  friends  for  some  time,  living  four  years  with  Samuel 
Gilbert,  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  the  county.  When  grown  to 
manhood,  he  started  for  himself  by  farming  in  different  parts  of  the 
county.  He  has  been  twice  married.  His  first  union  was  in  1854  to 
Miss  Margaret  Chenoweth,  but  she  lived  only  eighteen  months.  His 
second  marriage,  in  1857,  was  to  Miss  C.  A.  Groves,  and  by  these  unions 
there  have  been  born  three  sons  and  two  daughters :  James  L.,  Mary, 
Joseph,  Bertie,  and  Charley,  now  deceased.  Mr.  Dougherty  has  served 
on  the  board  of  supervisors,  and  has  been  a  member  of  the  Masonic 
order  for  twenty-six  years. 

William  Davis,  Fairmount,  farmer,  section  6,  was  born  in  Guernsey 
county,  Ohio,  on  the  25th  of  January,  1811,  and  came  to  Vermilion 
county  in  1834,  settling  on  the  farm  where  he  now  resides.  He  has 
been  twice  married.  His  first  union  was  on  the  17th  of  September, 
1834,  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Hays,  a  native  of  Washington  county,  Penn- 
sylvania. She  was  born  in  1811,  and  departed  this  life  in  1861.  His 
second  marriage  was  to  Mary  C.  Catlett,  in  1863,  a  native  of  Virginia, 
born  on  the  23d  of  August,  1821.  Mr.  Davis  is  the  father  of  three 
sons  and  four  daughters  by  his  former  wife :  Rachel,  wife  of  D. 
Roudybush ;  Edith  J.,  wife  of  B.  Browning ;  David  C",  Henry,  Jemima, 
wife  of  S.  Cox ;  William  F.,  and  Lydia,  wife  of  G.  Baird.  Mr.  Davis 
now  owns  eight  hundred  acres  of  fine  land,  and  has  given  property 
to  the  amount  of  $3,500  to  each  of  his  children.  He  and  his  family 
are  members  of  the  Baptist  church. 

James  Davis,  Homer,  Champaign  county,  farmer,  section  1,  son  of 
Henry  and  Rachel  Davis,  was  born  in  Guernsey  county,  Ohio,  on  the 
21st  of  January,  1828.  His  parents  were  natives  of  Pennsylvania. 
His  father  was  born  on  the  20th  of  September,  1781,  and  died  in  1855. 
His  mother  was  born  on  the  3d  of  June,  1785,  and  died  on  the  1st  of 
November,  1848.  They  were  among  the  early  settlers  of  Vermilion 
county,  having  removed  from  Ohio  to  this  county  in  1836,  and  settled 
on  the  farm  where  James  now  resides.  On  the  18th  of  October,  1849, 
Mr.  Davis  took  a  life  partner,  his  choice  being  the  daughter  of  an  early 
settler  of  this  county,  Miss  America  J.  Boggess,  who  was  born  in  this 
county,  on  the  3d  of  May,  1833.  They  have  one  son  and  one  daugh- 
ter: John  T.,  born  on  the  17th  of  September,  1850;  Rachel  A.,  born 
on  the  19th  of  November,  1852,  now  wife  of  E.  R.  Danforth.  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Davis  have  long  been  united  with  the  Baptist  church.    Mr.  Davis 


988  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION   COUNTY. 

is  a  member  of  A.F.  &  A.M.,  199,  Homer  Lodge.  He  made  a  trip 
across  the  plains  to  California  in  1875,  and  was  at  the  Centennial  in 
1876.  He  was  a  democrat  until  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  since 
which  he  has  been  a  staunch  republican. 

E.  P.  Davis,  Fairmount,  farmer,  section  5,  was  born  in  Vermilion 
county,  Illinois,  on  the  12th  of  September,  1836.  His  parents  were  of 
Welsh  descent.  His  father  was  born  in  1808,  and  died  in  1857.  His 
mother  was  born  in  1808,  and  died  in  1837.  They  were  among  the 
early  settlers  of  the  county,  coming  here  in  1832.  Mr.  Davis  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  A.F.  &  A.M.,  and  politically,  is  a  republican. 

Wilson  Burroughs,  Fairmount,  farmer,  was  born  in  Dearborn  coun- 
ty, Indiana,  in  1825,  and  came  to  Vermilion  county  with  his  parents  in 
1839.  They  settled  near  Catlin.  Mr.  Burroughs  is  a  patriotic  man, 
and  took  an  active  part  in  the  late  rebellion.  He  went  out  as  captain 
of  Co.  E,  73d  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  which  office  he  faithfully  filled  until  1864, 
when  he  was  promoted  to  major,  and  served  till  the  close  of  the  war. 
He  was  in  the  battles  of  Perry  ville,  Mission  Ridge,  Chickamauga,  Ken- 
esaw  Mountain,  Resaca,  Jonesboro,  two  days  at  Nashville,  and  all  the 
battles  in  which  the  regiment  was  engaged,  except  Murfreesborough. 
In  1841  he  was  married  to  Miss  Martha  A.  Thompson,  daughter  of 
John  and  Esther  Thompson,  who  were  early  settlers  of  the  county. 
She  was  born  in  Dearborn  count}',  Indiana,  in  1827,  and  came  with 
her  parents  to  this  county  in  1830.  Mr.  Burroughs  has  two  sons  and 
two  daughters  :  Melissa,  wife  of  I.  N.  Wilcox ;  Ellsworth  T. ;  Esther 
M.,  wife  of  W.  P.  Witherspoon,  and  Newton  W.  ;  and  two  deceased, 
Esther  and  Josephine  M.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Burroughs  are  members  of 
the  C.  P.  church. 

Charles  Tilton,  Fairmount,  merchant,  was  born  in  Montreal,  Can- 
ada, on  the  30th  of  April,  1837,  and  came  with  his  parents  to  Danville 
in  1839.  When  but  six  j^ears  of  age  his  mother  died,  and  he  lived  with 
the  family  of  Willis  Hubbard,  one  of  the  earty  settlers  of  the  county, 
but  his  father  married  again  and  he  moved  with  the  family  to  the 
Eight-Mile  Prairie,  where  he  remained  on  the  farm  until  fourteen  years 
of  age,  attending  school  winters  and  working  on  the  farm  in  the  sum- 
mers. He  left  the  farm  and  engaged  as  clerk  at  Higginsville,  where  he 
remained  one  year,  and  then  returned  to  Danville  and  became  an  ap- 
prentice-clerk with  Palmer  &  Leverich.  He  remained  with  them  until 
1857,  when  he  engaged  as  book-keeper  with  Partlow  &  Co.,  with  whom 
he  remained  one  year.  He  came  to  Fairmount  and  went  in  partner- 
ship with  William  A.  Lowery,  where  he  remained  one  year,  after  which 
he  closed  out  and  returned  to  Danville.  He  continued  in  the  latter 
place  in  business  until  1862,  when  he  returned  to  Fairmount,  and  in 


VANCE   TOWNSHIP.  989 

July,  1862,  enlisted  a  company  of  infantry  for  the  late  war,  and  on  the 
21st  of  August  an  election  being  held,  was  elected  1st  lieutenant.  The 
company  became  Co.  E  of  the  73d  111.  Yol.  Inf.,  and  was  transported 
to  the  field  of  action.  He  participated  in  the  battles  of  Chickamauga, 
Mission  Ridge,  Resaca,  Kenesaw  Mountain,  Peach  Tree  Creek,  At- 
lanta, Jonesborough,  Franklin  and  Nashville.  He  was  promoted  to 
captain,  and  at  the  close  of  the  war  returned  to  this  county.  He  was 
engaged  in  the  grain  and  produce  business  in  Chicago  for  three  years. 
He  then  went  to  Kansas  and  founded  the  town  of  Oxford,  and  re- 
mained there  four  years  and  then  returned  to  Danville,  and  married 
Miss  Martha  Craig  in  1872,  a  native  of  this  county.  He  returned  to 
Kansas  where  he  remained  until  the  death  of  his  wife,  on  the  9th  of 
October,  1873,  which  left  Mr.  Tilton  with  one  child  — Martha.  He 
returned  to  Danville,  and  then  came  to  Fairmount,  where  he  engaged 
in  the  dry-goods  business. 

Rev.  Hiram  H.  Ashmore  was  born  in  Vigo  county,  Indiana,  on  the 
loth  of  April,  1829.  In  1840  his  father  moved  from  near  his  birth- 
place to  Yermilion  county,  Illinois,  since  which  time  he  has  been  a  resi- 
dent of  this  county,  except  ten  years  following  1864,  in  which  he  lived 
at  Ashmore,  Coles  county,  Illinois.  He  received  a  moderate  education 
at  Steel's  Academy,  Grand  Yiew,  Edgar  county,  and  at  Georgetown 
Seminary,  in  this  county.  He  was  licensed  a  minister  of  the  Cumber- 
land Presbyterian  church,  at  P>loomfield,  Edgar  county,  in  October, 
1853,  after  which  he  spent  near  two  years  teaching  and  preaching  in 
Arkansas,  during  which  time  he  became  acquainted  with  southern  so- 
ciety and  institutions.  After  two  years  in  the  south  he  returned  to 
this  county  and  settled  in  Elwood  township,  near  Ridge  Farm.  He 
was  ordained  a  member  of  Foster  Presbytery  in  1856,  and  preached  in 
Ridge  Farm  until  the  war.  In  1856  he  took  an  active  stand  against 
the  institution  of  slavery,  and  the  unjust  laws  enacted  in  the  interest  of 
that  institution  compelling  any  man,  north  or  south,  under  heavy  pen- 
alties, to  assist  the  army  and  civil  officers,  if  necessary,  to  catch  and  re- 
turn the  fleeing  slave.  In  1860  he  took  an  active  part  in  the  election 
of  President  Lincoln,  and  in  the  following  year  he  was  called  upon  to 
make  a  speech  to  the  Georgetown  company  of  the  25th  regiment,  and 
advised  them  to  go  and  stick  together,  as  their  country  needed  their 
services,  and  that  he  intended  to  raise  a  company  of  cavalry  and  go  into 
the  service.  The  men,  divided  as  they  were,  answered,  "  You  go  and  we 
will  go."  "I  never  back  out  in  a  good  cause,"  was  the  answer.  He 
enlisted  as  a  "high  private,"  was  appointed  commissary  sergeant  of 
the  regiment,  and  in  eleven  months  was  appointed  and  commissioned 
chaplain.      Many  soldiers  —  a  thousand   or  more  —  professed  religion 


990  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

under  his  preaching.  He  was  with  his  regiment  under  fire  in  seven- 
teen hard-fought  battles,  and  over  three  hundred  small  engagements; 
was  captured  in  the  battle  of  Chickamauga,  sent  to  Libby  Prison,  after 
a  week's  preaching  each  alternate  night,  was  exchanged ;  joined  his 
regiment  again  in  the  midst  of  the  battle  of  Mission  Ridge.  He  never 
would  allow  himself  to  be  detailed  away  from  his  regiment,  because  he 
had  promised  the  Georgetown  boys  he  would  "  stick  to  them  as  long 
as  there  was  a  button  on  their  coats."  Mr.  Ashmore  wants  the  rebels 
forgiven,  but  not  to  be  made  leaders  in  our  national  affairs.  He  and 
his  father,  Rev.  James  Ashmore,  live  at  Fairmount  in  this  county. 
Mr.  Ashmore  says  he  prides  himself  in  Vermilion  county,  because  she 
takes  his  maimed  and  crippled  comrades  and  fills  her  places  of  honor 
with  them:  has  been  identified  with  her  interest  nearlv  all  his  life; 
wants  to  see  Danville — our  capital  —  a  first-class  city;  wants  to  see 
one  metropolitan,  agricultural  and  mechanical  county  fair  decorated  by 
all  the  fine  arts.     In  fine — 

To  live,  and  be  missed  when  you  die, 
Is  the  crown  of  the  noblest  life. 

Rev.  James  Ashmore  was  born  in  Jefferson  county,  Tennessee,  on 
the  17th  of  August,  1807.  He  married  Catharine  Armstrong  in  1828, 
and  resided  on  a  farm  in  Clarke  county  until  1840.  He  was  licensed  to 
preach  on  the  17th  of  October,  1833,  and  ordained  on  the  10th  of  Octo- 
ber, 1837,  by  Vandalia  Presbytery,  of  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian 
Church.  With  his  wife  and  four  children  he  moved  to  Vermilion 
county  in  March,  1810,  and  he  became  a  home  missionary  under  Foster 
Presbytery,  of  the  C.  P.  church.  He  traveled  extensively,  and  often 
preached  through  the  week  as  well  as  on  the  Sabbath.  His  sermons 
would  often  average  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  per  annum,  and  were, 
for  the  first  five  or  six  years  of  his  residence  in  this  county,  delivered 
mostly  in  school-houses  and  private  residences.  He  lived  from  March, 
1840,  to  October,  1843,  on  the  Alexander  McDonald  farm,  four  miles 
west  of  Georgetown,  and  often  preached  in  the  residence  of  Mr.  Mc- 
Donald and  Abram  Sandusk}7,  each  of  whom  were  worthy  ruling 
elders  of  one  of  his  congregations.  If  their  grandchildren  (now  nu- 
merous in  this  county)  could  see  one  of  these  pioneer  congregations  wor- 
shiping in  the  private  houses  of  these  good  men  (long  dead  and  gone 
to  their  reward),  they  would  then  know  more  of  the  progress  of  this 
county  than  history  can  tell  them.  In  1843  Mr.  Ashmore  moved  to 
Vance  township,  on  the  Salt  Fork,  and  organized  Mt.  Vernon  congre- 
gation, three  miles  west  of  Butler's  Point  (now  Catlin).  Since  which 
time  he  has  lived  about  half  his  time  in  Elwood  and  Vance  townships, 
respectively,  —  the  last  seven  years  in  Fairmount.     He  preached  to 


VANCE   TOWNSHIP.  991 

• 

Mt.  Pisgah  congregation,  two  miles  west  of  Georgetown,  twenty-nine 
years  in  succession — three  years  since — making  thirty-two  years  in  all. 
He  has  organized  thirty  congregations,  and  under  his  preaching  there 
have  been  about  four  thousand  five  hundred  professions  of  religion. 
He  is  now  in  his  seventy-second  year,  hale  and  heart}',  still  preaches 
with  zeal  and  energy,  and  has  accumulated  considerable  property.  He 
has  been  married  three  times,  and  each  of  the  deceased,  as  well  as  his 
living  wife,  are  natives  of  Tennessee  —  his  native  state.  He  has  four- 
teen children  living  and  ten  dead.  Three  of  his  sons  are  ministers  of 
the  gospel. 

Henry  Davis,  Fairmount,  farmer,  section  18,  was  born  in  Vance 
township,  Yermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  5th  of  May,  1841.  He  has 
been  twice  married.  He  was  married  on  the  24th  of  December,  1863, 
to  Miss  Nancy  Cox,  a  native  of  Miami  county,  Ohio.  She  was  born  in 
1838,  and  died  on  the  24th  of  September,  1874.  On  the  7th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1875,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Rebecca  E.  Baird,  a  native  of  Brown 
county,  Ohio  —  born  on  the  3d  of  January,  1855.  Mr.  Davis  has 
three  children  by  present  wife :  Freddie  L.,  Gracie  E.  and  Sarah  M. 
He  owns  one  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  land,  on  which  he  has  made 
most  of  the  improvements.  He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  Bap- 
tist church,  and  politically  he  is  a  democrat. 

In  every  profession  there  are  those  who,  by  years  of  hard  study, 
constant  practice,  and  a  close  attention  to  business,  are  the  recognized 
in  their  professions.  This  position  has  been  attained  and  honestly 
earned  by  Robert  B.  Ray,  M.D.,  of  Fairmount,  the  subject  of  this 
sketch,  who  for  twenty-three  years  has  been  a  practicing  physician  and 
surgeon.  He  is  the  son  of  Robert  and  Mildred  J.  Ray,  who  were 
natives  of  Kentucky.  His  father  was  a  brother  of  James  B.  Ray, 
ex-governor  of  Indiana.  They  moved  to  Dearborn  county,  Indiana, 
during  the  early  settlement  of  that  county.  Here  the  subject  of  our 
sketch  was  born,  on  the  18th  of  February,  1830.  But  little  of  the 
surroundings  of  his  early  life  are  known.  In  1843  he  first  came  to 
Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  where  he  remained  until  1855,  engaged  in 
agricultural  pursuits.  At  the  above  date  he  began  the  study  of  med- 
icine, taking  his  first  course  of  lectures  at  the  Rush  Medical  College  of 
Chicago  during  the  winter  of  1855-56.  In  1856,  after  leaving  college, 
he  went  to  Shelby  county,  Missouri,  where  he  practiced  his  profession 
for  one  year.  He  then  moved  to  Macon,  in  the  adjoining  county,  and 
while  there  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  Fannie,  daughter  of  Jesse 
and  Ellen  Beecher,  who  were  early  and  prominent  pioneers  of  Fair- 
field county,  Ohio.  This  latter  place  was  Mrs.  Ray's  native  place, 
where  she  was  born  on  the  20th  of  July,  1838.    They  were  married  on 


992  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

the  23d  of  December,  1858.  In  1860  the  Doctor  returned  to  Chicago 
and  finished  his  medical  education,  graduating  with  honor  and  receiv- 
ing a  diploma.  In  1861  he  returned  to  Vermilion  county,  Illinois, 
locating  at  Fairmount,  where  he  has  since  resided.  He  left  Missouri 
on  account  of  his  political  views,  he  being  a  staunch  Union  man,  while 
many  of  his  neighbors  were  very  radical  in  their  views  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  question.  He  and  Mrs.  Ray  are  both  members  of  the  M.  E. 
church.  The  Doctor  is  also  a  member  of  the  Vermilion  County  Med- 
ical Society.  They  have  a  family  of  three  children.  The  eldest, 
Beecher  B.,  was  born  on  the  11th  of  October,  1859,  and  in  August, 
1879,  became  a  graduate  in  the  scientific  course  of  Valparaiso*  College. 
The  next  younger  is  Agnes  B.,  who  was  born  on  the  3d  of  March, 
1867.  The  last  and  youngest  is  Robert  T.,  born  on  the  19th  of  April, 
1869. 

J.  S.  Gilkey,  Homer,  Champaign  county,  farmer,  section  19,  is  a 
native  of  Vermilion  county,  born  on  the  16th  of  September,  1843.  His 
father  came  to  the  county  in  1830.  His  parents  were  natives  of  Ken- 
tucky. His  father  died  in  1877,  and  his  mother  in  1846.  In  the  late 
rebellion  Mr.  Gilkev  enlisted  in  1861.  in  Co.  I,  26th  111.  Vol.  Inf..  and 
served  until  the  close  of  the  war.  He  was  in  twenty-eight  engage- 
ments, such  as  Madrid,  Missouri;  Island  No.  10,  siege  of  Corinth, 
Iuka,  Farmington,  siege  of  Vicksburg,  Jackson,  Chattanooga,  Straw- 
berry Plains,  and  others.  He  was  taken  prisoner  at  Cave  Springs,  and 
held  as  a  prisoner  of  war  five  months.  He  was  also  a  prisoner  at  Chat- 
tanooga for  a  short  time.  He  returned  home  at  the  close  of  the  war, 
and,  on  the  1st  of  March,  1866,  married  Miss  Mary  J.  Goodrich,  a 
native  of  Union  county,  Ohio,  born  on  the  30th  of  July,  1848.  They 
have  had  five  children  born  to  them,  three  living:  Celestia  L.,  Seblin 
B.,  Amy  O.,  and  two  dead. 

Rev.  John  Hoobler,  Fairmount,  was  born  in  Perry  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania, on  the  2d  of  August,  1801.  He  removed  to  Montgomery  county, 
Ohio,  in  1823;  thence  to  Fountain  county,  Indiana,  in  1832,  and  to 
Vermilion  county,  Indiana,  where  he  represented  the  county,  in  1836 
and  1837,  also  in  1841  and  1842.  He  removed  to  Vermilion  county, 
Illinois,  in  1847,  and  settled  in  Ross  township,  where  he  was  the  first 
elected  supervisor.  He  then  went  to  Livingston  county,  Illinois,  in 
1851,  where  he  was  presiding  elder  for  six  years.  From  there  he  went 
to  Perrysville,  Indiana,  in  1872,  and  there  he  acted  as  local  preacher. 
He  returned  to  Vermilion  county  in  1874.  He  has  been  twice  mar- 
ried: first,  to  Miss  Rebecca  Fetterhoof,  in  1821,  born  in  Franklin 
county,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  5th  of  June,  1796,  and  died  on  the  6th 
of  August,  1871.    His  second  marriage  was  to  Lydia  A.  Hulick,  on  the 


VANCE   TOWNSHIP.  993 

17th  of  February,  1872.  She  is  a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  born  on  the 
21st  of  November,  1816.  Mr.  Hoobler  was  the  father  of  eleven  chil- 
dren by  his  former  wife,  of  whom  eight  are  living:  Jeremiah,  Jemima, 
wife  of  D.  Gouty;  David,  John  F.,  Frederick,  Mary,  wife  of  J.  W. 
Fleshman,  Andrew  J.  The  deceased  are:  ¥m.  O.,  Julia,  and  Daniel 
V.  Mr.  Hoobler  is  now  the  great-grandfather  of  twenty-two  children, 
and  grandfather  of  sixty-eight. 

Isaac  Simpson,  Fairmount,  manufacturer  of  wagons,  was  born  in 
Fountain  county,  Indiana,  on  the  9th  of  February,  1822,  and  came  to 
Yermilion  county  in  1845.  He  stopped  at  Georgetown  for  some  time, 
and  then  left  the  county,  to  return  again  in  1847,  and  located  in  Dan- 
ville, where  he  followed  blacksmithing  until  1868.  He  then  moved 
on  a  farm  three  and  a  half  miles  southeast  of  Catlin,  and,  in  1869, 
removed  to  Fairmount.  On  the  13th  of  July,  1848,  he  was  married  to 
Miss  Elizabeth  Richards,  daughter  of  Henry  and  Hannah  Richards, 
who  came  to  this  county  in  1833.  She  was  born  in  Washington  county, 
Tennessee,  on  the  29th  of  March,  1825.  They  have  eight  children: 
three  sons  and  five  daughters:  Mary  E.,  wife  of  G.  Burghart;  Jennie, 
wife  of  J.  H.  McCorkle ;  John  F.,  Lillie,  Charley  H.,  Annie,  Susan 
and  Isaac  B.,  all  of  whom  were  born  in  Danville.  Mr.  Simpson  cut 
the  first  county  seal  for  Yermilion  county,  and  sent  the  first  coal  from 
Danville  east  for  inspection. 

Townsend  Hendrickson,  Homer,  Champaign  county,  farmer,  section 
11,  was  born  in  Queen's  county,  New  York,  on  the  18th  of  August, 
1824.  He  came  to  Fayette  county,  Ohio,  in  1840,  and,  while  there, 
was  married  to  Miss  Malinda  Ocheltree,  in  1848,  who  was  a  native  of 
Ross  county,  Ohio,  born  in  1825.  Mr.  Hendrickson  removed  to  Yer- 
milion county  on  the  23d  of  February,  1849,  and  has  resided  in  this 
county  ever  since,  except  while  in  the  army.  He  enlisted  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  war,  leaving  his  wife  and  a  family  of  small  children 
to  attend  the  farm,  in  Co.  E,  73d  111.  Yol.  Inf.,  and  was  in  all  the 
fights  in  which  the  regiment  was  engaged  but  one,  such  as  Perryville, 
Stone  River,  Murfreesboro',  Mission  Ridge,  Resaca,  New  Hope  Church, 
Kenesaw  Mountain,  Peachtree  Creek,  Atlanta  and  Jonesboro'.  He  is 
the  father  of  three  sons  and  one  daughter:  Mary  A.,  wife  of  A.  Mor- 
ison;  Jesse  B.,  John  O.  and  Albert  T.  Mr.  Hendrickson  owns  a 
fine  farm  of  two  hundred  and  sixty-five  acres,  on  which  he  has  made 
all  the  improvements. 

Jesse  Mantle,  Homer,  Champaign  county,  farmer,  section  14,  son  of 
Henry  and  Catharine  Mantle,  was  born  in  Alleghany  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania, in  1814,  and  removed  to  Fayette  county,  Ohio,  in  about  1820. 
Mr.  Mantle  was  bound  out  at  thirteen  years  of  age  to  learn  the  tanner's 
63 


994  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

trade,  which  he  mastered  at  the  age  of  twentv-oiie.  On  the  12th  of 
August,  1837,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Mary  Custer,  daughter  of  George 
and  Margaret  Custer.  She  is  a  native  of  Virginia,  born  in  1809.  They 
have  three  living  children  :  Jerome,  Margaret  J.  and  Thomas  C. ;  and 
two  dead  :  Josephine  and  Joseph.  Mr.  Mantle  came  to  Vermilion 
county  in  1850,  and  rented  for  some  time,  but  bv  economy  he  has 
become  the  owner  of  seventy-nine  acres  of  land,  which  he  has  under 
good  cultivation.  He  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the  M.  E.  church, 
and  Mr.  Mantle  is  a  staunch  republican,  and  a  member  of  A.F.  &  A.M. 
Jerome  Mantle,  his  son,  served  in  the  rebellion,  in  Co.  F,  26th  111. 
Vol.  Inf.,  and  was  in  the  battles  of  Corinth,  Atlanta,  Mission  Ridge, 
Kenesaw  Mountain,  Chattanooga,  Savannah,  and  in  all  the  battles  in 
Sherman's  march  to  the  sea.  He  was  at  the  general  review  at  Wash- 
ington, District  of  Columbia. 

Daniel  Oaks,  Homer,  Champaign  county,  farmer,  section  11,  is  the 
son  of  Michael  and  Sarah  Oaks,  and  was  born  in  Ohio,  on  the  27th  of 
August,  1812.  His  parents  came  to  Clarke  county,  Illinois,  in  1816. 
They  were  natives  of  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio,  and  removed  to  Vermil- 
ion county  in  1852,  where  Mr.  Oaks  has  since  made  his  home,  except 
while  in  the  army.  He  served  in  the  late  war  in  Co.  F,  26th  111.,  hav- 
ing enlisted  in  1861,  and  served  during  the  war;  was  in  the  battles  of 
Atlanta,  Marietta,  Savannah,  and  other  minor  engagements.  He  was 
at  the  general  review  at  Washington,  District  of  Columbia.  Mr.  Oaks 
returned  home  after  the  war,  and  was  married  to  Miss  M.  M.  Morrison, 
in  1869,  who  was  born  in  Ohio,  on  the  1st  of  July,  1848.  They  have 
two  children :  Eva  and  Charles. 

C.  F.  Brad  way,  Fairmount,  druggist,  was  born  in  Salem  county, 
New  Jersey,  in  1850,  and  came  with  his  parents  to  Vermilion  county 
in  1854,  settling  at  Georgetown.  He  removed  to  Fairmount  in  1876, 
and  engaged  in  his  present  business.  He  was  united  in  marriage  on 
the  16th  of  August,  1874,  to  Miss  Ella  Haworth,  daughter  of  Thomas 
and  Margaret  Haworth,  who  were  early  settlers  of  the  county,  they 
coming  in  1822.  She  was  born  in  this  county,  on  the  10th  of  May. 
1848.     They  have  one  son  :  Everett  H. 

G.  1ST.  Neville,  Fairmount,  farmer,  section  10,  son  of  George  and 
Elizabeth  (Wolfe)  Neville,  was  born  in  what  was  then  Hardy  county, 
Virginia,  on  the  2d  of  February,  1820.  His  father  died  when  he  was 
two  years  of  age,  and  he  and  his  mother  came  to  Tippecanoe  county, 
Indiana,  in  1834,  where  they  were  among  the  early  settlers.  They  re- 
mained there  twent}7  years,  and  then  removed  to  Vermilion  county, 
and  settled  where  he  now  resides.  His  mother  died  in  1842.  Mr. 
Neville  took  a  life  partner  on  the  26th  of  September,  1840,  his  choice 


VANCE   TOWNSHIP.  995 

being  Miss  Mary  S.  Throckmorton,  born  in  Hampshire  county,  West 
Virginia,  on  the  16th  of  December,  1823.  By  this  union  they  have 
been  blessed  with  ten  children,  of  whom  seven  are  now  living. 

Barton  Elliott,  Fairmoimt,  farmer,  section  18,  son  of  William  and 
Elizabeth  Elliott,  was  born  in  Yance  township,  Vermilion  county,  Illi- 
nois, on  the  11th  of  November,  1854.  He  was  united  in  marriage  to 
Miss  May  J.  Baldwin,  on  the  21st  of  September,  1876.  She  was  born 
in  Brown  county,  Ohio,  on  the  21st  of  August,  1855.  They  are  mem- 
bers of  the  Baptist  church. 

Edward  Dunn,  Fairmount,  clerk,  is  the  son  of  Michael  and  Julia 
(Conley)  Dunn,  who  were  natives  of  Ireland,  and  came  to  Delaware 
count}',  New  York,  in  1847,  where  Edward,  the  subject  of  our  sketch, 
was  born,  on  the  14th  of  August,  1854.  His  parents  remained  in  New 
York  for  eight  years,  and  then  removed  to  Fairmount,  in  1855,  becom- 
ing one  of  the  early  citizens  of  the  now  village  of  Fairmount.  Here 
Edward  spent  the  earl}'  part  of  his  life,  receiving  a  business  education. 
In  1873  he  engaged  with  Wilcox  &  Co.  as  salesman. 

Jesse  Doney,  Fairmount,  was  born  in  Fayette  county,  Pennsjdvania, 
in  1816,  and  in  that  year  his  parents  removed  to  Richland  county,  Ohio, 
where  they  remained  five  years.  They  then  went  to  Harrison  county, 
where  they  remained  a  short  time,  and  then  returned  to  Fayette 
county,  Pennsylvania,  and  located  in  the  same  house  where  Mr.  Doney 
and  also  his  father  were  born.  Mr.  Doney  returned  to  Harrison 
county,  Ohio,  and  commenced  to  learn  the  trade  of  brick-layer  and 
stone-mason.  In  1832  he  came  to  Chicago.  From  there  he  went  to 
what  is  now  Joliet,  where  was  then  only  one  log  cabin,  which  Mr. 
Doney  helped  to  erect.  He  then  returned  to  Harrison  county,  Ohio, 
again;  then  went  to  Coshocton  county,  where  he  worked  on  a  farm 
for  Michael  Rodgers,  whose  daughter,  Marion,  he  married  in  1838. 
She  was  born  in  Harrison  comity,  Ohio,  in  1822.  Mr.  Doney  then 
removed  to  Guernsey  county,  from  there  to  Marshall,  and  thence  to 
Montgomery  county.  From  there  he  went  to  Hendricks  county,  and 
while  there  his  wife  departed  this  life,  in  June,  1854.  He  then  mar- 
ried Miss  Sarah  A.  Dale,  on  the  7th  of  June,  1855,  who  was  born  in 
Hendricks  county,  Indiana,  on  the  30th  of  April,  1829.  Mr.  Doney 
removed  to  Vermilion  county,  and  purchased  the  Hickman  farm,  and 
has  resided  there  and  at  Fairmount  ever  since.  He  is  the  father  of  two 
children,  living,  by  his  former  wife:  Michael  C.  and  Lysander;  and 
also  four  deceased:  Hannah  M.,  Kisander  J.,  wife  of  F.  Elliott  during 
her  life,  Benjamin  and  Samuel;  and  b}r  his  present  wife,  three  living: 
Jesse,  Lincoln,  Maggie,  and  two  deceased :  John  and  Marion.  Mr. 
Doney  now  owns  eight  hundred   and  twenty-eight  acres  of  land  in 


996  HISTOKY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

this  county,  and  four  houses  and  lots  in  the  town.  He  is  a  member  of 
A.F.  &  A.M.  and  I.O.O.F.,  and  has  been  county  commissioner  and 
justice  of  the  peace. 

Nimrod  McBride,  Fairmount,  was  born  in  what  was  then  Monon- 
galia county,  Virginia,  on  the  19th  of  February,  1811,  and  came  with 
his  parents  to  Dearborn  county,  Indiana,  in  1813,  where  they  remained 
until  1825.  They  then  went  to  Marion  county,  where  his  father,  Will- 
iam, died,  in  1828,  and  his  mother,  Henriette,  in  1831.  Mr.  McBride 
came  to  Tippecanoe  county,  Indiana,  and  while  there  married  Miss 
Jane  Jack,  on  the  1st  of  December,  1836,  a  native  of  Warren  county, 
Ohio,  born  on  the  16th  of  January,  1820.  Mr.  McBride  removed  to 
Vermilion  county  in  1855,  and  settled  close  to  Fairmount,  where  he 
owns  two  hundred  and  forty  acres  of  a  fine  farm,  on  which  he  has 
made  all  the  improvements.  He  has  been  blessed  with  three  daughters 
and  one  son,  now  living,  and  two  deceased.  The  names  of  the  living 
are  Nancy  C,  Ella,  Jennie  and  William ;  of  the  deceased,  John  T., 
who  died  in  the  army,  and  Rebecca.  Mr.  McBride  was  a  whig  until 
the  republican  party  was  organized,  when  he  joined  its  ranks,  and  with 
this  party  he  has  always  cast  his  vote. 

R.  Jack,  Fairmount,  shoemaker  and  justice  of  the  peace,  was  born 
in  Carroll  county,  Indiana,  on  the  19th  of  March,  1840,  and  raised  in 
Tippecanoe  county,  where  he  remained  until  twenty  years  of  age.  He 
then  came,  with  his  father,  to  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  in  1860,  and 
on  the  1st  of  August,  1862,  enlisted  in  the  73d  111.  Vol.  Inf.,  Co.  E, 
and  served  until  the  close  of  the  war.  He  was  in  all  the  battles  in 
which  his  regiment  was  engaged,  and  passed  through  them  all  without 
receiving  a  wound.  He  has  been  three  times  married.  His  first  union 
was  on  the  9th  of  August,  1865,  to  Miss  Mary  Shroyer,  a  native  of  In- 
diana, born  in  1843,  and  died  on  the  20th  of  February,  1869.  He  was 
married  on  the  15th  of  June,  1870,  to  Miss  Frances  Rutin,  also  a  na- 
tive of  Indiana,  born  in  1844,  and  died  in  1871.  His  third  marriage 
was  in  1872,  to  Miss  Jennie  Fellows,  also  a  native  of  Indiana,  born  in 
1848.  By  his  present  wife  he  is  the  father  of  one  child.  George.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Jack  are  members  of  the  M.  E.  church. 

W.  J.  Rice,  Fairmount,  stock-dealer,  is  a  native  of  Carter  county, 
Kentucky,  where  he  was  born  on  the  3d  of  August,  1845.  Mr.  Rice 
came  to  Vermilion  county  in  1863,  and  engaged  in  the  pursuit  of  farm- 
ing until  1877 ;  since  then  he  has  dealt  extensively  in  stock,  shipping 
yearly  the  amount  of  $250,000  worth.  On  the  24th  of  October,  1868, 
Mr.  Rice  was  married  to  Miss  Martha  E.  Pratt,  a  native  of  Boone 
county,  Indiana,  born  on  the  24th  of  September,  1844.     T$y  this  union 


VANCE    TOWNSHIP.  997 

they  have  one  child  living  :  William  C. ;  James  W.  died.  Mr.  R.  is 
a  member  of  the  Masonic  Order,  No.  590,  of  Fairmount. 

Elias  Holladay,  Fairmount,  dealer  in  drugs,  son  of  Elias  and  Sarah 
(Hammond)  Holladay,  was  born  in  Livingston  county,  New  Jersey, 
on  the  13th  of  September,  1835.  At  nine  years  of  age  he  came  with 
his  parents  to  Parke  county,  Indiana,  and  while  there  his  mother  died. 
Then  he  and  his  father  came,  in  1859,  to  Indianapolis,  Indiana,  where 
they  remained  four  years ;  then  removed  to  Homer,  Illinois,  and  re- 
mained one  year,  and  then  came  to  Fairmount,  where  he  has  been 
engaged  in  his  present  business  ever  since.  He  was  appointed  notary 
public  in  1867,  which  office  he  now  holds ;  also  was  appointed  post- 
master, on  the  1st  of  October,  1874,  which  office  he  has  held  ever  since. 
Mr.  Holladay  was  united  in  marriage  in  1866,  to  Miss  Clara  P.  Short, 
daughter  of  Thomas  Short,  who  was  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  Ver- 
milion count}\  She  was  born  in  Danville,  Vermilion  county,  Illinois, 
on  the  3d  of  January,  1816.  They  have  one  son  and  one  daughter  liv- 
ing :  Fred  S.  and  Sarah  H. ;  and  one  deceased  :  Frank.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
H.  are  members  of  Goshen  Baptist  church. 

J.  M.  Wilkins,  Fairmount,  physician,  was  born  in  Marion  county, 
Ohio,  on  the  22d  of  September,  1826.  At  six  years  of  age  he  came  with 
his  parents  to  La  Grange  county,  Indiana ;  thence  to  Branch  county, 
Michigan.  In  1846-7  he  attended  the  Indiana  Medical  College,  at  La 
Porte,  Indiana,  and  graduated  in  1850.  He  then  returned  to  Branch 
county  and  practiced  for  four  years,  and  in  1854  came  to  Vermilion 
county,  and  first  located  in  New  Town,  where  he  had  an  extensive  prac- 
tice until  1859,  and  in  1864  removed  to  Fairmount,  where  he  has  had 
a  continued  practice  ever  since.  Dr.  J.  M.  Wilkins  married  Miss  Me- 
hitable  Pond,  on  the  28th  of  September,  1852  ;  a  native  of  Ohio ;  born 
on  the  12th  of  August,  1832.  They  have  three  sons  and  one  daughter: 
William  F.,  Jennie  E.,  Charles  A.  and  Fred.  The  Doctor  and  his  wife 
are  members  of  the  Baptist  church,  and  he  is  a  member  of  the  Masonic 
and  Odd-Fellows'  Lodges.     His  political  views  are  republican. 

L.  W.  Sowers,  Fairmount,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  section  16,  is  a 
native  of  North  Carolina,  and  was  born  in  1836.  He  removed  with 
his  parents  to  Fountain  county,  Indiana,  in  the  fall  of  1839.  His 
father,  Michael  Sowers,  was  born  in  North  Carolina  in  the  year  1792, 
and  died  in  Fountain  county,  Indiana,  in  1845.  His  mother  also  was 
a  native  of  North  Carolina,  born  in  1802,  and  now  resides  in  the  above 
named  county.  Mr.  Sowers  was  married  in  1856  to  Miss  Margaret 
Darr,  daughter  of  David  and  Mary  Darr.  She  was  born  in  Parke 
county,  Indiana,  in  1837.  They  have  two  sons  and  three  daughters: 
David  N.,  Elijah  M.,  Sarah  E.,  Mary  R.  and  America  A.     Mr.  Sowers 


998  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

removed  to  Page  county,  Iowa,  where  he  remained  one  year.  He  then 
returned  to  Parke  county,  Indiana,  and  remained  five  years,  and  re- 
moved to  Vermilion  count}7,  Illinois,  in  1865,  and  settled  on  the  farm 
where  he  now  resides.  By  his  industry  he  is  now  the  owner  of  a  farm 
of  two  hundred  and  twelve  acres,  which  he  has  under  good  cultivation. 
He  became  united  with  the  Lutheran  church  at  seventeen  years  of  age. 
He  also  is  a  member  of  the  A.F.&  A.M.,  and  his  political  views  are 
democratic. 

H.  Yerkes,  Fairmount,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  was  born  in  Warren 
county,  Ohio,  on  the  7th  of  May,  1840.  His  parents  were  natives  of 
Pennsylvania,  who  came  to  Ohio  in  an  early  day.  They  went  to  Foun- 
tain count}7,  Indiana,  where  he  (Jacob  Yerkes)  died  in  1866.  His  wife 
(Ann)  now  resides  in  Indiana.  Mr.  Yerkes,  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
took  an  active  part  in  the  late  war,  enlisting  in  August,  1862,  in  Co. 
H,  63d  Ind.  Vol.  Inf.,  and  served  until  the  close  of  the  war.  He  was 
in  the  following  battles :  Besaca,  Burnt  Hickory,  Peachtree  Creek, 
Kenesaw  Mountain,  the  engagements  around  Atlanta,  Jonesboror 
Spring  Hill,  Franklin,  Nashville,  Tennessee,  Wilmington,  Golds- 
boro,  and  other  minor  engagements.  He  was  mustered  out  in  July,. 
1865,  and  came  to  Vermilion  county.  Mr.  Yerkes  has  been  twice 
married:  first,  on  the  21st  of  September,  1865,  to  Miss  Hester  E. 
Prevo,  who  was  born  in  1839  in  Fountain  county,  Indiana,  and  died  on 
the  7th  of  September,  1877.  Mr.  Yerkes  was  married,  in  1878,  to  Miss 
Mary  O.  Noble,  also  a  native  of  Indiana,  born  in  1860.  Mr.  Yerkes 
has  six  children  by  former  wife:  Spencer  G.,  Alice  M.,  Ella  M..  Annie 
L.,  Susie  and  Hattie.  He  served  as  township  supervisor  five  years. 
He  is  a  staunch  republican,  and  he  and  his  wife  are  members  of  the 
M.  E.  church. 

I.  N.  Wilcox,  Fairmount,  merchant,  was  born  in  Ross  county,  Ohio, 
on  the  18th  of  November,  1847,  and  came  west  in  1866,  locating  in 
Fairmount.  He  engaged  in  his  present  business,  and  at  the  present 
time  is  doing  as  large  a  business  as  any  firm  in  the  county  outside  of 
Danville.  In  October,  1867,  he  was  united  in  marriage  to  Miss  M. 
Burroughs,  daughter  of  Wilson  Burroughs,  one  of  the  old  and  respected 
citizens  of  the  county.  She  was  born  in  the  county  on  the  21st  of 
January,  1848.  They  have  one  son,  Harry  B.  Mr.  Wilcox  served  in 
the  late  rebellion  in  Co.  A,  49th  O.  V.  I.,  and  was  in  several  engage- 
ments. 

D.  Guilder,  Fairmount,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  section  8,  was  born 
in  Fairfield  county,  Ohio,  in  1825,  and  came  with  his  parents  to  Madi- 
son county,  Indiana,  in  1838.  His  father,  Henry  Gunder,  was  a  native 
of  Lancaster  county,  Pennsylvania.     He  was  in  the  war  of  1812,  and 


VANCE   TOWNSHIP.  999 

departed  this  life  in  1864.  Mr.  D.  Guilder's  mother,  Elizabeth  Sisco,  was 
a  native  of  England,  and  came  to  America  in  an  early  day,  and  died  on 
the  8th  of  September,  1858.  The  subject  of  this  sketch  was  married  in 
1849,  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Hugel,  a  native  of  Madison  county,  Indiana, 
born  in  1832.  Her  father,  Ephraim  Hugel,  was  a  native  of  Ohio,  born 
in  1803  and  died  in  1842.  Her  mother,  Susanna,  was  born  in  Penn- 
sylvania in  1804  and  died  in  1869.  Mr.  Gunder  has  a  family  of  nine 
living  children :  Alice,  wife  of  J.  J.  Howard  ;  Susie,  wife  of  0.  W. 
Baldwing;  Joseph  N.,  James  H.,  Samuel  H.  Jennie  B.,  Mary  A., 
Julia  M.  and  Arthur  H.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gunder  are  members  of  the 
Baptist  church.  He  owns  a  fine  farm  of  three  hundred  and  forty  acres, 
with  good  improvements.  He  is  a  member  of  the  A.F.  &  A.M.  frater- 
nity, and  is  a  practical  farmer. 

John  K.  Musselman,  Fairmount,  was  born  in  Carroll  county,  Indi- 
ana, in  1843.  His  parents,  Jacob  and  Catharine  Musselman,  came  to 
that  county  in  an  early  day,  where  they  remained  until  the  death  of 
his  mother  (1850).  They  were  natives  of  Pennsylvania,  and  of  Ger- 
man descent.  Mr.  Musselman  remained  at  home  until  man  grown, 
spending  most  of  his  time  in  learning  telegraphy  and  the  railroad  busi- 
ness, which  he  has  followed  mostly  since  1865.  He  came  to  Vermilion 
county  in  1869,  and  located  in  Fairmount,  where  he  became  one  of  the 
active  and  energetic  citizens.  He  has  creditably  held  the  office  of 
supervisor  of  Vance  township  for  two  terms,  and  is  the  present  incum- 
bent. In  1873  he  took  a  life-partner,  his  choice  being  Miss  Mary  E. 
Timmons,  daughter  of  Capt.  Timmons,  one  of  the  early  settlers  pf  the 
county.  The  result  of  their  happy  marriage  is  two  children  :  Lewis  W. 
and  Maudie. 

G.  W.  Baird,  Fairmount,  farmer,  section  18,  son  of  Joseph  and  Eliz- 
abeth Baird,  was  born  in  Brown  county,  Ohio,  on  the  18th  of  October, 
1851,  and  came  to  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  in  1869.  On  the  1st  of 
January,  1871,  he  was  married  to  Miss  Lydia  E.  Davis,  daughter  of 
"William  Davis,  who  is  one  of  the  early  settlers  in  the  county.  She 
was  born  in  the  county  on  the  23d  of  May,  1852.  They  are  the  parents 
of  one  son  and  one  daughter:  Harry  D.  and  Nellie  M. 

Z.  Stalons,  dealer  in  groceries  and  provisions,  Fairmount,  was  born 
in  Orange  county,  Indiana,  in  1854,  and  came  to  Vermilion  county, 
Illinois,  with  his  parents  in  1870.  He  was  united  in  marriage  on  the 
7th  of  April,  1878,  to  Miss  Nellie  McFarland,  a  native  of  Illinois. 
Mr.  Stalons  is  a  member  of  the  A.F.  &  A.M.,  Fairmount  Lodge, 
590. 

B.  F.  Mott,  Fairmount,  physician,  was  born  in  Miami  county,  Ohio, 
on  the  17th  of  April,  1851,  and  removed  with  his  parents  to  Cham- 


1000  HISTOEY    OF    VEKMILION    COUNTY. 

paign  count}',  Ohio,  in  1857.  In  1874  he  came  to  Fairmount.  Mr. 
Mott  attended  medical  college  in  1872  and  1873,  and  graduated  in 
1874.  He  is  not  an  old  physician  in  the  county,  but,  by  honest  and 
never  tiring  attention  to  his  patients,  he  now  has  a  practice  that  will  do 
credit  to  some  of  the  older  physicians  of  the  county.  On  the  30th  of 
August,  1878,  he  was  married  to  Katie  E.  Adams. 

G.  W.  Ryan,  Fairmount,  railroad  agent,  was  born  in  Hamilton 
county,  Ohio,  on  the  10th  of  May,  1853,  where  he  received  his  early 
education,  and  was  in  the  employ  of  the  Pacific  railroad  for  some  time. 
He  came  west,  and  engaged  with  the  Wabash  railroad,  in  Champaign 
county,  and  in  1877  came  to  Fairmount,  where  he  has  had  charge  of 
the  office,  as  express,  freight  and  ticket  agent,  ever  since. 


BUTLER  TOWNSHIP. 

Butler  township  embraces  all  the  northwest  corner  of  the  county 
which  is  in  town  23  north,  range  13  west,  of  the  2d  principal  meridian, 
all  the  east  half  of  town  23,  range  14,  two  tiers  of  sections  off"  the  north 
end  of  town  22  north,  range  13,  and  six  sections  in  the  northeast  cor- 
ner of  town  22,  range  14,  making  in  all  seven t}M;wo  sections,  or  equal 
to  two  full  congressional  townships.  The  land  was  originally  entirely 
prairie,  and,  although  embracing  some  of  the  finest  land  in  the  county, 
did  not  come  into  cultivation  till  1855,  and  as  late  as  1872  broad  strips 
of  its  rich  prairie  had  not  been  vexed  with  the  plow;  indeed,  as  late  as 
this  present  writing  some  of  the  beautiful  high  rolling  prairie  along 
the  line  separating  towns  23  and  22  is  yet  in  prairie-grass,  and  scores 
of  the  farms  south  and  southeast  of  Rankin  are  guiltless  of  either  fence 
or  hedge  to  mark  their  boundary  lines.  No  considerable  stream  crosses 
the  town.  From  its  southern  side  the  little  streams  and  rivulets 
stretch  away  toward  the  middle  fork  of  the  Vermilion,  from  its  eastern 
border  they  run  into  the  North  Fork,  while  from  its  northern  half  the 
water  sheds  to  the  head-waters  of  the  Illinois  River.  High,  rolling, 
rich  and  healthy,  it  can  but  seem  wonderful,  and  must  ever  remain  in 
a  great  measure  mysterious,  how  the  land  of  such  eligible  portions  of 
the  county  were  left  uninhabited  until  long  after  the  western  half  of 
the  state,  and  Missouri,  Iowa,  and  portions  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska, 
were  largely  filling  up  with  settlers.  People  living  along  the  Middle 
Fork,  not  twenty  miles  away,  pulled  up  and  moved  to  Missouri,  on 
poorer  land  than  could  be  found  within  half  a  day's  ride  of  their 
homes,  and  this,  after  it  had  been  demonstrated  that  people  could  live 


BUTLER   TOWNSHIP.  1001 

on  the  open  prairie  with  less  labor,  just  as  much  comfort,  more  health, 
and  surer  returns  for  their  labor,  than  on  timber  farms.  It  cannot  be 
pleaded  in  this  case  that  these  prairies  were  unknown.  The  Chicago 
road,  the  great  highway  of  travel  before  railroads  were  built,  passed 
directly  over  this  beautiful  tract,  and  the  road  leading  from  Danville 
to  Ottawa,  along-  which  thousands  of  men  went  from  the  Illinois  River 
country  to  Danville  to  enter  land,  and  the  road  from  Attica  to  Bloom- 
ington,  along  which  hundreds  of  people  passed  each  year,  visiting  their 
old  homes  in  Indiana  and  Ohio,  both  crossed  this  arm  of  the  Grand 
Prairie.  The  old  scholars  had  an  adage  which,  being  liberally  trans- 
lated, runs,  "In  matters  of  taste  there  is  no  use  in  disputing."  Just  so; 
there  is  no  law  against  a  man's  going  through  the  woods  and  picking 
up  a  crooked  stick  beyond. 

The  Lafayette,  Bloomington  &  Muncie  railroad  runs  directly  through 
the  township  from  east  to  west,  on  a  line  nearly  one  and  one  half  miles 
from  its  northern  line,  having  on  it  the  three  little  villages  of  East 
Lynne,  named  from  the  charming  novel  of  Mrs.  Anna  S.  Stephens, 
Rankin,  named  from  Hon.  David  Rankin,  the  proprietor  of  a  portion 
of  the  town  and  of  a  large  amount  of  land  in  the  neighborhood,  and 
Pellsville,  named  from  W.  H.  Pells,  who  was  co-proprietor  of  it. 

The  township  itself  was  named,  at  the  suggestion  of  the  first  super- 
visor, in  1864,  from  the  cock-eyed  hero  who  had  solved  the  difficult 
questions  of  the  war,  each  as  it  arose,  with  as  much  ease  as  he  would 
have  settled  a  quiet  dinner  in  his  own  house.  He  had  equipped  and 
marched  the  first  brigade  of  volunteers  to  beleaguered  Washington  (or 
had  commanded  the  march),  in  less  than  three  days  after  notice  had 
reached  him,  and  in  less  than  two  days  from  the  date  of  his* selection 
by  Governor  Andrew  for  the  position.  He  had  captured  Baltimore 
one  night,  while  the  war  department  was  making  a  plan  of  attack, 
which  it  was  expected  he  would  join  in  carrying  out  the  next  week. 
He  had  solved  the  most  difficult  question  of  what  was  to  be  done  with 
the  negroes  who  continually  came  into  our  lines,  under  the  constitu- 
tional provision  requiring  the  return  of  fugitives  owing  service  or 
labor,  by  calling  them  "contraband  of  war."  He  had  hung  the  only 
rebel  that  ever  was  hung  in  America  (except  old  John  Brown  and  his 
party),  and  had  made  the  women  stop  making  faces  at  the  "  boys  in 
blue,"  and  had  just  secured  a  peaceful  election  in  New  York  city. 
Next  to  Grant,  whose  name  had  been  applied  to  the  adjoining  town- 
ship, he  was  the  hero  of  the  day;  so  Win.  M.  Tennery  thought,  and  so 
his  loyal  neighbors  thought  when  they  gave  his  name  to  their  home. 

The  first  farming  done  in  the  township  was  probably  in  the  year 


1002  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

1854,  and  these  were  the  pioneers,  so  far  as  the  memory  of  old  settlers 
now  living  here  serves  to  call  it  to  mind.* 

In  the  year  1854  Mr.  J.  H.  Schwartz  and  several  neighbors  came 
from  Ohio  to  Danville,  and  there  found  Parker  Dresser  doing  a  "land 
office  business."  It  was  busy  times  just  then.  He  entered  for  the 
party  the  following  tracts  of  land :  Lot  1  of  northwest  quarter  of  sec- 
tion 30,  for  Mr.  Schwartz;  the  south  half  of  19  (311  acres),  for  Mr. 
Yates  (whose  son  came  here  and  lived  on  it  till  his  wife  died,  and  then 
went  back  to  Ohio) ;  the  east  half  and  lot  1  of  the  southwest  quarter  of 
section  30,  for  Phoebe  Bennett ;  the  west  half  of  the  southwest  quarter 
of  section  29,  for  Mr.  Bennett,  and  lot  2  of  the  northwest  quarter  of 
30  for  another  party.  Mr.  Bennett  did  not  come  here  to  live,  and 
never  saw  the  land  but  once.  Mr.  Schwartz  moved  on  his  purchase 
and  lives  on  it  still.  He  was  a  man  of  fair  education,  of  moderate 
financial  resources,  but  large  heart  and  strong  and  abiding  faith.  He 
found  a  new  country,  destitute  not  only  of  crops  and  stock,  but 
destitute  of  the  institutions  of  religion  and  education.  His  son-in- 
law,  Lewis  John,  settled  near  him  on  section  20,  in  1859,  and  remains 
there  yet.  The  year  he  came  here  to  live  followed  close  on  the 
years  in  which  the  large  wheat  crops  were  so  general  through  the 
state.  Cases  were  numerous  where  a  single  crop  of  wheat  had  paid 
the  cost  of  purchasing  the  land,  tilling,  fencing,  harvesting  and  mar- 
keting the  crop,  leaving  a  balance  to  the  credit  side  of  the  account. 
The  crop,  of  course,  was  an  exceptional  one;  but  that  such  did  really 
grow  is  beyond  dispute.  This  was  sent  to  Ohio  and  other  eastern 
states,  and  many  came  here  in  1855  expecting  to  get  rich  on  wheat 
raising  alone.  Cases  were  plenty  where  farmers  who  were  well-to-do 
ran  in  debt  for  additional  land,  intending  to  pay  for  it  out  of  the  next 
wheat  crop.  Men,  in  the  height  of  their  excitement  over  wheat, 
sowed  it  on  the  last  vear's  stubble,  and  harrowed  it  in  without  even 
plowing  the  ground.  Of  course  the  subsequent  successive  failures  of 
the  crop  ruined  many  farmers,  crippled  others,  sent  some  to  the  asy- 
lum, and  convinced  all  that  this  was  not  in  the  "  wheat  belt." 

The  hard  times  which  followed  the  financial  crash  of  1857  was  fully 
as  severe  on  the  new  settlers  of  Butler  as  had  been  the  previous  one  of 
1837  on  those  who  were  then  in  the  timber  belt  along  the  Middle 
Fork.  Corn  became  the  principal  article  of  food.  Money  there  was 
none.  The  entire  paper  currency  of  the  west  was  based  upon  the  faith 
which  the  people  had  in  bankers,  many  of  which  were  either  foreign  to 

*The  writer  would  like  to  give  credit  to  Mr.  Schwartz  and  Mr.  McCune  for  their 
assistance  in  furnishing  —  the  former,  the  interesting  statistics  of  the  churches,  and  the 
latter,  of  the  early  settlers. 


BUTLEK   TOWNSHIP.  1003 

the  state,  or  mere  myths.  Michigan  "  red-dog,"  Georgia  "  wild-cat," 
Missouri  "  stump-tail,"  were  the  nicknames  which  were  applied  to  the 
various  kinds  of  bank-bills,  which  were  taken  at  par  one  day,  and  re- 
fused at  a  heavy  discount  the  next.  Never  was  a  people  so  swindled 
with  imaginary  money.  Bank-note  detectors  were  consulted  by  every 
business  man  whenever  he  received  money,  to  try  to  discover  whether 
it  was  safe  to  take.  The  men  of  the  present  generation  who  complain 
of  "  hard  times  "  may  have  suffered,  but  they  know  next  to  nothing  of 
the  suffering  which  their  fathers  passed  through  then.  Taxes  were  all 
payable  in  specie,  and  light  as  they  were  then,  it  was  more  difficult  to 
obtain  the  hard  money  with  which  to  pay  them  then  than  now,  not- 
withstanding they  are  ten  times  as  great. 

Daniel  Stamp  came  from  New  York  and  bought  land  in  sec- 
tion 14  (23-14),  in  1855.  He  sold  to  A.  B.  Lucas,  and  he  to  Samuel 
Johnson.  Lucas  lives  in  Pellsville.  Johnson  sold  to  Williams,  and 
went  to  Kansas.  Fred  Stamp  settled  about  the  same  time,  and  made 
a  farm  on  section  15.  He  lives  now  in  Paxton.  James  Dixon  settled 
on  section  11,  where  Mrs.  Johnson  now  resides.  John  Jones  the  same 
time  made  a  farm  on  section  19,  just  north  of  Schwartz.  Caleb  T. 
Beals  came  in  1856,  and  took  land  in  section  3  (22-13).  He  still  lives 
near  there,  in  section  9.  John  Dopps  commenced  farming  in  section 
15  (23-14)  in  1855.  He  afterward  sold  out  and  went  to  Kansas.  Da- 
vid Dopps  commenced  a  farm  in  the  same  section.  These  men  were 
pioneers  of  the  Methodist  church,  and  the  first  class  was  formed  at  the 
house  of  their  brother  Eli,  across  the  line  in  Ford  county. 

J.  W.  Shannon  came  in  1855,  and  took  up  land  in  section  35  (23- 
14).  He  lived  there  twenty  years,  and  now  resides  in  Perrysville, 
Indiana.  Mr.  Clark  about  the  same  time  settled  on  the  south  side  of 
section  14.  In  1857  C.  McCune  came  from  Ohio,  and  took  up  land  in 
section  7,  one  mile  east  of  where  Rankin  now  is,  where  he  resided  till 
five  years  ago,  when  he  made  Rankin  his  home.  Wm,  I.  Allen,  who 
had  been  a  pioneer  in  Grant  township,  purchased  land  in  1855,  north 
of  East  Lynne,  and  had  two  men  there  improving  the  farm.  Ruffin 
Clark  came  from  Indiana  in  1856,  and  settled  on  section  28.  He  was 
a  man  of  intelligence,  and  made  his  mark  on  the  community.  He  took 
a  lively  interest  in  schools.  He  died  in  1869,  and  his  family  went  back 
to  Indiana  after  a  few  years.  Geo.  Mains  came  to  live  on  section  21 
in  1856.  He  still  resides  there.  Daniel  S.  French  came  to  the  same 
section  in  1857.  He  now  lives  in  Indiana,  and  is  editing  a  paper  in 
Tippecanoe  county.  He  still  owns  the  farm.  Jacob  Swisher  came  to 
section  12  (22-13)  in  1855.  He  was  a  public-spirited  man,  and  well 
known  throughout  this  part  of  the  county.    Jesse  Piles,  who  also  came 


1004  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

here  early,  settled  in  section  10  (22-14),  in  the  extreme  southwestern 
part  of  the  township.  Jonathan  Done  in  1856  settled  in  section  15 
(23-14).  He  afterward  removed  to  Paxton.  John  Pursley,  in  1857, 
purchased  half  a  section  in  11,  near  Rankin,  and  continued  farming 
there  until  he  enlisted  in  the  army,  in  Allen's  company.  He  had  been 
in  the  engagement  which  resulted  in  the  surrender  of  Fort  Henry,  and 
while  at  Donaldson  was  sent  back  to  Fort  Henry  for  ammunition.  The 
fatigue  of  the  trip  was  too  much  for  him,  and  he  gave  out  and  died. 
He  left  two  sons,  who  are  worthy  and  respected  young  men. 

Thomas  Towe  commenced  about  1856  to  improve  a  farm  on  section 
7  (23-13).  Along1*  in  the  fall  sometime,  Towe  and  McCune  had  gone 
to  Middle  Fork, —  McCune  to  get  wood  and  Towe  for  a  load  of  sand. 
This  timber,  twelve  miles  away,  was  the  nearest  fuel  they  could  obtain. 
Thev  knew  nothing  of  coal  at  that  dav.  McCune  had  a  ffood  team  of 
horses  and  his  partner  was  driving  three  yoke  of  cattle  —  of  course  he 
had  to  go  on  foot.  Night  overtaking  them  they  became  completely 
lost.  To  be  lost  on  the  prairie  at  night  is  the  nearest  thing  to  being 
"finally  lost"  that  one  experiences  in  this  life.  There  is  absolutely  no 
clue  by  which  the.  most  skillful  detective  could  work  out.  Especially 
is  this  so  when  the  wind  does  not  blow.  Teams  are  liable  to  walk 
around  in  a  circle,  and  in  the  absence  of  any  light,  which  can  be  seen 
on  such  occasions  many  miles,  the  wanderers  not  unfrequentl}-  find  it 
necessary  to  spend  the  night  on  the  prairie.  In  this  case  the  benighted 
travelers  set  to  hallooing  with  all  their  might,  and  after  an  hour  of 
such  exercise  they  were  heard  by  Mr.  Stamp,  who  fired  a  gun  to  attract 
their  attention.  As  soon  as  they  could  ascertain  the  direction  of  this 
first  "gun  at  daybreak"  they  started  for  it  at  double-quick;  Towe 
ahead  leading  the  van  with  his  steers,  and  McCune  following  like  a 
general  officer  on  dress  parade,  glad  to  ride  where  Towe  should  lead. 
They  came  to  one  of  those  ponds  which  at  that  time  were  numerous  on 
these  prairies,  and  the  leader,  fearing  to  turn  to  the  right  or  the  left 
lest  he  should  lose  his  direction,  plunged  in  knee  deep,  yelling  at  the 
top  of  his  voice  to  keep  his  courage  up,  and  to  keep  their  gunner 
acquainted  with  their  whereabouts.  McCune  rode  out  the  storm  like  a 
major,  and  never  looked  on  that  pond  after  that  without  almost  fancy- 
ing he  could  see  Towe  knee-deep  in  the  flood.  Mr.  Towe  returned  to 
New  York,  and  John,  who  remained  to  carry  on  the  farm,  went  to  the 
army  and  was  killed.  'Squire  Bowers,  in  returning  from  Loda  one 
night,  got  lost  and  became  mired  in  a  pond.  He  took  off  the  horses 
and  walked  around  all  night  to  keep  from  being  numbed  with  the  cold. 
It  was  customary  when  the  father  of  the  family  was  belated,  to  place  a 
candle  in  the  window  which  looked  in  the  direction  he  was  to  come, 


BUTLER   TOWNSHIP.  1005 

and  many  a  man  has  been  saved  a  night  on  the  prairie  by  "  keeping  the 
lower  light  burning." 

The  nearest  mill  for  a  time  was  at  Myersville,  until  Persons  pur- 
chased and  refitted  the  Ross  Mill.  The  nearest  trading  point  was  at 
Loda,  twelve  miles  north,  which  was  a  famous  point  for  trade  for  all 
this  country  until  the  distillery  burned  and  the  building  of  the  rail- 
road drew  merchants  away  from  there,  until  now  there  is  nothing  left 
of  its  former  business  importance. 

In  the  early  days  the  people  here  did  not  raise  many  cattle  for  some 
reason.  As  previously  stated,  all  tried  wheat  for  a  time,  until  con- 
tinued failures  used  up  all  they  had  kept  for  seed,  without  any  return. 
Still  they  bought  seed  and  sowed  again.  Corn  and  hogs  were  the  sta- 
ple. Hogs  almost  always  brought  a  paying  price,  and  it  was  before 
cholera  had  been  invented.  Stock  and  corn  are  the  principal  staples  of 
the  farmer  yet.  Flax  has  been  raised  some,  and  is  considered  a  fair 
crop.  To  the  renter  it  is  considered  an  available  crop,  for  it  "  turns  " 
so  much  earlier  than  corn  that  it  enables  him  to  get  something  to  live 
on  several  months  before  he  can  for  corn. 

Land  was  worth  from  $2.50  to  $5  per  acre.  Some  sold  as  high  as 
$9  before  the  railroad  was  built,  and  some  sold  in  anticipation  of  that 
building  as  high  as  $12.  Eight  dollars  was  probably  a  fair  average  for 
land  two  years  before  the  railroad  was  built.  Twenty  can  hardly  be 
called  an  exorbitant  price  now. 

McCune  says  that  as  late  as  1857  he  has  seen  here  on  this  prairie  as 
many  as  twenty  deer  at  a  time,  and  at  one  time  he  saw  on  section  7 
fifty-four  in  one  lot  going  in  a  northwesterly  direction,  and  wolves 
were  as  thick  as  rabbits.  As  late  as  1858,  of  a  flock  of  sheep,  which 
had  got  away  from  a  man  living  north  of  here,  eighty  were  killed  in  a 
single  night.  Badgers  were  also  plenty.  They  were  as  large  as  a  dog 
and  stronger,  with  a  thick  neck,  and  too  strong  for  any  dog  to  master. 
Rattlesnakes  were  so  plent}^  that  on  a  single  farm  a  hundred  were 
killed  in  a  single  season.  It  is  a  wonder  that  more  people  were  not 
killed  by  them.  Dogs  that  were  bitten  by  them  seemed  to  know  how  to 
cure  themselves.  Prairie  mud  was  a  very  certain  cure.  They  were 
really  a  dangerous  neighbor,  yet  the  children  went  barefooted  to  school 
or  hunting  strawberries  as  now.  They  seem  as  adverse  to  civilization 
as  any  of  their  wild  neighbors,  and  as  the  prairie-grass  was  killed  out 
by  being  plowed  and  cultivated  they  disappeared.  The  last  seen  of 
them  here  was  about  1870.  It  is  doubted  whether  any  survived  the 
shriek  of  the  locomotive  or  the  high  taxes  of  modern  civilization.  We 
used  to  have  squirrels  here,  red  and  gray,  not  unlike  those  in  the  tim- 
ber but  smaller,  and  with  shorter  tails.    Prairie  chickens  were  of  course 


1006  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

very  plenty,  and  the  reverberating  "  boom  "  of  their  matins,  ushering 
in  an  October  morning,  will  never  be  forgotten  by  the  old  settlers,  and 
probably  never  heard  in  its  fullness  by  the  new.  Sand-hill  cranes  were 
very  numerous,  as  they  nested  here  in  the  ponds  on  this  divide,  and,  if 
undisturbed,  would  make  havoc  of  the  corn  in  the  spring,  taking  two 
rows  at  a  time,  as  clean  as  any  man  could  root  it  up,  and  in  the  fall 
would  congregate  in  great  numbers  if  not  driven  away. 

The  first  Methodist  class  formed  here  was,  according  to  Mr.  Schwartz' 
recollection,  about  1855.  It  was  formed  before  he  came  here  to  live, 
at  the  house  of  Eli  Dopps.  It  was  an  interesting  class,  and  grew  into 
three  separate  churches:  that  at  Schwartz,  at  Rankin  and  at  Pellsville. 
At  the  time  of  its  formation  it  consisted  of  sixteen  members.  C. 
Atkinson  was  preacher  in  charge,  and  John  Vincent  assistant.  It  be- 
longed to  the  Danville  circuit,  and  there  was  no  church  in  all  this 
country  but  the  "  Wallace  Chapel  "  at  Blue  Glass,  and  the  old  log- 
house  called  Partlow's  Church.  The  preaching  appointment  was  each 
alternate  week ;  and  it  was  a  terrible  winter,  as  all  remember,  so  that 
Atkinson  did  not  reach  his  appointment  all  winter, —  but  Vincent  was 
very  regular.  Green  bury  Garner,  Milo  Butler  and  W.  H.  McVey  were 
on  the  Danville  circuit  before  1861.  Mr.  Elliott  was  presiding  elder, 
and,  after  him,  L.  Pilnor.  After  this  W.  H.  H.  Moore  was  elder. 
Sampson  Shinn  and  Enoch  Jones,  preachers,  John  Helmick,  assistant, 
J.  S.  Barger  and  John  Long,  preachers  in  charge.  In  1865  the  Blue 
Glass  circuit  was  formed,  and  Schwartz  school-house  was  built.  S. 
Shinnn  was  presiding  elder.  The  class  was  divided,  and  those  living 
near  here  were  served  with  regular  preaching  at  this  school-house, 
which  appointment  belonged  to  the  Blue  Grass  circuit,  and  those  over 
by  Dopp's  were  in  the  Paxton  circuit.  The  society  at  East  Lynne  was 
formed  in  1869.  This  church  was  built  in  1875.  It  is  28x46,  and 
cost,  painted  and  seated,  $2,000.  Some  help,  to  build  this  beautiful 
chapel,  came  from  Danville,  but  most  of  it  was  raised  within  them- 
selves. The  present  }7ear  Mr.  Davis  is  pastor.  A  Sabbath-school  is 
maintained  in  summer. 

Prairie  Chapel,  Christian  church,  was  built  near  Swisher's,  at  the 
extreme  southeastern  corner  of  the  township,  about  1861.  Elder  Raw- 
ley  Martin  used  to  preach  there,  as  he  did  for  }'ears  all  over  this  country. 
He  was  for  many  j^ears  the  pioneer  preacher  in  this  denomination.  It 
is  a  pleasant  church,  and  the  membership  is  about  forty-five.  Elders 
Stipp  and  Charles  Cosat  preach  there  alternately.  The  organization 
of  this  church  was  effected  at  Blue  Grass,  in  1859,  by  Elder  Martin. 
Preaching  was  continued  for  some  time  at  the  Blue  Grass  school-house. 
Jacob  Swisher  was  one  of  the  most  influential  members  of  the  church, 


BUTLER   TOWNSHIP.  1007 

and  when  they  came  to  build  he  induced  the  building  near  his  resi- 
dence.    He  was  an  elder  in  the  church. 

A  United  Brethren  church  has  been  recently  formed  by  Mr.  Ziegler 
when  he  was  in  charge  of  the  Vermilion  circuit.  Mr.  Scott  is  the  pre- 
sent preacher.  Mrs.  Duncan  is  class-leader.  They  propose  to  build 
soon  on  land  that  has  been  donated  by  Mr.  Biddel,  of  Indianapolis. 

Before  the  building  of  the  railroad  through  this  town  its  open  prairie 
attracted  the  attention  of  a  gentleman  whose  large  experience,  business 
capacity  and  ready  means  well  qualified  him  to  make  a  large  venture 
in  fanning  operations  here,  which  has  proved  of  the  utmost  importance 
to  the  interests  of  this  prairie  town.  Mr.  David  Rankin  had  been 
largely  engaged  in  cattle-farming  and  feeding  in  Henderson  county,  in 
this  state,  and  had  amassed  a  comfortable  fortune  before  he  commenced 
his  operations  here.  He  was  a  gentleman  of  broad  views,  wide  ac- 
quaintance, and  the  strictest  business  habits.  Associating  with  him 
his  relative,  W.  A.  Rankin,  he  purchased  eight  sections  of  land  lying 
near  together  here,  and  commenced  improving  it,  in  1867.  They  built 
a  fine  residence  on  section  2,  which  has  been  beautifully  surrounded  by 
trees,  changing  the  bleak  prairie  of  only  a  few  years  ago  into  one  of 
the  most  delightful  shady  resorts  to  be  found  in  this  part  of  the  coun- 
try, which  has  been  the  home  of  the  junior  partner  since  then.  They 
put  the  land  into  cultivation  as  fast  as  possible,  and  secured  the  loca- 
tion of  a  depot  at  Rankin. 

There  were  before  the  railroad  was  built  two  post-offices,  which 
were  more  or  less  in  Butler,  i.  e.,  they  were  hanging  on  the  border  of 
the  township.  Jesse  Piles  was  postmaster  of  Circle  for  a  while,  and 
Dr.  O.  F.  Taylor  at  Sugar  Creek,  which  before  the  railroad  was  built 
was  moved  to  what  is  now  Pellsville.  Butler  was  set  off  as  a  township 
in  1864,  at  which  time  Wm.  M.  Tennery  was  supervisor  of  the  united 
townships.  At  the  first  town  meeting  held,  Ambrose  Armantrout  was 
moderator.  The  following  is  a  list  of  the  township  officers  elected 
since  its  erection.  The  town  has  never  had  but  three  supervisors  and 
three  clerks. 

Date.        Vote.  Supervisor.  Clerk.  Assessor.  Collector. 

1865. . . .  37. . .  .J.  H.  Schwartz.. E.  S.  Pope W.  M.  Thomas. .  .D.  A.  Schwartz. 

1866....  45.... J.  R.  Bowers... E.  S.  Pope Wm.  Glaze Wm.  Glaze. 

1867 45 J.  R.  Bowers. .  .J.  J.  Johnson  —  J.  J.  Johnson E.  S.  Pope. 

1868....  46.... J.  R,  Bowers... E.  S.  Pope Wm.  Glaze Wm.  Glaze. 

1869....  85.... J.  R.  Bowers... J.  J.  Johnson.... Wm.  Glaze Wm.  Glaze. 

1870. . .  .104. . .  .J.  R.  Bowers. .  .D.  A.  Schwartz..  Wm.  Glaze Wm.  Glaze. 

1871. . . .  59. . .  .J.  R.  Bowers. .  .D.  A.  Schwartz.. Wm.  Glaze Wm.  Glaze. 

1872. . .  .107. . .  .B.  Butterfield. .  .D.  A.  Schwartz. .  John  Yeaael Wm.  Glaze. 

1873. . .  .118. . .  .B.  Butterfield. .  .D.  A.  Schwartz.. E.  G.  Hancock.  ...E.  G.  Hancock. 
1874...   124.... B.  Butterfield... J3.  A.  Schwartz.. John  Yeazei G.  W.  Smith. 


1008  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

Date.         Vote.  Supervisor.  Clerk.  Assessor.  Collector. 

1875 82. . .  B.  Butterfield. .  .D.  A.  Schwartz..  John  Yeazel W.  H.  Schwartz. 

1876 148 B.  Butterfield. .  .D.  A.  Schwartz. .  John  Yeazel W.  H.  Schwartz. 

1877 320 B.  Butterfield. .  .D.  A.  Schwartz..  John  Yeazel W.  H.  Schwartz. 

1878 250 B.  Butterfield. .  .D.  A.  Schwartz.. E.  H.  Beals W.  H.  Schwartz. 

1879 300 B.  Butterfield. .  .D.  A.  Schwartz.  .E.  H.  Beals Andrew  Sloan. 

Justices  of  the  peace  have  been  Jacob  Swisher,  Fred.  Stamp,  Hiram 
Armantrout,  J.  P.  Dopps,  David  Brown,  J.  R.  Bowers,  and  H.  M. 
Ludden. 

At  the  town  meeting  in  1866,  the  ordinance  forbidding  stock  to  run 
at  large  was  passed,  and  has  been  strictly  enforced,  to  the  great  saving 
of  those  who  were  trying  to  make  new  farms  on  the  prairie.  On  the 
11th  of  May,  1867,  at  a  special  meeting,  held  after  due  notice,  the 
town  voted,  by  46  to  5,  in  favor  of  giving  fourteen  hundred  dollars  to 
the  Chicago,  Danville  &  Yincennes  railroad.  Later  a  meeting  was 
held  on  the  subject  of  subscribing  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  to  the 
Lafayette,  Bloomington  &  Muncie  railroad,  which  resulted  in  favor  of 
such  subscription. 

In  1877  two  voting  precincts  were  established,  dividing  the  town, 
as  near  as  possible,  in  the  center,  the  eastern  precinct  voting  at  East 
Lynne,  and  the  western  at  Rankin.  This  makes  it  very  convenient  for 
the  voters,  as  it  was  fully  thirteen  miles  from  Jesse  Piles'  residence  to 
the  voting-place  at  East  Lynne,  when  the  election  happened  to  be  there. 

EAST   LYNNE. 

East  Lynne  was  laid  out  in  1872,  upon  land  belonging  to  W.  P. 
Moore,  in  the  southeast  quarter  of  section  10 ;  T.  J.  Yan  Brunt,  in  the 
northeast  quarter  of  10  ;  John  P.  Dopps,  in  northwest  quarter  of  11 ; 
and  Aiken  and  "White,  in  the  southwest  quarter  of  11  (23-13).  Dopps 
and  Moore  sold  out  about  this  time  and  moved  away.  The  plat  cov- 
ered about  forty  acres.  Henry  Ludden  was  appointed  first  station 
agent  and  first  postmaster,  and  was  the  first  to  commence  selling  goods 
there.     He  is  still  postmaster. 

The  first  business  house  was  built  by  Win.  McReynolds,  the  same 
now  occupied  as  a  hotel.  Palmer  Brothers  were  for  a  time  engaged  in 
mercantile  business.  N.  R.  Hall  opened  up  in  lumber,  hardware  and 
implements.  O.  E.  Wilson  commenced  the  grocery  trade,  and  con- 
tinued it  for  three  or  four  years.  Messrs.  Aiken,  Hall,  French,  Morey  and 
Gardner  have  been  engaged  in  purchasing  grain,  which  is  the  principal 
business.  A  good  two-story  frame  school-house  was  erected,  and  a 
good  school  has  been  maintained,  with  an  average  attendance  of  about 

fifty. 

The  Methodist  church  was  built  under  the  preaching  of  Rev.  J. 


BUTLER   TOWNSHIP.  1009 

Mairhead,  in  1875.  It  belonged,  as  now,  to  the  Hoopeston  circuit,  and 
preaching  is  regularly  maintained  by  the  preacher  on  that  circuit,  once 
in  two  weeks.     Rev.  Mr.  Haff  is  the  present  preacher  in  charge. 

The  Christian  church  occupies  the  building  on  the  alternate  Sab- 
bath, by  a  kind  of  christian  comity  which  is  fast  becoming  the  rule  in 
this  western  country,  Elder  Houghton  preaching,  and  the  entire  com- 
munity join  in  a  union  Sabbath-school,  which  is  well  maintained.  Mr. 
J.  S.  Hall  was  first  superintendent.  The  church  edifice  is  36  x46,  and 
is  a  very  neat  and  pleasant  building. 

A  Baptist  society  has  been  formed,  which  proposes  to  move  a  church 
building  now  at  Ludden  to  East  Lynne. 

The  grain  trade  has  been,  and  continues  to  be,  one  of  -considerable 
importance  here.  It  is  the  center  of  one  of  the  finest  corn-raising  dis- 
tricts in  the  county,  and  as  there  are  few  cattle-feeders  among  the  new 
farmers  in  this  vicinity,  most  of  the  corn  must  go  to  market.  A  large 
steam  elevator  is  about  being  erected  to  supply  a  long-felt  need,  and 
will  be  in  readiness  for  the  fall  trade. 

RANKIN. 

The  pleasant  little  village  of  Rankin,  which  to-day  is  as  quiet  as  a 
May  morning,  was  brought  into  being  amid  a  war  of  location,  which 
must  be  remembered  by  those  who  were  participators  in  it  as  long  as 
they  remember  anything.  The  "war"  was  long,  exhaustive  of  pa- 
tience, and  expensive,  finally  making  it  cost  each  party  all  its  results 
were  worth,  and  resulted  in  a  drawn  battle.  The  captains-general  who 
marshaled  the  hosts  were  W.  A.  Rankin  and  W.  H.  Pells,  the  former 
proprietor  of  a  large  landed  interest,  amounting  to  five  thousand  acres, 
the  latter  with  a  local  interest  of  only  about  eighty  acres,  but  a  seat  in 
the  board  of  directors  of  the  railroad  which  was  being  built.  The  con- 
struction company,  of  which  Col.  Snell  was  the  head,  had  the  right 
under  their  contract  to  designate  the  depot,  but  were  also  authorized 
to  receive  payment  for  the  same  sufficient  to  cover  the  expenses  of  side- 
track, depot,  switches,  etc.  When  Mr.  Rankin  went  to  negotiate  for 
the  location  he  presented  the  arguments  that  as  the  whole  township 
was  taxed  for  the  road,  a  location  should  be  selected  that  was  as  nearly 
equidistant  as  possible,  and  that  the  location  he  proposed  was  the 
same  distance  from  the  western  boundary  of  the  township  as  East 
Lynne  was  from  the  eastern  ;  that  more  of  the  people  of  this  township 
would  be  accommodated  by  this  location  than  any  other ;  that  he  was 
ready  at  any  time  to  pay  the  $2,500  required  for  putting  in  the  job, 
and  any  other  little  matters  required  could  be  easily  arranged.  On  the 
other  hand,  Mr.  Pells  plead  the  custom  of  the  road,  which  had  been  to 
64 


1010  HISTOKY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

permit  each  director  to  name  a  depot ;  that  every  other  director  had 
been  accorded  that  privilege,  and  that  the  farmers  around  the  proposed 
location  would  give  as  much  or  more  for  the  location.  The  citizens  in 
the  vicinity  of  Pellsville  raised  $3,500  by  subscription,  and  got  their 
depot ;  the  Rankins  paid  their  subscription,  and  got  theirs.  It  then 
became  a  question  for  the  railroad  company  to  decide  which  one  should 
be  retained,  and  Mr.  Boody  was  appealed  to  by  both  parties.  At  one 
stage  of  the  contest  a  proposition  was  made  to  locate  the  depot  midway 
between  the  two  present  sites.  This  was  accepted  by  one  partj7,  but 
declined  by  the  other.  After  the  matter  had  come  into  the  jurisdiction 
of  Mr.  Boody,  he  proposed  a  plan  which  was  very  likely'  to  decide  mat- 
ters, but  just  then  the  road  was  put  into  the  hands  of  a  receiver,  who 
decided  that  he  had  no  authority  in  such  matters,  and  would  not  decide. 
It  is  now  just  passing  into  the  hands  of  the  new  company,  and  the  old 
question  is  likely  to  come  up  like  a  chancery  case  for  final  hearing 
nearly  ten  years  after  its  inception.  The  village  of  Rankin  was  laid 
out  in  June,  1872,  by  A.  Bowman,  county  surveyor,  and  J.  R.  Bowers, 
making  twenty-four  blocks,  each  of  which  were  240  x  250  feet.  The 
streets  are  eighty-five  feet  wide.  It  was  laid  out  one-half  on  the  land 
of  D.  and  W.  A.  Rankin,  in  section  12,  and  one-quarter  on  each  of  the 
lands  of  George  Guthrie  and  Mrs.  Johnson.  The  Guthrie  portion  was 
sold  to  Prof.  Joseph  Carter,  of  Peru,  Illinois,  who  still  owns  it.  The 
two  open  strips  between  the  blocks  and  the  track  were  left  for  public 
use. 

The  first  building  was  commenced  by  Mr.  E.  "Wait,  who  lived  in 
Loda,  intending  to  go  into  the  grain  and  coal  trade.  Before  it  was 
completed  he  was  killed  on  the  construction  train  between  Paxton  and 
this  station.  Mr.  F.  A.  Finney  took  Wait's  interest  and  completed 
the  building,  which  was  afterward  sold  to  Mr.  Chapman.  Rankin  & 
Thompson  put  up  the  next  building  —  a  grain  office.  C.  H.  "Wy man 
put  up  a  store  and  put  in  a  stock  of  drugs.  Milton  Holmes,  from 
Bloomington,  built  most  of  the  buildings  that  were  put  up  the  first 
year.  He  and  his  hands  had  to  camp  out,  sleep  under  work-benches 
or  wherever  they  could  find  a  chance,  for  there  was  no  boarding  place 
here.  Cowell  &  Weaver  built  several.  There  was  no  lumber  yard 
here,  and  the  freight  from  Paxton  was  fifteen  dollars  per  car.  All  the 
stone  brought  here  for  building  purposes  came  from  Kankakee.  While 
the  construction  company  retained  the  control  of  the  road  no  less 
freight  could  be  obtained,  and  thus  it  was  necessary  to  pay  at  Paxton 
as  there  was  no  office  here.  Holmes  built  the  drug  store  and  grain 
office,  and  six  dwelling-houses  for  Mr.  Rankin,  a  store  and  the  hotel 
the  first  season.     His  family  were  the  first  persons  who  came  here  to 


BUTLEK   TOWNSHIP.  1011 

♦ 

live.    They  resided  in  the  Wait  house.    J.  T.  Wickham  was  the  second. 
They  resided  in  the  Wilson  house. 

The  Campbell  house,  which  was  put  up  among  the  very  first  build- 
ings, is  the  only  hotel  Rankin  has  ever  known.  It  was  built  for,  and 
has  been  continuously  occupied  by,  Mr.  J.  F.  Campbell,  and  is  without 
doubt  the  finest  hotel-building  in  the  county  outside  of  Danville.  His 
house,  barn,  ice-house,  etc.,  cost  $5,500. 

J.  R.  Bowers,  who,  since  the  first  opening  of  business  here,  has  been 
one  of  the  solid  men  of  Rankin,  came  to  make  a  farm  on  section  7,  two 
miles  southeast  of  Rankin,  in  1865.  He  remained  there  until  the  vil- 
lage was  commenced,  and  then  brought  the  old  flax  warehouse  from 
Blue  Grass  and  went  into  business.  Flax  had  been  for  some  years  a 
leading  crop  here,  and  to  accommodate  the  business  the  Lafayette  firm, 
which  was  interested  in  the  business,  had  erected  a  warehouse  at  Blue 
Grass,  which  was  then  the  great  central  point  of  trade  and  traffic.  The 
farmers  had  no  conveniences  for  saving  the  seed  from  one  year  to  an- 
other, as  it  required  careful  cleaning  and  safe  preservation  to  make  it 
fit  for  seed.  The  plan  adopted  by  the  firm  was  to  loan  seed  on  con- 
tract to  buy  the  crop.  This  required  a  warehouse,  and  as  soon  as  the 
railroad  was  built  it  was  moved  to  Rankin,  and  has  since  been  in  charge 
of  Mr.  Bowers. 

Rankin  &  Thompson  were  first  to  open  in  the  grain  trade.  D.  & 
W.  A.  Rankin  built  the  main  part  of  the  elevator,  30  x  52,  40  feet 
high.  They  sold  it  to  Birch  &  Hall,  a  firm  residing  and  doing  business 
in  Oxford,  Indiana,  who  have  increased  its  capacity,  and  now  run  it. 

The  war  between  Rankin  and  Pellsville  occasionally  broke  out  from 
its  smothered  condition.  The  first  store  building  put  up  in  the  latter 
place,  known  as  Scott's  store,  was  purchased  by  Mr.  Rankin  and  moved 
to  this  place  in  the  face  of  some  pretty  loud  prairie  breezes,  which  were 
kept  in  check  by  the  timely  aid  of  the  sheriff,  backed  by^the  broad 
warrant  of  the  "People  of  the  State  of  Illinois."  Henry  Jones  had 
kept  a  blacksmith-shop  a  few  miles  south  of  the  town,  and  got  out  the 
timbers  for  a  shop  and  brought  them  to  Rankin.  He  afterward  re- 
ceived a  "communication"  which  led  him  to  change  his  mind,  and  he 
hauled  it  away  to  Pellsville  amid  a  storm  of  anything  but  applause 
from  this  end,  and  the  booming  of  triumph  at  tl^e  other.  To  one  party 
Jones  was  several  degrees  below  an  ordinary  "nincompoop,"  to  the 
other,  the  hero  of  the  hour. 

The  United  Presbyterian  church  was  organized  in  1866.  Rev.  J.  D. 
Whitham,  of  the  Bloomington  Presbytery,  began  preaching  to|a  few 
scattered  families  a  few  miles  southwest  of  Rankin,  in  the  spring  of 
that  year.     In  September  following  he  organized  the  church  by  com- 


1012  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

mission  of  presbytery,  in  Ford  county,  consisting  of  nineteen  persons. 
James  Campbell  and  family,  William  McClintock  and  family,  J.  T. 
"Wilson  and  family,  were  of  the  number.  When  Rankin  was  laid  out, 
they  having  no  house  of  worship  in  the  county,  and  finding  in  the 
Messrs.  Rankin,  who  were  of  that  faith,  strong  friends,  decided  to 
build  here.  The  church  edifice  is  36x50,  and  cost  about  §3,500.  Rev. 
Mr.  Whitham  continued  to  preach  for  them  nine  years.  Rev.  J.  T. 
Torrance,  his  successor,  is  still  ministering  to  the  church  here.  An 
interesting  Sabbath-school  is  maintained. 

The  Methodist  church  was  built  in  1874,  at  a  cost  of  83,000.  It  is 
36x55,  and  nicely  seated.  .Rev.  W.  H.  Musgrove  was  the  first 
preacher.  A  large  Sabbath-school  is  maintained ;  Mr.  C.  Bowers, 
superintendent.  This  church  was  really  the  successor  of  the  first  class 
organized  in  this  town,  at  Dopp's  house,  which  appointment  was  long 
in  the  Paxton  circuit. 

The  S weeds,  who  are  quite  numerous  in  the  country  around  Rankin, 
have  organized  a  Lutheran  church,  and  have  purchased  the  school- 
house  for  a  church  building.  They  have  regular  service  in  their  own 
language,  bringing  their  pastor  from  Paxton  on  a  hand-car  after  he  has 
finished  his  service  there. 

The  Rankin  Lodge,  No.  725,  Freemasons,  was  instituted  June,  1874. 
The  first  officers  were:  John  S.  Hewins,  W.M. ;  B.  R.  Cole,  S.W. ; 
W.  H.  Schwartz,  J.W. ;  R.  W.  English,  Sec;  A.  D.  Beckley,  Treas., 
who,  with  Thomas  McGill,  James  Wardlow  and  George  Stamp  con- 
stituted the  charter  members.  The  present  officers  are:  J.  S.  Hewins, 
W.M. ;  B.  R.  Cole,  S.W. ;  J.  R.  Bowers,  J.W. ;  C.  W.  Babcock,  Sec. ; 
M.  D.  Sprague,  Treas. ;  M.  J.  Chapman,  Senior  Deacon. 

The  people  of  Rankin  have  been  very  fortunate  in  not  being  much 
troubled  with  places  where  the  "ardent"  is  dealt  out  for  drink.  They 
will  not  tolerate  anv  such  in  their  neighborhood.  The  Messrs.  Rankin 
are  decided  temperance  men,  and  in  this  view  they  are  in  hearty  sym- 
pathy with  the  unanimous  sentiment  of  their  little  village.  One  man, 
who  is  now  carrying  on  a  bakery  in  Leadville,  tried  the  temper  of  the 
citizens  by  engaging  in  the  traffic  for  a  short  time,  but  he  soon  found 
that  public  sentiment  would  not  permit  it,  and  left. 

PELLSVILLE. 

Pellsville  was  laid  out  and  platted  on  the  20th  jof  July,  1872,  by 
W.  H.  Pells,  of  Orleans  county,  Xew  York,  and  A.  F.  Wardlow.  It 
consisted  of  twenty-seven  blocks  in  the  north  half  of  southeast  quarter 
and  the  southeast  quarter  of  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  10  (23-14). 
Mr.  Pells  had  been  for  some  years  engaged  in  trade  at  Paxton,  and 


BUTLER   TOWNSHIP.  1013 

was  a  director  in  the  road  then  being  built.  There  was  a  post-office  at 
Sugar  Creek,  which  for  some  years  had  been  kept  at  the  store  at  the 
cross-roads,  south  of  Pellsville.  J.  W.  Shilling  commenced  the  store 
about  1869.  He  sold  to  Mr.  Jones,  who  died,  and  Mrs.  Phillips  kept  it 
awhile  after  his  death,  when  Mr.  J.  B.  Lucas  bought  it,  and  continued 
in  business  about  six  months,  and  then  moved  it  to  Pellsville,  and  built 
the  first  business  house  in  the  new  town.  The  building  was  afterward 
sold  to  Rankin,  who  moved  it  to  Rankin,  as  a  kind  of  trophy  of  the 
chase.  Lucas  moved  the  post-office  here  at  the  same  time,  and  its 
name  was  changed  to  suit  the  changed  locality.  Mr.  Pells  put  up  a 
good  two-story  building,  and  leased  it  to  Travis  Brothers,  who  are  still 
in  business  here. 

Lucas  continued  postmaster  awhile,  and  was  succeeded  by  Marion 
Daniels,  he  by  C.  T.  Daniels,  who  is  postmaster  at  present. 

The  Odd-Fellows  lodge  was  organized  in  1876.  They  have  a  fine 
hall  over  Daniels'  store.     It  has  a  membership  of  twenty-four. 

The  Methodist  church  was  built  in  1873  and  1874.  It  is  about  28 
X  36,  plain,  and  cost  $1,500.  This  church  belongs  to  the  Rankin  cir- 
cuit, and  is  served  by  the  same  preachers  that  preach  at  Rankin. 

The  citizens  in  the  vicinity  of  Pellsville  subscribed  $3,500  to  secure 
the  station  there,  and  had  a  long  and  exciting  contest  to  secure  it. 
Her  business  men  are  energetic  and  wide  awake,  and  their  business  is 
prosperous. 

BIOGRAPHICAL. 

F.  M.  Smith,  East  Lynne,  farmer,  section  4,  was  born  in  Vermilion 
county,  Illinois,  on  the  7th  of  March,  1833.  In  1861  he  enlisted  in 
Co.  K,  33d  Ind.  Vol.  Inf.,  and  was  in  the  battle  of  Springhill  and 
several  skirmishes.  He  served  three  years,  being  on  detached  duty 
most  of  the  time,  and  was  mustered  out  at  Atlanta,  Georgia.  He  was 
married  on  the  18th  of  February,  1874,  to  Mary  C.  Swisher.  They 
have  two  children  by  this  marriage:  William  T.  and  Eliza  A.  Mr. 
Smith  has  held  the  offices  of  school  director  and  commissioner  of  high- 
ways. He  is  a  very  industrious  man,  and  well  respected  by  the  people 
in  the  neighborhood  in  which  he  resides.  He  is  a  republican  in  poli- 
tics. Mr.  Smith  owns  one  hundred  and  twenty  acres  of  land,  worth 
$30  per  acre. 

William  A.  Laflen,  East  Lynne,  physician,  was  born  in  Vermilion 
county,  Illinois,  on  the  14th  of  January,  1838.  He  spent  his  boyhood 
days  on  the  farm.  At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  commenced  teaching 
school.  He  taught  ten  winters.  In  1861  he  enlisted  in  Co.  F,  4th 
Iowa  Inf.,  and  served  three  years.  He  was  in  the  battle  of  Pea  Ridge. 
Mr.  Lafien  attended  Rush  Medical  College  two  years,  at  the  expiration 


1014  HISTORY    OF   VERMILIOX    COUXTY. 

of  which  time  he  received  a  diploma  for  the  practice  of  medicine.  He 
commenced  practice  in  Pilot  township,  and  his  labors  have  been  at- 
tended with  much  success  ever  since.  He  was  married  on  the  29th  of 
March,  1868,  to  Sarah  J.  Legg.  She  was  born  in  Will  county,  Illinois, 
on  the  13th  of  Jul}7,  1844.  The  Doctor  is  a  very  enterprising  man, 
and  bids  fair  to  rank  high  in  his  profession.  He  owns  three  hundred 
and  sixty-one  and  a  half  acres  of  land,  worth  830  per  acre. 

T.  M.  Layne,  Rankin,  farmer,  section  11,  was  born  in  Putnam 
county,  Indiana,  on  the  26th  of  March,  1827.  He  was  married  in 
Indiana,  to  Eliza  Bittle,  on  the  27th  of  December,  1859.  She  was  born 
in  Seneca  county,  Indiana,  on  the  11th  of  November,  1843.  They  are 
the  parents  of  seven  children,  three  of  whom  are  living:  Elmer  T., 
Henry  and  Frank.  The  names  of  the  deceased  are  Jasper,  Melville, 
Laura  and  Willie.  Mr.  Layne  has  held  the  office  of  school  director  six 
years,  and  trustee  in  the  church.  He  owns  eighty  acres  of  land,  worth 
$30  per  acre.  His  parents  are  natives  of  Kentucky;  Mrs.  Layne's 
parents,  of  Virginia. 

C.  T.  Daniel,  Pellsville,  grocer  and  confectioner,  was  born  in 
Logan  county,  Ohio,  on  the  1st  of  April,  1836,  and  spent  his  early  days 
on  a  farm.  He  moved  with  his  father  from  Ohio  to  this  state  in  1844, 
and  settled  in  Champaign  county.  He  came  to  this  county  in  1874, 
settling  in  Pellsville,  where  he  still  resides.  Mr.  Daniel  enlisted  in 
the  late  war,  in  1861,  in  Co.  D,  3d  Mo.  Cav.,  and  was  in  the  pursuit  of 
Price  and  in  the  battles  of  Hartswell  (Missouri),  Springfield  and  Pilot 
Knob.  He  was  married  on  the  7th  of  December,  1864.  His  wife  was 
born  in  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  30th  of  Xovember,  1845. 
They  are  the  parents  of  three  children  :  Thomas  W.,  Priscilla  W.,  and 
Mary.  Mr.  Daniel  has  held  the  office  of  school  director  five  years.  He 
is  a  republican  and  a  Methodist. 

Elam  H.  Beals,  Rankin,  farmer,  was  born  in  Randolph  county,  In- 
diana, on  the  3d  of  May,  1835.  His  early  life  was  spent  on  a  farm, 
obtaining  the  education  that  could  be  had  from  a  common  district 
school.  He  came  to  this  state  in  1846  and  settled  in  Vermilion  county, 
remaining  but  two  years,  when  he  returned  to  Indiana  and  stayed  until 
the  year  1856,  at  which  time  he  came  back  to  this  county,  and  has  since 
remained.  He  was  married  to  Amelia  Parker,  on  the  2d  of  January, 
1856.  She  was  born  in  Highland  county,  Ohio,  on  the  6th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1S37.  They  have  had  by  this  union  seven  children,  four  of  whom 
are  living:  Demetrius,  Jennie,  Sherman  and  Cora.  The  deceased  are 
Grant,  Ellsworth  and  George.  Mr.  Beals  has  held  the  office  of  con- 
stable seven  years,  of  deputy  sheriff  seven  years,  and  has  been  assessor 
since  1872. 


BUTLER   TOWNSHIP.  1015 

Frank  W.  Hall,  Rankin,  farmer,  section  25,  was  born  in  Maine  on 
the  6th  of  March,  1844.  His  father  moved  to  this  state  when  he  was 
but  three  years  old.  He  enlisted  in  1862  with  Co.  C,  1st  111.  Light 
Artillery,  and  served  two  years  and  eleven  months.  He  was  in  the 
battles  of  Chickamauga,  Corinth,  Stone  River,  Lookout  Mountain,  Mis- 
sion Ridge,  Atlanta,  Resaca,  Kenesaw  Mountain,  Dallas  (Texas),  Peach- 
tree  Creek  and  Jonesboro,  and  was  mustered  out  at  Springfield.  He 
was  married  in  the  spring  of  1872  to  Elisabeth  Johnston,  who  was 
born  in  Ohio  in  1852.  They  are  the  parents  of  two  children:  Carrie 
B.,  born  May  10,  1876,  and  Augusta  M.,  born  February  26,  1879. 
Mr.  Hall  has  held  the  office  of  school-director  and  road  commissioner 
five  years,  and  this  position  he  still  fills. 

John  F.  Campbell,  Rankin,  inn-keeper  and  real-estate  agent,  was 
born  in  Monongalia  county,  Virginia,  on  the  11th  of  December,  1821. 
His  early  life  was  spent  on  a  farm  engaged  in  the  ordinary  duties  that 
attend  an  agriculturist's  occupation.  He  came  to  Edgar  county,  this 
state,  in  1846,  and  settled  near  Paris,  and  in  1848  removed  to  Danville. 
He  has  been  twice  married :  first  to  Elisabeth  David,  on  the  14th  of 
October,  1847.  She  was  born  in  Yermilion  county  in  1827,  and  died 
in  1849.  Jennie  was  born  to  them.  Mr.  Campbell  was  united,  in 
1860,  to  Margaret  Baxter,  who  was  born  in  Shelby  county,  Indiana. 
Mr.  Campbell  came  to  Rankin  in  1872,  and  built  the  first  hotel,  which 
he  has  been  running  since ;  also,  in  addition  to  this,  he  has  been  doing 
a  good  real-estate  business.     He  is  a  republican  and  a  Methodist. 

Jesse  S.  Piles,  Pellsville,  farmer,  section  11,  was  born  in  Preble 
county,  Ohio,  on  the  14th  of  August,  1824.  His  father  died  when  he 
was  but  thirteen  years  of  age,  and,  until  he  reached  the  age  of  twenty- 
two,  he  helped  his  brothers  to  manage  the  farm.  In  1854  he  came  to 
this  state,  and  settled  on  the  farm  which  he  still  holds,  being  the  first 
settler  in  Butler  township.  He  was  married  in  Indiana,  in  1857,  to 
Phoebe  Bales.  They  have  had  five  children :  John  H.,  Margaret, 
Emily,  Nancy  and  Anna.  Mr.  Piles  has  held  the  office  of  postmaster 
three  years.  His  political  views  are  republican,  and  in  religion  he  is  a 
Methodist. 

H.  M.  Ludden  (of  the  firm  of  H.  M.  Ludden  &  Co.),  East  Lynne, 
dry-goods  and  grocery  merchant,  was  born  in  Franklin  county,  Massa- 
chusetts, on  the  3d  of  August,  1843.  He  built  the  first  store-house  in 
East  Lynne,  and  started  the  first  store.  He  enlisted  in  1862  in  Co.  K, 
76th  111.  Inf.,  and  served  three  years.  He  was  in  several  skirmishes. 
Mr.  Ludden  came  to  this  state  in  1855,  and  remained  until  1865,  when 
he  returned  to  Massachusetts  and  there  stayed  till  1872.  He  was  mar- 
ried in  August,  1872,  to  Evaline  Barr.     She  was  born  in  Vermont  in 


1016  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

1850.  They  have  one  child :  Eva  L.  Mr.  Ludden  is  at  present  justice 
of  the  peace,  deputy  postmaster  and  U.  S.  express  agent.  East  Lynne 
owes  much  of  its  success  as  a  business  place  to  the  energy  of  Mr.  Lud- 
den, who  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  best  citizens  of  Vermilion  county. 
He  owns  forty  acres  of  land,  worth  810  per  acre. 

F.  D.  Travis,  Pellsville,  dry-goods  and  grocery  merchant,  was  born 
in  Indiana  county,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  12th  of  April,  1836.  He 
commenced  teaching  school  at  the  age  of  twenty,  and  taught  six  years 
in  succession.  He  came  to  this  state  in  1856  and  commenced  the  mer- 
cantile business.  He  was  married  in  Indiana  to  Mary  L.  Jones,  on  the 
21st  of  April,  1859.  She  was  born  in  Illinois  on  the  25th  of 'March, 
1841.  They  had  two  children  by  this  union,  both  deceased  :  William 
A.,  born  on  the  4th  of  January,  1860,  and  died  on  the  19th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1867,  and  Walter,  born  on  the  26th  of  October,  1868,  and  died  on 
the  25th  of  September,  1869.  Mr.  Travis  has  been  on  the  school  board 
since  the  district  was  organized.  He  feeds  and  ships  some  hogs.  Mr. 
Travis  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  best  business  men  in  Vermilion  county, 
and  is  respected  by  all.     He  is  a  democrat  and  a  Presbyterian. 

J.  H.  Schwartz,  Rankin,  farmer,  section  30,  was  born  in  Lancaster 
county,  Pennsylvania,  in  July,  1809,  and  early  learned  the  hatter's 
trade.  He  came  to  this  state  in  1856  and  commenced  farming.  He 
was  one  of  the  first  settlers  in  Butler  township,  and  was  its  first 
supervisor,  and  held  the  office  of  road  commissioner  two  years.  He 
was  married  in  1831  to  Catharine  Wyand.  She  was  born  in  Pennsyl- 
vania in  October,  1806.  They  had  by  this  union  nine  children,  three 
of  whom  are  living:  Elisabeth  E.,  now  wife  of  Lewis  John,  of  this 
township ;  Daniel  A.  and  William  H.  Mr.  Schwartz  lost  one  son  in 
the  late  war.  He  is  one  of  the  most  useful  men  in  this  countv,  taking 
an  active  part  in  every  enterprise  that  comes  up.  He  stands  well  in 
the  church  to  which  he  belongs,  and  in  the  community  at  large.  He 
owns  two  hundred  acres,  valued  at  $30  per  acre.  He  is  a  republican 
and  Methodist. 

Elbridge  G.  Hancock,  Rankin,  farmer,  section  11,  was  born  in  Mer- 
rimack county,  New  Hampshire,  on  the  4th  of  December,  1840.  His 
father  died  when  he  was  but  three  vears  old.  He  lived  three  vears 
with  his  uncle  and  three  with  his  guardian,  working  on  the  farm  during 
the  summer  and  attending  school  during  the  winter.  He  came  to 
this  state  in  1858  and  settled  in  Tazewell  county.  He  was  married 
on  the  17th  of  November,  1863,  to  Jemima  Griffith.  She  was  born  in 
this  state  on  the  26th  of  May,  1846.  They  had  by  this  marriage  two 
children,  one  living:  Nettie  B.;  deceased,  Frank.  Mr.  Hancock  has 
held  the  office  of  school  director  ten  years,  assessor  one  term,  collector 


BUTLER   TOWNSHIP.  1017 

one  term,  and  road  commissioner  one  term.  He  owns  a  farm  of  one 
hundred  and  sixty  acres,  valued  at  $30  per  acre,  and  ships  a  few  hogs 
for  the  Chicago  market.     He  is  a  democrat  and  Methodist. 

Henry  Jones,  Pellsville,  blacksmith,  was  born  in  England,  on  the 
5th  of  March,  1838.  He  learned  his  trade  when  quite  young,  and  in 
1856  came  to  America,  and  to  this  state  in  1858,  settling  at  Blue  Grass, 
where  he  remained  several  years,  and  in  1873  came  to  Pellsville.  He 
was  married  on  the  10th  of  September,  1861,  to  Susan  B.  Lionberger, 
born  in  Virginia,  on  the  21st  of  December,  1844.  They  are  the  parents 
of  three  children :  Emma  T.,  born  on  the  7th  of  August,  1862,  who, 
though  not  yet  seventeen  years  old,  is  a  graduate  of  the  high  school  at 
Hoopeston,  having  attended  four  years ;  John  T.,  born  on  the  16th  of 
March,  1865;  Grace  T.,  born  on  the  29th  of  November,  1869.  Mr. 
Jones  is  an  enterprising  citizen.  He  owns  one  hundred  and  twenty 
acres  of  well-improved  farm  land  in  Middle  Fork  township,  worth  $25 
per  acre ;  two  town  lots,  blacksmith  shop  and  a  dwelling.  He  is  a  repub- 
lican and  Methodist. 

T.  T.  Daniels,  Pellsville,  hardware  and  agricultural  implements,  was 
born  in  Logan  county,  Ohio,  on  the  2d  of  February,  1839.  He  re- 
mained on  the  farm  until  nineteen  years  of  age,  at  which  time  his 
father  died.  He  came  to  this  state  in  1844,  and  settled  in  Champaign 
county,  where  he  remained  until  1858.  On  the  29th  of  July,  1861,  he 
enlisted  in  Co.  I,  2d  111.  Cal.  Yol.,  and  was  in  the  battles  of  Holly 
Springs,  Franklin,  Clinton  (Louisiana),  Greenville  (Alabama),  and  at  the 
sieges  of  Vicksburg  and  Ft.  Blakely,  also  in  several  skirmishes.  He 
has  been  twice  married  :  first,  to  Elisabeth  J.  Lucas  in  1870.  She  was 
born  in  Indiana  in  1845,  and  died  in  1873.  They  had  one  infant,  now 
deceased.  He  was  then  married  to  Emma  J.  Hankins,  on  the  2d  of 
February,  1876.  She  was  born  in  Indiana  in  1849.  They  have  by 
this  marriage  one  child,  Marse,  born  on  the  4th  of  March,  1878.  Mr. 
D.  is  a  good  business  man,  and  well  respected  in  this  community. 

J.  L.  McCauley,  Rankin,  dry  goods  and  groceries,  section  10,  was 
born  in  Ohio  on  the  1st  of  August,  1845.  His  father  died  when  he 
was  quite  young,  leaving  him  to  the  care  of  his  mother.  He  came  to 
this  state  in  1860,  and  commenced  business  in  Rankin  when  the  village 
first  started.  He  bought  the  first  load  of  corn  sold  in  the  place.  He 
has  been  in  the  dry  goods  and  grocery  business  in  Rankin  for  three 
years,  and  is  getting  a  first-class  trade.  He  owns  80  acres  of  land, 
worth  $40  per  acre,  two  lots,  a  storehouse  that  cost  $1,400,  one  dwell- 
ing-house, and  a  half  interest  in  one  hundred  acres  of  land  in  sec- 
tion 19. 

James  H.  Applegate,  East  Lynne,  Farmer,  section  10,  was  born  in 


1018  HISTOEY    OF   VERMILIOX    COUNTY. 

Montgomery  county,  Indiana,  on  the  16th  of  May,  1838.  He  was  mar- 
ried to  Mary  A.  Armantrout  on  the  24th  of  December,  1858.  She  was 
born  in  Indiana  on  the  7th  of  April,  1836.  T-hey  are  the  parents  of 
four  children :  Henry  E.,  Edwin  A.,  Simon  L.  and  Ezra  H.  Mr.  Apple- 
gate  came  to  Illinois  in  1860,  and  now  owns  a  farm  of  two  hundred 
acres,  valued  at  s30  per  acre.  He  is  a  deacon  in  the  Christian  church, 
and  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  best  of  citizens.  Mrs.  Applegate's  par- 
ents are  natives  of  Virginia. 

C.  D.  Dewey,  Pellsville,  farmer,  section  3,  was  born  in  La  Salle 
county,  Illinois,  on  the  28th  of  May,  1841.  He  spent  his  boyhood  days 
on  a  farm,  where,  by  his  habits  of  industry  and  economy,  he  learned 
not  only  how  to  save  property  but  to  accumulate  it.  He  was  married 
on  the  22d  of  April,  1S63,  to  E.  F.  Blodgett.  She  was  born  in  Seneca 
county,  Ohio,  on  the  7th  of  July,  1840.  They  have  two  children  : 
Walter  H.,  born  on  the  10th  of  August,  1864;  Frank  E.,  born  on  the 
31st  of  May,  1868.  Mr.  Dewey  makes  a  specialty  of  handling  fine 
stock,  having  at  present  some  of  the  best  in  the  country.  He  had, 
when  married,  no  property,  and  now  owns  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres 
of  land,  worth  $40  per  acre.  He  is  a  republican,  and  in  religion  a 
Methodist. 

John  R.  Bowers,  Rankin,  grain  merchant,  was  born  in  Hamilton 
county,  Ohio,  on  the  11th  of  August,  1823.  He  moved  with  his  father 
to  Indiana  when  fourteen  years  old,  and  in  1858  came  to  this  state  and 
remained  one  year.  He  then  returned  to  Indiana,  where  he  remained 
until  1864,  at  which  time  he  returned  to  this  state,  where  he  has  re- 
mained since.  He  commenced  the  grain  trade  in  1872,  and  handled  in 
one  year  $25,000  worth  of  grain.  He  has  been  twice  married :  first, 
to  Phcebe  Hains,  in  1848.  She  was  born  in  Ohio  in  1826,  and  died  in 
1863.  They  had  five  children,  four  now  living:  John  H.,  Charles  L., 
Warren  C.  and  William.  The  deceased,  Lizzie.  He  was  then  married 
to  Laura  Pine  in  1864.  She  was  born  in  Indiana  in  1S43.  They  have 
had  seven  children,  four  living:  Henry  C,  Mary  E.,  Lina,  Edward, 
and  three  infants  deceased. 

O.  F.  Taylor,  Pellsville,  physician,  was  born  in  Champaign  county, 
Ohio,  on  the  21st  of  March,  1841,  and  remained  home  with  his  parents 
until  twelve  Years  of  age.  He  came  to  this  state  in  1849,  and  com- 
menced  the  study  of  medicine  in  1864.  He  attended  the  Bennett  Med- 
ical College  one  term,  and  the  Rush  Medical  College  two  terms,  at  the 
expiration  of  which  he  received  a  diploma  for  the  practice  of  medicine. 
He  first  practiced  in  Peoria  for  six  months,  and  then  came  to  this 
township,  where  he  has  been  since,  and  has  had  quite  an  extensive 
practice,  which  has  been  attended  with  good  success.     He  was  married 


BUTLER   TOWNSHIP.  1019 

on  the  31st  of  December,  1867,  to  Nellie  Clark,  who  was  born  in  Ver- 
mont, on  the  10th  of  May,  1845.  They  have  had  two  children  by  this 
union,  one  living :  Freddie,  born  on  the  16th  of  September,  1873.  The 
Doctor  is  a  republican  and  a  Methodist. 

Charles  Stamp,  Pellsville,  farmer,  section  14,  was  born  in  Steuben 
county,  New  York,  on  the  14th  of  October,  1842.  In  1865  he  enlisted 
in  the  late  war,  in  Co.  E,  149th  111.  Inf.  Vol.  He  served  one  year, 
doing  picket  duty.  "Was  married  to  Lizzie  Jones  in  1867.  They  are 
the  parents  of  three  children  :  Rosa,  Frank  and  John.  Mr.  Stamp  has 
held  the  office  of  constable  one  term.  He  had  but  little  property  with 
which  to  start  out  in  life,  but  by  economy,  industry  and. good  manage- 
ment, now  owns  one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  well-cultivated  land, 
worth  $35  per  acre.  He  is  a  republican,  and  as  regards  religion,  enter- 
tains liberal  views.     His  parents  were  natives  of  New  York. 

John  L.  Anderson,  Pellsville,  farmer,  section  3,  was  born  in  Sweden, 
on  the  4th  of  April,  1841.  He  came  with  his  father  to  America  in 
1852,  settling  in  Indiana,  where  he  remained  until  1866.  In  1862  he 
enlisted  in  Co.  H,  72d  Mounted  Inf.,  and  served  three  years,  being  in 
the  battles  of  Chickamauga  and  Atlanta;  was  in  a  skirmish  with  the 
guerillas,  and  was  with  Wilson  on  one  of  his  raids.  He  belonged  to 
the  division  that  captured  Jeff  Davis,  and  was  mustered  out  at  Nash- 
ville, Tennessee.  He  was  married  on  the  6th  of  June,  1868,  to  Ida 
Bergren,  born  in  Sweden,  on  the  29th  of  June,  1859.  They  are  the 
parents  of  six  children,  four  of  whom  are  living:  Charles  A.,  John  E., 
Oscar  V.  and  Augustus  T. ;  the  deceased  are  Joseph  and  one  infant. 
Mr.  Anderson  is  a  republican,  and  in  religion  a  Lutheran.  He  owns 
eighty  acres  of  land,  worth  $30  per  acre. 

B.  L.  Adamson,  Pellsville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Marion  county,  Ohio, 
on  the  18th  of  June,  1849.  For  some  years  he  assisted  his  father  in 
farming  and  running  a  saw-mill,  and  then  moved  to  Indiana,  where  he 
remained  some  time,  and  then  went  back  to  Ohio,  and  after  staying 
awhile,  in  1869  came  to  this  state,  and  settled  in  Champaign  county, 
where  he  stayed  three  years.  He  carried  the  United  States  mail  one 
year  from  Paxton  to  Rossville,  and  then  went  into  mercantile  business 
in  Rankin,  but  after  being  in  this  business  three  years  was  burned  out. 
However,  he  rebuilt,  and  continued  his  business  for  one  year,  and  then- 
went  to  farming.  He  was  married  on  the  10th  of  August,  1871,  to 
Mary  Wilson.  She  was  born  in  Indiana  in  1848.  They  are  the 
parents  of  four  children  :  Anna  M.,  Maude,  Emma  G.  and  Alice  J. 
Mr.  Adamson  is  a  republican  ;  is  an  industrious  young  man,  and  highly 
respected  by  the  community. 

George  Stamp,  Pellsville,  farmer,  section  10,  was  born  in  New  York 


1020  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

on  the  7th  of  August,  1828.  He  came  to  this  state  with  his  father  in 
1854,  and  settled  near  Chrisman,  Edgar  county,  where  he  remained 
fifteen  years.  He  then,  in  1869,  came  to  this  township,  where  he  has 
since  remained.  He  was  married  to  Sarah  Bacon  in  December,  1855. 
She  was  born  in  New  York  state.  They  have  had  six  children^  five  of 
whom  are  living :  Charles  A.,  Edward  B.,  Riley,  Ira  and  Arthur  B. 
Mr.  Stamp  has  held  the  offices  of  school  director  and  road  commissioner. 
In  1863  he  enlisted  in  the  79th  111.  Inf.  Vol.,  and  was  in  the  battles  of 
Buzzard's  Roost,  Dalton,  Kenesaw  Mountain,  Atlanta  and  Jonesbor- 
ough.  He  was  captured  by  "Wheeler's  men,  and  paroled.  He  served 
three  years,  and  was  mustered  out  at  Nashville,  Tennessee.  He  owns 
eighty  acres  of  land,  worth  $30  per  acre.  He  is  a  republican  and 
Baptist. 

Andrew  F.  Wardlaw,  Pellsville,  farmer,  was  born  in  Warren  county, 
Kentucky,  on  the  5th  of  June,  1827.  He  came  to  this  state  in  1841, 
and  settled  in  Putnam  county,  where  he  remained  until  1869,  when 
he  removed  to  Vermilion  county.  He  was  married  on  the  5th  of  Sep- 
tember, 1850,  to  Nancy  J.  Moon,  who  was  born  in  Menard  county, 
Illinois,  on  the  26th  of  March,  1831.  They  are  the  parents  of  three 
children:  Sarah  J.,  born  on  the  16th  of  June,  1851,  now  wife  of  W. 
H.  Lyon,  of  Butler  township ;  Artiemissa,  born  on  the  23d  of  January, 
1854;  Charley  T.,  born  on  the  29th  of  June,  1858.  Mr.  Wardlaw  has 
held  the  office  of  school  director  five,  and  pathmaster  four  years.  In 
1862  he  enlisted  in  the  war,  in  Co.  E,  4th  111.  Cav.,  and  was  wounded 
in  the  shoulder  in  the  battle  of  Coffeeville.  He  was  in  several  skirm- 
ishes, and  served  two  years  and  nine  months.  Mr.  Wardlaw  is  a 
republican  and  a  Presbyterian. 

Owen  S.  Rollins,  Pellsville,  mechanic  and  carpenter,  was  born  in 
New  Hampshire,  on  the  25th  of  May,  1836.  He  worked  in  his  father's 
mill  until  tyenty-one  years  of  age.  He  then  learned  the  cabinet- 
maker's trade,  and  then  that  of  the  carpenter.  He  came  to  this  state 
in  1866,  settling  in  Bureau  county,  where  he  remained  till  1868,  when 
he  removed  to  Champaign  county,  and  there  stayed  two  years.  He 
then  moved  to  Blue  Grass,  and  then  to  Pellsville.  Mr.  Rollins  has 
been  twice  married :  first  to  Louisa  A.  Tilton,  on  the  14th  of  Decem- 
ber, 1855.  She  was  born  in  New  Hampshire,  on  the  26th  of  Septem- 
ber, 1835,  and  died  in  1865.  They  had  one  child,  which  died  in  June, 
1856.  Mr.  Rollins  was  then  married  to  Izalinda  Moore,  in  September, 
1869.  She  was  born  in  1847.  They  have  by  this  marriage  five  chil- 
dren:  Harry,  Berton,  Eddy,  Helen  B.,  Halycon.  Mr.  Rollins  is  a 
republican  and  a  Methodist. 

M.  C.  Small,  East  Lynne,  farmer  and  stock-dealer,  section  23,  was 


BUTLER   TOWNSHIP.  1021 

born  in  Montgomery  county,  Indiana,  on  the  10th  of  October,  1833. 
He  came  to  this  state  in  1870.  He  was  married  on  the  21st  of  Decem- 
ber, 1869,  to  Sarah  M.  McA lister.  She  was  born  in  Indiana  in  1842. 
They  have  two  children :  Laura  E.  and  Charley  E.  Mr.  Small  has 
held  the  offices  of  school  trustee  and  school  director ;  has  also  been 
deacon  in  the  Christian  church.  He  fattens  and  ships  from  fifty  to  one 
hundred  head  of  hogs  a  year,  and  handles  some  cattle.  He  is  a  repub- 
lican in  politics. 

George  Ensminger,  Pellsville,  wagon-maker,  was  born  in  Perry 
county,  Pennsylvania,  on  the  12th  of  November,  1836,  and  came  to 
this  state  in  1872,  settling  in  Pellsville.  He  has  been  twice  married  : 
first  to  Angeline  C.  Snyder,  in  1862.  She  was  also  born  in  Perry 
county,  Pennsylvania.  She  died  in  1870.  They  had  two  children  by 
this  marriage:  Mary  S.,  born  in  1863,  and  Aaron  B.  S.,  born  in  1864. 
He  was  then  married  to  Matilda  J.  Casise,  in  1873.  She  was  born  in 
Perry  county,  Pennsylvania.  Mr.  Ensminger  is  doing  a  good  business, 
being  the  only  wagon-maker  in  the  village.  He  owns  seven  lots,  a 
dwelling  and  wagon-shop  in  Pellsville.  He  is  a  democrat,  and  in 
religion  entertains  liberal  views. 

Benjamin  R.  Cole,  Rankin,  dry  goods  and  groceries,  was  born  in 
St.  Joseph  county,  Indiana,  on  the  9th  of  February,  1841.  His  father 
died  when  he  was  fifteen  years  old.  In  the  late  war  he  enlisted  in  Co.  C, 
73d  Ind.  Inf.,  as  private,  but  was  soon  after  promoted  to  orderly  ser- 
geant. He  served  thirty-five  months,  and  was  in  the  battles  of  Perrys- 
ville,  Kentucky,  Stone  River,  and  several  other  battles.  He  was  taken 
prisoner  near  Richmond,  and  was  taken  to  Indianapolis  and  exchanged. 
Mr.  Cole  was  married  to  Elisabeth  Hays  on  the  27th  of  May,  1866. 
She  was  born  near  Crawfordsville,  Indiana,  on  the  24th  of  June,  1846. 
Mr.  Cole  has  held  the  office  of  town  clerk  one  term,  and  has  been  post- 
master for  the  past  four  years.  He  commenced  the  mercantile  business 
in  Rankin  in  1874.  A  few  years  ago  he  had  but  little  property,  but 
by  his  honesty,  perseverance  and  economy,  now  owns  eighty  acres  of 
land,  worth  $2,000,  and  has  about  $7,000  invested  in  his  store.  He  is 
a  republican  and  Methodist. 

F.  M.  Hall,  East  Lynne,  grain  merchant,  was  born  in  Maine,  and 
was  raised  on  a  farm.  He  came  to  this  state  in  1848,  and  first  settled 
in  La  Salle  county.  He  remained  there  twenty-seven  years,  and  then 
came  to  this  county,  and,  in  1878,  went  into  the  grain  business  in  East 
Lynne.  He  enlisted  in  the  late  war  in  August,  1862,  in  Co.  D,  104th 
111.  Inf.  Vol.,  and  served  until  the  close  of  the  war.  He  was  in  the 
battles  of  Hartsville,  Chickamauga,  Lookout  Mountain,  Mission  Ridge 
and  Resaca.     Mr.  Hall  has  been  twice  married:  first,  to  Addie  L.  Kel- 


1022  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

ley,  in  October,  1865.  She  was  born  in  Ohio  in  1843.  They  had  three 
children :  Arthur,  Eva  R.  and  Claudie  B.  He  was  then  married  to 
Ella  F.  "Wilson  on  the  26th  of  April,  1877.  She  was  born  in  Illinois 
in  1856.  Mr.  Hall  has  held  the  office  of  constable  one  term,  and  town- 
ship collector  one  term.  He  owns  two  hundred  acres  of  land  half  a 
mile  from  East  Lynne,  valued  at  $35  per  acre.  He  is  a  republican  and 
a  Baptist. 

Bradley  Butterfield,  Rankin,  farmer  and  carpenter,  was  born  in  Ben- 
nington county,  Vermont,  on  the  24th  of  December,  1829.  He  came 
to  this  state  in  1854,  and  settled  in  Putnam  county,  where  he  remained 
for  sixteen  years,  working  at  the  carpenter's  trade.  He  came  to  this 
county  in  1870.  He  was  married  on  the  14th  of  February,  1861,  to 
Priscilla  Gurned,  born  in  1829.  They  are  the  parents  of  two  chil- 
dren, one  living,  Edwin  S. ;  deceased,  James  W.  Mr.  Butterfield  has 
held  the  office  of  township  collector  and  constable.  He  is  at  present 
supervisor.  He  owns  one  hundred  and  forty-five  acres  of  land,  worth 
$35  per  acre.  His  father  was  a  native  of  New  Hampshire ;  his  mother, 
of  Massachusetts.     He  is  a  republican. 

Justin  S.  Hall,  East  Lynne,  farmer,  section  15,  was  born  in  Maine, 
on  the  24th  of  April,  1840.  When  he  was  eight  years  old  he  came 
with  his  father  to  this  state,  settling  in  La  Salle  county,  where  he  re- 
mained twenty  years,  farming  and  teaching.  He  then  moved  to  Liv- 
ingston county,  where  he  stayed  six  years,  and  came  to  this  county  in 
1874.  He  enlisted  in  1862  in  Co.  B,  104th  111.  Inf.  Vol.,  and  was  in 
the  battle  of  Hartsville.  He  served  three  months,  and  was  discharged 
on  account  of  sickness.  Mr.  Hall  was  married  on  the  28th  of  Janu- 
ary, 1869,  to  Sarah  M.  Stanford.  She  was  born  in  La  Salle  county,  on 
the  7th  of  May,  1845.  They  are  the  parents  of  three  children,  two 
living:  Emery  S.  and  Ralph  E. ;  deceased,  Elber  J.  Mr.  Hall  owns 
one  hundred  and  sixty  acres  of  land,  worth  $25  per  acre.  He  has  held 
the  offices  of  town  clerk,  supervisor  of  township,  and  road  commissioner. 
He  is  a  republican  and  Baptist.     Mrs.  Hall  is  a  Congregationalism 

E.  H.  Whitham,  Rankin,  banker  and  grain  merchant,  was  born  in 
Coshocton  county,  Ohio,  on  the  8th  of  November,  1847.  He  spent  his 
early  life  on  a  farm,  and  his  educational  advantages  were  onlj7  those  of 
common  district  school.  He  came  with  his  father  to  this  state  in  1866, 
and  in  1875  settled  in  Rankin,  commencing  his  banking  business  and 
grain  buying.  He  was  married  to  Elisabeth  George  in  January,  1879. 
She  wa6  born  in  Ohio.  Mr.  Whitham  is  a  republican  and  a  Presby- 
terian. His  father,  a  native  of  Virginia,  was  a  very  noted  minister  of 
Presbyterian  church.  He  owns  sixteen  lots  and  a  house  and  bank  in 
Rankin.     Mrs.  Whitham's  parents  were  natives  of  Ohio. 


BUTLER   TOWNSHIP.  1023 

N.  R.  Hall,  East  Lynne,  farmer,  was  born  in  the  state  of  Maine  on 
the  13th  of  December,  1844,  where  he  remained  until  1848,  when  the 
family  of  which  he  was  a  member  removed  to  this  state,  settling  in 
La  Salle  county.  Here  Mr.  Hall  was  married  to  S.  Augusta  Knapp, 
a  native  of  the  count}'  named.  They  are  the  parents  of  three  children : 
George  W.,  Lucia  K.  and  S.  Lloyd  N7  In  1875  the  family  removed  to 
East  Lynne,  since  which  time  Mr.  Hall  has  been  engaged  in  handling 
hardware,  lumber  and  agricultural  implements,  in  addition  to  his  orig- 
inal business  —  that  of  farming.  By  industry  and  economy  he  has 
acquired  quite  a  competency,  being  possessed  of  considerable  property 
in  and  about  the  village. 

C.  B.  Eells,  Rankin,  farmer,  section  25,  was  born  in  La  Salle  county, 
Illinois.  His  father  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  this  county.  He  was 
with  the  Indians,  and  for  two  years  did  not  see  the  face  of  a  white 
man.  Mr.  Eells  assisted  his  father  on  the  farm  in  La  Salle  county  until 
the  year  1875,  having  been  previously  married  to  Francis  E.  Maines. 
She  was  born  in  New  York  on  the  24th  of  July,  1847.  They  are  the 
parents  of  three  children :  Nellie,  Manford  and  Milton  C.  Mr.  Eells 
has  held  the  office  of  school  director.  His  grandfather  was  in  the 
Black  Hawk  war. 

James  Sloan,  Rankin,  farmer,  section  5,  was  born  in  Ireland  on  the 
15th  of  Jime,  1846.  He  came  to  America  in  1854,  and  settled  in 
Ohio,  where  he  remained  for  a  period  of  twelve  years,  engaging  in 
farming  pursuits.  He  then  moved  to  Cass  county,  Illinois,  where  he 
remained  ten  years,  and  then,  in  1876,  came  to  this  county,  where  he 
has  since  resided.  He  was  married  to  Matilda  Simpson  in  1875.  She 
was  born  in  Ireland.  They  have  two  children :  John  C.  and  Lillie  J. 
Mr.  Sloan  is  a  republican,  and  in  religion  a  Presbyterian.  He  owns 
eighty  acres  of  land. 

Aaron  D.  Darnall,  East  Lynne,  attorn ey-at-law,  was  born  in  Edgar 
county,  Illinois,  on  the  20th  of  February,  1847,  being  a  son  of  the  Rev. 
Aaron  Darnall,  of  that  county,  who  was  born  in  Bourbon  county,  Ken- 
tucky, in  1809,  and  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  Edgar  county  ;  also  was 
a  Baptist  minister  of  considerable  note.  The  subject  of  this  sketch,  in 
1875,  commenced  reading  law  with  R.  N.  Bishop,  of  Paris,  Illinois. 
After  attending  Ann  Arbor  law  school  one  year,  he  was  admitted  to 
the  bar  in  1877,  and  has  been  practicing  since,  bidding  fair  to  rank 
high  in  his  chosen  profession.  He  was  married  on  the  29th  of  August, 
1878,  to  Catharine  A.  Rice.  She  was  born  in  Putnam  county,  Illinois, 
on  the  15th  of  January,  1855.  They  have  one  child,  Oliver  Leslie, 
born  on  the  15th  of  March,  1879.  Mr.  Darnall  is  a  democrat,  and  in 
religion  a  Baptist. 


1024  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

John  B.  Hazel,  Rankin,  practicing-  physician,  was  born  in  Cham- 
paign county,  Ohio,  in  1843.  He  remained  on  the  farm  until  he  was 
sixteen  years  of  age,  at  which  time  he  commenced  attending  medical 
lectures,  first  at  the  Rush  Medical  College,  at  Chicago,  during  one 
course.  In  1862  he  enlisted  in  the  late  war,  in  Co.  I,  Zuaves,  and 
served  until  the  close  of  the  war.  He  then  resumed  his  studies,  and  at 
the  expiration  of  two  years  received  a  diploma  for  the  practice  of  med- 
icine from  the  college  before  mentioned.  He  commenced  business  in 
Farmer  City,  Illinois,  and  then  went  to  Penfield,  where  he  met  with 
eminent  success  for  seven  years.  He  came  to  Rankin  in  1878,  and  is 
here  meeting  much  encouragement.  In  1868  he  was  married  to  Miss 
D.  Rollins,  a  native  of  Champaign  county.  They  have  one  child : 
Hallie. 

N.  F.  Ketcham,  Pellsville,  lumber  merchant,  was  born  in  Roches- 
ter, New  York,  on  the  24th  of  April,  1829.  His  chances  for  an  early 
education  were  good,  having  attended  the  Baptist  Seminary,  of  New 
York,  and  the  Methodist  Seminary,  of  Ohio.  He  was  married  in  1854, 
to  Helen  A.  Wilkinson,  born  in  Waterloo,  New  York.  They  have  had 
five  children,  four  of  whom  are  living:  D.  Ernest,  born  on  the  6th  of 
August,  1855;  Clara  A.,  born  on  the  4th  of  June,  1857;  Lottie,  born 
on  the  21st  of  July,  1860 ;  M.  Cassius,  born  on  the  15th  of  April, 
1863 ;  Charley,  born  on  the  27th  of  November,  1867,  and  died  in  1868. 
When  he  came  to  this  state,  in  1864,  he  settled  in  Kankakee,  where 
he  was  deputy  circuit  clerk  three  years.  He  has  in  Vermilion  county 
held  the  offices  of  town  clerk  and  of  deputy  circuit  clerk  one  term.  He 
is  steward  and  class  leader  in  the  Methodist  church,  and  has  taught 
school  twenty  different  terms.  He  commenced  the  lumber  business  in 
Pellsville  in  1878. 


SIDELL  TOWNSHIP. 

The  township  of  Sidell  occupies  the  southwestern  corner  of  the 
county,  having  Edgar  and  Champaign  counties  respectively  for  its 
southern  and  western  boundaries,  and  Vance  on  its  northern  and  Car- 
roll on  its  eastern  sides.  Until  1867  it  formed  a  portion  of  Carroll 
township  for  political  purposes.  When  it  was  erected  into  a  separate 
township  the  name  was  given  to  it  in  honor  of  Hon.  John  Sidell,  who 
owned  an  extensive  farm  here.  The  valley  of  the  Little  Vermilion, 
here  an  inconsiderable  stream,  runs  nearly  through  its  center,  having 
the  ridges  or  strips  of  high  land  which  bound  this  valley  on  the  north- 
ern and  southern  boundaries  of  the  township.     This  beautiful  valley, 


SIDELL   TOWNSHIP.  1025 

more  of  a  basin  in  appearance  here,  because  so  nearly  destitute  of  trees, 
encloses  within  its  pale  some  of  the  richest  farming  lands  of  Vermilion 
county.  It  was  all  originally  prairie,  except  six  small  groves,  aggre- 
gating less  than  two  square  miles  of  timber  land.  For  this  reason 
alone  it  failed  to  attract  attention  for  the  first  twenty  years  of  the  coun- 
ty's history.  The  little  groves  had  been  taken,  but  the  broad  expanse 
of  prairie,  which  forms  the  real  wealth  of  this  prairie  township,  was  in- 
habited only  by  those  pestiferous  things  which  are  disastrous  alike  to 
the  peace  of  man  and  beast.  Perhaps  there  never  was,  in  the  same 
range  of  country,  so  many  inhuman  flies  as  only  a  few  years  ago  lived 
and  made  day  noxious  in  the  limits  of  this  prairie  basin  of  the  Little 
Vermilion,  now  known  as  Sidell.  "Flies  till  yon  couldn't  rest"  is  a 
mild  way  of  putting  it.  During  the  month  of  August  people  found  it 
necessary  to  travel  by  night  to  save  their  horses  from  being  almost 
eaten  up. 

There  were  a  few  scattering  residents  in  the  township  before  1850, 
but  it  was  not  until  1855  to  1860  that  anything  like  general  cultiva- 
tion can  be  said  to  have  taken  place.  In  1853  Michael  Sullivant,  whose 
recent  sudden  death,  followed  so  close  upon  the  loss  of  his  large  prop- 
erty, was  so  startling,  began  making  his  large  entries  of  land  in  this 
and  the  adjoining  counties.  He  entered  forty-seven  thousand  acres 
lying  in  a  body  in  Sidell  township  and  in  Champaign  county.  About 
the  same  time  he  entered  over  fifty  thousand  acres  in  Ford  and  Living- 
ston counties.  The  portion  which  was  in  Sidell  came  into  possession 
of  his  son  Joseph,  and  he  has  from  that  time  been  managing  it  as  a 
6tock  farm  until  last  year.  The  Sullivant  land  in  Champaign  county, 
after  having  been  brought  into  cultivation,  was  sold  to  Mr.  Alexander, 
when  Mr.  Sullivant  concluded  to  bring  his  large  farm,  lying  in  Ford 
and  Livingston  counties,  into  cultivation.  His  ambition  was  to  have  a 
large  farm  and  work  it  by  hired  help.  No  portion  of  his  land  was 
leased,  and  he  depended  entirely  on  the  grain  that  he  raised  and  the 
sale  of  it. 

The  farming  operations  of  Joseph,  in  Sidell,  were  of  a  different 
nature.  He  went  largely  into  cattle  feeding  with  ver}r  fair  results  and 
flattering  prospects.  About  1867  the  attention  of  farmers  here  was 
first  called  to  the  cheap  cattle  in  Texas  and  the  Indian  Nation,  where 
upon  the  large  prairies  they  were  raised  cheaply  until  three  or  four 
years  old,  and  then  collected  and  driven  across  the  country  to  be  grass- 
fed,  and  then  grain-fed.  The  increasing  demand  for  cattle,  the  reduced 
range  in  Illinois,  and  the  other  circumstances  consequent  upon  Illinois 
emerging  from  a  "  state  of  nature,"  had  so  restricted  the  supply  of 
"  stackers "  that  cattle-men  began  looking  elsewhere  for  them.  The 
65 


1026  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

"Texan  steers"  could  be  bought  for  about  thirty  or  forty  per  centum 
less  than  the  high  grades  which  were  raised  here.  They  were  hearty 
feeders,  and  when  well  fatted  were  worth  only  a  trine  less  than  the 
short-horns.  Here  then  was  a  sufficient  inducement  for  men  who,  like 
Mr.  Sullivant,  had  large  tracts  like  this  Sidell  farm,  to  take  cattle  where 
the}7  could  buy  them  cheapest.  It  looked  like  a  very  sure  road  to 
fortune.  Mr.  Sullivant  put  seven  hundred  Texans  on  his  farm  about 
this  time.  These  cattle,  before  becoming  acclimated,  were  liable  to 
what  was  familiarly  called  the  "  Texan  fever,''  a  disease  which  pre- 
vailed among  them  during  the  first  summer  of  their  life  north,  and 
which  was  so  contagious  that  the  natives  here  contracted  it,  and  great 
numbers  died.  It  was  more  fatal  to  the  natives  than  to  the  Texans. 
This  disease,  like  most  of  the  other  prevailing  contagions,  seems  to 
have  lost,  with  time,  a  portion  of  its  virulence,  and  is  hardly  known 
now,  or  owing  to  the  different  treatment  of  the  Texan  herds,  it  has 
so  nearly  ceased  to  exist  that  the  present  generation  hears  nothing  of 
it.  It  was  a  terrible  blow  to  cattle  men  in  this  state.  Instances 
occurred  where  train  loads  of  cattle  were  unloaded  in  consequence  of 
an  accident  on  the  road,  and  were  left  to  wander  over  the  prairies  for  a 
day  or  two,  thus  carrying  the  infection,  which  proved  fatal  to  all  cattle 
in  the  vicinity.  The  authority  of  the  state  was  invoked,  and  the  legis- 
lature passed  stringent  laws  forbidding  the  importation  into  the  state 
of  Texan  cattle.  This  proved  only  a  partial  remedy,  as,  when  cases- 
were  tried  in  the  courts,  defendants  pleaded  the  unconstitutionality  of 
the  act  of  the  state  legislature,  claiming  that  under  that  clause  of  the 
national  [constitution  which  gives  congress  authority  "to  regulate  com- 
merce among  the  several  states,"  the  state  could  not  interfere  to  regu- 
late or  prohibit  such  importation.  This  had  the  effect  to  protract  legal 
proceedings,  and  gave  to  the  corporations  a  chance  to  worry  the  farmers 
out.     Some  of  these  cases  are  still  in  court. 

From  this  disaster  Mr.  Sullivant  was  never  able  to  recover,  and 
after  years  of  heroic  trials  he  saw  his  splendid  farm  sold  out,  and  noth- 
ing was  saved  out  of  the  wreck  of  a  magnificent  fortune.  Edward 
Clark  became  the  purchaser  of  most  of  the  land,  and  still  owns  it. 

A  few  only  had  found  homes  in  this  township  before  the  advent  of 
Mr.  Sullivant.  A  man  by  the  name  of  Boose,  about  whom  little  is 
known,  beyond  that  he  was  one  of  those  uneasy,  roving  specimens  who 
never  do  much  but  hunt  places  and  game,  made  a  settlement  at  Jack- 
son's Grove  in  1828,  but  did  not  stay  long.  Bob  Oruisan  settled  at 
Sidell's  Grove  a  year  or  two  later,  but  soon  after  went  to  Douglas 
county.  Hammer  and  Myers  were  first  in  Jackson's  Grove,  but  Thos. 
Brewer  "  entered  them  out "  and  they  went  awav.     Brewer  sold  to 


8IDELL   TOWNSHIP.  1027 

Collett  when  the  latter  made  his  purchases  of  lands  in  this  township. 
Josephus  Collett,  of  Indiana,  about  1844,  entered  the  lands  which 
covered  the  small  groves  along  the  Little  Vermilion,  knowing  that  they 
would  first  be  in  demand  by  actual  settlers.  These  tracts  entered  by 
him  included  Sidell  Grove,  Jackson  Grove,  Garrett  Grove,  Rowan 
Grove,  and  probably  Twin  Grove.  Frank  Foos  is  supposed  to'  have 
made  the  first  permanent  improvement  in  this  township  in  1851.  He 
had  lived  at  Marysville  and  had  heard  of  the  wonderful  fertility  of  the 
valley  of  the  Little  Vermilion.  When  he  made  his  improvement  there, 
he  was  four  miles  "  out  from  land  " —  or  from  neighbors,  which  is  the 
same  thing.  He  built  a  house  there,  and  after  working  the  place  a  few 
years  traded  it  to  Edward  Rowan,  who  brought  it  into  its  present  cul- 
tivation. Mr.  Foos  now  lives  in  Indianola,  and  the  farm  is  still  in 
the  possession  of  the  heirs  of  Mr.  Rowan. 

A  cheap  kind  of  a  character  by  the  name  of  Tole  commenced  farm- 
ing operations  about  the  same  time  at  Garrett's  Grove,  a  mile  up  stream 
from  Jackson's  Grove.  He  was  in  some  respects  a  sample  of  the  then 
existing  fault-finders,  who  never  saw  any  good  in  their  present  condi- 
tion, but  are  always  "hoping  for  better  things."  With  thousands  of 
acres  of  the  best  land  lying  around  that  needed  only  to  be  plowed  to 
produce  the  most  luxurious  crops  without  further  work,  he  spent  his 
time  during  all  the  early  spring,  cutting  off  the  fine  timber  in  that 
grove,  and  when  planting  time  came  he  went  off  several  miles  to  get 
men  to  come  and  help  him  roll  up  the  logs  which  he  was  unable  to 
handle,  so  that  he  could  burn  them  up.  By  the  time  he  had  his  logs 
nicely  burned  up  it  was  too  late  to  plant ;  the  frost  caught  his  crop 
when  it  was  nicely  in  "  roasting  ears"  ;  and  he  made  up  his  mind  that 
this  country  was  not  adapted  to  farming,  and  went  off  to  Missouri  or 
some  other  haven  for  the  disappointed,  where  he  could  find  logs  to  roll 
at  all  seasons  of  the  year,  and  where  they  were  small  enough  for  him 
to  "  skid  "  them. 

At  that  time  people  supposed  it  took  six  or  eight  yoke  of  oxen  to 
break  prairie,  and  did  not  know  that  the  red  root  could  be  destroyed 
by  hitting  it  with  the  sharp  edge  of  a  plow,  even  without  cutting  it  off. 
A  person  who  could  not  command  a  "  breaking  team,"  or  pay  two  dol- 
lars and  a  half  per  acre  for  "  breaking,"  must  get  along  without.  A 
gentleman  who  decided  in  his  own  mind  that  he  could  break  prairie 
with  a  horse  team,  by  dodging  around  the  "  red  roots  "  as  he  would 
around  stumps  or  stones,  aroused  so  much  ridicule  (this  was  about  1853) 
that  men  went  miles  to  see  the  trial,  and  to  laugh  at  the  new-fangled 
notions  of  a  book-farmer.  This  was  Hon.  W.  T.  Stackpole,  who  has 
recently  given  to  the  world  a  system  for  the  permanent  improvement 


1028  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

of  rivers,  which  is  destined  to  work  a  revolution  in  the  navigation  of 
the  western  rivers. 

The  Jacksons  (Adam,  William,  Thomas  and  James)  had  been  in 
the  employ  of  Mr.  Josephus  Collett  in  various  employments,  and  con- 
cluded to  try  farming  for  a  while.  Mr.  Collett  had  a  lot  of  cattle  out 
on  the  prairies,  and  wanted  some  one  to  look  after  them.  The  "Jack- 
son boys"  were  industrious  and  saving,  and  were  trusted  by  Mr.  Col- 
lett—  a  trust  which  they  never  betrayed.  After  making  a  farm  at 
Jackson's  Grove,  and  remaining  there  a  few  years,  somebody  put  it 
into  their  heads  to  think  that  Mr.  Collett  was  getting  the  best  of  the 
bargain.  They  adopted  some  of  the  ideas  of  recent  reformers  in  regard 
to  capital  oppressing  labor,  and  abandoned  Mr.  Collett  and  his  place, 
and  purchased  a  small  farm  in  Carroll  township.  Soon  they  concluded 
that  they  could  do  better  on  Collett's  job,  and  came  back  to  the  Grove, 
where  they  have  since  made  their  home.  Adam,  who  died  in  1860, 
purchased  about  seven  hundred  acres  of  this  land  at  and  around  the 
Grove,  and  it  still  remains  in  the  family.  The  widow  and  children  of 
Adam,  and  a  sister,  reside  here.  William  died  last  year.  They  were 
in  some  respects  a  singular  family.  They  would  never  take  township 
office,  and  would  never  assume  any  of  the  responsibilities  which  lead- 
ing citizens  usually  assume.  They  kept  their  money  hid  away,  and  all 
attempts  to  get  them  to  loan  it  "  where  it  would  do  the  most  good  " 
were  unavailing.  It  is  believed  that  they  had  gold  hidden  away  all 
during  the  time  of  greatest  inflation,  only  to  bring  it  out  again  when 
the  premium  had  disappeared. 

John  Stark  came  here  with  his  large  family  in  1852,  and  took  up 
land  in  section  29.  He  was  an  enterprising  and  successful  farmer,  and 
much  respected.  He  died  a  few  years  since.  William  still  lives  here, 
and  his  brother,  J.  M.,  is  in  Colorado.  Two  other  children  are  in 
Golorado.  Mrs.  Barnett  is  in  Indianola,  and  Mrs.  Bennett  in  Sidell. 
William  Gray  came  in  1858,  and  settled  on  section  30  in  the  south 
part  of  the  township.  Archibald  McDowell,  who  was  among  the  first 
young  men  who  came  to  live  in  Carroll  township,  made  his  home  here 
on  section  33,  in  the  south  part  of  the  town,  about  1855.  W.  H. 
Sconce  has  been  in  the  county  fifty  years,  and  has  seen  it  grow  from  a 
wilderness  to  its  present  condition  of  wealth  and  importance.  His 
father  first  settled  at  Brooks'  Point,  and  in  1858  bought  the  land  on 
section  16  of  Ward  H.  Lamon  for  seven  dollars  and  fifty  cents  per  acre. 
William  H.  still  remains  on  the  farm. 

Hon.  John  Sidell,  after  whom  the  town  was  named,  at  the  sugges- 
tion of  Mr.  John  C.  Short,  owns  a  beautiful  farm  of  about  three  thou- 
sand acres,  on  both  sides  of  the  Little  Vermilion.     He  commenced  life 


SIDELL   TOWNSHIP.  1029 

as  a  carpenter,  in  Ohio,  and  advancing  cautiously,  with  the  aid  of  his 
clear  judgment,  he  found  himself  in  1861  in  possession  of  sufficient 
means  to  carry  on  a  more  extensive  business  in  a  newer  country.  He 
had  been  up  and  down  the  river  a  good  deal,  had  been  nine  times  to 
Iowa,  and  had  looked  over  the  country  pretty  thoroughly,  until  he 
found  here  just  the  place  which  would  suit  him.  Alexander  Rowan 
had  some  years  before  this  purchased  the  Collett  Grove  property — 
about  thirteen  hundred  acres — of  Josephus  Collett,  and  was  improving 
it,  when  Mr.  Sidell  bought  him  out,  and  added  to  it  by  the  purchase  of 
nearly  six  thousand  acres  more.  While  living  in  Danville  his  wife 
died.  After  that  he  removed  to  the  Grove,  and  has  made  this  his 
home  ever  since.  In  1873  he  sold  off  a  portion  of  his  land  to  the 
amount  of  one  hundred  and  fifteen  thousand  dollars'  worth,  and  with 
the  bounds  thus  reduced,  he  has  carried  on  one  of  the  largest,  if  not 
the  largest,  cattle  business  in  Vermilion  county. 

The  Danville  &  Charleston  railroad  has  been  graded  through  the 
township,  running  almost  directly  in  a  westerly  direction  through  it. 
There  is  a  prospect  that  it  will  be  built  soon. 

The  only  post-office  in  Sidell  is  the  one  at  Sidell's  Grove,  established 
about  two  years  ago,  of  which  Mrs.  Sarah  Webster  is  postmistress. 
The  office  is  served  with  tri-weekly  mail  from  Indianola. 

There  are  three  church  organizations,  but  none  of  them  have  church 
buildings.  The  Sidell  appointment  of  the  Methodist  church  was  or- 
ganized in  1870.  For  some  years  it  belonged  to  the  Dallas  circuit,  but 
is  now  a  separate  appointment.  Rev.  J.  H.  Williams,  a  local  preacher, 
is  in  charge,  and  arrangements  have  been  made  to  build  the  coming 
season.  Mr.  Williams  has  shown  great  zeal  and  energy  in  his  work, 
and  is  meeting  with  marked  success. 

The  Cumberland  Presbyterian  church  was  organized  at  the  Sheridan 
school-house  in  1875,  by  Rev.  H.  H.  Ashmore.  In  the  fall  of  1874  he 
commenced  preaching  there  on  each  fourth  Monday.  In  January,  1875, 
he  protracted  his  meeting  over  two  Sabbaths,  at  which  time  nineteen 
persons  were  enrolled  for  membership  in  a  church  organization.  The 
following  persons  were  the  first  members:  William  Hinton  and  wife, 
James  Allison  and  wife,  E.  Douglass  and  wife,  A.  Abbott,  wife  and 
two  daughters,  Mrs.  Rawlins,  Miss  S.  Rawlins,  Miss  T.  Rawlins,  Mrs. 
Grimes,  Mrs.  McDaniel,  daughter  and  son,  A.  Nebb,  James  Hinton  and 
J.  Barnes.  The  church  chose  the  name  of  Sheridan  church,  and  was 
duly  recognized  by  the  Foster  Presbytery  at  its  session  in  April,  1875. 
Mr.  Ashmore  was  chosen  to  supply  its  pulpit  one  fourth  of  the  time. 
James  Allison  and  William  Hinton  were  elected  first  elders,  and  a  year 
later  David  Eaton  was  added  to  the  eldership.     A  Sabbath-school  is 


1030  HISTORY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

maintained.  After  three  years  Mr.  Ashmore  resigned  his  charge,  and 
Rev.  James  Whitlock  was  employed  to  supply  the  church. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  "No.  9,"  so  called  from  being  organized 
in  school  district  No.  9,  was  organized  in  September,  1866,  by  Rev. 
Benjamin  F.  Newman.  The  leading  members  of  this  class  were  Mr. 
Welch,  James  Thomas,  John  Talbert,  H.  B.  Gibson  and  Thos.  Gibson. 
James  Currant  is  class-leader,  and  William  Ray  is  steward.  The  class 
numbers  seventeen  members.     The  Sabbath-school  numbers  fifty. 

The  township  was  cut  off  from  Carroll  in  1867.  W.  A.  Moore  was 
the  first  supervisor,  and  was  twice  reelected.  H.  E.  P.  Talbott  was 
elected  in  1870,  and  James  Thomas  in  1871-2.  John  Sharp  was 
elected  in  1873,  and  resigned.  W.  A.  Moore  was  appointed  in  his  stead. 
H.  E.  P.  Talbott  has  served  since.  H.  Gibson  was  the  first  clerk, 
serving  two  years;  J.  H.  Oakwood,  one;  John  Smoot,  three,  and 
Alfred  Gray,  five.  W.  P.  Witherspoon  served  four  years  as  assessor, 
John  Smoot  three,  and  Mr.  Witherspoon  continually  since.  The 
justices  of  the  peace  have  been  Wm.  Gray,  R.  R.  Smith,  J.  G.  Colburn, 
H.  E.  P.  Talbott,  W.  A.  Moore  and  S.  Gray.  The  commissioners  of 
highways:  Wm.  Gray,  J.  M.  Sulivant,  R.  E.  Page,  John  J.  Jackson, 
Wm.  Stark,  Matthew  Trimble,  J.  E.  Allison  and  J.  H.  Parish. 

BIOGRAPHICAL. 

A.  McDowel,  Indianola,  farmer  and  stock-raiser,  section  33,  was 
born  in  Todd  county,  Kentucky,  on  the  13th  of  September,  1814,  and 
came  with  parents  to  Crawford  county,  Illinois,  in  about  1817.  He 
came  to  Vermilion  county  in  1827.  His  father  was  a  native  of  Green- 
brier county,  Virginia,  and  died  in  Crawford  county,  Illinois.  His 
mother  also  was  a  native  of  Virginia.  Mr.  McDowel  has  been  twice 
married.  His  first  wife  was  Mary  F.  Hildreth.  She  was  a  native  of 
Bourbon  county,  Kentucky,  and  was  born  in  1813.  They  were  mar- 
ried in  1838,  and  she  was  a  faithful  wife  and  mother  until  her  death,  in 
1854.  Mr.  McDowel  the  second  time  married  S.  A.  Seals,  in  1860  ;  a 
native  of  Edgar  county,  Illinois,  born  on  the  6th  of  January,  1842. 
He  has  five  children  by  his  former  wife  :  Louisa,  wife  of  Mr.  Epley ; 
Margaret,  wife  of  Wm.  Parish,  during  his  life;  Columbus  William  and 
Nancy  A.  James  H.  is  deceased.  By  his  present  wife  he  is  the  father 
of  John  I.,  Alice  J.,  Amanda,  Thomas,  Cyrus  and  Ora,  and  two  de- 
ceased :  Mary  M.  and  George  B.  Mr.  McDowel  has  been  a  hard 
working  and  energetic  man,  commencing  without  anything  but  good 
health  and  a  determination  to  have  a  home.  He  has  succeeded,  for  he 
now  owns  a  fine  farm  of  four  hundred  and  fifty  acres  under  good  culti- 
vation, which  was  accomplished  by  his  own  industry. 


SIDELL   TOWNSHIP.  1031 

W.  W.  Stark,  Sidell's  Grove,  farmer,  section  29,  is  a  son  of  John 
and  Mary  Stark,  who  were  natives  of  Bourbon  county,  Kentucky. 
They  removed  to  Parke  county,  Indiana,  at  an  early  day.  From  there 
he  came  to  Vermilion  county,  in  about  1828,  and  settled  at  the  old 
Sandusky  farm  at  Brook's  Point,  where  W.  W.  Stark  was  born,  on 
the  17th  of  October,  1832.  They  removed  to  Sidell  township  in  1855, 
where  they  lived  until  their  death.  Mr.  Stark  was  married  on  the 
10th  of  November,  1868,  to  Miss  Mary,  daughter  of  Dr.  J.  B.  Mc- 
Hoffee ;  they  have  three  daughters  and  one  son :  Viola,  Blanche,  Daisy 
and  James  R., — William  B.  died.  Mr.  Stark  has  crossed  the  plains 
several  times.  He  went  to  Pike's  Peak  in  1859,  and  returned  in  1862. 
He  made  a  trip  to  Montana  in  1864,  and  back  in  1866,  and  to  the 
Black  Hills  in  1876,  where  he  had  a  fight  with  the  Indians.  He  then 
went  to  Colorado,  and  spent  the  summer,  and  then  returned  home, 
where  he  has  been  engaged  in  farming.  Mr.  Stark  is  a  member  of 
the  A.F.  &  A.M.,  and  in  politics  is  a  democrat. 

William  R.  McDowel,  Indianola,  Illinois,  farmer,  section  29,  was 
born  in  Vermilion  county,  Illinois,  on  the  7th  of  September,  1839. 
His  father  is  one  of  the  early  settlers  of  the  county.  Mr.  McDowel 
married,  in  1864,  Miss  Sarah  Ramsy,  daughter  of  Thomas  Ramsy  • 
She  was  born  in  Miami  county,  Ohio,  in  1844,  and  the  result  of  their 
union  is  six  children:  Ella,  Effie,  Evaline,  Jessie,  Tillie,  Nellie,  living, 
and  two  deceased :  Katie  and  Bell.  Mr.  McDowel  owns  two  hundred 
and  eighty  acres  of  land,  and  his  political  views  are  democratic. 

H.  E.-  P.  Talbott,  Sidell's  Grove,  farmer,  section  9,  is  a  son  of  Au- 
gaustine  and  Drusilla  (Parker)  Talbott,  who  were  natives  of  Kentucky. 
They  came  to  Madison  county,  Ohio,  in  1826,  where  the  subject  of  our 
sketch  was  born,  on  the  7th  of  August,  1831.  His  father  died  in  that 
county,  and  he  and  his  mother  came  to  Vermilion  county,  in  1851, 
where  his  mother  died,  in  1864.  Mr.  Talbott  served  in  the  late  war, 
in  Co.  G,  79th  Ind.  Vol.  He  was  in  the  battle  of  Perryville,  and  was 
discharged  on  account  of  disabilities  received..  He  returned  to  Indi- 
ana and  remained  one  year,  and  then  came  to  Vermilion  again  in  1866. 
Mr.  Talbott  was  united  in  marriage  in  1867,  to  Miss  Lucy  E.  Utter- 
back,  daughter  of  H.  Utterback.  She  is  a  native  of  Ralls  county,  Mis- 
souri, born  in  1841.  The  result  of  this  union  is  two  sons  and  one 
daughter :  Augustine,  Hugh  H.  and  Sarah  E.  Mr.  Talbott  is  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Capitol  Lodge,  Indianapolis,  Indiana,  124,  I.O.O.F.,  and 
Mrs.  T.  is  a  member  of  the  M.  E.  church.  Mr.  Talbott  has  been  hon- 
ored by  the  citizens  of  his  township  with  the  office  of  justice  of  the 
peace  and  supervisor.     He  is  a  staunch  republican. 

William  Gray,  Palermo,  Edgar  county,  farmer,  section  30,  is  a  son 


1032  HISTOKY    OF    VERMILION    COUNTY. 

of  Lewis  and  Mary  Gray,  who  were  natives  of  New  Jersey,  but  of 
English  descent,  and  came  to  Hamilton  county,  Ohio,  in  1800.  They 
then  went  to  Butler  countv,  Ohio,  where  Win.  Gray  was  born,  on  the 
9th  of  May,  1816.  Mr.  Gray  remained  at  his  birthplace  until  after  his 
marriage,  in  1841.  His  wife  was  Miss  Sarah  A.  Harmon,  daughter  of 
Samuel  and  Mary  Harmon,  who  were  of  German  and  Scotch  descent, 
and  came  to  Warren  county,  Ohio,  in  an  early  day.  This  was  the 
birth-place  of  Mrs.  Gray,  who  was  born  on  the  14th  of  October,  1822. 
Mr.  Gray  removed  to  Clinton  county,  Indiana,  in  1844,  where  he  en- 
gaged in  farming  for  some  time,  and  in  1859  removed  to  Vermilion 
county,  Illinois,  where  he  has  been  known  as  an  energetic  and  public- 
spirited  man,  and  respected  by  the  community  in  which  he  lives.  He 
has  raised  a  respectable  family  of  one  son  and  four  daughters :  Mary  J., 
wife  of  J.  Mills  ;  Alfred ;  Elizabeth  A.,  wife  of  J.  Wilson  ;  Clara  L.  ; 
Alice,  wife  of  S.  Gurthrie.  The  deceased  members  of  his  family  are! 
Harvey,  who  died  while  in  the  rebellion ;  William  H.,  Milton  and 
Sarah.  Mr.  Gray  served  the  people  as  justice  of  peace  seven  years, 
and  in  other  minor  offices  of  the  township.  He  is  in  his  political  views 
a  republican. 

What  is  usually  termed  genius  has  little  to  do  with  the  success  of 
men  in  general.  Keen  perception,  sound  judgment  and  a  determined 
will,  backed  by  persevering  and  continuous  effort,  are  essential  ele- 
ments to  success  in  any  calling,  and  their  possessor  is  sure  to  accom- 
plish the  ends  hoped  for  in  the  days  of  his  youth.  Our  subject  is 
another  example  of  what  can  be  accomplished  by  honest,  steady  and 
industrious  application  to  business,  and  his  name  is  worthy  a  place  in 
history.  John  Sidell  was  born  in  Washington  county,  Maryland,  oft 
the  27th  of  June,  1816.  His  father  died  when  he  was  eight  years  of 
age,  and  he  remained  in  his  native  countv  until  nineteen  years  old, 
working  by  the  month  on  a  farm.  For  the  first  month  he  received 
one  and  a  half  dollars,  and,  not  being  satisfied,  in  1838  he  came  to 
Greene  county,  Ohio,  which  place  he  reached  with  but  nineteen  dol- 
lars and  a  limited  supply  of  clothes.  He  was  soon  engaged  to  work 
on  a  farm  for  twelve  dollars  per  month,  and  as  soon  as  he  had  saved 
enough  money,  came  west  on  horseback,  passing  through  Illinois  and 
into  Iowa,  not  finding  a  location  at  that  time.  He  returned  to  Ohio, 
this  time  taking  a  contract  to  cut  wood  for  thirty-three  and  one-third 
cents  per  cord,  this  being  the  hardest  work  he  ever  undertook.  This 
was  his  starting-point  of  success,  for  from  that  time  on  he  became  a 
dealer  in  stock,  and  since  he  came  to  this  county  (1860)  has  been  one 
of  the  largest  stock-dealers  in  the  county.  Mr.  Sidell  has  been  twice 
married.     His  first  wife  was  Elizabeth  Cline.     Thev  were  married  on 


SIDELL   TOWNSHIP.  1033 

the  20th  of  January,  1846.  She  was  a  native  of  Greene  county,  Ohio, 
born  on  the  16th  of  December,  1823,  and  died  on  the  1st  of  May,  1854. 
He  was  married  the  second  time  to  Miss  Ada  B.  Ransom,  on  the  20th 
of  January,  1857,  a  native  of  Canada,  born  on  the  15th  of  June,  1837, 
and  remained  his  wife  until  her  death,  on  the  4th  of  October,  1868. 
He  is  the  father  of  one  son  and  one  daughter  by  his  first  wife :  George 
A.  and  Allie  E.,  and,  by  his  second  wife,  three:  Jennie  H.,  Joseph 
J.,  and  Lula  B.  Mr.  Sidell  has  served  the  people  of  the  county  as 
representative.  He  was  a  whig  until  the  organization  of  the  republican 
party,  when  he  joined  its  ranks. 

W.  P.  Witherspoon,  Fairmount,  farmer,  section  20,  was  born  in 
Morgan  county,  Alabama,  on  the  4th  of  November,  1825,  and  came 
with  his  parents  to  Gibson  county,  Indiana,  in  1828,  where  his  occupa- 
tion was  that  of  a  farmer.  He  remained  there  until  1861,  and  then 
removed  to  Vermilion  county,  where  he  has  resided,  as  one  of  the 
prominent  citizens  of  Sidell  township.  His  father  was  born  in  Virginia 
in  1798,  and  died  in  Gibson  county,  Indiana,  in  1862.  His  mother 
was  a  native  of  Alabama,  and  was  born  in  1833.  Mr.  W.  has  been 
three  times  married.  His  first  wife  was  Julie  Lynn,  and  they  were 
was  married  in  1817.  She  was  a  native  of  Gibson  county,  Indiana.  He 
married  the  second  time,  to  Sitha  McDaniel,  in  1850.  She  was  also  a 
native  of  Gibson  county,  and  was  born  in  1834,  and  died  in  1877. 
Both  wives  died  with  consumption.  His  present  wife  was  M.  Orr,  a 
native  of  Indiana,  and  they  were  married  in  1878.  He  is  the  father  of 
eight  children  by  his  second  wife:  John  D.,  George  W.,  Lawrence  M., 
Hattie  R.,  Elmer  E.,  Mable,  Nora  R.,  Lillie  A.,  and  two  dead :  James 
M.  and  William  C.  Mr.  W.  has  served  as  assessor  of  Sidell  township, 
and  collector,  and  other  offices  of  the  township.  He  and  his  wife  are 
members  of  the  M.  E.  church,  and  he  is  a  republican. 

A.  W.  White,  Broadlands,  Champaign  county,  farmer,  section  35,  is 
a  descendant  of  the  first  of  the  Whites  that  came  to  America  on  the 
Mayflower.  They  were  of  English  descent.  Mr.  A.  W.  White  was 
born  in  Pickaway  county,  Ohio,  on  the  20th  of  March,  1843.  He  came 
to  Champaign  county  in  1861,  but  returned  soon  after,  and  attended 
military  college,  from  which  he  graduated  in  1863.  During  this  time 
he  was  in  active  service  under  McClellan  in  the  summer  of  1862,  and 
in  the  spring  of  1863  he  was  commissioned  first-lieutenant  of  the  7th 
Ohio  Cav.,  and  was  detached  as  body-guard  to  the  President  during  the 
war.  He  was  at  the  siege  of  Richmond,  and  was  engaged  in  the  second 
battle  of  Bull  Run  and  Harper's  Ferry.  Mr.  White  returned  to  Illi- 
nois after  the  close  of  the  war,  and  in  1870  was  married  to  Miss  Lora 
J.  Stevens,  daughter  of  Dr.  H.  Stevens.     She  was  born  in  Champaign 


1034  HISTOKY    OF   VERMILION    COUNTY. 

count}-,  Illinois,  on  the  7th  of  July,  1850.     They  have  three  children: 
Rena  E.,  Clara  E.,  and  Florence. 

C.  L.  Eaton,  Broadlands,  Illinois,  farmer,  is  the  son  of  Benjamin 
and  Hannah  Eaton,  who  were  of  English  descent  and  were  natives  of 
Massachusetts.  They  removed  to  Ross  county,  Ohio,  in  about  1818, 
where  C.  L.  Eaton  was  born  in  1820.  He  received  his  education  and 
remained  there  until  1854,  then  made  a  trip  to  Europe  and  Australia, 
and  returned  in  1860.  In  1861  he  came  to  Champaign  county,  Illinois, 
where  he  was  manager  of  twenty-five  thousand  acres  of  land  for  the 
Broadland  estate  until  1871.  He  then  came  to  Vermilion  county.  Mr. 
Eaton  represented  Franklin  county,  Ohio,  and  the  cit}'  of  Columbus 
in  1853-54  in  the  legislature  of  that  state.  He  was  formerly  a  whig 
until  the  organization  of  the  republican  party;  he  then  joined  its 
ranks,  where  he  has  acted  without  any  cause  of  regret.  Mr.  Eaton  has 
the  confidence  and  respect  of  those  with  whom  he  comes  into  business 
relations.  He  has  seen  much  of  the  world,  and  is  wide  awake  to  all 
matters  of  public  concern. 


BUSINESS  DIRECTORY. 


DANVILLE. 

Abdill  Bros.,  dealers  in  hardware, 
stoves,  tinware,  paints, .  etc.,  57 
Vermilion  st. 

Abdill  L.  B.,  bookseller,  stationer 
and  music  dealer,  55  Vermilion 
street. 

iEtna  House,  W.  G.  Sherman, 
proprietor. 

Amber  Mills,  D.  Gregg,  proprie- 
tor. 

Arkansas  and  Texas  Railway- 
Land  Co.,  2d  floor  105  Main  st. 

Bandy  Wm.,  money  broker,  41 
Vermilion  st. 

Baldwin  C.  V.,  dentist,  Opera 
House,  Vermilion  st. 

Bahls  Wm.,  dealer  in  boots  and 
shoes,  166  Main  st. 

Baum  W.  F.,  dealer  in  drugs, 
fancy  goods,  etc.,  north  side  of 
square. 

Beard  John,  dealer  in  groceries, 
provisions  and  glassware,  corner 
South  and  College  sts. 

Beyer  Peter,  manufacturer  and 
dealer  in  boots,  shoes  and  hides, 
73  Main  st. 

Black  &  Blackburn,  attorneys- 
at-law,  99  Main  st. 

Black  Bros.,  dealers  in  dry  goods 
and  groceries,  109  Main  st. 

Blankenburg  &  Bro.,  proprie- 
tors of  the  iEtna  House  billiard 
hall  and  saloon. 

Blankenburg  A.,  dlr.  in  watches, 


clocks  and  jewelry,  60  Vermilion 
street. 

Bowers  Samuel,  proprietor  City 
Mills. 

Bowman  Alex.,  surveyor  and 
civil  engineer,  adjoining  court- 
house, Main  st. 

Brand  Wm.  F.,  dealer  in  mill- 
inery and  fancy  notions,  54  Ver- 
milion st. 

Brandenberger  Matthias, 
plain  and  ornamental  painter. 

Breedhoft  Bros.,  dealers  in  gro- 
ceries and  provisions,  153  E.  Main 
street. 

Brown  W.  A.,  physician  and  sur- 


geon. 


Burroughs  Eph.,  blacksmith. 

Button  F.  W.,  manufacturer  of 
steam  boilers,  office  and  factory 
near  Wabash  depot. 

Carnahan  W.  M.,  dealer  in  gro- 
ceries and  provisions,  cor.  Mill 
and  Bridge  sts. 

Clark  H.  H.,  physician  and  sur- 
geon; specialties:  surgery  and  dis- 
eases of  the  eye,  Gernand's  block. 

Clark  Joshua  M.,  dealer  in  staple 
and  fancy  dry  goods,  66  Vermil- 
ion st. 

Clements  W.  A.,  dealer  in  gro- 
ceries and  provisions,  54  Vermil- 
ion st. 

Goffeen  &  Pollock,  successors  to 
H.  A.  Coffeen,  booksellers  and 
stationers,  101  Main  street. 


1036 


BUSINESS    DIKECTORY. 


Cox  A.  J.,  proprietor  of  the  Globe 
Shoeing  Shop. 

Daines  George  W.,  real-estate 
agent,  Gernand's  block. 

Danforth  E.  R.  &  Co.,  dealers 
in  groceries  and  provisions,  36 
Vermilion  st. 

Danville  Foundry,  Machine 
and  Boiler  Works,  William 
Stewart,  proprietor,  office  and 
works  at  Danville  Junction. 

Danville  Lumber  and  Manu- 
facturing Co.,  E.  A.  Leonard, 
president. 

Danville  Woolen  Mills,  corner 
Mill  and  Madison  sts.,  Riggs  & 
Menig,  proprietors. 

Dickason  &,  English,  dealers  in 
grain  and  railroad  timber. 

Dent  &  Black,  attorneys-at-law, 
Major  Block,  cor.  Madison  and 
La  Salle  sts.,  Chicago. 

Doll  E.  J.,  manufacturer  of  pegged 
and  sewed  boots,  121  E.  Main  st. 

Donnelly  F.  &,  J.,  dealers  in  gro- 
ceries and  provisions. 

Draper  E.  J.,  dealer  in  groceries 
and  provisions. 

Dudenhofer  Geo.,  dealer  in  ci- 
gars and  tobacco,  76  Main  st. 

Dwight  C.  R.,  dentist,  Lincoln 
Opera  House  block. 

Elliott  Thomas  J.,  dealer  in  dry- 
goods  and  notions,  70  Maiu  st. 

Ellsworth  Coal  Co.,  A.  C.  Dan- 
iel, superintendent. 

Evans  D.  D.,attorney-at-law,over 
First  National  Bank. 

Feldkamp  Charles  U.,  manu- 
facturing confectioner  and  dealer 
in  fruits  and  tobacco,  Vermilion 
street. 

Fenton  C.  B.,  dealer  in  hardware, 
stoves  and  tinware. 


Field  J.  E.,  merchant  tailor,  Main 
street. 

First  National  Bank,  J.  G.  Eng- 
lish, president. 

Fithian  Wm.,  physician  and  sur- 
geon, Lincoln  Opera  House  build- 


ing. 


Frantz  J.  S.,  druggist  and  apoth- 

^    ecary,  135  East  Main  st. 

Ganor  M.,  dealer  in  delphi,  white 
lime,  cement,  etc.,  cor.  Main  and 
Hazel  sts. 

Garland  A.  C,  prop,  of  stone 
saw-mill  and  tile  factory. 

Giddings  C.  H.,  dealer  in  ice. 

Giddings  &  Patterson,  dealers 
in  iron,  steel,  carriage  and  wagon 
stock,  corner  Main  and  Franklin 
streets. 

Gillam  I.  N.,  physician  and  sur- 
geon. 

Gillett  R.  W.,  physician,  ^Etna 
House  block. 

Glindmeier  C.  &  H.,  cooperage 
and  cooper's  stock,  near  Wabash 
railway  depot. 

Good  &  Cowan,  dealers  in  har- 
ness and  saddles,  38  Vermilion  st. 

Guy  Asa  H.  &  C.  V.,  abstracts, 
court-house. 

Hall  J.  A.  &  Son,  druggists  and 
pharmacists,  68  Vermilion  st. 

Hankey  &  Hooton,  dealers  in 
lumber,  west  end  of  Main  st. 

Hacker  C.  F.  &  Bro.,  dealers  in 
drv  goods  and  groceries.  141  Main 
street. 

Hawes  &  Williams,  china,  glass 
and  Queensware,  78  Main  st. 

Henton  C.  D.,  physician. 

Hesse  Chas.,  contractor  and  pro- 
prietor of  the  Hesse  House. 

Hill  J.  L.,  contractor  and  builder. 

Holden   John  G.,  lumber  mer- 


BUSINESS    DIRECTORY 


1037 


chant,  east  side  of  Hazel,  between 
Main  and  North. 

Hollaway  S.  B.,  proprietor  of  the 
Omnibus  line,  half  square  north 
of  ^Etna  House. 

Holloway  J.  R.  &  C.  B.,  dealers 
in  dry  goods  and  notions,  north- 
west corner  of  Main  andWalnutst. 

Holton  G.  L.,  gardener  and  coal 
operator,  west  side  North  Fork, 
one  mile  from  court-house. 

Hull  &  Hulce,  dealers  in  agricul- 
tural implements  and  seeds,  125 
and  127  Main  st. 

Irwin  F.  G.,  druggist,  cor.  Main 
and  Hazel  sts. 

James  L.,  contractor  and  builder. 

Johns  &,  Giddings,  dealers  in 
groceries  and  queensware,  115 
Main  st. 

Jones  Geo.  Wheeler,  physician, 
26  West  North  st. 

Joslin  A.  J.,  photographer,  112 
Main  st. 

Kaufmann  &  Bachrach,  manu- 
facturers of  men's  and  boys'  cloth- 
ing. 

Kahn  H.  &  Co.,  clothiers  and 
gent's  furnishers,  51  Vermilion  st. 

Kaniper  Geo.,  newsdealer  and 
stationer,  rear  First  National  Bk. 

Kimball  N.  A.,  undertaker,  59 
Main  st. 

Kimball  H.  M.,  dealer  in  gro- 
ceries and  miners'  supplies,  61 
Vermilion  st. 

Kimbrough  A.  H.,  physician  and 
surgeon,  cor.  North  and  Vermil- 
ion sts. 

Klingenspor  Gustav,  florist,  east 
end  of  Main  st. 

Klugel  G.  L.,  manufacturer  of 
galvanized  iron  cornices,  west  end 
of  Main  st. 


Kuykendall    Bros.    &    Craig, 

props.  xEtna  House  livery  stable. 
Lawrence    W.  R.,  attorney-at- 

law,  Main  st.  east  of  court-house. 
Leseure  C.  F.  &,  Co.,  dealers  in 

hardware  and  cutlery,  Main  st. 
Lemon  Theo.,  physician  and  sur- 
geon. 
Leseure  O.,  homoeopathic  physi- 
cian, Short's  block. 
Leverenz  Carl,  dealer  in   boots 

and  shoes,  69  Vermilion  st. 
Lewis  J.  A.,  contractor  and  bldr. 
Lindsey  &,  Kimbrough,  attor- 

neys-at-law,  over  First  National 

Bank. 
Long  John,  proprietor  of  Long's 

Gaiety  Theatre,  147  Main  st. 
Lowell    John   W.,   attorney-at- 

law,  opp.  First  National  Bank. 
Mabin     G.  G.,    attorney-at-law, 

Gridding's  block. 
Mann  Wm.  &  Co.,  dry-goods  and 

carpets,  74  Main  st. 
Mann,    Calhoun    &    Frazier, 

attorneys-at-law,  53  Vermilion  st. 
Maier   Gottlieb,  leather,  hides 

and  shoe  findings,  145  Main  st. 
Martin  E.  B.  &  Co.,  wholesale 

and  retail  grocers,  91  Main  st. 
Martin  A.,  abstracts  of  title  and 

real  estate,  court-house. 
Mater  R.  H.,  contractor  and  bldr. 
McDonald    R.   D.,    attorney-at- 
law,  82  Main  st. 
McDonald  M.  A.,  hardware  and 

cutlery,  Main  st. 
Mengle  John  C,  dealer  in  fresh 

meats,  cor.  North  and  Vermilion 

streets. 
Miller  &  Son,  manufacturers  of 

organs,  204  and  206  East  Main  st. 
Miller    X.,    saloon    and    billiard 

room,  108  Main  st. 


1038 


BUSINESS    DIRECTOKY. 


Moore  Alex.,  saloon  and  billiard 
hall,  Main  st.,  opp.  court-house. 

Moore  W.  J.,  physician  and  sur- 
geon, Lincoln  Opera  building. 

Monroe  S.  N.,  pioneer  jeweler, 
67  Main  st. 

Morgan  "William,  justice  of  the 
peace  and  insurance  agent. 

Moran  Charles,  groceries,  pro- 
visions and  canned  goods. 

Myers  &  Hesse,  staple  and  fancy 
groceries,  68  Main  st. 

Myers  W.  T.  &  Co.,  proprietors 
of  livery,  feed  and  sale  stable,  29 
West  Main  st. 

Oberdorfer  A.,  dealer  in  dry- 
goods,  carpets  and  oil  cloths, 
Schmitt's  block. 

Outland  James  A.,  attorney-at- 
law,  First  National  building. 

Palmer  L.  T.  &  C.  J.,  money 
loan  and  note  brokers,  First  Na- 
tional Bank  building. 

Phillips  J.  A.,  photographer,  85 
southwest  corner  square. 

Pollock  A., physician  and  surgeon. 

Porter  Isaac,  dry-goods  and  no- 
tions, Short's  block,  Main  st. 

Porter  R.  L.,  physician  and  sur- 
geon. 

Price  Bros.,  proprietors  of  livery 
stable,  southeast  of  Wabash  depot. 

Rainier  H.,  merchant  tailor,  pub- 
lic square. 

Rudolph  A.,  saloon  and  restau- 
rant. 

Schario  John,  dealer  in  guns, 
pistols,  fishing  tackle,  etc. 

Shipner  Jos.  &  Son,  dealers  in 
groceries  and  provisions,  67  Ver- 
milion st. 

Sieferman  A.,  manufacturer  and 
dlr  in  cigars,  in  Tremont  House, 
Main  st. 


Sirpless  J.  M.,  dealer  in  groceries 
and  provisions,  corner  Pine  and 
Madison. 

Smith  Sl  Giddings,  props,  of  the 
Lustro  Mills,  and  dealers  in  grain. 

Stein  John,  proprietor  of  City 
Brewery. 

Thompson  &  Pollard,  props,  of 
the  Great  Western  Machine  Wks., 
and  manufacturers  of  portable 
and  stationary  steam  engines. 

Timm  John,  dealer  in  groceries, 
College  st.,  bet.  South  and  Main. 

Tincher  Joe.,  hats,  caps  and 
gent's  furnishing  goods,  Main  st. 

Tincher  G.  F.,  attorney-at-law, 
First  National  Bank  building. 

Tuttle  J.  E.,  physician  and  sur- 
geon, Metropolitan  block,  oppo- 
site Clerk's  office. 

Vaughn  D.  C,  dealer  in  and  man- 
ufacturer of  hardwood  lumber. 

Vermilion  Co.  Bank,  William  P. 
Cannon,  president. 

Villars  Bros.  &  Co.,  proprietors 
of  the  Chicago  Store,  and  dealers 
in  dry-goods,  boots,  shoes,  etc.,  53 
Vermilion  st. 

Walsh  Peter,  attorney-at-law, 
99  Main  st. 

Walz  George,  manufacturer  and 
dealer  in  furniture,  coffins,  etc., 
opposite  the  Arlington  House. 

Watson  Bros.,  proprietors  of  the 
Western  Meat  Market,  and  sau- 
sage manufacturers,  45  Vermilion 
street. 

Webster  A.  G.,  dealer  in  gro- 
ceries and  provisions. 

White  J.  H.,  wholesale  dealer  in 
fish,  oysters,  confectioneries,  etc. 
etc.,  56  and  58  Vermilion  st. 

Whitehill  Wm.,  carriage  and 
wagon  manufacturer. 


BUSINESS    DIEECTORY. 


1039 


Wilber  P.,  general  real  estate  and 
collecting  agent,  justice  of  the 
peace  and  notary  public,  51  Ver- 
milion st. 

Winslow,  E.  C.  dealer  in  drugs, 
paints,  oils,  etc.,  107  Main  st. 

Winslow  J.  C,  dentist,  Vermilion 
st.,  Opera  House  building. 

Wolf  Louis  B.,  grocer,  baker  and 
dealer  in  provisions,  southwest 
cor.  Pine  and  Madison  sts. 

Woodbury  D.  K.,  manufacturer 
of  and  retail  dealer  in  harness, 
saddles,  etc. ;  also,  dealer  in  hides, 
pelts,  tallow  and  furs,  49  Vermil- 
ion st. 

Woodbury  W.  W.  R.,  druggist 
and  bookseller,  Lincoln  Opera 
House  building. 

Woods  Wm.,  dealer  in  hats,  caps 
and  gent's  furnishing  goods,  New 
Store,  Vermilion  st. 

Yeomans  &  Shedd,  dealers  in 
builders'  and  general  hardware, 
pumps,  saws,  etc.,  63  Main  st.,  cor. 
Walnut. 

Young  &  Penwell,  attorneys-at- 
law,  over  106  Main  st. 

GEORGETOWN. 

Alexander  Wm.  H.,  grocer. 

Citizen's  Bank,  E.  Henderson, 
president;  William  Henderson, 
cashier. 

Cloyd  J.  P.,  physician. 

Cook  House,  S.  J.  Cook,  prop. 

Cowan  W.  B.,  grocer. 

Cowan  &.  Cloyd,  druggists. 

Cowan  W.  C,  druggist. 

Frazier  A.  &,  Son.,  dealers  in 
general  merchandise. 

Hawes  A.  M.  C,  physician. 

Holloway,  dealer  in  general  mer- 
chandise. 


Jumps  Bros.,  dealer  in  general 
merchandise. 

Leseure  A.,  grocer. 

Lockett  J.  H.,  miller. 

Mendenhall  P.W.,  physician. 

Mendenhall  W.  O'Neall,  phy- 
sician. 

Morris  Z.,  grain  buyer. 

Richie  &  Thompson,  dealers  in 
general  merchandise. 

Shepler  J.  D.,  miller. 

Yapp  &  West,  dealers  in  hard- 
ware, lumber,  etc. 

ROSSVILLE. 

Allen     Chas.     A.,     attorney-at- 

law. 
Armstrong  Thos.,  manufacturer 

of  drain  tile.     Factorv,  one  half 

mile  west  of  Eossville. 
Davis   Addison  M.,  justice    of 

the  peace  and  collecting  agent. 
Davison    John,   justice  of   the 

peace  and  collection  agent. 
Demaree  Wm.  S.,  dealer  in  agri- 
cultural implements,garden  seeds, 

etc.  etc. 
Gilbert  Elias  M.,  proprietor  of 

livery  and  feed  stable. 
Hacker   Wm.  R.,  manufacturer 

and   dealer   in    harness,    saddles, 

bridles,  etc.  etc. 
Henderson  W.  J.,  dlr.  in  stock, 

grain,  dry-goods,  clothing,  boots 

and  shoes,  groceries,  etc. 
Lee  &  Lamb,  dlrs.  in  dry-goods, 

clothing,  hats  and  caps,  groceries, 

etc. 
Lefever  &  Cunningham,  dlrs. 

in  general  merchandise. 
Livingood   John  R.,  physician, 

office  on  Chicago  ave. 
Livingood  M.  T.,  physician  and 

surgeon. 


1040 


BUSINESS    DIRECTORY, 


McElroy  John  J.,  physician  and 


surgeon. 


Milligan  John,  grain-dealer. 

Phillips  W.  W.,  dealer  in  lum- 
ber, lime  and  coal. 

Ross  CharleyM.,  dealerin  drugs, 
medicines,  fancy  goods  and  no- 
tions. 

Salmans  G.  W.,  attorney-at-law. 

Shannon  Harry,  insurance  agent 
and  notary  public. 

Smith  John  R.,  dealer  in  general 
merchandise. 

Thomas  Wm.  M.,  manufacturer 
of  drain -tile. 

Thompson  Louis  M.,  dealer  in 
live-stock. 

Williams  R.  A.  S.,  teacher  of  vo- 
cal and  instrumental  music,  and 
piano  and  organ  tuner  and  agent. 

Watson  W.  &  Co.,  bankers,  in- 
surance agents  and  loaners  of 
money. 

Vining  Wm.,  fruit-grower. 

HOOPESTON. 

Anderson  L.  W.,  physician  and 
surgeon. 

Bedell  David  &  Co.,  dealers  in 
general  merchandise. 

Clark  W.  R.,  dealer  in  general 
hardware  and  agricultural  imple- 
ments, Main  st. 

Cunningham  James  A.,  stock- 
dealer. 

Dallstream  J.,  dealer  in  and  man- 
ufacturer of  boots  and  shoes,  51 
Main  st. 

Dyer  H.  H.,  attorney  and  coun- 
selor-at-law. 

Frankeberger  Henry,  dealer  in 
drugs,  medicines,  paints,  etc. 

Glaze  Wm.,  money-loaner  and 
dealer  in  flax-seed  and  other  grain. 


McDowell  A.  E.,  attorney  and 
counselor-at-law. 

McFerren  J.  S.,  banker,  corre- 
spondents, First  National  bank, 
Chicago,  and  Geo.  Opdyke  &  Co., 
New  York. 

Moore  &  McFerren,  real  estate 
agents  and  loan  agents,  office  in 
bank  building. 

Powell  J.  S.,  prescription  drug- 
gist and  dealer  in  wall-paper, 
school-books,  etc.,  70  Main 
street. 

Stites  B.  F.,  cabinetmaker  and 
undertaker,  N.  Market  st. 

Taylor  R.  R.,  dealer  in  general 
hardware. 

Trego  &l  Jones,  dealers  in  lum- 
ber and  coal. 

Wallace  Dale,  publisher  of  the 
Hoopeston  Chronicle  and  propri- 
etor of  job  office. 

FAIRMOUNT. 

Bradway  C.  F.,  dealer  in  drugs, 

paints  and  oils. 
Dougherty  A.  H.,  dealer  in  grain, 

and  proprietor  of  the  Fairmount 

mill. 
Holladay    E.,   dealer    in   drugs, 

paints  and  oils. 
Jack    Reuben,  manufacturer  of 

boots  and  shoes  and  justice  of  the 

peace. 
Mott    B.  F.,  physician  and  sur- 
geon. 
Ray  Robert  B.,  physician   and 

surgeon. 
Rice  W.  J.,  buyer  and  shipper  of 

stock. 
Stalons  Z.,  dealer  in  groceries  and 

provisions. 
Simpson  Isaac,  manufacturer  and 

repairer  of  wagons. 


BUSINESS    DIRECTORY. 


1041 


Tilton  Charles,  dealer  in  general 

merchandise. 
Wilcox  I.  N.,  dealer  in  dry-goods 

and  groceries  and  grain-buyer. 
Wilkins    J.   M.,    physician    and 

surgeon. 

CATLIN. 

Jones  Bros.,  dealers  in  groceries 
and  provisions. 

Payne  &  Crutchley,  dealers  in 
dry -goods  and  groceries. 

Tilton  G.  W.,  dealer  in  dry- 
goods  and  groceries. 

Tilton  Samuel  R.,  dealer  in 
drugs,  groceries  and  millinery 
goods. 

INDIANOLA. 

Adams  W.  H.,  tile  manufacturer. 
Ralston  J.  W.,  physician. 

ALVIN. 

Akers  Geo.  W.,  physician  and 
surgeon. 

Bartges  S.  I.,  dealer  in  drugs,  ci- 
gars, wines,  etc. 

Bartges  Mrs.  S.  I.,  dealer  in  mil- 
linery and  fancy  goods. 

Williams  J.  A.,  dealer  in  lum- 
ber, hardware,  lime,  etc.  etc. 


BISMARK. 

Gundy  &.  Bushnell,  dealers  in 
general  merchandise,  live-stock 
and  grain. 

Peters  Ezra,  physician  and  sur- 
geon; specialty,  consulting  and 
operating  surgeon  for  diseases  of 
the  eye  and  ear. 

WESTVILLE. 

Duke  John,  buyer  and  shipper  of 

grain. 

Lockett  J.  W.  &  Bro.,  general 

store. 

STATE  LINE. 

Bonebrake  Benjamin  F.,  dealer 
in  general  merchandise. 

Marple  B.  F.,  dealer  in  drugs, 
groceries,  school-books,  wall-pa- 
per, etc. 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

Burgoyne  J.  H.,  brickmaker,  kiln 
two  miles  northwest  of  Danville 

Campbell  Corydon  H.,  breeder 
of  blooded  horses,  short-horn  cat- 
tle and  fine  breeds  of  hogs,  six 
miles  northeast  of  Danville. 

Norris  Nathan  J.,  physician 
and  surgeon,  one  mile  south  and 
two  miles  east  of  Bismark. 


